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Wednesday, November 6th, 2024
the Week of Proper 26 / Ordinary 31
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Amplified Bible

Psalms 33:17

A horse is a false hope for victory; Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Confidence;   False Confidence;   Horse;   Thompson Chain Reference - Animals;   Horses;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Horse, the;   Protection;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Psalms, the Book of;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Worship;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Humility;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Horse;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Hymn;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - English Versions;   Ethics;   Greek Versions of Ot;   Horse;   Psalms;   Sin;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Psalms the book of;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Horse;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Horse;   Omniscience;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Horse;  

Devotionals:

- Daily Light on the Daily Path - Devotion for July 27;   Every Day Light - Devotion for March 22;  

Parallel Translations

New Living Translation
Don't count on your warhorse to give you victory— for all its strength, it cannot save you.
English Revised Version
An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great power.
Update Bible Version
A horse is a vain thing for safety; Neither does he deliver any by his great power.
New Century Version
Horses can't bring victory; they can't save by their strength.
New English Translation
A horse disappoints those who trust in it for victory; despite its great strength, it cannot deliver.
Webster's Bible Translation
A horse [is] a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver [any] by his great strength.
World English Bible
A horse is a vain thing for safety, Neither does he deliver any by his great power.
English Standard Version
The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
An hors is false to helthe; forsothe he schal not be sauyd in the habundaunce, `ether plentee, of his vertu.
Berean Standard Bible
A horse is a vain hope for salvation; even its great strength cannot save.
Contemporary English Version
In war the strength of a horse cannot be trusted to take you to safety.
American Standard Version
A horse is a vain thing for safety; Neither doth he deliver any by his great power.
Bible in Basic English
A horse is a false hope; his great power will not make any man free from danger.
Complete Jewish Bible
To rely on a horse for safety is vain, nor does its great power assure escape.
Darby Translation
The horse is a vain thing for safety; neither doth he deliver by his great power.
Easy-to-Read Version
Horses don't really bring victory in war. Their strength cannot help you escape.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
A horse is a vain thing for safety; neither doth it afford escape by its great strength.
King James Version (1611)
An horse is a vaine thing for safetie: neither shall he deliuer any by his great strength.
New Life Bible
A horse cannot be trusted to win a battle. Its great strength cannot save anyone.
New Revised Standard
The war horse is a vain hope for victory, and by its great might it cannot save.
Geneva Bible (1587)
A horse is a vaine helpe, and shall not deliuer any by his great strength.
George Lamsa Translation
A horse is a false thing for salvation; neither shall he deliver his rider by his great strength.
Good News Translation
War horses are useless for victory; their great strength cannot save.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
A deception, is the horse, for victory, and, by his great strength, shall he not deliver.
Douay-Rheims Bible
(32-17) Vain is the horse for safety: neither shall he be saved by the abundance of his strength.
Revised Standard Version
The war horse is a vain hope for victory, and by its great might it cannot save.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
A horse for to saue is vanitie: and he can deliuer none by his great strength.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
A horse is vain for safety; neither shall he be delivered by the greatness of his power.
Christian Standard Bible®
The horse is a false hope for safety;it provides no escape by its great power.
Hebrew Names Version
A horse is a vain thing for safety, Neither does he deliver any by his great power.
King James Version
An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.
Lexham English Bible
The horse is a false hope for victory, nor can it save by the greatness of its power.
Literal Translation
A horse is a vain thing for safety; nor does he save by his great strength.
Young's Literal Translation
A false thing [is] the horse for safety, And by the abundance of his strength He doth not deliver.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
A horse is but a vayne thynge to saue a man, it is not the power of his stregth that can delyuer him.
New American Standard Bible
A horse is a false hope for victory; Nor does it rescue anyone by its great strength.
New King James Version
A horse is a vain hope for safety; Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
A horse is a false hope for victory; Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength.
Legacy Standard Bible
A horse is a false hope for salvation;Nor does it provide escape to anyone by its great strength.

Contextual Overview

12Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the nation whose God is the LORD, The people whom He has chosen as His own inheritance. 13The LORD looks [down] from heaven; He sees all the sons of man; 14From His dwelling place He looks closely Upon all the inhabitants of the earth— 15He who fashions the hearts of them all, Who considers and understands all that they do. 16The king is not saved by the great size of his army; A warrior is not rescued by his great strength. 17A horse is a false hope for victory; Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength.18Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon those who fear Him [and worship Him with awe-inspired reverence and obedience], On those who hope [confidently] in His compassion and lovingkindness, 19To rescue their lives from death And keep them alive in famine. 20We wait [expectantly] for the LORD; He is our help and our shield. 21For in Him our heart rejoices, Because we trust [lean on, rely on, and are confident] in His holy name.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

An horse: Psalms 20:7, Judges 4:15, 2 Kings 7:6, 2 Kings 7:7, Proverbs 21:31, Ecclesiastes 9:11, Isaiah 30:16, Hosea 14:3

his great: Psalms 147:10, Job 39:19-25

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 20:1 - horses Judges 1:10 - Sheshai Judges 5:22 - horsehoofs 1 Samuel 2:9 - by strength 1 Samuel 17:47 - saveth not 2 Samuel 8:4 - chariots 1 Chronicles 18:4 - David Job 36:19 - nor all Job 39:11 - trust Psalms 44:6 - General Isaiah 31:1 - stay on horses Isaiah 31:3 - their horses Jeremiah 9:23 - neither Jeremiah 46:6 - not Daniel 11:11 - the multitude Amos 2:15 - neither Micah 5:10 - that I Nahum 3:10 - she carried

Cross-References

Exodus 12:37
Now the Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides [the women and] the children.
Exodus 13:20
They journeyed from Succoth [in Goshen] and camped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness.
Joshua 13:27
and in the valley, Beth-haram and Beth-nimrah and Succoth and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, with the Jordan as a border, as far as the lower end of the Sea of Chinnereth (Galilee) east of the Jordan.
Judges 8:5
He said to the men of Succoth, "Please give loaves of bread to the people who are following me since they are exhausted, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian."
Judges 8:8
He went from there up to Penuel and spoke similarly to them; and the men of Penuel answered him just as the men of Succoth had answered.
Judges 8:14
He captured a young man of Succoth and questioned him. And the youth wrote down for him [the names of] the leaders of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men.
Judges 8:16
He took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briars, and with them he punished the men of Succoth.
1 Kings 7:46
In the plain of the Jordan [River] the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan.
Psalms 60:6
God has spoken in His holiness [in His promises]: "I will rejoice, I will divide [the land of] Shechem and measure out the Valley of Succoth [west to east].

Gill's Notes on the Bible

A horse [is] a vain thing for safety,.... Though it is prepared for the day of battle, and is a very warlike creature, and of great service in war, yet safety only is of the Lord, Proverbs 21:31; this is put for all kinds of military preparations which men are apt to trust in, but should not, for they are "a lie" i, as the horse is here said to be; that is, deceives and disappoints when trusted to; in like manner the olive is said "to lie", Habakkuk 3:17; when hope of fruit from it is disappointed; so "fundus mendax" in Horace k;

neither shall he deliver [any] by his great strength; in the time of battle; either by fighting for him, or fleeing with him.

i שקר "mendacium", Pagninus, Montanus; "fallax", V. L. k Epod. l. 1. Ode 16. ver. 45. Carmin. l. 3. Ode 1. v. 30. "Spem mentita seges", ib. Epist. l. 1. ep. 7. v. 87.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

An horse - The reference here is undoubtedly to the war-horse. See the notes at Psalms 20:7.

Is a vain thing - literally, is a “lie.” That is, he cannot be confided in.

For safety - For securing safety in battle. He is liable to be stricken down, or to become wild and furious so as to be beyond the control of his rider; and however strong or fleet he may be, or however well he may be “broken,” yet none of these things make it certain that the rider will be safe. God is the only being in whom perfect confidence can be reposed.

Neither shall he deliver any by his great strength - Safety cannot be found in his mere “strength,” however great that may be. These illustrations are all designed to lead the mind to the great idea that safety is to be found in God alone, Psalms 33:18-19.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Psalms 33:17. A horse is a vain thing for safety — Even the horse, with all his fleetness, is no sure means of escape from danger: the lion or the tiger can overtake him or he may stumble, fall, and destroy his rider.


 
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