Likewise, David said, “Let their bountiful table become a snare, a trap that makes them think all is well. Let their blessings cause them to stumble, and let them get what they deserve.
Parallel translations
- WEB David says, “Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, a stumbling block, and a retribution to them.
- KJV And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them:
- BSB And David says: “May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution to them.
- NKJV And David says: “Let their table become a snare and a trap, A stumbling block and a recompense to them.
- NASB And David says, “May their table become a snare and a trap, And a stumbling block and a retribution to them.
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
David's words are applied to unbelieving Israel: their blessings become a snare, trap, and retribution.
Overview
Paul cites Psalm 69:22-23, a psalm often read messianically and applied to Christ's sufferers. The 'table,' a symbol of provision and even religious privilege, becomes a stumbling block when received without faith. The verse warns that God's good gifts, misused or trusted apart from Christ, can turn to judgment.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Ps 69:22–23Let their table before them become a snare. May it become a retribution and a trap.
- Luke 12:20“But God said to him, ‘You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared — whose will they be?’
- Ps 28:4Give them according to their work, and according to the wickedness of their doings. Give them according to the operation of their hands. Bring back on them what they deserve.
- 1 Sam 25:36–38Abigail came to Nabal; and behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk. Therefore she told him nothing, until the morning light.
- Isa 59:18According to their deeds, he will repay as appropriate, wrath to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies; he will repay the islands their due.
- Job 20:20–23“Because he knew no quietness within him, he shall not save anything of that in which he delights.
- Prov 1:32For the backsliding of the simple will kill them. The careless ease of fools will destroy them.
- Isa 8:13–14Yahweh of Armies is who you must respect as holy. He is the one you must fear. He is the one you must dread.
- Luke 16:19–25“Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day.
- 1 Tim 6:17–19Charge those who are rich in this present world that they not be haughty, nor have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but on the living God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy;
- Deut 32:35Vengeance is mine, and recompense, at the time when their foot slides; for the day of their calamity is at hand. Their doom rushes at them.”
- Deut 32:13–15He made him ride on the high places of the earth. He ate the increase of the field. He caused him to suck honey out of the rock, oil out of the flinty rock;
- Isa 66:9Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to be delivered?” says Yahweh. “Shall I who cause to give birth shut the womb?” says your God.
- Heb 2:2For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense;
- Deut 6:10–12It shall be, when Yahweh your God brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you, great and goodly cities, which you didn’t build,
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Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 11:9 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 Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.