properly · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
places
בְּמַאְרַ֬בbe.ma'.Rav
H3993
an ambuscade · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
villages
חֲצֵרִ֗יםcha.tze.Rim
H2691
a yard (as inclosed by a fence) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
places
בַּֽ֭מִּסְתָּרִיםBa.mis.ta.rim
H4565
properly · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
murder
יַהֲרֹ֣גya.ha.Rog
H2026
to smite with deadly intent · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
innocent
נָקִ֑יna.Ki
H5355
innocent · adjective, masculine singular absolute
eyes
עֵ֝ינָ֗יו'ei.Nav
H5869
an eye (literally or figuratively) · noun, common feminine dual construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
set
יִצְפֹּֽנוּyitz.Po.nu
H6845
to hide (by covering over) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
poor
לְֽחֵלְכָ֥הle.che.le.Khah
H2489
a wretch · preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Habakkuk 3:14 Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages: they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing was as to de…
1 Samuel 22:18 And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and slew on that…
Jeremiah 22:17 But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do…
1 Samuel 23:23 See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hideth himself, and come ye again to me with the certainty, and I will…
2 Kings 21:16 Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Juda…
Psalms 17:11 They have now compassed us in our steps: they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth;
Psalms 94:6 They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless.
Proverbs 1:11-12 If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 10:1-11
David, in these verses, discovers,
I. A very great affection to God and his favour; for, in the time of trouble, that which he complains of most feelingly is God's withdrawing his gracious presence (Psa 10:1): "Why standest thou afar off, as one unconcerned in the indignities done to thy name and the injuries done to the people?" Note, God's withdrawings are very grievous to his people at any time, but especially in times of trouble. Outward deliverance is afar off and is hidden from us, and then we think God is afar off and we therefore want inward comfort; but that is our own fault; it is because we judge by outward appearance; we stand afar off from God by our unbelief, and then we compla…
eyes . . . privily--He watches with half-closed eyes, appearing not to see.
John Gill on Psalms 10:8
He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages,.... Which were by the wayside, where thieves and robbers harboured, and out of which they came, and robbed passengers as they came by. The word (f) signifies "palaces" or "courts": and so it is rendered by the Chaldee paraphrase and Syriac version; and so the allusion is not to mean thieves and robbers, but to persons of note and figure. Hence the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, render it, "he sitteth in lurking places with the rich"; and may be fitly applied to the pope and his cardinals. Antichrist sits in the temple of God, and by his emissaries gets into the villages, the particular churches and congregations…
Psalm 10:7-10
7. His mouth is full of cursing, and deceit, and malice: under his tongue are mischief and iniquity. 8. He will sit in the ensnaring places of the villages; in his lurking places will he murder the innocent: his eyes will take their aim against the poor. 9. He will lie in wait secretly, as a lion in his den; he will lie in wait to catch the poor; he will catch the poor by drawing him into his net. 10. He will crouch low, and cast himself down, and then shall an army of the afflicted fall by his strengths. [216]
7. His mouth is full of cursing. The scope of these four verses is this: If God intends to succor his servants, it is now a proper time for doing so, inasmuch as the l…
The Church Fathers
"He lies in ambush with the rich" [Psalm 10:8]. What rich, but those whom he will load with this world's gifts? And he is therefore said to lie in ambush with them, because he will display their false happiness to deceive men; who, when with a perverted will they desire to be such as they, and seek not the good things eternal, will fall into his snares. "That in the dark he may kill the innocent." "In the dark," I suppose, is said, where it is not easily understood what should be sought, or what avoided. Now to kill the innocent, is of an innocent to make one guilty.
And lastly, against the devil: 'God is not before his eyes, he sits in ambush with the rich.' Unhappy the rich, with whom the devil sits. Finally, see what is said of the devil: 'He sits in ambush with the rich.' For whoever is rich, unless he has stripped the poor man, cannot be rich: for this reason he said, 'He sits in ambush with the rich.' Whenever the rich persecute Christians, let us say: 'The devil sits in ambush with the rich.' He lies in wait to seize the poor man, to seize the poor man while he draws him in: 'in his snare he will humble him.' This is the impious man, this is the devil. The poor man not only in riches, but also in spirit: 'for blessed are the poor in spirit.' 'In his snare he will humble.' Whom? The poor man is understood. See what is said. 'He will humble'; not, 'he will slay': but when he has humbled the poor man, the humbling of the poor man is the ruin of the devil. For what follows? 'He will bow himself down and fall, while he has dominion over the poor.' Does not the devil seem to you, in persecution, when he would kill Christians, when he would slay the martyrs, to be slain in the very act of slaying? 'He will bow himself down and fall, while he shall have dominion over the poor.' The martyr who is slain goes to heaven; that slayer is humbled and falls.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Psalms, Book Of — The present Hebrew name of the book is Tehill’im, “Praises;” but in the actual superscriptions of the psalms the word Tehillah is applied only to one, (Psalms 145:1) ... which is indeed emphatically…
Character Of The Wicked · Murderous — Murderous
Malice · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Murder · The wicked: Lie in wait to commit — The wicked: Lie in wait to commit
Speaking · EVIL — EVIL
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
The ungodly is described as a lier in wait; and one is reminded by it of such a state of anarchy, as that described in Hos 6:9 for instance. The picture fixes upon one simple feature in which the meanness of the ungodly culminates; and it is possible that it is intended to be taken as emblematical rather than literally. חצר (from חצר to surround, cf. Arab. hdr, hṣr, and especially hdr) is a farm premises walled in (Arab. hadar, hadâr, hadâra), then losing the special characteristic of being walled round it comes to mean generally a settled abode (with a house of clay or stone) in opposition to a roaming life in tents (cf. Lev 25:31; Gen 25:16). In such a place where men are more sure of f…
The wicked rely on outright violence (11:5; 37:32) and deception (Prov 12:6; 23:27-28).
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 10:8
He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor.
Despite the bragging of this base wretch, it seems that he is as cowardly as he is cruel. "He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor." He acts the part of the highwayman, who springs upon the unsuspecting traveller in some desolate part of the road. There are always bad men lying in wait for the saints. This is a land of robbers and thieves; let us travel well armed, for every bush conceals an enemy. Everywhere there are traps laid for us, and foes thi…
