But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded.
Parallel translations
- WEB But God will shoot at them. They will be suddenly struck down with an arrow.
- BSB But God will shoot them with arrows; suddenly they will be wounded.
- NKJV But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; Suddenly they shall be wounded.
- NASB ¶But God will shoot an arrow at them; Suddenly they will be wounded.
- NLT But God himself will shoot them with his arrows, suddenly striking them down.
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 turns the tables, shooting His own arrow so the wicked are struck down suddenly. It shows that God repays evil in His own time and way.
Overview
In a dramatic reversal, the very weapon imagery used by the wicked is turned against them as God strikes them suddenly. Their hidden attacks meet a righteous response from the divine Judge. This assures believers that vengeance belongs to God, who will set all things right through Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Ps 7:12–13If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready.
- Prov 6:15Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.
- Ps 18:14Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them.
- 1 Th 5:2–3For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
- Job 6:4For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.
- Ps 73:19How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors.
- Deut 32:42I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh; and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy.
- Deut 32:23I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them.
- Isa 30:13Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.
- Prov 29:1He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.
- 1 Chr 10:3–7And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him, and he was wounded of the archers.
- 1 Kgs 22:34And a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness: wherefore he said unto the driver of his chariot, Turn thine hand, and carry me out of the host; for I am wounded.
- Lam 3:12–13He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
- Matt 24:40Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
- Matt 24:50–51The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
- Ps 64:4That they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not.
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 64:7 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.