“Kings of armies flee! They flee!” She who waits at home divides the plunder,
Parallel translations
- KJV Kings of armies did flee apace: and she that tarried at home divided the spoil.
- 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 10:16These five kings fled, and hid themselves in the cave at Makkedah.
- Judg 5:19“The kings came and fought, then the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo. They took no plunder of silver.
- Josh 12:7–24These are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the children of Israel struck beyond the Jordan westward, from Baal Gad in the valley of Lebanon even to Mount Halak, that goes up to Seir. Joshua gave it to the tribes of Israel for a possession according to their divisions;
- 1 Sam 30:24Who will listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down to the battle, so shall his share be who stays with the baggage. They shall share alike.”
- Rev 19:17–20I saw an angel standing in the sun. He cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the sky, “Come! Be gathered together to the great supper of God,
- Num 31:27and divide the plunder into two parts: between the men skilled in war, who went out to battle, and all the congregation.
- Rev 6:15The kings of the earth, the princes, the commanding officers, the rich, the strong, and every slave and free person, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains.
- Josh 10:42Joshua took all these kings and their land at one time, because Yahweh, the God of Israel, fought for Israel.
- Num 31:8–9They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword.
- Num 31:54Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the Tent of Meeting, for a memorial for the children of Israel before Yahweh.
- Exod 14:25He took off their chariot wheels, and they drove them heavily; so that the Egyptians said, “Let’s flee from the face of Israel, for Yahweh fights for them against the Egyptians!”
- Judg 5:30‘Have they not found, have they not divided the plunder? A lady, two ladies to every man; to Sisera a plunder of dyed garments, a plunder of dyed garments embroidered, of dyed garments embroidered on both sides, on the necks of the plunder?’
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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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