Psalms 91:5

Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
afraid	תִ֭ירָא Ti.ra'	H3372	to fear · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
terror	מִפַּ֣חַד mi.Pa.chad	H6343	a (sudden) alarm (properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
night	לָ֑יְלָה La.ye.lah	H3915	properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
arrow	מֵ֝חֵ֗ץ me.Chetz	H2671	properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
flieth	יָע֥וּף ya.'Uf	H5774	to fly · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
day	יוֹמָֽם yo.Mam	H3119	daily · adverb

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

Isaiah 43:2 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through t…
Job 5:19-27 He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.
Proverbs 3:23-25 Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble.
Psalms 3:5-6 I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the LORD sustained me.
Hebrews 13:6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
Psalms 112:7 He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD.
Psalms 27:1-3 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
Proverbs 28:1 The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 91:1-8

In these verses we have, I. A great truth laid down in general, That all those who live a life of communion with God are constantly safe under his protection, and may therefore preserve a holy serenity and security of mind at all times (Psa 91:1): He that dwells, that sits down, in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty; he that by faith chooses God for his guardian shall find all that in him which he needs or can desire. Note, 1. It is the character of a true believer that he dwells in the secret place of the Most High; he is at home in God, returns to God, and reposes in him as his rest; he acquaints himself with inward religion, and makes heart-wor…

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John Gill on Psalms 91:5

Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night,.... The terrible things that happen in the night; as fire, storms and tempests, invasion of enemies, murders, thefts, and, robberies: a good man, when he has committed himself and his family to the care and protection of God by prayer, has no reason to be anxiously careful of these things, or to indulge a slavish fear about them; see Psalm 3:5, the Targum is, "thou shall not be afraid for the fear of devils that walk in the night:'' so Jarchi interprets this, and the next verse, of such; as do others of the Jewish writers: a man that trusts in the Lord need not be afraid of men or devils: a fear of evil spirits is natural to men, and very e…

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John Calvin on Psalms 91:5-8

Psalm 91:5-8 5. Thou shalt not fear for the terror of the night; for the arrow that flieth by day; 6. For the destruction that walketh in darkness; for the pestilence [577] which wasteth at noon-day. [578] 7. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; it shall not come nigh thee. 8. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. 5 Thou shalt not fear for the terror of the night. The Psalmist continues to insist upon the truth which I have just adverted to, that, if we confide with implicit reliance upon the protection of God, we will be secure from every temptation and assault of Satan. It is of importance to remember, that those whom G…

The Church Fathers

You shall not fear the terror of the night. The devil is always in darkness: "that he may strike," he says, "the innocent in secret." You see, therefore, that whoever is simple and innocent is always struck in secret. You shall not fear the terror of the night. What he says is this: Although you may be in terror, which is night, nevertheless you shall not fear, because you have the shield of truth.
— Jerome, Homily 20, on Psalm 90

But someone may say: If the devil does not shoot in the day, how then in the following little verse does the psalmist say, From the arrow that flies by day? What is this arrow that flies by day? It is the teaching of the heretics: which, as it were through the day—that is, the law of God—flies here and there, while they anxiously gather up testimonies searched out against us, which by their own interpretations they corrupt away from the truth.
— Jerome, Homily 68, on Psalm 90 (Alternate Series)

Of the arrow that flies by day. To this sense there seems to be, as it were, a contradiction: Of the arrow that flies by day. The flying arrow of the devil seems to me to be the discourse of the heretics and philosophers. For these too promise the light of knowledge, and say that they have day; and they cannot deceive unless they promise light. But that light which they promise is from burning arrows. And therefore it is said, Of the arrow that flies by day.
— Jerome, Homily 20, on Psalm 90

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…
Arrow · FIGURATIVE — FIGURATIVE
Plague Or Pestilence, The · Equally fatal day and night — Equally fatal day and night
Privileges Of Saints · Secure during public calamities — Secure during public calamities
Protection · Is vouchsafed to saints in: All dangers — Is vouchsafed to saints in: All dangers
Sickness · God: Preserves saints in time of — God: Preserves saints in time of
Testimony · RELIGIOUS, EXEMPLIFIED — RELIGIOUS, EXEMPLIFIED

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 91:5

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 91:1-8

John Gill on Psalms 91:5

John Calvin on Psalms 91:5-8

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Psalms 91:5

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 91:1-8

John Gill on Psalms 91:5

John Calvin on Psalms 91:5-8

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Psalms 91:3-8

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Psalms 91:5-8

Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 91:5