Psalms 9:16
in Psalms 9The LORD is known by the justice He brings; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. Higgaion Selah
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Jehovah hath made himself known, he hath executed judgment: The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. [Higgaion. Selah
KJV
The Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah.
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This verse in Psalms 9
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThe Lord is known by the judgment - It is not every casualty that can properly be called a judgment of God. Judgment is his strange work; but when he executes it, his mind is plainly to be seen. There are no natural causes to which such calamities can be legally attributed. The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands - There is nothing that a wicked man does that is not against his own interest.
This site's exposition
fallen into a pit
on Psalms 9:15-16
The trap springs on the man who set it. The nations fall into a pit of their own making, their feet caught in the net they hid, and the wicked are snared by what their hands made. The LORD is known by that justice.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Higgaion - This is either a musical term, or a note of attention, intimating that the matter deserves deep meditation, or consideration, as the word signifies.
on Psalms 9:15-17
This is very applicable to the kingdom of the Messiah, the enemies of which have been in part destroyed already, and shall be yet more and more till they all be made his footstool, which we are to assure ourselves of, that God may have the glory and we may take the comfort.
(2.) So as to get honour to himself: The Lord is known, that is, he makes himself known, by these judgments which he executes. It is known that there is a God who judges in the earth, that he is a righteous God, and one that hates sin and will punish it. In these judgments the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Jehovah is known by the judgment which he executeth; his holiness and abhorrence of sin is thus displayed. A ruler who winked at evil would soon be known by all his subjects to be evil himself, and he, on the other hand, who is severely just in judgment reveals his own nature thereby. So long as our God is God, he will not, he cannot spare the guilty; except through that one glorious way in which he is just, and yet the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Though Selah occurs seventy-three times, this is the only case in which Higgaion is found. In the view which is given here of the retribution on the wicked as an instance of God's wise and holy ordering, we may well pause in adoring wonder and faith.
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| נ֤וֹדַ֨ע׀ | noda' | he has made himself known | H3045 → | 945 times |
| יְהוָה֮ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| מִשְׁפָּ֪ט | mishpat | justice | H4941 → | 422 times |
| עָ֫שָׂ֥ה | ʾasah | he has done | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| בְּפֹ֣עַל | befoal | by [the] work of | H6467 → | 37 times |
| כַּ֭פָּיו | kapav | hands his | H3709 → | 192 times |
| נוֹקֵ֣שׁ | nokesh | [he is] striking down | H5367 → | 5 times |
| רָשָׁ֑ע | rasha' | [the] wicked | H7563 → | 263 times |
| הִגָּי֥וֹן | higayon | Higgaion | H1902 → | 4 times |
| סֶֽלָה׃ | selah | Selah | H5542 → | 74 times |
נ֤וֹדַ֨ע׀he has made himself known
noda'H3045 →945 times
יְהוָה֮Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
מִשְׁפָּ֪טjustice
mishpatH4941 →422 times
עָ֫שָׂ֥הhe has done
ʾasahH6213 →2628 times
בְּפֹ֣עַלby [the] work of
befoalH6467 →37 times
כַּ֭פָּיוhands his
kapavH3709 →192 times
נוֹקֵ֣שׁ[he is] striking down
nokeshH5367 →5 times
רָשָׁ֑ע[the] wicked
rasha'H7563 →263 times
הִגָּי֥וֹןHiggaion
higayonH1902 →4 times
סֶֽלָה׃Selah
selahH5542 →74 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
Exodus 14:31When Israel saw the great power that the LORD had exercised over the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and believed in Him and in His servant Moses.
it leads to
- John 2:11
Jesus performed this, the first of His signs, at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.
- John 11:45
Therefore many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in Him.
- John 2:11
Through
Exodus 7:5And the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out My hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out from among them.”
it leads to
- Exodus 14:18
The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I am honored through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”
- Exodus 14:18
Through
Proverbs 12:13An evil man is trapped by his rebellious speech, but a righteous man escapes from trouble.
it leads to
- Proverbs 21:23
He who guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from distress.
- Psalms 64:8
They will be made to stumble, their own tongues turned against them. All who see will shake their heads.
- Proverbs 11:8
The righteous man is delivered from trouble; in his place the wicked man goes in.
- Proverbs 21:23
Through
Judges 1:7Then Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have gathered the scraps under my table. As I have done to them, so God has repaid me.” And they brought…
it leads to
- Revelation 13:10
“If anyone is destined for captivity, into captivity he will go; if anyone is to die by the sword, by the sword he must be killed.” Here is a call for the perseverance and…
- 1 Samuel 15:33
But Samuel declared: “As your sword has made women childless, so your mother will be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the LORD at Gilgal.
- Revelation 13:10
About Psalms
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 1; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.