There He broke the flaming arrows, The shield, the sword, and the weapons of war. Selah
Parallel translations
- WEB There he broke the flaming arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the weapons of war. Selah.
- KJV There brake he the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the battle. Selah.
- BSB There He shattered the flaming arrows, the shield and sword and weapons of war. Selah
- NKJV There He broke the arrows of the bow, The shield and sword of battle. Selah
- NLT There he has broken the fiery arrows of the enemy, the shields and swords and weapons of war. Interlude
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
At Zion God shattered the flaming arrows, shield, sword, and weapons of war, defeating His enemies.
Overview
The psalm likely recalls a dramatic deliverance of Jerusalem, possibly the rout of Sennacherib's army. God broke the very instruments of war, granting victory without dependence on human might. This testifies that salvation belongs to the Lord, who fights for His people and ultimately disarms every enemy through Christ's triumph.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Ps 46:9He makes wars cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow, and shatters the spear. He burns the chariots in the fire.
- Ezek 39:9–10Those who dwell in the cities of Israel shall go out, and shall make fires of the weapons and burn them, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the war clubs, and the spears, and they shall make fires of them seven years;
- Ezek 39:3–4and I will strike your bow out of your left hand, and will cause your arrows to fall out of your right hand.
- Isa 37:35–36‘For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.’”
- 2 Chr 20:25When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their plunder, they found among them in abundance both riches and dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away. They took plunder for three days, it was so much.
- 2 Chr 14:12–13So Yahweh struck the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled.
- 2 Chr 32:21Yahweh sent an angel, who cut off all the mighty men of valor, and the leaders and captains, in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. When he had come into the house of his god, those who came out of his own bowels killed him there with the sword.
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 76:3 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.