I ground them as the dust of the earth; I crushed and trampled them like mud in the streets.
Parallel translations
- WEB Then I beat them as small as the dust of the earth. I crushed them as the mire of the streets, and spread them abroad.
- KJV Then did I beat them as small as the dust of the earth, I did stamp them as the mire of the street, and did spread them abroad.
- NKJV Then I beat them as fine as the dust of the earth; I trod them like dirt in the streets, And I spread them out.
- NASB “Then I pulverized them as the dust of the earth; I crushed and trampled them like the mud of the streets.
- NLT I ground them as fine as the dust of the earth; I trampled them in the gutter like dirt.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
David crushed his enemies as fine as dust and street mud. His victory over them was thorough and complete.
Overview
The vivid imagery conveys the totality of the defeat God granted David over his adversaries. Within the holy-war setting, it depicts the decisive subduing of those who threatened God's kingdom. It anticipates the final, complete victory of God's reign over all that resists him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Mic 7:10Then my enemy will see and will be covered with shame—she who said to me, “Where is the LORD your God?” My eyes will see her; at that time she will be trampled like mud in the streets.
- Isa 10:6I will send him against a godless nation; I will dispatch him against a people destined for My rage, to take spoils and seize plunder, and to trample them down like clay in the streets.
- 2 Kgs 13:7Jehoahaz had no army left, except fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers, because the king of Aram had destroyed them and made them like the dust at threshing.
- Zech 10:5They will be like mighty men in battle, trampling the enemy in the mire of the streets. They will fight because the LORD is with them, and they will put the horsemen to shame.
- Deut 32:26I would have said that I would cut them to pieces and blot out their memory from mankind,
- Mal 4:1“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of Hosts. “Not a root or branch will be left to them.”
- Dan 2:35Then the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold were shattered and became like chaff on the threshing floor in summer. The wind carried them away, and not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that had struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
- Ps 18:42I ground them as dust in the face of the wind; I trampled them like mud in the streets.
- Luke 21:24They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive into all the nations. And Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
- Ps 35:5May they be like chaff in the wind, as the angel of the LORD drives them away.
- Isa 26:15You have enlarged the nation, O LORD; You have enlarged the nation. You have gained glory for Yourself; You have extended all the borders of the land.
- Zech 2:6“Get up! Get up! Flee from the land of the north,” declares the LORD, “for I have scattered you like the four winds of heaven,” declares the LORD.
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
God's covenant with David — a son whose throne and kingdom would last forever (7:12–16) — finds its yes in Jesus, the Son of David who reigns without end.
How 2 Samuel 22:43 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.