Desert nomads will bow before him; his enemies will fall before him in the dust.
Parallel translations
- WEB Those who dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him. His enemies shall lick the dust.
- KJV They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust.
- BSB May the nomads bow before him, and his enemies lick the dust.
- NKJV Those who dwell in the wilderness will bow before Him, And His enemies will lick the dust.
- NASB May the nomads of the desert bow before him, And his enemies lick the dust.
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
Desert dwellers will bow before the king and his enemies will lick the dust in submission.
Overview
Even remote peoples and proud foes are pictured yielding to the king's rule. The imagery depicts total submission to a sovereign whom God has exalted. This anticipates the day when every knee will bow before Christ, whether in glad worship or in defeated subjection (Philippians 2:10).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Isa 49:23Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth, and lick the dust of your feet; Then you will know that I am Yahweh; and those who wait for me shall not be disappointed.”
- Mic 7:17They will lick the dust like a serpent. Like crawling things of the earth they shall come trembling out of their dens. They will come with fear to Yahweh our God, and will be afraid because of you.
- 1 Kgs 9:20–21As for all the people who were left of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, who were not of the children of Israel;
- Ps 2:9You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
- Ps 110:6He will judge among the nations. He will heap up dead bodies. He will crush the ruler of the whole earth.
- Ps 110:1A Psalm by David. Yahweh says to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool for your feet.”
- Isa 35:1–2The wilderness and the dry land will be glad. The desert will rejoice and blossom like a rose.
- Ps 21:8–9Your hand will find out all of your enemies. Your right hand will find out those who hate you.
- Luke 19:27But bring those enemies of mine who didn’t want me to reign over them here, and kill them before me.’”
- 1 Kgs 9:18Baalath, Tamar in the wilderness,
- Ps 22:29All the rich ones of the earth shall eat and worship. All those who go down to the dust shall bow before him, even he who can’t keep his soul alive.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 72:9 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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