Psalms 144:6

6 (143-6) Send forth lightning, and thou shalt scatter them: shoot out thy arrows, and thou shalt trouble them.

Psalms 144:6 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 144:6

Cast forth lightning, and scatter them
The mountains, the kings and kingdoms of the earth; the enemies of David, and of Christ, and of his people; particularly the Jews, who have been scattered all over the earth by the judgments of God upon them; cast forth like lightning, which is swift, piercing, penetrating, and destructive; shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them;
or, "trouble them" F11; as the Targum, Septuagint, and Arabic versions, nearer to the Hebrew: these also design the sore judgments of God, the arrows of famine, pestilence, and sword; which fly swiftly, pierce deeply, cut sharply, and, like fiery darts, give great pain and trouble. So Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret them of the decrees which come down from heaven, as Aben Ezra does ( Psalms 144:5 ) : by "lightning" Arama understands the flame of fire which comes out with thunder; and by "arrows" the thunderbolt, which he calls a stone hardened in the air like iron.


FOOTNOTES:

F11 (Mmhtw) "ac turba eos", Tigurine version; "et conturba eos", Cocceius, Michaelis.

Psalms 144:6 In-Context

4 (143-4) Man is like to vanity: his days pass away like a shadow.
5 (143-5) Lord, bow down thy heavens and descend: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.
6 (143-6) Send forth lightning, and thou shalt scatter them: shoot out thy arrows, and thou shalt trouble them.
7 (143-7) Put forth thy hand from on high, take me out, and deliver me from many waters: from the hand of strange children:
8 (143-8) Whose mouth hath spoken vanity: and their right hand is the right hand of iniquity.
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