¶May their table before them become a snare; And when they are at peace, may it become a trap.
Parallel translations
- WEB Let their table before them become a snare. May it become a retribution and a trap.
- KJV Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.
- BSB May their table become a snare; may it be a retribution and a trap.
- NKJV Let their table become a snare before them, And their well-being a trap.
- NLT Let the bountiful table set before them become a snare and their prosperity become a trap.
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
David prays that his enemies' table and security would become a snare and trap to them. It calls for God's just judgment on persistent persecutors.
Overview
David asks that the very comforts and prosperity of his enemies turn into a trap of judgment against them. This is one of the imprecatory, or judgment-invoking, sections, appealing to God for justice rather than taking personal revenge. Paul applies these verses to those who rejected the gospel (Romans 11:9-10), showing how rejection of God's Messiah brings judgment, while leaving vengeance to God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- 1 Th 5:3For when they are saying, “Peace and safety,” then sudden destruction will come on them, like birth pains on a pregnant woman; and they will in no way escape.
- Rom 11:8–10According as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, to this very day.”
- 1 Pet 2:8and, “a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” For they stumble at the word, being disobedient, to which also they were appointed.
- Isa 8:14–15He will be a sanctuary, but for both houses of Israel, he will be a trap and a snare for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
- Prov 1:32For the backsliding of the simple will kill them. The careless ease of fools will destroy them.
- Mal 2:2If you will not listen, and if you will not lay it to heart, to give glory to my name,” says Yahweh of Armies, “then will I send the curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have cursed them already, because you do not lay it to heart.
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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 69:22 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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