Psalms 57:4 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Psalms 57:4
My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.
properly · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix
among
בְּת֥וֹךְbe.Tokh
H8432
a bisection · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
lions
לְבָאִם֮le.va.'Im
H3833
to roar · noun, common masculine plural absolute
lie
אֶשְׁכְּבָ֪ה'esh.ke.Vah
H7901
to lie down (for rest · verb, qal infinitive construct, 1st person common singular
fire
לֹ֫הֲטִ֥יםlo.ha.Tim
H3857
properly · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
sons
בְּֽנֵיbe.nei-
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
men
אָדָ֗ם'a.Dam
H120
ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species · noun, common masculine singular absolute
teeth
שִׁ֭נֵּיהֶםShi.nei.hem
H8127
a tooth (as sharp) · noun, common feminine dual construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
spears
חֲנִ֣יתcha.Nit
H2595
a lance (for thrusting · noun, common feminine singular absolute
arrows
וְחִצִּ֑יםve.chi.Tzim
H2671
properly · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural absolute
tongue
וּ֝לְשׁוֹנָ֗םu.le.sho.Nam
H3956
the tongue (of man or animals) · conjunction + noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
sharp
חַדָּֽהcha.Dah
H2299
sharp · adjective, feminine singular absolute
sword
חֶ֣רֶבChe.rev
H2719
drought · 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
Psalms 58:6 Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O LORD.
Proverbs 30:14 There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from a…
Psalms 35:17 Lord, how long wilt thou look on? rescue my soul from their destructions, my darling from the lions.
Psalms 55:21 The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords.
Psalms 64:3 Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words:
Proverbs 12:18 There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health.
Psalms 52:2 Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.
Daniel 6:22-24 My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me;…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 57:1-6
The title of this psalm has one word new in it, Al-taschith - Destroy not. Some make it to be only some known tune to which this psalm was set; others apply it to the occasion and matter of the psalm. Destroy not; that is, David would not let Saul be destroyed, when now in the cave there was a fair opportunity of killing him, and his servants would fain have done so. No, says David, destroy him not, Sa1 24:4, Sa1 24:6. Or, rather, God would not let David be destroyed by Saul; he suffered him to persecute David, but still under this limitation, Destroy him hot; as he permitted Satan to afflict Job, Only save his life. David must not be destroyed, for a blessing is in him (Isa 65:8), even Chri…
The mingled figures of wild beasts (Psa 10:9; Psa 17:12) and weapons of war (Psa 11:2) heighten the picture of danger.
whose . . . tongue--or slanders.
John Gill on Psalms 57:4
My soul is among lions,.... Not literally understood; though such there might be in the wildernesses where he sometimes was; but figuratively, men comparable to lions, for their stoutness, courage, strength, fierceness, and cruelty; meaning not his own men, as some think, who were fierce, and of keen resentment against Saul, and would fain have killed him when he was in the cave, had they not been restrained by David, 1 Samuel 24:4; but Saul, and those with him, who were three thousand chosen men, stout, courageous, fierce, and furious. It is usual in scripture to describe powerful princes, and especially persecuting ones, by the name of lions, Proverbs 28:15. Achilles, in Homer (o), is comp…
Psalm 57:4-6
4. My soul is among lions; [341] and I lie even among them that are set on fire, [342] even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword. 5. Exalt thyself, O God: above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth. 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 themselves.
4. My soul is among lions. He again insists upon the cruelty of his enemies as a plea to prevail with God for his speedier interposition. He compares them to lions, speaks of them as inflamed with fury or implacable hatred, and likens their teeth to spears and arrows. In what…
The Church Fathers
One thing you can count on: Corruption does not save those who get into it. On the contrary, it sets itself up against them, tears them down and brings about their doom. Woe to those people against whom this prophecy is written! For the evil they pursue is sharper than a two-edged sword, and it will first slay those who lay hold of it. Even their own tongue, as the psalmist points out, "is a sharp sword, and their teeth are spears and arrows."
Casting away therefore all anxiety and superfluous care, let us return to ourselves; and let us adorn the body and the soul with the ornament of virtue; converting our bodily members into instruments of righteousness and not instruments of sin. And first of all, let us discipline our tongue to be the minister of the grace of the Spirit, expelling from the mouth all virulence and malignity, and the practice of using disgraceful words. For it is in our power to make each one of our members an instrument of wickedness, or of righteousness. Hear then how men make the tongue an instrument, some of sin, others of righteousness! "Their tongue is a sharp sword." But another speaks thus of his own tongue: "My tongue is the pen of a ready writer." The former wrought destruction; the latter wrote the divine law. Thus was one a sword, the other a pen, not according to its own nature, but according to the choice of those who employed it. For the nature of this tongue and of that was the same, but the operation was not the same.
..."He hath sent from heaven His mercy and His truth." For what purpose? "And hath drawn out my soul from the midst of the lions' whelps" [Psalm 57:4]. "Hath sent," he saith, "from heaven His mercy and His truth:" and Christ Himself saith, "I am Truth." There was sent therefore Truth, that it should draw out my soul hence from the midst of the lions' whelps: there was sent mercy. Christ Himself we find to be both mercy and truth; mercy in suffering with us, and truth in requiting us. ...Who are the lions' whelps? That lesser people, unto evil deceived, unto evil led away by the chiefs of the Jews: so that these are lions, those lions' whelps. All roared, all slew. For we are to hear even here the slaying of these very men, presently in the following verses of this Psalm. "And hath drawn out," he saith, "my soul from the midst of the lions' whelps." Why sayest thou, "And hath drawn out my soul"? For what hadst thou suffered, that thy soul should be drawn out? "I have slept troubled." Christ hath intimated His death. ...
Dictionary and topics
Altaschith — Destroy not, the title of Ps. 57, 58, 59, and 75. It was probably the name of some song to the melody of which these psalms were to be chanted.
Lion — “The most powerful, daring and impressive of all carnivorous animals, the most magnificent in aspect and awful in voice.” At present lions do not exist in Palestine; but they must in ancient times…
Sword — Of the Hebrew was pointed, sometimes two-edged, was worn in a sheath, and suspended from the girdle (Ex. 32:27; 1 Sam. 31:4; 1 Chr. 21:27; Ps. 149:6: Prov. 5:4; Ezek. 16:40; 21:3-5). It is a symbol…
Alliance And Society With The Enemies Of God · Saints grieve to meet with, in their intercourse with the world — Saints grieve to meet with, in their intercourse with the world
Arrow · FIGURATIVE — FIGURATIVE
Enemy · The wickedness of David’s — The wickedness of David’s
Malice · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Spear · Illustrative of the bitterness of the wicked — Illustrative of the bitterness of the wicked
Sword · .Of the malicious tongue — .Of the malicious tongue
Sword, The · Described as: Sharp — Described as: Sharp
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).
By means of the two distinctive tense-forms the poet describes his believing flight to God for refuge as that which has once taken place (חסיה from חסה = חסי out of pause, like the same forms in Psa 73:2; Psa 122:6), and still, because it is a living fact, is ever, and now in particular, renewed (אחסה). The shadow of the wings of God is the protection of His gentle, tender love; and the shadow of the wings is the quickening, cordial solace that is combined with this protection. Into this shadow the poet betakes himself for refuge now as he has done before, until הוּות, i.e., the abysmal danger that threatens him, be overpast, praeteriverit (cf. Isa 26:20, and on the enallage numeri Psa 10:10…
These verses are a prayer for rescue from powerful enemies. The metaphor of fierce lions describes human enemies; the psalmist feels unable to escape them without God’s intervention (see also 35:11-21; 124:6).
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 57:4
My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.
My soul is among lions. He was a very Daniel. Howled at, hunted, wounded, but not slain. His place was in itself one of extreme peril, and yet faith made him feel himself secure, so that he could lie down. The cave may have reminded him of a lion's den, and Saul and his band shouting and yelling in their disappointment at missing him, were the lions; yet beneath the divine shelter he finds himself safe. And I lie even among them that are set on fire. Perhaps Saul and his band kindled a fire in the cavern while they halted in it, and…
