Though you lie down among the sheepfolds, the wings of the dove are covered with silver, and her feathers with shimmering gold.”
Parallel translations
- WEB while you sleep among the camp fires, the wings of a dove sheathed with silver, her feathers with shining gold.
- KJV Though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold.
- NKJV Though you lie down among the sheepfolds, You will be like the wings of a dove covered with silver, And her feathers with yellow gold.”
- NASB When you lie down among the sheepfolds, You are like the wings of a dove covered with silver, And its pinions with glistening gold.
- NLT Even those who lived among the sheepfolds found treasures— doves with wings of silver and feathers of gold.
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
Amid the spoils, the people are adorned like a dove with silver and gold wings. It uses rich imagery to portray the beauty of God's blessing after victory.
Overview
This vivid and admittedly difficult verse pictures God's people, once lying among the sheepfolds, now glorious like a dove sheathed in silver and gold. The exact image is debated among faithful interpreters, but the sense is of transformation from lowliness to splendor through God's deliverance. It hints at the glory God bestows on His redeemed people in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Ps 105:37He brought Israel out with silver and gold, and none among His tribes stumbled.
- Gen 49:14Issachar is a strong donkey, lying down between the sheepfolds.
- Rev 1:5–6and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has released us from our sins by His blood,
- Judg 5:16Why did you sit among the sheepfolds to hear the whistling for the flocks? In the clans of Reuben there was great indecision.
- Eph 2:1–3And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
- Titus 3:3For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
- 1 Cor 6:9–11Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts,
- 1 Kgs 4:20–21The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore, and they were eating and drinking and rejoicing.
- Ps 81:6“I relieved his shoulder of the burden; his hands were freed from the basket.
- Exod 1:14and made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar, and with all kinds of work in the fields. Every service they imposed was harsh.
- Luke 15:22But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
- Luke 15:16He longed to fill his belly with the pods the pigs were eating, but no one would give him a thing.
- Ezek 16:6–14Then I passed by and saw you wallowing in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, ‘Live!’ There I said to you, ‘Live!’
- Ps 74:19Do not deliver the soul of Your dove to beasts; do not forget the lives of Your afflicted forever.
- Ps 149:4For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He adorns the afflicted with salvation.
- 1 Cor 12:2You know that when you were pagans, you were influenced and led astray to mute idols.
- Eph 5:26–27to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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 68:13 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.