Our bones are scattered at the grave’s mouth, as when one cutteth and cleaveth wood upon the earth.
Parallel translations
- WEB “As when one plows and breaks up the earth, our bones are scattered at the mouth of Sheol.”
- BSB As when one plows and breaks up the soil, so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of Sheol.
- NKJV Our bones are scattered at the mouth of the grave, As when one plows and breaks up the earth.
- NASB As when one plows and breaks open the earth, Our bones have been scattered at the mouth of Sheol.
- NLT Like rocks brought up by a plow, the bones of the wicked will lie scattered without burial.
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 likens the scattering of the righteous's bones near Sheol to plowed-up earth. It voices the seeming nearness of death and devastation.
Overview
This obscure verse poetically depicts how close to death and ruin the godly feel, their bones scattered as ground broken by the plow. It expresses the depth of suffering rather than despair, for the surrounding verses turn to trust. Such language of bones near the grave finds its answer in the resurrection hope secured by Christ (Ezekiel 37; 1 Corinthians 15).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Ps 53:5There were they in great fear, where no fear was: for God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee: thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them.
- Rom 8:36As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
- Rev 11:8–9And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
- Ps 44:22Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.
- 2 Cor 1:9But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:
- 1 Sam 22:18–19And 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.
- Heb 11:37They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;
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 141:7 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.