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Easy-to-Read Version

Psalms 107:40

God shames even great leaders and makes them wander through empty deserts.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- The Topic Concordance - God;   Government;   Poverty;   Righteousness;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Poetry of the Hebrews;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Discontent;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Chaos;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Prince;   Psalms;   Sin;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Psalms the book of;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Prince;   Text of the Old Testament;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
he pours contempt on noblesand makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.
Hebrew Names Version
He pours contempt on princes, And causes them to wander in a trackless waste.
King James Version
He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way.
English Standard Version
he pours contempt on princes and makes them wander in trackless wastes;
New Century Version
He showed he was displeased with their leaders and made them wander in a pathless desert.
New English Translation
He would pour contempt upon princes, and he made them wander in a wasteland with no road.
Amplified Bible
He pours contempt on princes And makes them wander in a pathless wasteland.
New American Standard Bible
He pours contempt upon noblemen And makes them wander in a pathless wasteland.
World English Bible
He pours contempt on princes, And causes them to wander in a trackless waste.
Geneva Bible (1587)
He powreth cotempt vpon princes, & causeth them to erre in desert places out of the way.
Legacy Standard Bible
He pours contempt upon noblesAnd makes them wander in a pathless void.
Berean Standard Bible
He pours contempt on the nobles and makes them wander a pathless wasteland.
Contemporary English Version
But the Lord will take revenge on those who conquer you, and he will make them wander across desert sands.
Complete Jewish Bible
he pours contempt on princes and leaves them to wander in trackless wastes.
Darby Translation
He poureth contempt upon nobles, and causeth them to wander in a pathless waste;
George Lamsa Translation
He pours contempt upon rulers, and causes them to wander in the wilderness where there is no way.
Good News Translation
he showed contempt for their oppressors and made them wander in trackless deserts.
Lexham English Bible
he pours contempt on princes and causes them to wander in a trackless waste.
Literal Translation
He pours scorn on nobles, and causes them to wander in a desert; there is no path.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Though he suffre the to be euell intreated thorow tyrauntes, or let them wandre out of the waye in the wildernesse:
American Standard Version
He poureth contempt upon princes, And causeth them to wander in the waste, where there is no way.
Bible in Basic English
He puts an end to the pride of kings, and sends them wandering in the waste lands where there is no way.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the waste, where there is no way.
King James Version (1611)
Hee powreth contempt vpon princes: and causeth them to wander in the wildernesse, where there is no way.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
He bringeth princes into contempt: & he maketh them to wander in a wildernesse where there is no way at all.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Contempt is poured upon their princes, and he causes them to wander in a desert and trackless land.
English Revised Version
He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the waste, where there is no way.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Strijf was sched out on princes; and he made hem for to erre without the weie, and not in the weie.
Update Bible Version
He pours contempt on princes, And causes them to wander in the waste, where there is no way.
Webster's Bible Translation
He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, [where there is] no way.
New King James Version
He pours contempt on princes, And causes them to wander in the wilderness where there is no way;
New Living Translation
the Lord pours contempt on their princes, causing them to wander in trackless wastelands.
New Life Bible
He pours anger on rulers. He makes them walk in the waste places where there is no path.
New Revised Standard
he pours contempt on princes and makes them wander in trackless wastes;
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
He poureth contempt upon nobles, and causeth them to wander in a pathless waste;
Douay-Rheims Bible
(106-40) Contempt was poured forth upon their princes: and he caused them to wander where there was no passing, and out of the way.
Revised Standard Version
he pours contempt upon princes and makes them wander in trackless wastes;
Young's Literal Translation
He is pouring contempt upon nobles, And causeth them to wander in vacancy -- no way.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
He pours contempt upon princes And makes them wander in a pathless waste.

Contextual Overview

33 He changed rivers into a desert. He stopped springs from flowing. 34 He made the fertile land become salty, because the people living there did such evil things. 35 He changed the desert into a land with pools of water. He caused springs to flow from dry ground. 36 He led the hungry to that good land, and they built a city to live in. 37 They planted seeds in their fields and grapes in their vineyards, and they had a good harvest. 38 God blessed them with many children and plenty of animals. 39 But because of disaster and troubles, their families became small and weak. 40 God shames even great leaders and makes them wander through empty deserts. 41 But he rescues the poor from their misery. He makes their families large like flocks of sheep. 42 Good people see this and are happy. But the wicked see it and don't know what to say.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

poureth: Job 12:21, Job 12:24, Isaiah 23:8, Isaiah 23:9

contempt: Psalms 78:66, Exodus 8:3, Exodus 8:17, Exodus 8:24, Joshua 10:24-26, Judges 1:6, Judges 1:7, Judges 4:21, 1 Samuel 5:9, 1 Samuel 6:4, 1 Kings 21:19, 2 Kings 9:35-37, Daniel 4:33, Daniel 5:5, Daniel 5:6, Daniel 5:18-30, Acts 12:23, Revelation 19:18

causeth: Psalms 107:4, Job 12:24, Jeremiah 13:15-18

wilderness: or, void place

Reciprocal: Exodus 8:4 - General Numbers 14:33 - shall wander in the wilderness Joshua 8:29 - the king Judges 4:17 - fled Job 5:24 - sin Psalms 68:6 - the rebellious Isaiah 40:23 - General Daniel 4:24 - come Obadiah 1:2 - General Luke 1:52 - put

Gill's Notes on the Bible

He poureth contempt upon princes,.... That is, the Lord does, who is above them; he laughs at them, and has them in derision, when they are raging against his people, cause, and interest; he sets them up and pulls them down at his pleasure; he hurls them from their seats and thrones, and makes them contemptible to their subjects; he sometimes brings them to a shameful end, as Herod, who was eaten with worms; and wicked princes, if they are not brought to disgrace in this world, they will rise to shame and everlasting contempt in the other; and will stand with the meanest and lowest before the Judge of the whole earth; and seek to the rocks and mountains to cover them from his wrath. This particularly will be true of the antichristian princes, when the vials of God's wrath will be poured out upon them, Revelation 16:1.

And causeth them to wander in the wilderness; where there is no way; no beaten track or path; whither being driven out of their kingdoms, they flee for shelter, and wander about in untrodden paths; as Nebuchadnezzar, when he was driven from men, and had his dwelling with the beasts of the field: or this may be interpreted, as it is by Aben Ezra and Kimchi, the infatuation of their wisdom, and of their being left without counsel, and erring through it; being at their wits' end, not knowing what step to take, or measures to concert; being in a maze, in a wilderness, at an entire loss what they should do; see

Job 12:17.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

He poureth contempt upon princes - He treats them as if they were common people; he pays no regard in his providence to their station and rank. They are subjected to the same needs as others; they meet with reverses like others; they become captives like others; they sicken and die like others; they are laid in the grave like others; and, with the same offensiveness, they turn back to dust. Between monarchs and their subjects, masters and their slaves, mistresses and their handmaidens, rich men and poor men, beauty and deformity, there is no distinction in the pains of sickness, in the pangs of dying, in the loathsomeness of the grave. The process of corruption goes on in the most splendid coffin, and beneath the most costly monument which art and wealth can rear, as well as in the plainest coffin, and in the grave marked by no stone or memorial. What can more strikingly show “contempt” for the trappings of royalty, for the adornings of wealth, for the stars and garters of nobility, for coronets and crowns, for the diamonds, the pearls, and the gold that decorate beauty, than that which occurs “in a grave!” The very language used here, alike in the Hebrew and in our translation, is found in Job 12:21. The word rendered “princes” properly means “willing, voluntary, prompt;” and is then applied to the generous, to the noble-minded, to those who give liberally. It then denotes one of noble rank, as the idea of rank in the mind of the Orientals was closely connected with the notion of liberality in giving. Thus it comes to demote one of noble birth, and might be applied to any of exalted rank.

And causeth them to wander in the wilderness - Margin, “void place.” The Hebrew word - תהו tôhû - means properly wasteness, desolateness; emptiness, vanity. See Genesis 1:2; Job 26:7; Isaiah 41:29; Isaiah 44:9; Isaiah 49:4. Here it means an empty, uninhabited place; a place where there is no path to guide; a land of desolation. The reference seems to be to the world beyond the grave; the land of shadows and night. Compare the notes at Job 10:21-22.

Where there is no way - literally, “no way.” That is, no well-trodden path. All must soon go to that pathless world.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Psalms 107:40. He poureth contempt upon princes — How many have lately been raised from nothing, and set upon thrones! And how many have been cast down from thrones, and reduced to nothing! And where are now those mighty troublers of the earth? On both sides they are in general gone to give an account of themselves to God. And what an account!

Where there is no way. — Who can consider the fate of the late emperor of the French, Napoleon, without seeing the hand of God in his downfall! All the powers of Europe were leagued against him in vain; they were as stubble to his bow. "HE came, HE saw, and HE conquered" almost every where, till God, by a Russian FROST, destroyed his tens of thousands of veteran troops. And afterwards his armies of raw conscripts would have over-matched the world had not a particular providence intervened at Waterloo, when all the skill and valour of his opponents had been nearly reduced to nothing. How terrible art thou, O Lord, in thy judgments! Thou art fearful in praises, doing wonders.

The dreary rock of St. Helena, where there was no way, saw a period to the mighty conqueror, who had strode over all the countries of Europe!


 
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