Psalms 44:11
in Psalms 44You have given us up as sheep to be devoured; You have scattered us among the nations.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thou hast made us like sheep appointed for food, And hast scattered us among the nations.
KJV
Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for meat; and hast scattered us among the heathen.
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This verse in Psalms 44
Commentary
11 notes on this verseThou hast given us like sheep appointed for meat. As sheep are slaughtered for food, so were the people slain in flocks, with ease, and frequency. Not with dignity of sacrifice, but with the cruelty of the shambles, were they put to death. God appeared to give them up like sheep allotted to the butcher, to abandon them as the hireling abandons the flock to wolves. The complaint is bitterly eloquent. And hast scattered us among the heathen. Many were carried into captivity, far off from the public worship of the temple of God, to pine as exiles among idolaters.
This site's exposition
You have rejected and humbled
on Psalms 44:9-12
Every verb here has God as its subject. He rejected them, sent them back from the foe, gave them up as sheep to be devoured, and scattered them among the nations. Gill reads the sale that brings no profit as the sharpest edge of the complaint.
This site's exposition
sheep to be devoured
Henry notes that the complaint looks past the enemy to God, who has given the people up. Chrysostom called the scattering among the nations hardest of all, with the Law impossible to keep exactly there. Sheep kept only for eating, he said, were least prized.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"You have given us like sheep appointed for meat, and hast scattered us among the nations" [Psalm 44:11]. We have been "devoured" by "the nations." Those persons are meant, who, through their sufferings, have by process of assimilation, becomes part of the "body" of the Gentile world. For the Church mourns over them, as over members of her body, that have been devoured.
What is the meaning of "like sheep for slaughter"? Making us vulnerable to attack, presenting us as insignificant. Some sheep, you see, those suited to breeding are for purchase; others, … whether from age or sterility, are useful only for eating. And what was actually worse, their being scattered even among the nations, which was hardest of all for them, their not being able to observe the Law in all precision there and being divorced from their ancestral way of life. And not in one race, he is saying, but in all parts; we are on the verge of only one thing, and that is being abused, whereas we do not have the strength for taking vengeance or lifting a hand in resistance. This fate, you see, illustrates the likeness of sheep.
The Medieval Church1 voice
As to the third he says, "We have been made a reproach," and this because they killed us bodily. As to the fourth he says, "And among the nations you have scattered us," because literally this happened to the Jews. Deut. 28: "You shall be …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for meat,....
However, thus far was right that they looked above the instruments of their trouble and kept their eye upon God, as well knowing that their worst enemies had no power against them but what was given them from above; they own it was God that delivered them into the hand of the ungodly, as that which is sold is delivered to the buyer.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for meat. As sheep are slaughtered for food, so were the people slain in flocks, with ease, and frequency. Not with dignity of sacrifice, but with the cruelty of the shambles, were they put to death. God appeared to give them up like sheep allotted to the butcher, to abandon them as the hireling abandons the flock to wolves. The complaint is bitterly eloquent. And hast scattered us among the heathen. Many were carried into captivity, far off from the public worship of the temple of God, to pine as exiles among idolaters. All this is ascribed to the Lord, as being allowed by him, and even appointed by his decree. It is well to trace the hand of God in our sorrows, for it is surely there.
And hast scattered us among the heathen - This most evidently alludes to the captivity. From the successful wars of the kings of Assyria and Chaldea against the kings of Israel and Judah, and the dispersion of the tribes under Tiglath-pileser, Shalmaneser, and Nebuchadnezzar, Jews have been found in every province of the east; there they settled, and there their successors may be found to the present day.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for meat - Margin, as in Hebrew, “as sheep of meat.” That is, as sheep are killed for food, so thou hast allowed us to be put to death. And hast scattered us among the heathen - Among the surrounding nations. See the notes at Psa 44:2. That is, they had been discomfited in war; many had fled into surrounding countries; many had been carried away captive. All this undoubtedly occurred at the time at which I have supposed that the psalm was written - the time immediately preceding the Babylonian captivity.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Even if You have forsaken us and put us to shame Even if You put us to shame, we will forever thank Your name.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
You scatter us Epondis nous in Old French, tu nous repandis in modern French.
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. 6 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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| תִּ֭תְּנֵנוּ | titenenu | you have made us | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| כְּצֹ֣אן | ketzon | like sheep of | H6629 → | 274 times |
| מַאֲכָ֑ל | maakhal | food | H3978 → | 30 times |
| וּ֝בַגּוֹיִ֗ם | uvagoyim | and among the nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
| זֵרִיתָֽנוּ׃ | zeritanu | you have scattered us | H2219 → | 39 times |
תִּ֭תְּנֵנוּyou have made us
titenenuH5414 →2011 times
כְּצֹ֣אןlike sheep of
ketzonH6629 →274 times
מַאֲכָ֑לfood
maakhalH3978 →30 times
וּ֝בַגּוֹיִ֗םand among the nations
uvagoyimH1471 →561 times
זֵרִיתָֽנוּ׃you have scattered us
zeritanuH2219 →39 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
Romans 8:36As it is written: “For Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
it leads to
- Psalms 44:22
Yet for Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.
- Isaiah 53:7
He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not…
- 1 Corinthians 15:30
And why do we endanger ourselves every hour?
- 2 Corinthians 4:10–11
We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.
- 1 Corinthians 4:9
For it seems to me that God has displayed us apostles at the end of the procession, like prisoners appointed for death. We have become a spectacle to the whole world, to angels as…
- Psalms 44:22
Through
Deuteronomy 28:64Then the LORD will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone, which neither you…
it leads to
- Leviticus 26:33
But I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out a sword after you as your land becomes desolate and your cities are laid waste.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Leviticus 26:33
Through
Deuteronomy 4:27Then the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 28:62–64
You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left few in number, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God.
- Deuteronomy 28:62–64
Through
Ezekiel 34:12As a shepherd looks for his scattered sheep when he is among the flock, so I will look for My flock. I will rescue them from all the places to which they were scattered…
it leads to
- Isaiah 40:11
He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart. He gently leads the nursing ewes.
- Isaiah 40:11
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Psalms
This page draws on 11 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 44; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 2; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; John Chrysostom, Commentary on the Psalms; John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 44:7; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; 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.