Psalms 10:9
in Psalms 10He lies in wait like a lion in a thicket; he lurks to seize the oppressed; he catches the lowly in his net.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He lurketh in secret as a lion in his covert; He lieth in wait to catch the poor: He doth catch the poor, when he draweth him in his net.
KJV
He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net.
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This verse in Psalms 10
Commentary
12 notes on this verseIn earlier times, the persecution of the church was merely violent, when Christians were being pressed by pagans through proscriptions, torture and beatings to sacrifice to idols. A second type of persecution is through deceit, which is currently being carried out by heretics and false …
This site's exposition
His mouth is full of cursing
on Psalms 10:7-11
The mouth comes first, full of cursing, deceit and violence, with trouble and malice under the tongue. The hands follow the mouth: he waits like a lion in a thicket and catches the lowly in his net. He tells himself God has forgotten and never sees.
This site's exposition
like a lion in a thicket
The verse draws two pictures, a lion crouched in its thicket and a hunter who drags his net. Psalm 17:12 uses the lion in ambush for David's enemies. Psalm 9:15 has already shown the nations caught in the net they hid.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
And lastly, against the devil: 'God is not before his eyes, he sits in ambush with the rich.' Unhappy the rich, with whom the devil sits.
"His eyes look against the poor," for he is chiefly to persecute the righteous, of whom it is said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" [Matthew 5:3] [Psalm 10:9]. "He lies in wait in a secret place, as a lion in his den." By a lion in a den, he means one in whom both violence and deceit will work. For the first persecution of the Church was violent, when by proscriptions, by torments, by murders, the Christians were compelled to sacrifice: another persecution is crafty, which is now conducted by heretics of any kind and false brethren: there remains a third, which is to come by Antichrist, than which there is nothing more perilous; for it will be at once violent and crafty. Violence he will exert in empire, craft in miracles. To the violence, the word "lion" refers; to craft, the words "in his den." And these are again repeated with a change of order. "He lies in wait," he says, "that he may catch the poor;" this has reference to craft: but what follows, "To catch the poor while he draws him," is put to the score of violence. For "draws" means, he brings him to himself by violence, by whatever tortures he can.
He lies in wait in secret, like a lion in his den or a savage lion in his cave so that he may drag off the poor by crafty speech and, equally often, by their deeds. After he has caught him in the trap he …
The Medieval Church1 voice
"He lies in ambush." Here the manner of ambush is set forth. And first, he sets forth the comparison: "like a lion in his den," namely, so wicked rulers oppress the poor. Prov. 28: "A roaring lion and a hungry bear: a wicked ruler over …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
He lieth in wait secretly as a lion,....
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
He lieth in wait secretly - Margin, in the secret places. See the note at Psa 10:8. The object here is merely to illustrate the thought in the previous verse, by an allusion to a lion and a hunter. As a lion in his den - As a lion crouches down in his den, ready to spring upon his prey. That is, the lion is concealed, but is on the look out, and when his prey passes near his den, he suddenly springs upon it and secures it. So it is with the wicked man. He carefully lays his plans.
The picture becomes blacker, for here is the cunning of the lion, and of the huntsman, as well as the stealthiness of the robber. Surely there are some men who come up to the very letter of this description. With watching, perversion, slander, whispering, and false swearing, they ruin the character of the righteous, and murder the innocent; or, with legal quibbles, mortgages, bonds, writs, and the like, they catch the poor, and draw them into a net. Chrysostom was peculiarly severe upon this last phase of cruelty, but assuredly not more so than was richly merited.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The malignity and deceit (Ps 140:3) of such are followed by acts combining cunning, fraud, and violence (compare Pr 1:11, 18), aptly illustrated by the habits of the lion, and of hunters taking their prey. "Poor," in Ps 10:8, 10, 14, represents a word peculiar to this Psalm, meaning the sad or sorrowful; in Ps 10:9, as usual, it means the pious or meek sufferer.
The picture becomes blacker, for here is the cunning of the lion, and of the huntsman, as well as the stealthiness of the robber. Surely there are some men who come up to the very letter of this description. With watching, perversion, slander, whispering, and false swearing, they ruin the character of the righteous, and murder the innocent; or, with legal quibbles, mortgages, bonds, writs, and the like, they catch the poor, and draw them into a net. Chrysostom was peculiarly severe upon this last phase of cruelty, but assuredly not more so than was richly merited. Take care, brethren, for there are other traps besides these. Hungry lions are crouching in every den, and fowlers spread their nets in every field. Quarles well pictures our danger in those memorable lines, — The close pursuers' busy hands do plant Snares in thy substance; snares attend thy wants; Snares in thy credit; snares in thy disgrace; Snares in thy high estate; snares in thy base; Snares tuck thy bed; and snares surround thy board; Snares watch thy thoughts; and snares attack thy word; Snares in thy quiet; snares in thy commotion; Snares in thy diet; snares in thy devotion; Snares lurk in thy resolves; snares in thy doubt; Snares lie within thy heart; and snares without; Snares are above thy head, and snares beneath; Snares in thy sickness; snares are in thy death. O Lord! keep thy servants, and defend us from all our enemies!
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
He crouches, he bows down So is the habit of the lurker; he crouches and lowers [himself] and makes himself small in order to be inconspicuous.
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
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יֶאֱרֹ֬ב | yeero | he lies in wait | H693 → | 41 times |
| בַּמִּסְתָּ֨ר׀ | bamistar | in <the> hiding place | H4565 → | 10 times |
| כְּאַרְיֵ֬ה | kearyeh | like a lion | H738 → | 80 times |
| בְסֻכֹּ֗ה | vesukoh | in lair its | H5520 → | 4 times |
| יֶ֭אֱרֹב | yeero | he lies in wait | H693 → | 41 times |
| לַחֲט֣וֹף | lachatof | to seize | H2414 → | |
| עָנִ֑י | ʾani | [the] afflicted | H6041 → | 73 times |
| יַחְטֹ֥ף | yachtof | he seizes | H2414 → | |
| עָ֝נִ֗י | ʾani | [the] afflicted | H6041 → | 73 times |
| בְּמָשְׁכ֥וֹ | bemashekho | when drags [him] away he | H4900 → | 36 times |
| בְרִשְׁתּֽוֹ׃ | verishto | in net his | H7568 → | 22 times |
יֶאֱרֹ֬בhe lies in wait
yeeroH693 →41 times
בַּמִּסְתָּ֨ר׀in <the> hiding place
bamistarH4565 →10 times
כְּאַרְיֵ֬הlike a lion
kearyehH738 →80 times
בְסֻכֹּ֗הin lair its
vesukohH5520 →4 times
יֶ֭אֱרֹבhe lies in wait
yeeroH693 →41 times
לַחֲט֣וֹףto seize
lachatofH2414 →
עָנִ֑י[the] afflicted
ʾaniH6041 →73 times
יַחְטֹ֥ףhe seizes
yachtofH2414 →
עָ֝נִ֗י[the] afflicted
ʾaniH6041 →73 times
בְּמָשְׁכ֥וֹwhen drags [him] away he
bemashekhoH4900 →36 times
בְרִשְׁתּֽוֹ׃in net his
verishtoH7568 →22 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
Proverbs 28:15Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a helpless people.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 5:8
Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Peter 5:8
Through
Micah 7:2The godly man has perished from the earth; there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; they hunt one another with a net.
it leads to
- Psalms 12:1
Help, O LORD, for the godly are no more; the faithful have vanished from among men.
- Psalms 14:1–3
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt; their acts are vile. There is no one who does good.
- Jeremiah 5:26
For among My people are wicked men; they watch like fowlers lying in wait; they set a trap to catch men.
- Isaiah 57:1
The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; devout men are swept away, while no one considers that the righteous are guided from the presence of evil.
- Isaiah 59:7
Their feet run to evil; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are sinful thoughts; ruin and destruction lie in their wake.
- Psalms 12:1
Through
Psalms 59:3See how they lie in wait for me. Fierce men conspire against me for no transgression or sin of my own, O LORD.
it leads to
- Psalms 56:6
They conspire, they lurk, they watch my steps while they wait to take my life.
- Psalms 69:4
Those who hate me without cause outnumber the hairs of my head; many are those who would destroy me— my enemies for no reason. Though I did not steal, I must repay.
- Psalms 56:6
About Psalms
This page draws on 12 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on 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 10:29-30; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 1; Didymus the Blind, FRAGMENTS ON THE PSALMS 10:8; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Homily 4, on Psalm 9; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.