But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; Suddenly they shall be wounded.
Parallel translations
- WEB But God will shoot at them. They will be suddenly struck down with an arrow.
- KJV But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded.
- BSB But God will shoot them with arrows; suddenly they will 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 a man doesn’t relent, he will sharpen his sword; he has bent and strung his bow.
- Prov 6:15Therefore his calamity will come suddenly. He will be broken suddenly, and that without remedy.
- Ps 18:14He sent out his arrows, and scattered them; Yes, great lightning bolts, and routed them.
- 1 Th 5:2–3For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night.
- Job 6:4For the arrows of the Almighty are within me. My spirit drinks up their poison. The terrors of God set themselves in array against me.
- Ps 73:19How they are suddenly destroyed! They are completely swept away with terrors.
- Deut 32:42I will make my arrows drunk with blood. My sword shall devour flesh with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the head of the leaders of the enemy.”
- Deut 32:23“I will heap evils on them. I will spend my arrows on them.
- Isa 30:13therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking comes suddenly in an instant.
- Prov 29:1He who is often rebuked and stiffens his neck will be destroyed suddenly, with no remedy.
- 1 Chr 10:3–7The battle went hard against Saul, and the archers overtook him; and he was distressed by reason of the archers.
- 1 Kgs 22:34A certain man drew his bow at random, and struck the king of Israel between the joints of the armor. Therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn your hand, and carry me out of the battle; for I am severely wounded.”
- Lam 3:12–13He has bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.
- Matt 24:40Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and one will be left;
- Matt 24:50–51the lord of that servant will come in a day when he doesn’t expect it, and in an hour when he doesn’t know it,
- Ps 64:4to shoot innocent men from ambushes. They shoot at him suddenly and fearlessly.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 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.