Psalms 76:5

5 The valiant lie plundered, they sleep their last sleep; not one of the warriors can lift his hands.

Psalms 76:5 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
5 The stouthearted are spoiled, they have slept their sleep: and none of the men of might have found their hands.
English Standard Version (ESV)
5 The stouthearted were stripped of their spoil; they sank into sleep; all the men of war were unable to use their hands.
New Living Translation (NLT)
5 Our boldest enemies have been plundered. They lie before us in the sleep of death. No warrior could lift a hand against us.
The Message Bible (MSG)
5 The warriors were plundered and left there impotent. And now there's nothing to them, nothing to show for their swagger and threats.
American Standard Version (ASV)
5 The stouthearted are made a spoil, They have slept their sleep; And none of the men of might have found their hands.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
5 Brave people were robbed. They died. None of the warriors were able to lift a hand.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
5 The brave-hearted have been plundered; they have slipped into their [final] sleep. None of the warriors was able to lift a hand.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
5 Brave soldiers have been robbed of everything they had. Now they lie there, sleeping in death. Not one of them can even lift his hands.

Psalms 76:5 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 76:5

The stout hearted are spoiled
The Assyrian army, its officers and generals, that came up against Jerusalem, with great resolution and courage, and with daring impiety and blasphemy against the God of heaven, as Rabshakeh and others; these were spoiled, and their armour and riches became a prey to those they thought to have made a prey of. So principalities and powers were spoiled by Christ upon the cross, and Satan, the strong man armed, has in the conversion of a sinner his armour taken from him, and his spoils divided by him that is stronger than he; and such as are stouthearted, and far from true righteousness, are stripped of their own, and made willing, in the day of Christ's power upon them, to submit to his; and as for antichrist, whose look is more stout than his fellows, that exalts himself above all that is called God, and opens his mouth in blasphemy against him and his followers, he shall be destroyed with the breath of Christ's mouth, and the brightness of his coming: or "the stout hearted have spoiled themselves" F1; as the Midianites did, or gave themselves for a prey; so the Targum,

``the stouthearted have cast off from them the weapons of war;''

threw away their armour, and ran away, such of them as were not destroyed by the angel. It is observable, that the Hebrew word, translated "spoiled", is in the Syriac form:

they have slept their sleep:
the sleep of death, as did the Assyrians when smitten by the angel, which was done in the night, when probably they were fast asleep, and so never awoke more, as the Babylonians, ( Jeremiah 51:57 ) . So Jezebel, or the Romish antichrist, shall be cast into a bed, and her children killed with death, ( Revelation 2:22 Revelation 2:23 ) . Death is often in Scripture signified by a sleep, both the death of the righteous and of the wicked; but there is a difference between the one and the other; wherefore the death of the wicked here is called "their sleep"; the one sleep in Jesus, in his arms, and under his guardianship, the other not; to the one death is a true and proper rest from toil and labour, to the other only a cessation from doing mischief, ( Job 3:17 ) , the one rests in hopes of a glorious resurrection, the other not; the one will awake in Christ's likeness, and to everlasting life; the other in the image of Satan, and to everlasting shame and contempt:

and none of the men of might have found their hands;
none of the valiant soldiers in the Assyrian army could find their hands to fight their enemies, or defend themselves; as men in a deep sleep cannot find their hands to do anything, and are as if they had none, and still less in a dead sleep. The Targum is,

``they were not able to lay hold on their armour with their hands.''

This was the case of them that were killed; and as for those that remained alive, they were struck with such a panic, that their hearts could not endure, nor their hands be strong when God thus dealt with them; and so it will be with the antichristian army at the battle of Armageddon; and so it is with the wicked at death, they cannot find their hands so as to prevent it; and when it has seized upon them, they cannot find their hands to do any more mischief.


FOOTNOTES:

F1 (wllwtva) "praedae se exposnerunt", Tigurine version, Gejerus; "dediderunt se in praedam", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Psalms 76:5 In-Context

3 There he broke the flashing arrows, the shields and the swords, the weapons of war.
4 You are radiant with light, more majestic than mountains rich with game.
5 The valiant lie plundered, they sleep their last sleep; not one of the warriors can lift his hands.
6 At your rebuke, God of Jacob, both horse and chariot lie still.
7 It is you alone who are to be feared. Who can stand before you when you are angry?

Cross References 2

  • 1. S Judges 20:44
  • 2. S Psalms 13:3; S Matthew 9:24
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