Psalms 108:10
in Psalms 108Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Who will bring me into the fortified city? Who hath led me unto Edom?
KJV
Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom?
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This verse in Psalms 108
Commentary
8 notes on this verse"Who will lead me into the fortified city?" No one, O Lord, for you are the one who says: "I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the nations there was no man with me." "For all have turned aside, together they have become useless: there is none that does good, there is not even one." Who, then, will lead me into the fortified city? No one, O Lord: since even Peter, who had promised to die for you, afterward denied you. What is this fortified city?
This site's exposition
bring me to the fortified city
on Psalms 108:10-13
The close is Psalm 60:9 to 12, and it opens with a question about the fortified city of Edom. Verse 11 asks whether God has rejected them and will no longer march, and verse 13 answers that with God they will trample the enemy. The help of man is worthless.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Who will make me master of the country of Edom, which is yet unsubdued?" The question was probably to be debated in his privy council, or a council of war, what methods they should take to subdue the Edomites and to reduce that country; but he brings it into his prayers, and leaves it in God's hands: Wilt not thou, O God?
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
It intimates likewise that it is not only allowable, but sometimes convenient, to gather some verses out of one psalm and some out of another, and to put them together, to be sung to the glory of God. In singing this psalm we must give glory to God and take comfort to ourselves.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Faith leads on to strong desire for the realization of the promise, and hence the practical question, Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom? The difficulty is plainly perceived. Petra is strong and hard to enter: the Psalmist warrior knows that he cannot enter the city by his own power, and he therefore asks who is to help him.
Faith leads on to strong desire for the realization of the promise, and hence the practical question, Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom? The difficulty is plainly perceived. Petra is strong and hard to enter: the Psalmist warrior knows that he cannot enter the city by his own power, and he therefore asks who is to help him. He asks of the right person, even of his Lord, who has all men at his beck, and can say to this man, "show my servant the road", and he will show it, or to this band, "cut your way into the rock city", and they will assuredly do it. Of Edom it is written by Obadiah", The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, who shall bring me down to the ground? Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord." David looked for his conquest to Jehovah's infinite power and he looked not in vain.
The strong city - The possession of the metropolis is a sure proof of the subjugation of the country.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Who will bring me ... - This is taken, without alteration, from Psa 60:9.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Moab is my washbasin i.e., my slaves and my servants, like a utensil that people use.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Who will bring me in the time of the Messiah, to stretch forth my hand upon Esau in his fortified cities? He Who Who led us already upon Edom, that I smote them in the Valley of Salt, eighteen thousand.
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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מִ֣י | mi | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| יֹ֭בִלֵנִי | yoileni | will he bring me | H2986 → | 18 times |
| עִ֣יר | ʾir | a city of | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| מִבְצָ֑ר | mivtzar | fortification | H4013 → | |
| מִ֖י | mi | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| נָחַ֣נִי | nachani | will he lead me | H5148 → | 39 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | to | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| אֱדֽוֹם׃ | ʾedom | Edom | H123 → | 99 times |
מִ֣יwho?
miH4310 →423 times
יֹ֭בִלֵנִיwill he bring me
yoileniH2986 →18 times
עִ֣ירa city of
ʾirH5892 →1090 times
מִבְצָ֑רfortification
mivtzarH4013 →
מִ֖יwho?
miH4310 →423 times
נָחַ֣נִיwill he lead me
nachaniH5148 →39 times
עַד־to
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
אֱדֽוֹם׃Edom
ʾedomH123 →99 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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 60:1You have rejected us, O God; You have broken us; You have been angry; restore us!
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 8:12–13
from Edom and Moab, from the Ammonites and Philistines and Amalekites, and from the spoil of Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah.
- 2 Samuel 8:3
David also defeated Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah, who had marched out to restore his dominion along the Euphrates River.
- Psalms 44:9
But You have rejected and humbled us; You no longer go forth with our armies.
- 1 Chronicles 18:3
As far as Hamath, David also defeated King Hadadezer of Zobah, who had marched out to establish his dominion along the Euphrates River.
- 1 Chronicles 18:12–13
Moreover, Abishai son of Zeruiah struck down eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.
- 2 Samuel 8:12–13
About Psalms
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 5; Jerome, Homily 34, on Psalm 107 and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.