Psalms 144:14
in Psalms 144Our oxen will bear great loads. There will be no breach in the walls, no going into captivity, and no cry of lament in our streets.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
When our oxen are well laden; When there is no breaking in, and no going forth, And no outcry in our streets:
KJV
That our oxen may be strong to labour; that there be no breaking in, nor going out; that there be no complaining in our streets.
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This verse in Psalms 144
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThat our oxen may be strong to labour,.... To draw carriages, to plough with, and to tread out the corn: or "may be burdened" (w); fit to carry burdens; or burdened with flesh, be plump and fat, and in good condition to work; or burdened with young, as some (x) understand it, and then it must be meant of cows, as the word is used, Deu 7:13; and so here an increase of kine is wished for, as of sheep before.
This site's exposition
Our oxen will bear great loads
on Psalms 144:14-15
Strong oxen, walls with no breach and streets with no cry of lament fill out the land at rest. Verse 15 says blessed twice, and the second names the people whose God is the LORD. Spurgeon read that line as the reason for the rest.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
"their oxen are fat: their hedge is not broken down, nor their road, nor is their crying in their streets" (ver. 14). Is not this then happiness? I ask the sons of the kingdom of heaven, I ask the offspring of everlasting resurrection, I ask the body of Christ, the members of Christ, the temple of God. Is not this then happiness, to have sons safe, daughters beautiful, garners full, cattle abundant, no downfall, I say not of a wall, but not even of a hedge, no tumult and clamour in the streets, but quiet, peace, abundance, plenty of all things in their houses and in their cities? Is not this then happiness? or ought the righteous to shun it? or findest thou not the house of the righteous too abounding with all these things, full of this happiness? Did not Abraham's house abound with gold, silver, children, servants, cattle? What say we? is not this happiness? Be it so, still it is on the left hand. What is, on the left hand? Temporal, mortal, bodily. I desire not that thou shun it, but that thou think it not to be on the right hand. ...For what ought they to have set on the right hand? God, eternity, the years of God which fail not, whereof is said, "and Thy years shall not fail." There should be the right hand, there should be our longing. Let us use the left for the time, let us long for the fight for eternity. "If riches increase, set not your heart upon them."
Their oxen are fat. Pharaoh too saw in a dream fat Egyptian oxen. Their oxen are fat. The Israelite peoples are lean, the Egyptians are fat. For you may see that the masters of the heretics do nothing else, except pursue riches. They pursue riches, and they despise the poor Christ. Their oxen are fat. Beautifully he says, fat oxen: whose God is the belly, and whose glory is in their confusion.
There is no ruin of the wall, nor passage. Does it not seem to you to be obscure what is said, There is no ruin of the wall, nor passage, nor outcry in their streets? You will find heretics unschooled with difficulty: for all the heretic masters are equipped with worldly knowledge. They do not have the apostolic net, but the little chains of dialectic. There is no ruin of the wall, nor passage.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
In singing this psalm we may give God the glory of our spiritual privileges and advancements, and fetch in help from him against our spiritual enemies; we may pray for the prosperity of our souls, of our families, and of our land; and, in the opinion of some of the Jewish writers, we may refer the psalm to the Messiah and his kingdom.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
That our oxen may be strong to labour; so that the ploughing and cartage of the farm may be duly performed, and the husbandman's work may be accomplished without unduly taxing the cattle, or working them cruelly. That there be no breaking in, nor going out; no irruption of marauders, and no forced emigration; no burglaries and no evictions. That there be no complaining in our streets; no secret dissatisfaction, no public riot; no fainting of poverty, no clamour for rights denied, nor concerning wrongs unredressed.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
That our oxen may be strong to labour; so that the ploughing and cartage of the farm may be duly performed, and the husbandman's work may be accomplished without unduly taxing the cattle, or working them cruelly. That there be no breaking in, nor going out; no irruption of marauders, and no forced emigration; no burglaries and no evictions. That there be no complaining in our streets; no secret dissatisfaction, no public riot; no fainting of poverty, no clamour for rights denied, nor concerning wrongs unredressed. The state of things here pictured is very delightful: all is peaceful and prosperous; the throne is occupied efficiently, and even the beasts in their stalls are the better for it. This has been the condition of our own country, and if it should now be changed, who can wonder? For our ingratitude well deserves to be deprived of blessings which it has despised. These verses may with a little accommodation be applied to a prosperous church, where the converts are growing and beautiful, the gospel stores abundant, and the spiritual increase most cheering. There ministers and workers are in full vigour, and the people are happy and united. The Lord make it so in all our churches evermore.
Our oxen may be strong to labor - We have not only an abundance of cattle; but they are of the most strong and vigorous breed. No breaking in - So well ordered is the police of the kingdom, that there are no depredations, no robbers, house-breakers, or marauding parties, in the land; no sudden incursions of neighboring tribes or banditti breaking into fields or houses, carrying away property, and taking with them the people to sell them into captivity: there is no such breaking in, and no such going out, in the nation. My enemies are either become friends, and are united with me in political interests; or are, through fear, obliged to stand aloof.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
That our oxen may be strong to labour - Margin, “able to bear burdens;” or, “laden with flesh.” The Hebrew is simply loaded or laden: that is, with a burden; or, with flesh; or, as Gesenius renders it, with young. The latter idea would best suit the connection - that of cattle producing abundantly or multiplying. That there be no breaking in, nor going out - No breaking in of other cattle into enclosed grounds, and no escape of those which are shut up for pasture. That property may be safe everywhere. The image is that of security, peace, order, prosperity. That there be no complaining in our streets - literally, “outcry; clamor.” That the land may be at peace; that order and law may be observed; that the rights of all may be respected; that among neighbors there may be no strifes and contentions.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Our princes are borne The great princes among us are borne by those smaller than they, for the small ones obey the greater ones, the result being that there is no breach among us.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Our corners are full The corners of our storehouses are full of goodness.
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
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַלּוּפֵ֗ינוּ | ʾalufeinu | cattle[s] our | H441 → | |
| מְֽסֻבָּ֫לִ֥ים | mesubalim | [will be] loaded | H5445 → | |
| אֵֽין־ | ʾein- | there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| פֶּ֭רֶץ | peretz | [will be] a breach | H6556 → | |
| וְאֵ֣ין | veein | and there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| יוֹצֵ֑את | yotzet | [will be] abortion | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| וְאֵ֥ין | veein | and there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| צְ֝וָחָ֗ה | tzevachah | [will be] an outcry | H6682 → | |
| בִּרְחֹבֹתֵֽינוּ׃ | birchoteinu | in open places our | H7339 → |
אַלּוּפֵ֗ינוּcattle[s] our
ʾalufeinuH441 →
מְֽסֻבָּ֫לִ֥ים[will be] loaded
mesubalimH5445 →
אֵֽין־there not
ʾein-H369 →789 times
פֶּ֭רֶץ[will be] a breach
peretzH6556 →
וְאֵ֣יןand there not
veeinH369 →789 times
יוֹצֵ֑את[will be] abortion
yotzetH3318 →1067 times
וְאֵ֥יןand there not
veeinH369 →789 times
צְ֝וָחָ֗ה[will be] an outcry
tzevachahH6682 →
בִּרְחֹבֹתֵֽינוּ׃in open places our
birchoteinuH7339 →
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
Deuteronomy 28:7The LORD will cause the enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you. They will march out against you in one direction but flee from you in seven.
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 22:38–41
I pursued my enemies and destroyed them; I did not turn back until they were consumed.
- Leviticus 26:7–8
You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you.
- Psalms 89:23
I will crush his foes before him and strike down those who hate him.
- 2 Chronicles 32:21–22
and the LORD sent an angel who annihilated every mighty man of valor and every leader and commander in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he withdrew to his own land in…
- 2 Chronicles 19:4
Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem, and once again he went out among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim and turned them back to the LORD, the God of their fathers.
- 2 Samuel 22:38–41
Through
Jeremiah 14:18If I go out to the country, I see those slain by the sword; if I enter the city, I see those ravaged by famine! For both prophet and priest travel to a land…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 7:15
The sword is outside; plague and famine are within. Those in the country will die by the sword, and those in the city will be devoured by famine and plague.
- Ezekiel 7:15
Through
Judges 6:6Israel was greatly impoverished by Midian, and the Israelites cried out to the LORD.
it leads to
- Judges 3:9
But when the Israelites cried out to the LORD, He raised up Othniel son of Caleb’s younger brother Kenaz as a deliverer to save them.
- Jeremiah 5:17
They will devour your harvest and food; they will consume your sons and daughters; they will eat up your flocks and herds; they will feed on your vines and fig trees. With the sword…
- Judges 3:9
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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, ON THE PSALMS, Psalm 144; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 7; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; Jerome, Homily 54, on Psalm 143; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.