a tempest · noun, common feminine singular absolute
come
תְּבוֹאֵ֣הוּte.vo.'E.hu
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
unawares
יֵ֫דָ֥עye.Da'
H3045
to know (properly · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
net
וְרִשְׁתּ֣וֹve.rish.To
H7568
a net (as catching animals) · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
hid
טָמַ֣ןta.Man
H2934
to hide (by covering over) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
catch
תִּלְכְּד֑וֹtil.ke.Do
H3920
to catch (in a net · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
destruction
בְּ֝שׁוֹאָ֗הbe.sho.'Ah
H7722
a tempest · preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute
fall
יִפָּלyi.pol-
H5307
to fall · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
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
Psalms 141:9-10 Keep me from the snares which they have laid for me, and the gins of the workers of iniquity.
Luke 21:34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so th…
Psalms 9:15 The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken.
Proverbs 5:22 His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.
Psalms 57:6 They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down: they have digged a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen thems…
Isaiah 47:11 Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to…
1 Thessalonians 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not…
1 Samuel 18:17 And Saul said to David, Behold my elder daughter Merab, her will I give thee to wife: only be thou valiant for me, and fight the LORD’s batt…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 35:1-10
In these verses we have,
I. David's representation of his case to God, setting forth the restless rage and malice of his persecutors. He was God's servant, expressly appointed by him to be what he was, followed his guidance, and aimed at his glory in the way of duty, had lived (as St. Paul speaks) in all good conscience before God unto this day; and yet there were those that strove with him, that did their utmost to oppose his advancement, and made all the interest they could against him; they fought against him (Psa 35:1), not only undermined him closely and secretly, but openly avowed their opposition to him and set themselves to do him all the mischief they could. They persecuted him with…
net in a pit--or, "pit of their net"--or, "net-pit," as "holy hill" for "hill of holiness" (Psa 2:6); a figure from hunting (Psa 7:15). Their imprecations on impenitent rebels against God need no vindication; His justice and wrath are for such; His mercy for penitents. Compare Psa 7:16; Psa 11:5, on the peculiar fate of the wicked here noticed.
John Gill on Psalms 35:8
Let destruction come upon him at unawares,.... Or a "storm" (r), such as is caused in the eastern countries by a south wind, very sudden, violent, and destructive (s): the singular number being here used, some Jewish commentators, as Kimchi, have thought Saul is particularly meant; and some Christian interpreters have been of opinion that Judas is intended: the imprecations here may be compared with those which respect him, Psalm 109:6. Though this may regard every one of the enemies of David, or of Christ and his people, whose ruin and destruction will come upon them unawares; see 1 Thessalonians 5:3;
and let his net that he hath laid catch himself; a figurative expression, agreeable to th…
Psalm 35:8-10
8. Let confusion of which he is not aware come upon him; and let his own net which he hath hidden catch himself: let him fall into it with confusion. 9. And my soul is joyful in Jehovah, it shall be glad in his salvation. 10. All my bones shall say, O Jehovah! who is like thee, that deliverest the poor from him that is stronger than he, the poor and miserable from him that spoileth him?
8. Let confusion of which he is not aware come upon him. David again prays that God would cause to return upon the head of his enemies the mischief which they had directed against a just and an inoffensive man. The change from the plural to the singular number, even when the same subject, is s…
The Church Fathers
I think this speaks about the cross on which the devil falls unknowingly. For if he had known never would he have affixed the Lord of glory to the cross.
But yet what is to be done? "Without a cause have they hid for me the corruption of their trap." What meaneth, "Without a cause"? I have done them no evil, I have hurt them not at all. "Vainly have they reviled my soul." What is, "Vainly"? Speaking falsely, proving nothing. "Let a trap come upon them which they know not of" (ver. 8). A magnificent retribution, nothing more just! They have hidden a trap that I might know not: let a trap come upon them which they know not of. For I know of their trap. But what, trap is coming upon them? That which they know not of. Let us hear, lest haply he speak of that. "Let a trap come upon them, which they know not of." Perhaps that is one which they hid for him, that another which shall come upon themselves. Not so: but what? "The wicked shall be holden with the cords of his own sins." Thereby are they deceived, whereby they would deceive. Thence shall come mischief to them, whence they endeavoured mischief. For it follows, "And let the net which they have hidden catch themselves, and let them fall into their own trap." As if any one should prepare a cup of poison for another, and forgetting should drink it up himself: or as if one should dig a pit, that his enemy might fall thereinto in the darkness and himself forgetting what he had dug, should first walk that way, and fall into it...
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
Enemy · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Net · Hid — Hid
Punishment Of The Wicked, The · Future described as: Often sudden and unexpected — Future described as: Often sudden and unexpected
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).
Psa 35:7 also needs re-organising, just as in Psa 35:5. the original positions of דחה and רדפס are exchanged. שׁחת רשׁתּם would be a pit deceptively covered over with a net concealed below; but, as even some of the older critics have felt, שׁחת is without doubt to be brought down from Psa 35:7 into Psa 35:7: without cause, i.e., without any provocation on my part, have they secretly laid their net for me (as in Psa 9:16; Psa 31:5), without cause have they digged a pit for my soul. In Psa 35:8 the foes are treated of collectively. לא ידע is a negative circumstantial clause (Ew. 341, b): improviso, as in Pro 5:6; Isa 47:11 extrem. Instead of תּלכּדנּוּ the expression is תּלכּדוּ, as in Hos 8:3…
A path that is dark and slippery suggests instability and untimely doom under the Lord’s judgment (see 69:23; 73:18; 82:5; 107:10; 143:3). • The angel of the Lord is an agent of judgment as well as salvation.
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 35:8
Let destruction come upon him at unawares; and let his net that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let him fall.
"Let destruction come, upon him at unawares." This tremendous imprecation is frequently fulfilled. God's judgments are often sudden and signal. Death enter the persecutor's house without pausing to knock at the door. The thunderbolt of judgment leaps from its hiding-place, and in one crash the wicked are broken for ever. "And let his net that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let him fall." There is a lex talionis with God which often works most wonderfully. Men set traps and catch their own fingers. They throw up stones, and they fall upon…
