I will beat down his adversaries before him and destroy those who hate him.
Parallel translations
- WEB I will beat down his adversaries before him, and strike those who hate him.
- KJV And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that 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.
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 7:9I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you. I will make you a great name, like the name of the great ones who are in the earth.
- John 15:23He who hates me, hates my Father also.
- 2 Sam 7:1When the king lived in his house, and Yahweh had given him rest from all his enemies all around,
- 2 Sam 3:1Now there was long war between Saul’s house and David’s house. David grew stronger and stronger, but Saul’s house grew weaker and weaker.
- Ps 132:18I will clothe his enemies with shame, but on himself, his crown will be resplendent.”
- Ps 18:40You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me, that I might cut off those who hate me.
- Ps 21:8–9Your hand will find out all of your enemies. Your right hand will find out those who hate you.
- 2 Sam 22:40–44For you have armed me with strength for the battle. You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.
- Luke 19:27But bring those enemies of mine who didn’t want me to reign over them here, and kill them before me.’”
- Luke 19:14But his citizens hated him, and sent an envoy after him, saying, ‘We don’t want this man to reign over us.’
- Ps 2:1–6Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot a vain thing?
- Ps 109:3They have also surrounded me 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.