Psalms 10:9
A plain-spoken deep dive on this verse. Read the chapter →
He lies in wait like a lion in a thicket; he lurks to seize the oppressed; he catches the lowly in his net.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
The picture of the רשׁע, who is become as it were a beast of prey, is now worked out further. The lustrum of the lion is called סך Jer 25:38, or סכּה Job 38:40 : a thicket, from סכך, which means both to interweave and to plait over = to cover (without any connection with שׂך a thorn, Arab. shôk, a thistle). The figure of the lion is reversed in the second line, the עני himself being compared to the beast of prey and the רשׁע to a hunter who drives him into the pit-fall and when he has fallen in hastens to drag him away (משׁך, as in Psa 28:3; Job 24:22) in, or by means of (Hos 11:4, Job 41:1), his net, in which he has become entangled.
Open source ↗The Septuagint translation joins this psalm with the ninth, and makes them but one; but the Hebrew makes it a distinct psalm, and the scope and style are certainly different. In this psalm, I. David complains of the wickedness of the wicked, describes the dreadful pitch of impiety at which they had arrived (to the great dishonour of God and the prejudice of his church and people), and notices the delay of God's appearing against them (Psa 10:1-11). II. He prays to God to appear against them for the relief of his people and comforts himself with hopes that he would do so in due time (Psa 10:12-18).
Open source ↗Original language
The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).
Cross-references
Other passages the community most often connects to this one. Tap to read.
like a lion greedy for prey, like a young lion lurking in ambush.
See how they lie in wait for me. Fierce men conspire against me for no transgression or sin of my own, O LORD.
The godly man has perished from the earth; there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; they hunt one another with a net.
All my bones will exclaim, “Who is like You, O LORD, who delivers the afflicted from the aggressor, the poor and needy from the robber?”
“For the cause of the oppressed and for the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says the LORD. “I will bring safety to him who yearns.”
Listen to the wailing of the shepherds,for their glory is in ruins.Listen to the roaring of the young lions,for the thickets of the Jordan are destroyed.
Does a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey? Does a young lion growl in his den if he has caught nothing?
With his own spear You pierced his head, when his warriors stormed out to scatter us, gloating as though ready to secretly devour the weak.
The hired hand is not the shepherd, and the sheep are not his own. When he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf pounces on them and scatters the flock.
Why do you crush My people and grind the faces of the poor?” declares the Lord GOD of Hosts.