“Kings and their armies flee in haste; she who waits at home divides the plunder.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Kings of armies flee! They flee!” She who waits at home divides the plunder,
- KJV Kings of armies did flee apace: and she that tarried at home divided the spoil.
- NKJV “Kingsof armies flee, they flee, And she who remains at home divides the spoil.
- NASB “Kings of armies flee, they flee, And she who remains at home will divide the spoils!”
- NLT Enemy kings and their armies flee, while the women of Israel divide the plunder.
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
Enemy kings flee, and those at home divide the spoils of victory. It depicts the completeness of God's triumph over His foes.
Overview
David pictures hostile kings fleeing in defeat while even those who stayed home share in the plunder. God's victory is so total that all His people enjoy its fruits. This points to the spoils of Christ's victory, in which all His people share His triumph over sin and death.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Josh 10:16Now the five kings had fled and hidden in the cave at Makkedah.
- Judg 5:19Kings came and fought; then the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo, but they took no plunder of silver.
- Josh 12:7–24And these are the kings of the land that Joshua and the Israelites conquered beyond the Jordan to the west, from Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir (according to the allotments to the tribes of Israel, Joshua gave them as an inheritance
- 1 Sam 30:24Who will listen to your proposal? The share of the one who went to battle will match the share of the one who stayed with the supplies. They will share alike.”
- Rev 19:17–20Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out in a loud voice to all the birds flying overhead, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God,
- Num 31:27Then divide the captives between the troops who went out to battle and the rest of the congregation.
- Rev 6:15Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the commanders, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and free man hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.
- Josh 10:42And because the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for Israel, Joshua captured all these kings and their land in one campaign.
- Num 31:8–9Among the slain were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba—the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword.
- Num 31:54And Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds and brought it into the Tent of Meeting as a memorial for the Israelites before the LORD.
- Exod 14:25He caused their chariot wheels to wobble, so that they had difficulty driving. “Let us flee from the Israelites,” said the Egyptians, “for the LORD is fighting for them against Egypt!”
- Judg 5:30‘Are they not finding and dividing the spoil—a girl or two for each warrior, a plunder of dyed garments for Sisera, the spoil of embroidered garments for the neck of the looter?’
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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 68:12 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
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