You make us a byword among the nations, a shaking of the head among the peoples.
Parallel translations
- KJV Thou makest us a byword among the heathen, a shaking of the head among the people.
- BSB You have made us a byword among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples.
- NKJV You make us a byword among the nations, A shaking of the head among the peoples.
- NASB You make us a proverb among the nations, A laughingstock among the peoples.
- NLT You have made us the butt of their jokes; they shake their heads at us in scorn.
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 has made them a byword and a head-shaking spectacle among the nations. It matters because it expresses the sting of being a proverb of misfortune.
Overview
To become a byword is to be cited as a cautionary example of disaster, met with contemptuous head-shaking. The lament underscores how thorough the people's humiliation feels. Yet this shame, borne while still trusting God, anticipates the suffering Servant who was despised and rejected for our salvation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Jer 24:9I will even give them up to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth for evil; to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places where I shall drive them.
- Job 17:6“But he has made me a byword of the people. They spit in my face.
- Job 16:4I also could speak as you do. If your soul were in my soul’s place, I could join words together against you, and shake my head at you,
- Lam 2:15–17All that pass by clap their hands at you. They hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, “Is this the city that men called ‘The perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth’?”
- Deut 28:37You will become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where Yahweh will lead you away.
- 2 Kgs 19:21This is the word that Yahweh has spoken concerning him: ‘The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and ridiculed you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you.
- 1 Kgs 9:7then I will cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and I will cast this house, which I have made holy for my name, out of my sight; and Israel will be a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
- Isa 37:22this is the word which Yahweh has spoken concerning him. The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and ridiculed you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you.
- Ps 109:25I have also become a reproach to them. When they see me, they shake their head.
- 2 Chr 7:20then I will pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have made holy for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
- Ps 22:7All those who see me mock me. They insult me with their lips. They shake their heads, saying,
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 44:14 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.