Psalms 78:53

And he led them on safely, so that they feared not: but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
led	וַיַּנְחֵ֣ם vai.yan.Chem	H5148	to guide · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
safely	לָ֭בֶטַח La.ve.tach	H983	properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
feared	פָחָ֑דוּ fa.Cha.du	H6342	to be startled (by a sudden alarm) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
sea	הַיָּֽם hai.Yam	H3220	a sea (as breaking in noisy surf) or large body of water · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
overwhelmed	כִּסָּ֥ה ki.Sah	H3680	properly · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
enemies	א֝וֹיְבֵיהֶ֗ם 'oy.vei.Hem	H341	hating · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct + 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

Exodus 14:19-20 And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their…
Exodus 15:10 Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters.
Exodus 14:27-28 And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled agai…
Exodus 14:15 And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward:
Psalms 136:15 But overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Hebrews 11:29 By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 78:40–end

The matter and scope of this paragraph are the same with the former, showing what great mercies God had bestowed upon Israel, how provoking they had been, what judgments he had brought upon them for their sins, and yet how, in judgment, he remembered mercy at last. Let not those that receive mercy from God be thereby emboldened to sin, for the mercies they receive will aggravate their sin and hasten the punishment of it; yet let not those that are under divine rebukes for sin be discouraged from repentance, for their punishments are means of repentance, and shall not prevent the mercy God has yet in store for them. Observe, I. The sins of Israel in the wilderness again reflected on, because…

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John Gill on Psalms 78:53

And he led them on safely,.... Through the sea, where the waters were on each side; and through the wilderness, in which were serpents and scorpions, and where they were attacked by many powerful enemies: so that they feared not; for though they feared for a while at the Red sea, yet their fears were soon silenced, and they by faith passed through the Red sea as on dry land; and especially their fears were gone, when they saw the Egyptians dead on the sea shore; wherefore it follows: but the sea overwhelmed their enemies; or "covered" them (p); the waters returned, and overflowed and drowned the Egyptians, who were their implacable enemies, and vowed their destruction, and were sure of it;…

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John Calvin on Psalms 78:52-58

Psalm 78:52-58 52. And he made his people to go forth like sheep, and led them in the wilderness like a flock. 53. And he conducted them in safety, and they were not afraid: and the sea covered their enemies. 54. And he brought them to his holy border, [literally to the border of his holiness,] this mountain, [353] which his right hand acquired. [354] 55. He expelled the heathen from before them; and made them to fall into their part of the inheritance; [355] and made the children of Israel to dwell in their tents. 56. And they tempted and provoked the Most High God, and kept not his testimonies. 57. And they turned back and dealt treacherously, like their fathers: they turned back, like a…

The Church Fathers

"And He led them down in hope, and they feared not, and their enemies the sea covered" [Psalm 78:53]. But we are being led home in hope, "For by hope we are saved." [Romans 8:24] Nor ought we to fear. For, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" [Romans 8:31] And our enemies the sea has covered, He has effaced them in baptism by the remission of sins.
— Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 78

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

Desert, Journey Of Israel Through The · Under God’s protection — Under God’s protection
Red Sea · 14;15:1,4,11,19; — 14;15:1,4,11,19;
Shepherd · One who — One who

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 78:53

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 78:40–end

John Gill on Psalms 78:53

John Calvin on Psalms 78:52-58

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Psalms 78:53

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 78:40–end

John Gill on Psalms 78:53

John Calvin on Psalms 78:52-58

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Psalms 78:49-59

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Psalms 78:40-55

Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 78:53