May his children wander as beggars, seeking sustenance far from their ruined homes.
Parallel translations
- WEB Let his children be wandering beggars. Let them be sought from their ruins.
- KJV Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places.
- ESV May his children wander about and beg, seeking food far from the ruins they inhabit!
- NKJV Let his children continually be vagabonds, and beg; Let them seek their bread also from their desolate places.
- NASB May his children wander about and beg; And may they seek sustenance far from their ruined homes.
- NLT May his children wander as beggars and be driven from their ruined homes.
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
David prays that the wicked man's children be left homeless and begging. It pictures the total collapse of an evildoer's legacy under God's judgment.
Overview
The image of wandering, begging children driven from their ruined homes conveys the comprehensive undoing of the oppressor's house. Such imprecations express the psalmist's longing for justice against entrenched evil, not personal spite. The harshness underscores the seriousness of sin and the wholeness of the salvation Christ brings to those who, by contrast, are gathered rather than scattered.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Ps 37:25I once was young and now am old, yet never have I seen the righteous abandoned or their children begging for bread.
- Gen 4:12–14When you till the ground, it will no longer yield its produce to you. You will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”
- 2 Kgs 5:27Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman will cling to you and your descendants forever!” And as Gehazi left his presence, he was leprous—as white as snow.
- Ps 59:15They scavenge for food, and growl if they are not satisfied.
- Isa 16:2Like fluttering birds pushed out of the nest, so are the daughters of Moab at the fords of the Arnon:
- Job 30:3–9Gaunt from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, and the desolate wasteland by night.
- 2 Sam 3:29May it whirl over the heads of Joab and the entire house of his father, and may the house of Joab never be without one having a discharge or skin disease, or one who leans on a staff or falls by the sword or lacks food.”
- Job 24:8–12Drenched by mountain rains, they huddle against the rocks for want of shelter.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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 109:10 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.