Psalms 106:36
in Psalms 106They worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And served their idols, Which became a snare unto them.
KJV
And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them.
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This verse in Psalms 106
Commentary
6 notes on this verseAnd they served their idols: which were a snare unto them. They were fascinated by the charms of idolatry, though it brings misery upon its votaries. A man cannot serve sin without being ensnared by it. It is like birdlime, and to touch it is to be taken by it. Samson laid his head in the Philistine woman's lap, but ere long he woke up shorn of his strength. Dalliance with sin is fatal to spiritual liberty.
This site's exposition
They did not destroy the peoples
on Psalms 106:34-39
They left alive the peoples the LORD had commanded them to destroy. They mingled with the nations, took their customs and their idols, and sacrificed their own sons and daughters to demons, which Deuteronomy 12:31 and 18:10 had already forbidden. The land was polluted with blood.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
But they of whose iniquities this Psalm speaks, when they had entered into that temporal land of promise, "destroyed not the heathen, which the Lord commanded them" [Psalm 106:34]; "but were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works" [Psalm 106:35]. "Insomuch that they worshipped their idols, which became to them an offense" [Psalm 106:36]. Their not destroying them, but mingling with them, became to them an offense.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And they served their idols,.... Of gold and silver, wood and stone; the works of men's hands, senseless creatures; which are nothing in the world, and bring grief and sorrow to the worshippers of them, from whence they have their name here given them; see Psa 16:4. They served "their" idols, the idols of the Canaanites, who were dispossessed of their land for their idolatries and other sins; and these Israelites were put in their place.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
They served their idols - עצביהם atsabbeyhem, their labors or griefs - idols, so called because of the pains taken in forming them, the labor in worshipping them, and the grief occasioned by the Divine judgments against the people for their idolatry.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And they served their idols - Jdg 2:12-13, Jdg 2:17, Jdg 2:19; Jdg 3:6-7. Which were a snare unto them - Like the snares or toils by which birds and wild beasts are caught. That is, they were taken unawares; they were in danger when they did not perceive it; they fell when they thought themselves safe. The bird and the wild beast approach the snare, unconscious of danger; so the friend of God approaches the temptations which are spread out before him by the enemy of souls - and, ere he is aware, he is a captive, and has fallen. Nothing could better describe the way in which the people of God are led into sin than the arts by which birds are caught by the fowler, and wild beasts by the hunter.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּעַבְד֥וּ | vaiyaavdu | and they served | H5647 → | 288 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עֲצַבֵּיהֶ֑ם | ʾatzabeihem | idols their | H6091 → | 17 times |
| וַיִּהְי֖וּ | vaiyihyu | and they became | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לָהֶ֣ם | lahem | for them | ||
| לְמוֹקֵֽשׁ׃ | lemokesh | <into> a snare | H4170 → | 27 times |
וַיַּעַבְד֥וּand they served
vaiyaavduH5647 →288 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
עֲצַבֵּיהֶ֑םidols their
ʾatzabeihemH6091 →17 times
וַיִּהְי֖וּand they became
vaiyihyuH1961 →3559 times
לָהֶ֣םfor them
lahem
לְמוֹקֵֽשׁ׃<into> a snare
lemokeshH4170 →27 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Judges 2:3So now I tell you that I will not drive out these people before you; they will be thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a snare to you.”
it leads to
- Joshua 23:13
know for sure that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become for you a snare and a trap, a scourge in your sides and…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 7:16
You must destroy all the peoples the LORD your God will deliver to you. Do not look on them with pity. Do not worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Numbers 33:55
But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land before you, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides; they will harass you…
- Joshua 23:13
Through
Deuteronomy 7:16You must destroy all the peoples the LORD your God will deliver to you. Do not look on them with pity. Do not worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.
it leads to
- Exodus 23:33
They must not remain in your land, lest they cause you to sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Judges 8:27
From all this Gideon made an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his hometown. But soon all Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household.
- Deuteronomy 13:8
you must not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity, and do not spare him or shield him.
- Deuteronomy 19:21
You must show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, and foot for foot.
- Deuteronomy 19:13
You must show him no pity. You are to purge from Israel the guilt of shedding innocent blood, that it may go well with you.
- Exodus 23:33
About Psalms
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 106; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 5; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).