Psalms 149:7
in Psalms 149to inflict vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
To execute vengeance upon the nations, And punishments upon the peoples;
KJV
To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people;
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This verse in Psalms 149
Commentary
8 notes on this verseTo execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people. This was once literally the duty of Israel: when they came into Canaan they fulfilled the righteous sentence of the Lord upon guilty nations. At this hour, under the gentler dispensation of grace, we wrestle not with flesh and blood; yet is our warfare none the less stern, and our victory none the less sure. All evil shall eventually be overthrown: the Lord shall display his justice against evildoers, and in that warfare his servants shall play their parts. The saints shall judge the world.
This site's exposition
a double-edged sword in their hands
on Psalms 149:6-7
Two things are asked at once. The high praises of God are in the mouth and a double-edged sword in the hand, for vengeance on the nations, and the word behind double-edged is piphiyyah, a word for teeth. Matthew Henry names Jehoshaphat's army, which went out to war singing while its sword did execution, at 2 Chronicles 20.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
To execute, he says, vengeance upon the nations. Oh, if only I too might have that two-edged sword, that I might execute vengeance upon the nations, that I might slay the various peoples, that I might slay Arius, that I might slay Eunomius, that I might slay Manichaeus, that I might slay all the heresies! And see what he says, To execute vengeance upon the nations. That they may be killed? that they may perish? He does not say this. Rebukes among the peoples.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
3 Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp. 4 For the L ORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation. 5 Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:96%@v3-5
To execute vengeance upon the Heathen,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The destruction of the incorrigibly wicked attends the propagation of God's truth, so that the military successes of the Jews, after the captivity, typified the triumphs of the Gospel.
To execute vengeance upon the heathen - This may refer simply to their purpose of defending themselves to the uttermost, should their enemies attack them while building their wall: and they had every reason to believe that God would be with them; and that, if their enemies did attack them, they should be able to inflict the severest punishment upon them. Punishments upon the people - The unfaithful and treacherous Jews; for we find that some, even of their nobles, had joined with Sanballat and Tobiah; (see Neh 6:17-19): and it appears also that many of them had formed alliances with those heathens, which were contrary to the law; see Neh 13:15-29.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
To execute vengeance upon the heathen - To inflict punishment upon them as a recompence for their sins. The word pagan here means nations. The allusion is, doubtless, to those who had oppressed and injured the Hebrew people - perhaps referring to those who had destroyed the city and the temple at the time of the Babylonian captivity. They were now to receive the punishment due for the wrongs which they had done to the nation; a just recompence at the hand of God, and by the instrumentality of those whom they had wronged. Compare the notes at Psa 137:7-9. And punishments upon the people - The people of those lands. Those who had waged war with the Hebrew nation.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Lofty praises of God in their throats and they will be for them a double-edged sword.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 7 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לַעֲשׂ֣וֹת | laasot | to execute | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| נְ֭קָמָה | nekamah | vengeance | H5360 → | 27 times |
| בַּגּוֹיִ֑ם | bagoyim | on the nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
| תּֽ֝וֹכֵחֹ֗ת | tokhechot | punishment<s> | H8433 → | 28 times |
| בַּל־ | bal- | not | H1077 → | 73 times |
| אֻמִּֽים׃ | ʾumim | peoples | H523 → | 7 times |
לַעֲשׂ֣וֹתto execute
laasotH6213 →2628 times
נְ֭קָמָהvengeance
nekamahH5360 →27 times
בַּגּוֹיִ֑םon the nations
bagoyimH1471 →561 times
תּֽ֝וֹכֵחֹ֗תpunishment<s>
tokhechotH8433 →28 times
בַּל־not
bal-H1077 →73 times
אֻמִּֽים׃peoples
ʾumimH523 →7 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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 5:23‘Curse Meroz,’ says the angel of the LORD. ‘Bitterly curse her inhabitants; for they did not come to help the LORD, to help the LORD against the mighty.’
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 16:22
If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be under a curse. Come, O Lord!
- Judges 21:9–10
For when the people were counted, none of the residents of Jabesh-gilead were there.
- 1 Corinthians 3:9
For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
- Jeremiah 48:10
Cursed is the one who is remiss in doing the work of the LORD, and cursed is he who withholds his sword from bloodshed.
- Judges 2:1
Now the angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bochim and said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I had promised to your fathers,…
- 1 Corinthians 16:22
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Psalms
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 7; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Homily 59, on Psalm 149; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.