Psalms 10:2
in Psalms 10In pride the wicked pursue the needy; let them be caught in the schemes they devise.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
In the pride of the wicked the poor is hotly pursued; Let them be taken in the devices that they have conceived.
KJV
The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.
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This verse in Psalms 10
Commentary
11 notes on this verseThe wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor,.... The "poor" is the good and gracious man, who is commonly poor in this world's things, and is sensibly poor in spirit, or sensible of his spiritual poverty; or he is so called because "afflicted", as the word signifies; and he is afflicted because he is poor: these two characters generally go together.
This site's exposition
do You stand far off
on Psalms 10:1-3
The psalm opens with a complaint, that God stands far off while the wicked pursue the needy. Pride is the motive the psalm names, and the prayer asks that the schemes the wicked devise catch them instead. Blessing goes to the greedy and reviling to the LORD.
This site's exposition
In pride the wicked pursue the needy
Pursue renders a verb meaning to burn, so the wicked hunt the needy in hot pursuit, as Laban did Jacob at Genesis 31:36. The second line can pray that the wicked be caught in their own schemes, or say the needy are caught. The Berean reads a prayer.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Then he who thus inquired, as if all on a sudden he understood, or as if he asked, though he knew, that he might teach, adds, "You despise in due seasons, in tribulations:" that is, You despise seasonably, and causest tribulations to inflame men's minds with longing for Your coming. For that fountain of life is sweeter to them that have much thirst. Therefore he hints the reason of the delay, saying, "Whilst the ungodly vaunts himself, the poor man is inflamed" [Psalm 9:2]. Wondrous it is and true with what earnestness of good hope the little ones are inflamed unto an upright living by comparison with sinners. In which mystery it comes to pass, that even heresies are permitted to exist; not that heretics themselves wish this, but because Divine Providence works this result from their sins, which both makes and ordains the light; but orders only the darkness, that by comparison therewith the light may be more pleasant, as by comparison with heretics the discovery of truth is more sweet. For so, by this comparison, the approved, who are known to God, are made manifest among men.
In his regard for the afflicted, he says to the Lord in the manner of human weakness, "Why have you withdrawn far away?" This does not mean that God leaves a place and moves to another location since he is completely present in every place. …
The Medieval Church1 voice
Here he sets forth the progress of the wicked. And first, he sets forth the cause of their wickedness. Second, he describes their wickedness, at "whose mouth is full of cursing," etc. Third, against it he implores divine assistance, at "Arise, O Lord God." The …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Tyranny, both in state and church, owes its origin to pride. The psalmist, having begun this description, presently inserts a short prayer, a prayer in a parenthesis, which is an advantage and no prejudice to the sense: Let them be taken, as proud people often are, in the devices that they have imagined,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The second verse contains the formal indictment against the wicked: "The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor." The accusation divides itself into two distinct charges, —pride and tyranny; the one the root and cause of the other. The second sentence is the humble petition of the oppressed: "Let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined." The prayer is reasonable, just, and natural. Even our enemies themselves being judges, it is but right that men should be done by as they wished to do to others.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
The second verse contains the formal indictment against the wicked: "The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor." The accusation divides itself into two distinct charges, —pride and tyranny; the one the root and cause of the other. The second sentence is the humble petition of the oppressed: "Let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined." The prayer is reasonable, just, and natural. Even our enemies themselves being judges, it is but right that men should be done by as they wished to do to others. We only weigh you in your own scales, and measure your corn with your own bushel. Terrible shall be thy day, O persecuting Babylon! when thou shalt be made to drink of the winecup which thou thyself hast filled to the brim with the blood of saints. There are none who will dispute the justice of God, when he shall hang every Haman on his own gallows, and cast all the enemies of his Daniels into their own den of lions.
The wicked in his pride - On no principle of nature or reason can we account for a wicked man persecuting a humble follower of God because of his religion. The devil hates godliness; and the wicked man hates it also because the devil is in his heart.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The wicked in his pride - Margin: “In the pride of the wicked he doth.” The margin is a literal translation of the Hebrew; but the sense is the same. The meaning is, that the fact that the wicked persecuted the poor, in the case referred to, was to be traced to his pride, haughtiness, ambition; that is, in pursuing his own selfish and ambitious purposes, he became utterly regardless of the rights and comforts of others. He esteemed their interest and happiness as unworthy of regard in comparison with his own aims and purposes, and trampled down all their rights in prosecuting his own ends. The term “wicked” here - in the original in the singular number, רשׁע rāshâ‛, though perhaps used collectively - means properly the wicked one, or the wicked man, and doubtless refers to some enemy that David had in his eye, and from whom he was at that time suffering wrong. It is not possible now to ascertain with certainty who this was; but as the whole description proceeds in the singular number Psa 10:3-11, it is most natural to suppose that this refers to one individual. Doth persecute the poor - עני ידלק yidelaq ‛ânı̂y. Prof. Alexander renders this, “burns the sufferer.” Luther, muss der Elende leiden - “must the afflicted suffer.” DeWette: angstigen sich die Elenden. The Latin Vulgate: “When the impious (man) is proud, the poor (man) is burned:” incenditur pauper. So the Septuagint. Gesenius (Lexicon) supposes it means, to burn with anguish. Horsley renders it, “In the exaltation of the impious one the helpless is consumed.” But it seems to me that our common version has expressed the true sense. The word rendered persecuteth - דלק dâlaq - means properly to burn, to flame; then to burn with love, with anger; then to burn after anyone, to persecute. See it; explained in the notes at Psa 7:13. […]
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
You hide in times of distress You hide Your eyes in times of distress.
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. 3 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
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּגַאֲוַ֣ת | begaavat | in [the] pride of | H1346 → | 19 times |
| רָ֭שָׁע | rasho' | [the] wicked | H7563 → | 263 times |
| יִדְלַ֣ק | yidlak | he hotly pursues | H1814 → | |
| עָנִ֑י | ʾani | [the] afflicted | H6041 → | 73 times |
| יִתָּפְשׂ֓וּ׀ | yitafesu | they are caught | H8610 → | |
| בִּמְזִמּ֖וֹת | bimzimot | by schemes | H4209 → | 19 times |
| ז֣וּ | zu | which | H2098 → | 15 times |
| חָשָֽׁבוּ׃ | chashavu | they have planned | H2803 → | 124 times |
בְּגַאֲוַ֣תin [the] pride of
begaavatH1346 →19 times
רָ֭שָׁע[the] wicked
rasho'H7563 →263 times
יִדְלַ֣קhe hotly pursues
yidlakH1814 →
עָנִ֑י[the] afflicted
ʾaniH6041 →73 times
יִתָּפְשׂ֓וּ׀they are caught
yitafesuH8610 →
בִּמְזִמּ֖וֹתby schemes
bimzimotH4209 →19 times
ז֣וּwhich
zuH2098 →15 times
חָשָֽׁבוּ׃they have planned
chashavuH2803 →124 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
Psalms 7:16His trouble recoils on himself, and his violence falls on his own head.
it leads to
- Esther 9:25
But when it came before the king, he commanded by letter that the wicked scheme which Haman had devised against the Jews should come back upon his own head, and that he and his…
- Psalms 37:12–13
The wicked scheme against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them,
- Esther 9:25
Through
Psalms 31:18May lying lips be silenced— lips that speak with arrogance against the righteous, full of pride and contempt.
it leads to
- Psalms 94:4
They pour out arrogant words; all workers of iniquity boast.
- Jude 1:15
to execute judgment on everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of every ungodly act of wickedness and every harsh word spoken against Him by ungodly sinners.”
- Isaiah 54:17
No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their vindication is from Me,” declares the…
- 1 Samuel 2:3
Do not boast so proudly, or let arrogance come from your mouth, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by Him actions are weighed.
- Psalms 94:4
Through
Psalms 59:12By the sins of their mouths and the words of their lips, let them be trapped in their pride, in the curses and lies they utter.
it leads to
- Proverbs 12:13
An evil man is trapped by his rebellious speech, but a righteous man escapes from trouble.
- Proverbs 12:13
Through
Psalms 36:11Let not the foot of the proud come against me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.
it leads to
- Psalms 16:8
I have set the LORD always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
- Psalms 16:8
About Psalms
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 10; Cassiodorus, EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 10:22; 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.