He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor.
Parallel translations
- WEB He lies in wait near the villages. From ambushes, he murders the innocent. His eyes are secretly set against the helpless.
- BSB He lies in wait near the villages; in ambush he slays the innocent; his eyes watch in stealth for the helpless.
- ESV He sits in ambush in the villages; in hiding places he murders the innocent. His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;
- NKJV He sits in the lurking places of the villages; In the secret places he murders the innocent; His eyes are secretly fixed on the helpless.
- NASB He sits in the lurking places of the villages; He kills the innocent in the secret places; His eyes surreptitiously watch for the unfortunate.
- NLT They lurk in ambush in the villages, waiting to murder innocent people. They are always searching for helpless victims.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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
He lies in ambush to murder the innocent, watching secretly for the helpless. The wicked plots calculated harm against the defenseless.
Overview
Like a predator, the wicked man lurks to attack the innocent and vulnerable. The imagery of hidden ambush conveys premeditated cruelty toward those least able to defend themselves. Such oppression of the helpless is precisely what stirs God's compassion and judgment in the verses that follow.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Hab 3:14Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages: they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly.
- Jer 22:17But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.
- 1 Sam 22:18And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and slew on that day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod.
- Ps 17:11They have now compassed us in our steps: they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth;
- Ps 94:6They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless.
- 2 Kgs 21:16Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.
- Prov 1:11–12If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:
- Luke 8:1And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him,
- Prov 6:12–13A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth.
- 1 Sam 23:23See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hideth himself, and come ye again to me with the certainty, and I will go with you: and it shall come to pass, if he be in the land, that I will search him out throughout all the thousands of Judah.
- Luke 10:1After these things the LORD appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come.
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 10:8 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.