תהלים 10:10

Hebrew Modern Translation

ודכה ישח ונפל בעצומיו חלכאים׃

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Aleppo Codex
(ידכה) ישח ונפל בעצומיו חלכאים (חל כאים)

Biblia Hebrica Stuttgartensia (1967/77)
*וַדָּכַה **יִדְכֶּ֥ה יָשֹׁ֑חַ וְנָפַ֥ל בַּ֝עֲצוּמָ֗יו *חֶלְכָּאִים **חֵ֣יל **כָּאִֽים ׃

Westminster Leningrad Codex
יִדְכֶּהוַדָּכַה יָשֹׁחַ וְנָפַל בַּעֲצוּמָיו חֵילחֶלְכָּאִים| (כָּאִֽים ׃ ק)

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

croucheth: Heb. breaketh himself, 1 Samuel 2:36

humbleth: 1 Samuel 18:21-26, 1 Samuel 23:21, 1 Samuel 23:22, 2 Samuel 15:5

by his strong ones: Heb. or, into his strong parts

Reciprocal: Psalms 59:3 - they Psalms 73:8 - speak wickedly Ecclesiastes 4:1 - and considered Jeremiah 5:26 - lay wait Matthew 2:7 - General James 2:6 - Do

Gill's Notes on the Bible

He croucheth [and] humbleth himself,.... As the lion before he leaps and seizes on his prey, and as the fowler creepeth upon the ground to draw the bird into his net and catch it; so the antichristian beast has two horns like a lamb; though he has the mouth of a lion, and speaks like a dragon, he would be thought to be like the Lamb of God, meek, and lowly, and humble, and therefore calls himself "servus servorum", "the servant of servants"; but his end is,

that the poor may fall by his strong ones; the word for "poor" is here used, as before observed on Psalms 10:8, in the plural number, and is read by the Masorites as two words, though it is written as one, and is by them and other Jewish writers h interpreted a multitude, company, or army of poor ones, whose strength is worn out; these weak and feeble ones antichrist causes to fall by his strong ones; either by his strong decrees, cruel edicts, and severe punishments, as by sword, by flame, by captivity and by spoils, Daniel 11:33; or by the kings of the earth and their armies, their mighty men of war, their soldiers, whom he instigates and influences to persecute their subjects, who will not receive his mark in their right hands or foreheads, Revelation 13:15. It is very observable, that those persecuted by antichrist are so often in this prophetic psalm called "poor"; and it is also remarkable, that there were a set of men in the darkest times of Popery, and who were persecuted by the Papists, called the "poor" men of Lyons: the whole verse may be rendered and paraphrased thus, "he tears in pieces", that is, the poor, whom he catches in his net; "he boweth himself", as the lion does, as before observed; "that he may fall", or rush upon; with his strong ones, his mighty armies, "upon the multitude of the poor".

h Jarchi, Kimchi, & Ben Melech in loc.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

He croucheth - Margin, “breaketh himself.” Coverdale, “Then smiteth he, then oppresseth he.” Prof. Alexander, “And bruised he will sink.” Horsley, “And the overpowered man submits.” Luther, “He slays, and thrusts down, and presses to the earth the poor with power.” This variety of interpretation arises from some ambiguity in regard to the meaning of the original. The word rendered “croucheth” - ודכה, in the Kethib (the text) - is in the Qeri’ (margin), ידכה, “and crushed, he sinks down.” There is some uncertainty about the form in which the word is used, but it is certain that it does not mean, as in our translation, “he croucheth.” The word דכה dâkâh, properly means to be broken in pieces, to be crushed; and this idea runs through all the forms in which the word occurs. The true idea, it seems to me, is that this does not refer to the wicked man, but to his victim or victims, represented here by a word in the collective singular; and the meaning is that such a victim, crushed and broken down, sinks under the power of the persecutor and oppressor. “And the crushed one sinks down.”

And humbleth himself - The word used here - ישׁח yāśoch - from שׁוּח śûch - means to sink down; to settle down. Here it means to sink down as one does who is overcome or oppressed, or who is smitten to the earth. The idea is, that he is crushed or smitten by the wicked, and sinks to the ground.

That the poor may fall - Rather, as in the original, “and the poor fall;” that is, they do fall. The idea is, that they do in fact fall by the arm of the persecutor and oppressor who treads them down.

By his strong ones - Margin, “Or, into his strong parts.” The text here best expresses the sense. The reference is to the strong ones - the followers and abettors of the “wicked” here referred to - his train of followers. The allusion seems to be to this wicked man represented as the head or leader of a band of robbers or outlaws - strong, athletic men engaged under him in committing robbery on the unprotected. See Psalms 10:8-9. Under these strong men the poor and the unprotected fall, and are crushed to the earth. The meaning of the whole verse, therefore, may be thus expressed: “And the crushed one sinks down, and the poor fall under his mighty ones.” The word rendered “poor” is in the plural, while the verb “fall” is in the singular; but this construction is not uncommon when the verb precedes. Nordheimer, Hebrew Grammar, Section 759, i., a. The word rendered “poor” means the wretched or the afflicted, and refers here to those who were unprotected - the victims of oppression and robbery.

The following account of the condition of Palestine at the present time will illustrate the passage here, and show how true the statements of the psalmist are to nature. It occurs in “The land and the Book,” by W. M. Thomson, D. D., Missionary in Syria. He is speaking of the sandy beach, or the sand hills, in the neighborhood of Mount Carmel, and says, respecting these “sandy downs, with feathery reeds, running far inland, the chosen retreat of wild boars and wild Arabs,” “The Arab robber larks like a wolf among these sand heaps, and often springs out suddenly upon the solitary traveler, robs him in a trice, and then plunges again into the wilderness of sand hills and reedy downs, where pursuit is fruitless. Our friends are careful not to allow us to straggle about or lag behind, and yet it seems absurd to fear a surprise here - Khaifa before, and Acre in the rear, and travelers in sight on both sides. Robberies, however, do often occur, just where we now are. Strange country! and it has always been so.” And then quoting the passage before us Psalms 10:8-10, he adds, “A thousand rascals, the living originals of this picture, are this day crouching and lying in wait all over the country to catch poor helpless travelers. You observe that all these people we meet or pass are armed; nor would they venture to go from Acre to Khaifa without their musket, although the cannon of the castles seem to command every foot of the way.” Vol. i., pp. 487, 488.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Psalms 10:10. He croucheth — Of the scoffing, mocking, insulting, and insidious conduct of Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem, the fourth and sixth chapters of Nehemiah give abundant proof; and possibly the allusion is to them. The lion squats down and gathers himself together, that he may make the greater spring.