Psalms 144:6

Cast forth lightning, and scatter them: shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
forth	בְּר֣וֹק be.Rok	H1299	to lighten (lightning) · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
lightning	בָּ֭רָק Ba.rok	H1300	lightning · noun, common masculine singular absolute
scatter	וּתְפִיצֵ֑ם u.te.fi.Tzem	H6327	to dash in pieces · conjunction + verb, hiphil, 2nd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
out	שְׁלַ֥ח she.Lach	H7971	to send away · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
arrows	חִ֝צֶּ֗יךָ chi.Tzei.kha	H2671	properly · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
destroy	וּתְהֻמֵּֽם u.te.hu.Mem	H2000	properly · conjunction + verb, qal, 2nd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural

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

Deuteronomy 32:23 I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them.
Psalms 18:13-14 The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.
Deuteronomy 32:42 I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh; and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from th…
2 Samuel 22:12-15 And he made darkness pavilions round about him, dark waters, and thick clouds of the skies.
Psalms 7:12-13 If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready.
Psalms 21:12 Therefore shalt thou make them turn their back, when thou shalt make ready thine arrows upon thy strings against the face of them.
Psalms 45:5 Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies; whereby the people fall under thee.
Psalms 77:17-18 The clouds poured out water: the skies sent out a sound: thine arrows also went abroad.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 144:1-8

Here, I. David acknowledges his dependence upon God and his obligations to him, Psa 144:1, Psa 144:2. A prayer for further mercy is fitly begun with a thanksgiving for former mercy; and when we are waiting upon God to bless us we should stir up ourselves to bless him. He gives to God the glory of two things: - 1. What he was to him: Blessed be the Lord my rock (Psa 144:1), my goodness, my fortress, Psa 144:2. He has in the covenant engaged himself to be so, and encouraged us, accordingly, to depend upon him; all the saints, who by faith have made him theirs, have found him not only to answer but to out do their expectations. David speaks of it here as the matter of his trust, and that which…

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John Gill on 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" (k); 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 the…

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John Calvin on Psalms 144:5-8

Psalm 144:5-8 5. O Jehovah! bow thy heavens, [260] and descend: [261] touch the mountains, and they shall smoke. 6. Thunder forth thunderings, and scatter them; [262] shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them. 7. Send thy hand from above, rid me and deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of the sons of the stranger. 8. For their mouth hath spoken falsehood; and their right hand is a right hand of deceit. 5. O Jehovah! bow thy heavens. After extolling, as was due, the great goodness of God, he requests him to furnish such help for the preservation of the kingdom as was necessary in the present exigency. As formerly we saw that he had gloried in God with a heroical courage, so here he…

The Church Fathers

Flash forth the lightning, and you shall scatter them. See what he says. He did not say, you shall destroy them: but, you shall scatter them. We read in Genesis, at that time when they were building the tower, God says: 'Come, let us descend and confound their tongue' lest at some time they should have agreement among themselves; but let them be scattered abroad, it profits them.
— Jerome, Homily 54, on Psalm 143

"Flash Thy lightning, and Thou shall scatter them; send forth Thine arrows, and Thou shall confound them." But there are some that conspire, that "gather themselves together against the Lord, and against His Christ." They have come together, they have conspired. "Flash forth Thy lightnings, and Thou shall scatter them." Abound with Thy miracles, and their conspiracy shall be broken. ..."Send forth Thine arrows, and Thou shall confound them." Let the unsound be wounded, that, being well wounded, they may be made sound; and let them say, being set now in the Church, in the Body of Christ, let them say with the Church, "I am wounded with Love."
— Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 144

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

Arrows — At first made of reeds, and then of wood tipped with iron. Arrows are sometimes figuratively put for lightning (Deut. 32:23, 42; Ps. 7:13; 18:14; 144:6; Zech. 9:14). They were used in war as well as…
Lightning — Frequently referred to by the sacred writers (Nah. 1:3-6). Thunder and lightning are spoken of as tokens of God’s wrath (2 Sam. 22:15; Job 28:26; 37:4; Ps. 135:7; 144:6; Zech. 9:14). They represent…
Arrow · FIGURATIVE — FIGURATIVE
Lightning · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning

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).

Psalms 144:6

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 144:1-8

John Gill on Psalms 144:6

John Calvin on Psalms 144:5-8

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Psalms 144:6

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 144:1-8

John Gill on Psalms 144:6

John Calvin on Psalms 144:5-8

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Psalms 144:5-8

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Psalms 144:5-8

Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 144:6