Kings of armies did flee apace: and she that tarried at home divided the spoil.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Kings of armies flee! They flee!” She who waits at home divides the plunder,
- BSB “Kings and their armies flee in haste; she who waits at home divides the plunder.
- 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 10:16But these five kings fled, and hid themselves in a cave at Makkedah.
- Judg 5:19The kings came and fought, then fought the kings of Canaan in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; they took no gain of money.
- Josh 12:7–24And these are the kings of the country which Joshua and the children of Israel smote on this side Jordan on the west, from Baalgad in the valley of Lebanon even unto the mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir; which Joshua gave unto the tribes of Israel for a possession according to their divisions;
- 1 Sam 30:24For who will hearken unto you in this matter? but as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike.
- Rev 19:17–20And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
- Num 31:27And divide the prey into two parts; between them that took the war upon them, who went out to battle, and between all the congregation:
- Rev 6:15And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
- Josh 10:42And all these kings and their land did Joshua take at one time, because the LORD God of Israel fought for Israel.
- Num 31:8–9And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain; namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.
- Num 31:54And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tabernacle of the congregation, for a memorial for the children of Israel before the LORD.
- Exod 14:25And took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the LORD fighteth for them against the Egyptians.
- Judg 5:30Have they not sped? have they not divided the prey; to every man a damsel or two; to Sisera a prey of divers colours, a prey of divers colours of needlework, of divers colours of needlework on both sides, meet for the necks of them that take the spoil?
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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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