Psalms 83:10
in Psalms 83who perished at Endor and became like dung on the ground.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Who perished at Endor, Who became as dung for the earth.
KJV
Which perished at En–dor: they became as dung for the earth.
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This verse in Psalms 83
Commentary
11 notes on this verseSince, therefore, they came against your people, let us see what the psalmist imprecates upon them. Do to them as to Midian and Sisera. You have read the book of Judges: this is that Midian whom Gideon assailed. And Sisera, and Jabin. Jabin and Sisera are those whom Deborah and Barak assailed. At the torrent of Kishon, they perished at Endor. Deborah and Barak slew Sisera, the commander of the army. Therefore what he says, see what it means.
This site's exposition
as You did to Midian
on Psalms 83:9-12
The prayer asks God to repeat two victories, Midian under Gideon and Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon. Oreb and Zeeb fell at Judges 7:25, Zebah and Zalmunna at Judges 8:21, all four in the same Midianite war. The enemy wanted God's own pastures.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
There are many things that might be said, but the hour shuts us out: for it is a long task to run through them one by one. For who could easily say, Do to them as to Midian and Sisera, as to Jabin at the torrent of Kishon. They perished at Endor, they became like the dung of the earth. Make their princes like Oreb and Zeb and Zebee and Salmana: all their princes who said, Let us possess for ourselves as an inheritance the sanctuary of God? They thought themselves to be men of the Church, and claimed the Church for themselves.
Now let us see what the prophetic spirit prays may fall upon them, rather foretelling than cursing. "Do thou to them," he says, "as unto Madian and Sisera, as unto Jabin at the brook of Kishon" [Psalm 83:9]. "They perished at Endor, they became as the dung of the earth" [Psalm 83:10]. All these, the history relates, were subdued and conquered by Israel, which then was the people of God: as was the case also with those whom he next mentions: "Make their princes like Oreb and Zeb, and Zebee and Salmana" [Psalm 83:11]. The meaning of these names is as follows: Madian is explained a perverted judgment: Sisera, shutting out of joy: Jabin, wise. [Judges 4:7-8] But in these enemies conquered by God's people is to be understood that wise man of whom the Apostle speaks, "Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world?" [1 Corinthians 1:20] Oreb is dryness, Zeb, wolf, Zebee, a victim, namely of the wolf; for he too has his victims; Salmana, shadow of commotion. All these agree to the evils which the people of God conquer by good. Moreover Kishon, the torrent in which they were conquered, is explained, their hardness. Endor, where they perished, is explained, the Fountain of generation, but of the carnal generation namely, to which they were given up, and therefore perished, not heeding the regeneration which leads unto life, where they shall neither marry nor be given in marriage, [Luke 20:35] for they shall die no more. Rightly then it is said of these: "they became as the dung of the earth," in that nothing was produced of them but fruitfulness of the earth. As then all these were in figure conquered by the people of God, as figures, so he prays that those other enemies may be conquered in truth.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
This, in the singing of it, we may apply to the enemies of the gospel-church, all anti-christian powers and factions, representing to God their confederacies against Christ and his kingdom, and rejoicing in the hope that all their projects will be baffled and the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church.
15 ) at the brook Kishon, near to which was Endor. They became as dung on the earth; their dead bodies were thrown like dung laid in heaps, or spread, to fatten the ground; they were trodden to dirt by Barak's small but victorious army; and this was fitly made a precedent here, because Deborah made it so to aftertimes when it was fresh.
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Which perished at Endor,....
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
Which perished at Endor. There was the centre of the carnage, where the heaps of the slain lay thickest. They became as dung for the earth, manuring it with man; making the earth, like Saturn, feed on its own children. War is cruel, butt in this case it avengements were most just, —those who would not give Israel a place above ground are themselves denied a hiding place under the ground; they counted God's people to be as dung, and they became dung themselves.
Which perished at Endor. There was the centre of the carnage, where the heaps of the slain lay thickest. They became as dung for the earth, manuring it with man; making the earth, like Saturn, feed on its own children. War is cruel, butt in this case it avengements were most just, —those who would not give Israel a place above ground are themselves denied a hiding place under the ground; they counted God's people to be as dung, and they became dung themselves. Asaph would have the same fate befell other enemies of Israel; and his prayer was a prophecy, for so it happened to them.
Perished at En-dor - This refers to the defeat of the Midianites by Gideon, who were encamped in the valley of Jezreel, at the foot of Mount Gilboa, and near to Tabor, Jdg 6:33; Jdg 7:1, and consequently in the environs of En-dor. There Gideon attacked and defeated them; and, in various places during their flight, they were destroyed, and left to rot upon the earth. Jdg 7:22-25.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Which perished at En-dor - Endor is not particularly mentioned in the history of the transaction in the book of Judges, but it is known that Endor was in the vicinity of Mount Tabor, and there is no improbability in the tradition which has fixed the site of the battle at or near Endor. The word or name “En-dor” means properly fount of the dwelling (or, habitation), and was probably given at first to a spring or fountain near to which some distinguished or well-known person dwelt. It is mentioned in Jos 17:11; 1Sa 28:7. They became as dung for the earth - The land was enriched or made fertile by their flesh, their blood, and their bones, as the field of Waterloo was by that of the slain, or as fields of battle commonly are.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
They were destroyed in En-Dor I do not know which of the wars took place in En-Dor, that of Gideon or that of Barak.
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. 5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| נִשְׁמְד֥וּ | nishmedu | they were destroyed | H8045 → | 90 times |
| בְֽעֵין־ | veein- | at En- | H5874 → | |
| דֹּ֑אר | dor | -dor | H5874 → | |
| הָ֥יוּ | hayu | they became | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| דֹּ֝֗מֶן | domen | dung | H1828 → | |
| לָאֲדָמָֽה׃ | laadamah | for the ground | H127 → | 225 times |
נִשְׁמְד֥וּthey were destroyed
nishmeduH8045 →90 times
בְֽעֵין־at En-
veein-H5874 →
דֹּ֑אר-dor
dorH5874 →
הָ֥יוּthey became
hayuH1961 →3559 times
דֹּ֝֗מֶןdung
domenH1828 →
לָאֲדָמָֽה׃for the ground
laadamahH127 →225 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
Jeremiah 16:4“They will die from deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried, but will lie like dung on the ground. They will be finished off by sword and famine, and their corpses will…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 25:33
Those slain by the LORD on that day will be spread from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be mourned, gathered, or buried. They will be like dung lying…
- Jeremiah 9:22
Declare that this is what the LORD says: “The corpses of men will fall like dung upon the open field, like newly cut grain behind the reaper, with no one to gather it.”
- Jeremiah 22:18–19
Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: “They will not mourn for him: ‘Alas, my brother! Alas, my sister!’ They will not mourn for him: ‘Alas,…
- Jeremiah 25:33
Through
2 Kings 9:37And Jezebel’s body will lie like dung in the field on the plot of ground at Jezreel, so that no one can say: This is Jezebel.’”
it leads to
- Jeremiah 8:2
They will be exposed to the sun and moon, and to all the host of heaven which they have loved, served, followed, consulted, and worshiped. Their bones will not be gathered up or buried,…
- Jeremiah 8:2
Through
1 Samuel 28:7Then Saul said to his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so I can go and consult her.” “There is a medium at Endor,” his servants replied.
it leads to
- Acts 16:16
One day as we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl with a spirit of divination, who earned a large income for her masters by fortune-telling.
- 1 Chronicles 10:13
So Saul died for his unfaithfulness to the LORD, because he did not keep the word of the LORD and even consulted a medium for guidance,
- Acts 16:16
Through
Joshua 17:11Within Issachar and Asher, Manasseh was assigned Beth-shean, Ibleam, Dor (that is, Naphath), Endor, Taanach, and Megiddo, each with their surrounding settlements.
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 7:29
And along the borders of Manasseh were Beth-shean, Taanach, Megiddo, and Dor, together with their villages. The descendants of Joseph son of Israel lived in these towns.
- 2 Kings 9:27
When King Ahaziah of Judah saw this, he fled up the road toward Beth-haggan. And Jehu pursued him, shouting, “Shoot him too!” So they shot Ahaziah in his chariot on the Ascent of Gur,…
- 1 Chronicles 7:29
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 83; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 4; Jerome, Homily 15, on Psalm 82; Jerome, Homily 62, on Psalm 82 (Alternate Series); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.