תהלים 7:12

Hebrew Modern Translation

אם לא ישוב חרבו ילטוש קשתו דרך ויכוננה׃

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Aleppo Codex
[7:13] ישוב חרבו ילטוש קשתו דרך ויכוננה

Biblia Hebrica Stuttgartensia (1967/77)
[7:13] אִם־לֹ֣א יָ֭שׁוּב חַרְבֹּ֣ו יִלְטֹ֑ושׁ קַשְׁתֹּ֥ו דָ֝רַ֗ךְ וַֽיְכוֹנְנֶֽהָ ׃

Westminster Leningrad Codex
[7:13] אִם־לֹא יָשׁוּב חַרְבּוֹ יִלְטוֹשׁ קַשְׁתּוֹ דָרַךְ וַֽיְכוֹנְנֶֽהָ ׃

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

If: Psalms 85:4, Isaiah 55:6, Isaiah 55:7, Jeremiah 31:18, Jeremiah 31:19, Ezekiel 18:30, Ezekiel 33:11, Matthew 3:10, Acts 3:19

he will: Deuteronomy 32:41, Isaiah 27:1, Isaiah 34:5, Ezekiel 21:9-11, Ezekiel 21:23

Reciprocal: Exodus 9:2 - General Deuteronomy 32:23 - spend Deuteronomy 33:29 - the sword 2 Samuel 22:15 - arrows Job 16:13 - archers Job 18:12 - destruction Job 20:25 - drawn Job 40:19 - he that Psalms 35:2 - General Psalms 59:5 - be not Psalms 64:7 - God Psalms 68:21 - of such Psalms 144:6 - shoot out Lamentations 3:12 - bent Habakkuk 3:9 - bow

Gill's Notes on the Bible

If he turn not,.... Not God, but the enemy, or the wicked man, spoken of Psalms 7:5; if he turn not from his wicked course of life, to the Lord to live to him, and according to his will; unless he is converted and repents of his sin, and there is a change wrought in him, in his heart and life; the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions read, "if ye turn not", or "are not converted", an apostrophe to the wicked;

he will whet his sword: God is a man of war, and he is sometimes represented as accoutred with military weapons; see Isaiah 59:17; and among the rest with the sword of judgment, which he may be said to whet, when he prepares sharp and sore judgments for his enemies,

Isaiah 27:1;

he hath bent his bow, and made it ready; drawn his bow of vengeance, and put it on the full stretch, and made it ready with the arrows of his wrath, levelled against the wicked, with whom he is angry; which is expressive of their speedy and inevitable ruin, in case of impenitence; see Lamentations 2:4; or "trod his bow", as is the usual phrase elsewhere; see Psalms 11:2; which was done by the feet, and was necessary when the bow was a strong one, as Jarchi on Psalms 11:2; observes; and so the Arabs, as Suidas g relates, using arrows the length of a man, put their feet on the string of the bow instead of their hands.

g In voce αραβες.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

If he turn not - If the wicked person does not repent. in the previous verse the psalmist had said that God is angry with the wicked every day; he here states what must be the consequence to the wicked if they persevere in the course which they are pursuing; that is, if they do not repent. God, he says, cannot be indifferent to the course which they pursue, but he is preparing for them the instruments of punishment, and he will certainly bring destruction upon them. It is implied here that if they would repent and turn they would avoid this, and would be saved: a doctrine which is everywhere stated in the Scriptures.

He will whet his sword - He will sharpen his sword preparatory to inflicting punishment. That is, God will do this. Some, however, have supposed that this refers to the wicked person - the enemy of David - meaning that if he did not turn; if he was not arrested; if he was suffered to go on as he intended, he would whet his sword, and bend his bow, etc.; that is, that he would go on to execute his purposes against the righteous. See Rosenmuller in loc. But the most natural construction is to refer it to God, as meaning that if the sinner did not repent, He would inflict on him deserved punishment. The “sword” is an instrument of punishment (compare Romans 13:4); and to “whet” or sharpen it, is merely a phrase denoting that he would prepare to execute punishment. See Deuteronomy 32:41.

He hath bent his bow - The bow, like the sword, was used in battle as a means of destroying an enemy. It is used here of God, who is represented as going forth to destroy or punish his foes. The language is derived from the customs of war. Compare Exodus 15:3; Isaiah 63:1-4. The Hebrew here is,” his bow he has trodden,” alluding to the ancient mode of bending the large and heavy bows used in war, by treading on them in order to bend them.

And made it ready - Made it ready to shoot the arrow. That is, He is ready to execute punishment on the wicked; or, all the preparations are made for it.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Psalms 7:12. If he turn not — This clause the Syriac adds to the preceding verse. Most of the versions read, "If ye return not." Some contend, and not without a great show of probability, that the two verses should be read in connection, thus: "God is a just Judge; a God who is provoked every day. If (the sinner) turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready." This, no doubt, gives the sense of both.