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.”
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.
- BSB Though you lie down among the sheepfolds, the wings of the dove are covered with silver, and her feathers with shimmering 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 them out with silver and gold. There was not one feeble person among his tribes.
- Gen 49:14“Issachar is a strong donkey, lying down between the saddlebags.
- Rev 1:5–6and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us, and washed us from our sins by his blood;
- Judg 5:16Why did you sit among the sheepfolds? To hear the whistling for the flocks? At the watercourses of Reuben, there were great searchings of heart.
- Eph 2:1–3You were made alive when you were dead in transgressions and sins,
- Titus 3:3For we were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
- 1 Cor 6:9–11Or don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s Kingdom? Don’t be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexuals,
- 1 Kgs 4:20–21Judah and Israel were numerous as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and making merry.
- Ps 81:6“I removed his shoulder from the burden. His hands were freed from the basket.
- Exod 1:14and they made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and in brick, and in all kinds of service in the field, all their service, in which they ruthlessly made them serve.
- Luke 15:22“But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe, and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.
- Luke 15:16He wanted to fill his belly with the husks that the pigs ate, but no one gave him any.
- Ezek 16:6–14“‘“When I passed by you, and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you, ‘Though you are in your blood, live!’ Yes, I said to you, ‘Though you are in your blood, live!’
- Ps 74:19Don’t deliver the soul of your dove to wild beasts. Don’t forget the life of your poor forever.
- Ps 149:4For Yahweh takes pleasure in his people. He crowns the humble with salvation.
- 1 Cor 12:2You know that when you were heathen, you were led away to those mute idols, however you might be led.
- Eph 5:26–27that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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.