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.
Parallel translations
- WEB He lies in wait near the villages. From ambushes, he murders the innocent. His eyes are secretly set against the helpless.
- KJV 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.
- 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;
- 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 3:14You pierced the heads of his warriors with their own spears. They came as a whirlwind to scatter me, gloating as if to devour the wretched in secret.
- Jer 22:17But your eyes and your heart are not but for your covetousness, and for shedding innocent blood, for oppression, and for doing violence.”
- 1 Sam 22:18The king said to Doeg, “Turn and attack the priests!” Doeg the Edomite turned, and he attacked the priests, and he killed on that day eighty-five people who wore a linen ephod.
- Ps 17:11They have now surrounded us in our steps. They set their eyes to cast us down to the earth.
- Ps 94:6They kill the widow and the alien, and murder the fatherless.
- 2 Kgs 21:16Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; besides his sin with which he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight.
- Prov 1:11–12If they say, “Come with us. Let’s lay in wait for blood. Let’s lurk secretly for the innocent without cause.
- Luke 8:1Soon afterwards, he went about through cities and villages, preaching and bringing the good news of God’s Kingdom. With him were the twelve,
- Prov 6:12–13A worthless person, a man of iniquity, is he who walks with a perverse mouth;
- 1 Sam 23:23See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hides himself, and come again to me with certainty, and I will go with you. It shall happen, if he is in the land, that I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.”
- Luke 10:1Now after these things, the Lord also appointed seventy others, and sent them two by two ahead of him into every city and place, where he was about to come.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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.