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He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke away their chains.
Psalms 107:14 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder.
  • BSB He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and broke away their chains.
  • NKJV He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, And broke their chains in pieces.
  • NASB He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death And broke their bands apart.
  • NLT He led them from the darkness and deepest gloom; he snapped their chains.

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

God brought them out of darkness and death's shadow and broke their chains.

Overview

In response to their cry, the LORD led the captives out of gloom and shattered their bonds. The breaking of chains shows God's power to liberate completely those whom none could help. It beautifully foreshadows Christ, who proclaims liberty to the captives and breaks the power of sin and death over his people.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 27

  • Isa 42:16I will bring the blind by a way that they don’t know. I will lead them in paths that they don’t know. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. I will do these things, and I will not forsake them.
  • Ps 116:16Yahweh, truly I am your servant. I am your servant, the son of your servant. You have freed me from my chains.
  • Eph 5:8For you were once darkness, but are now light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,
  • 1 Pet 2:9But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:
  • Zech 9:11–12As for you also, because of the blood of your covenant, I have set free your prisoners from the pit in which is no water.
  • Ps 107:10Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron,
  • Jer 52:31–34In the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the twenty-fifth day of the month, Evilmerodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and released him from prison;
  • Isa 61:1The Lord Yahweh’s Spirit is on me; because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the humble. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to those who are bound;
  • Acts 5:19But an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors by night, and brought them out, and said,
  • Luke 13:16Ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan had bound eighteen long years, be freed from this bondage on the Sabbath day?”
  • Ps 105:19–20until the time that his word happened, and Yahweh’s word proved him true.
  • Job 42:10–12Yahweh turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends. Yahweh gave Job twice as much as he had before.
  • Ps 68:6God sets the lonely in families. He brings out the prisoners with singing, but the rebellious dwell in a sun-scorched land.
  • Job 36:8If they are bound in fetters, and are taken in the cords of afflictions,
  • Acts 5:25One came and told them, “Behold, the men whom you put in prison are in the temple, standing and teaching the people.”
  • Ps 102:20to hear the groans of the prisoner; to free those who are condemned to death;
  • Acts 12:7–10And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side, and woke him up, saying, “Stand up quickly!” His chains fell off from his hands.
  • Isa 49:9saying to those who are bound, ‘Come out!’; to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves!’ “They shall feed along the paths, and their pasture shall be on all treeless heights.
  • Acts 16:26–40Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were loosened.
  • Job 10:21–22before I go where I shall not return from, to the land of darkness and of the shadow of death;
  • Job 33:30to bring back his soul from the pit, that he may be enlightened with the light of the living.
  • Job 3:5Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own. Let a cloud dwell on it. Let all that makes black the day terrify it.
  • Ps 146:7who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. Yahweh frees the prisoners.
  • Isa 60:1–3“Arise, shine; for your light has come, and Yahweh’s glory has risen on you.
  • Job 19:8He has walled up my way so that I can’t pass, and has set darkness in my paths.
  • Job 15:30He shall not depart out of darkness. The flame shall dry up his branches. By the breath of God’s mouth shall he go away.
  • Job 15:22He doesn’t believe that he shall return out of darkness. He is waited for by the sword.

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 107:14YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 107:14 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.