O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked: forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever.
Parallel translations
- WEB Don’t deliver the soul of your dove to wild beasts. Don’t forget the life of your poor forever.
- BSB Do not deliver the soul of Your dove to beasts; do not forget the lives of Your afflicted forever.
- NKJV Oh, do not deliver the life of Your turtledove to the wild beast! Do not forget the life of Your poor forever.
- NASB Do not give the soul of Your turtledove to the wild animal; Do not forget the life of Your afflicted forever.
- NLT Don’t let these wild beasts destroy your turtledoves. Don’t forget your suffering people forever.
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
Asaph begs God not to hand over the soul of His helpless dove to wild beasts nor forget His afflicted people.
Overview
Israel is pictured as a vulnerable dove and as the poor and needy, utterly dependent on God's protection. The psalmist pleads that God would not abandon them to predatory enemies. This tender appeal reflects the covenant compassion God shows His own, fully revealed in Christ who gathers His people as a shepherd protects the flock.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Song 2:14O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.
- Jas 2:5–6Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?
- Ps 9:18For the needy shall not alway be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever.
- Matt 10:16Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
- Isa 60:8Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?
- Zeph 3:12I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the LORD.
- Ps 68:13Though 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.
- Ps 68:10Thy congregation hath dwelt therein: thou, O God, hast prepared of thy goodness for the poor.
- Song 4:1Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead.
- Ps 72:2He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment.
- Song 6:9My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her. The daughters saw her, and blessed her; yea, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her.
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 74:19 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.