Psalms 18:45
in Psalms 18Foreigners lose heart and come trembling from their strongholds.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The foreigners shall fade away, And shall come trembling out of their close places.
KJV
The strangers shall fade away, and be afraid out of their close places.
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This verse in Psalms 18
Commentary
11 notes on this verseThe strangers shall fade away,.... Like the leaves of trees in autumn, when they fall and perish; to which hypocrites and nominal professors are compared, Jud 1:12; and be afraid out of their close places; their towers and fortified places, or the rocks and mountains to which they betake themselves for shelter; but, as not thinking themselves safe enough, through fear and dread, come out of them; see Mic 7:
This site's exposition
delivered me from the strife
on Psalms 18:43-45
The victory widens from a man's enemies to nations. He is made the head of nations, and a people he had never known will serve him. Foreigners obey on hearing him, and they come trembling out of their strongholds.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"The strange children have lied unto Me." Children, not to be called Mine, but rather strange children, to whom it is rightly said, "You are of your father the devil," [John 8:44] have lied unto Me. "The strange children have waxen old" [Psalm 18:45]. The strange children, to whom for their renovation I brought the new Testament, have remained in the old man. "And they have halted from their own paths." And like those that are weak in one foot, for holding the old they have rejected the new Testament, they have become halt, even in their old Law, rather following their own traditions, than God's. For they brought frivolous charges of unwashen hands, [Matthew 15:2] because such were the paths, which themselves had made and worn by long use, in wandering from the ways of God's commands.
The Medieval Church2 voices
A commentator
Bernard of ClairvauxSermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 80 · Written before 1153.
proposed
And so through the greatness which it retains even when uprightness is lost, man passes through as an image, limping as it were on one foot, and become an alien son. For of such I believe it was said: "The alien sons have lied to …
"Alien sons." Here the obstinacy of the Jews is set forth. And he calls them alien sons, because once they were sons begotten by God through the grace and teaching of the law. Ex. 4: "Israel is my firstborn son." But nevertheless they became strangers. …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And David is here called the servant of the Lord, as Moses was, not only as every good man is God's servant, but because, with his sceptre, with his sword, and with his pen, he greatly promoted the interests of God's kingdom in Israel. It was more his honour that he was a servant of the Lord than that he was king of a great kingdom; and so he himself accounted it ( Ps. cxvi.
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The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The strangers shall fade away - Hebrew, “The sons of the stranger.” That is, foreigners. The word rendered fade away - נבל nâbêl - means properly to wilt, wither, fall away, as applicable to flowers, leaves, or plants, Psa 1:3; Psa 37:2; Isa 1:30; Isa 28:1. Here it means that those foreign nations would diminish in numbers and in power, until they should wholly disappear. The idea is, that all his foes would vanish, and that he and his kingdom would be left in peace.
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
"The strangers shall fade away." Like sear leaves or blasted trees our foes and Christ's foes shall find no sap and stamina remaining in them. Those who are strangers to Jesus are strangers to all lasting happiness; those must soon fade who refuse to be watered from the river of life. "And be afraid out of their close places." Out of their mountain fastnesses the heathen crept in fear to own allegiance to Israel's king, and even so, from the castles of self-confidence and the dens of carnal security, poor sinners come bending before the Saviour, Christ the Lord.
Some repetitions are not vain repetitions. Second thoughts upon God's mercy should be and often are the best. Like wines on the lees our gratitude grows stronger and sweeter as we meditate upon divine goodness. The verses which we have now to consider are the ripe fruit of a thankful spirit; they are apples of gold as to matter, and they are placed in baskets of silver as to their language. They describe the believer's victorious career and his enemies' confusion.
"The strangers shall fade away." Like sear leaves or blasted trees our foes and Christ's foes shall find no sap and stamina remaining in them. Those who are strangers to Jesus are strangers to all lasting happiness; those must soon fade who refuse to be watered from the river of life. "And be afraid out of their close places." Out of their mountain fastnesses the heathen crept in fear to own allegiance to Israel's king, and even so, from the castles of self-confidence and the dens of carnal security, poor sinners come bending before the Saviour, Christ the Lord. Our sins which have entrenched themselves in our flesh and blood as in impregnable forts, shall yet be driven forth by the sanctifying energy of the Holy Spirit, and we shall serve the Lord in singleness of heart. Thus with remembrance of conquests in the past, and with glad anticipations of victories yet to come, the sweet singer closes the description, and returns to exercise of more direct adoration of his gracious God.
The strangers shall fade away - בני נכר beney nechar, the same persons mentioned above. They shall not be able to effect any thing against me; יבלו yibbolu, “they shall fall as the leaves fall off the trees in winter.” And be afraid out of their close places - Those who have formed themselves into banditti, and have taken possession of rocks and fortified places, shall be so afraid when they hear of my successes, that they shall surrender at discretion, without standing a siege. Perhaps all these verbs should be understood in the perfect tense, for David is here evidently speaking of a kingdom at rest, all enemies having been subdued; or, as the title is, when the Lord Had delivered him from all his enemies.
The words behind it
5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּנֵי־ | benei- | sons of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| נֵכָ֥ר | nekhar | foreignness | H5236 → | 36 times |
| יִבֹּ֑לוּ | yibolu | they wither | H5034 → | 25 times |
| וְ֝יַחְרְג֗וּ | veyachregu | and they may come trembling | H2727 → | |
| מִֽמִּסְגְּרֽוֹתֵיהֶֽם׃ | mimisgeroteihem | from strongholds their | H4526 → |
בְּנֵי־sons of
benei-H1121 →4930 times
נֵכָ֥רforeignness
nekharH5236 →36 times
יִבֹּ֑לוּthey wither
yiboluH5034 →25 times
וְ֝יַחְרְג֗וּand they may come trembling
veyachreguH2727 →
מִֽמִּסְגְּרֽוֹתֵיהֶֽם׃from strongholds their
mimisgeroteihemH4526 →
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
Revelation 6:16And they said to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.
it leads to
- Luke 23:30
At that time ‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”’
- Hosea 10:8
The high places of Aven will be destroyed—it is the sin of Israel; thorns and thistles will overgrow their altars. Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall…
- Revelation 4:2
At once I was in the Spirit, and I saw a throne standing in heaven, with someone seated on it.
- Luke 23:30
Through
James 1:11For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its flower falls and its beauty is lost. So too, the rich man will fade away in the midst of his pursuits.
it leads to
- Isaiah 40:7–8
The grass withers and the flowers fall when the breath of the LORD blows on them; indeed, the people are grass.
- Psalms 37:35–36
I have seen a wicked, ruthless man flourishing like a well-rooted native tree,
- Luke 16:19–25
Now there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, who lived each day in joyous splendor.
- Isaiah 40:7–8
Through
Micah 7:17They will lick the dust like a snake, like reptiles slithering on the ground. They will crawl from their holes in the presence of the LORD our God; they will tremble in fear of…
it leads to
- Isaiah 49:23
Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow to you facedown and lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD;…
- Psalms 72:9
May the nomads bow before him, and his enemies lick the dust.
- Isaiah 49:23
About Psalms
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 18; Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 80; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 1; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.