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King James Version

Psalms 33:17

An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his 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

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.
English Standard Version
The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue.
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.
Amplified Bible
A horse is a false hope for victory; Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength.
New American Standard Bible
A horse is a false hope for victory; Nor does it rescue anyone by its great strength.
World English Bible
A horse is a vain thing for safety, Neither does he deliver any by his great power.
Geneva Bible (1587)
A horse is a vaine helpe, and shall not deliuer any by his great strength.
Legacy Standard Bible
A horse is a false hope for salvation;Nor does it provide escape to anyone by its great strength.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
English Revised Version
An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great power.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
An hors is false to helthe; forsothe he schal not be sauyd in the habundaunce, `ether plentee, of his vertu.
Update Bible Version
A horse is a vain thing for safety; Neither does he deliver any by his great power.
Webster's Bible Translation
A horse [is] a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver [any] by his great strength.
New King James Version
A horse is a vain hope for safety; Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength.
New Living Translation
Don't count on your warhorse to give you victory— for all its strength, it cannot save you.
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.
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.
Young's Literal Translation
A false thing [is] the horse for safety, And by the abundance of his strength He doth not deliver.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
A horse is a false hope for victory; Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength.

Contextual Overview

12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord ; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. 13 The Lord looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men. 14 From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. 15 He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their works. 16 There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength. 17 An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength. 18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; 19 To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. 20 Our soul waiteth for the Lord : he is our help and our shield. 21 For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted 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
And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children.
Exodus 13:20
And they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness.
Joshua 13:27
And in the valley, Betharam, and Bethnimrah, and Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, Jordan and his border, even unto the edge of the sea of Chinnereth on the other side Jordan eastward.
Judges 8:5
And he said unto the men of Succoth, Give, I pray you, loaves of bread unto the people that follow me; for they be faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.
Judges 8:8
And he went up thence to Penuel, and spake unto them likewise: and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered him.
Judges 8:14
And caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and enquired of him: and he described unto him the princes of Succoth, and the elders thereof, even threescore and seventeen men.
Judges 8:16
And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth.
1 Kings 7:46
In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarthan.
Psalms 60:6
God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.

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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