And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him.
Parallel translations
- WEB I will beat down his adversaries before him, and strike those who hate him.
- BSB I will crush his foes before him and strike down those who hate him.
- NKJV I will beat down his foes before his face, And plague those who hate him.
- NASB “But I will crush his adversaries before him, And strike those who hate him.
- NLT I will beat down his adversaries before him and destroy those who hate him.
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
God pledges to defeat the king's adversaries and strike down those who hate him.
Overview
The Lord Himself acts as the warrior who subdues David's foes. The king's victories are credited to God's intervention. This anticipates the final triumph of the Messiah, under whose feet God will place every enemy (1 Cor. 15:25; Ps. 110:1).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- 2 Sam 7:9And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth.
- John 15:23He that hateth me hateth my Father also.
- 2 Sam 7:1And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the LORD had given him rest round about from all his enemies;
- 2 Sam 3:1Now there was long war between the house of Saul and the house of David: but David waxed stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker.
- Ps 132:18His enemies will I clothe with shame: but upon himself shall his crown flourish.
- Ps 18:40Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies; that I might destroy them that hate me.
- Ps 21:8–9Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies: thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee.
- 2 Sam 22:40–44For thou hast girded me with strength to battle: them that rose up against me hast thou subdued under me.
- Luke 19:27But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.
- Luke 19:14But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.
- Ps 2:1–6Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
- Ps 109:3They compassed me about also with words of hatred; and fought against me without a cause.
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 89:23 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.