They turned back and were faithless like their fathers, twisted like a faulty bow.
Parallel translations
- WEB but turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers. They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.
- KJV But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow.
- NKJV But turned back and acted unfaithfully like their fathers; They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.
- NASB But turned back and acted treacherously like their fathers; They turned aside like a treacherous bow.
- NLT They turned back and were as faithless as their parents. They were as undependable as a crooked bow.
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
They turned back treacherously like their fathers, unreliable as a faulty bow. Their faithlessness ran in the family.
Overview
They 'dealt treacherously like their fathers,' compared to a 'deceitful bow' that fails to hit its mark. The image captures the unreliability of those who cannot be trusted to remain faithful. It exposes the inherited bent toward sin that only God's redeeming grace can finally overcome.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Hos 7:16They turn, but not to the Most High; they are like a faulty bow. Their leaders will fall by the sword for the cursing of their tongue; for this they will be ridiculed in the land of Egypt.
- Ezek 20:27–28Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: In this way also your fathers blasphemed Me by their unfaithfulness against Me.
- Ps 78:8Then they will not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose heart was not loyal, whose spirit was not faithful to God.
- Judg 3:5–7Thus the Israelites continued to live among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
- Ps 78:41Again and again they tested God and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
- Judg 3:12Once again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD. So He gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the LORD.
- Ps 78:10–37They failed to keep God’s covenant and refused to live by His law.
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 78:57 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.