He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet.
Parallel translations
- WEB He subdues nations under us, and peoples under our feet.
- BSB He subdues nations beneath us, and peoples under our feet.
- NKJV He will subdue the peoples under us, And the nations under our feet.
- NASB He subdues peoples under us And nations under our feet.
- NLT He subdues the nations before us, putting our enemies beneath our feet.
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 subdues nations and peoples under His people's feet. It matters because victory over enemies is God's gracious doing on behalf of His own.
Overview
The psalm celebrates God granting His people dominion over hostile nations. This reflects His covenant favor in giving them their inheritance. Read in light of Christ, it points to the triumph of God's kingdom and the day when all opposition is placed beneath the feet of the King and His redeemed people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- 1 Cor 15:25For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
- Ps 18:47It is God that avengeth me, and subdueth the people under me.
- Ps 81:14I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries.
- Ps 110:1The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
- Deut 33:29Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places.
- Josh 10:24–25And it came to pass, when they brought out those kings unto Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said unto the captains of the men of war which went with him, Come near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings. And they came near, and put their feet upon the necks of them.
- Phil 3:21Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
- Josh 21:44And the LORD gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand.
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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 47:3 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.