Psalms 3:6
in Psalms 3I will not fear the myriads set against me on every side.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I will not be afraid of ten thousands of the people That have set themselves against me round about.
KJV
I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about.
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This verse in Psalms 3
Commentary
15 notes on this verseThe verse clearly teaches that the one who comes to the greatest virtue, to very great security, comes on account of faith in God.… The Savior, recognizing that thousands of the people of the circumcision were going to demand that he be crucified and knowing his own spirit of fearlessness (I say these things speaking in terms of the flesh), is able to say even these words.
This site's exposition
I lie down and sleep
on Psalms 3:5-6
He lies down, he sleeps, he wakes, and the LORD sustains him. Spurgeon marked what that takes, a man surrounded by foes able to lie down and sleep. Verse 6 names the myriads on every side after the sleep.
This site's exposition
I will not fear the myriads
Myriads translates a Hebrew word for ten thousands, from the same root as increased and many in verses 1 and 2. The count of enemies has grown. The fear has fallen away after the sleep of verse 5.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
"I will not fear the thousands of people that surround me" [Psalm 3:6]. It is written in the Gospels how great a multitude stood around Him as He was suffering, and on the cross.
In this verse the psalmist is not moved by his own trials to the point of despairing of the help of God, nor is he dissuaded from a position of faith by words of reproach. He, having learned by experience the fullness of previous help, …
He predicts that there are going to be many thousands of adversaries who will wish to hinder the resurrection of the saints because they are jealous of their salvation: which ones I will regard as nothing, he said. I have trusted my defender, the victor over death, who, after the bronze gates were torn down and the iron bolts thoroughly broken, opened the gates of death that had been closed for ages, and with those people known to him, from which number was David, he prepared for the resurrection life.
This psalm can pertain to David or to Christ, and through him to all the saints.
He could not fear a death that he foreknew would last only three days and would benefit the world.
7 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
Then when he says, "I will not fear," the confidence of security is set forth. As if to say: since I have been heard in this way, "I will not fear," etc. Below, Ps. 26: "Though armies should stand against me," etc. In this is …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
I will not be afraid of ten thousands of the people,....
But now, like a strong believer, he speaks confidently, and has no fear concerning the event. Note, A cheerful resignation to God is the way to obtain a cheerful satisfaction and confidence in God. His prayers were quickened and encouraged,
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
Buckling on his harness for the day's battle, our hero sings, "I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about." Observe that he does not attempt to under- estimate the number or wisdom of his enemies. He reckons them at tens of thousands, and he views them as cunning huntsmen chasing him with cruel skill. Yet he trembles not, but looking his foeman in the face he is ready for the battle.
Buckling on his harness for the day's battle, our hero sings, "I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about." Observe that he does not attempt to under- estimate the number or wisdom of his enemies. He reckons them at tens of thousands, and he views them as cunning huntsmen chasing him with cruel skill. Yet he trembles not, but looking his foeman in the face he is ready for the battle. There may be no way of escape; they may hem me in as the deer are surrounded by a circle of hunters; they may surround me on every side, but in the name of God I will dash through them; or, if I remain in the midst of them, yet shall they not hurt me; I shall be free in my very prison. But David is too wise to venture to the battle without prayer; he therefore betakes himself to his knees, and cries aloud to Jehovah.
I Will not be afraid of ten thousands - Strength and numbers are nothing against the omnipotence of God. He who has made God his refuge certainly has no cause to fear.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
I will not be afraid - As the result of this new proof of the divine protection, and in view of all that God has done and has promised, the psalmist now says that he would not be afraid though any number of foes should rise up against him. Perhaps this confiding and exulting spirit may be regarded in some measure as the “result” of the calm and refreshing slumber which he had enjoyed. The mind as well as the body had been refreshed and invigorated. With the bright light of a new morning he looked with more cheerful views and hopes on the things around him, and felt new strength to meet the dangers to which he was exposed. Who in trouble and sorrow has not felt this? Who has not experienced the influence of the slumbers of a night and of the light of the morning, in giving new vigour and inspiring new hopes, as if the returning day was an emblem of brighter scenes in life, and the passing away of the shades of night a token that all trouble and sorrow would flee away? Of ten thousands of people - Myriads: Though myriads are arrayed against me. He does not, of course, pretend to any exactness here; but he felt that the number of his enemies was very great. This “was” the case in the rebellion of Absalom. Ahithophel proposed to Absalom to “choose out twelve thousand men” with whom he might pursue after David, implying that the number with him was actually much greater than that, 2Sa 17:1) That have set themselves against me - That have arrayed themselves against me; or that have risen up in rebellion against me. Round about - Intending to hem me in on every side. Of course this was to be apprehended in such a rebellion; yet David says that he could now look with calmness on all this, for he had confidence in God. Compare Psa 56:3.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
I lay down and slept My heart was clogged from worry and fear.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
I cry unto the Lord with my voice: – i.e. unto the Lord with my voice, for I cry to Him by reason of (my) 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. 1 further source is 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אִ֭ירָא | ʾira' | I will be afraid | H3372 → | 315 times |
| מֵרִבְב֥וֹת | merivot | from ten thousands of | H7233 → | |
| עָ֑ם | ʾam | people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| סָ֝בִ֗יב | saviv | all around | H5439 → | 336 times |
| שָׁ֣תוּ | shatu | they have taken a stand | H7896 → | 83 times |
| עָלָֽי׃ | ʾalai | on me | H5921 → | 5755 times |
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
אִ֭ירָאI will be afraid
ʾira'H3372 →315 times
מֵרִבְב֥וֹתfrom ten thousands of
merivotH7233 →
עָ֑םpeople
ʾamH5971 →1873 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwho
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
סָ֝בִ֗יבall around
savivH5439 →336 times
שָׁ֣תוּthey have taken a stand
shatuH7896 →83 times
עָלָֽי׃on me
ʾalaiH5921 →5755 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
Romans 8:31What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
it leads to
- Psalms 118:6
The LORD is on my side; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 1:19
They will fight against you but will never overcome you, since I am with you to deliver you,” declares the LORD.
- Psalms 56:11
in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
- 1 John 4:4
You, little children, are from God and have overcome them, because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.
- 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…
- Psalms 118:6
Through
Psalms 23:4Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
it leads to
- Isaiah 41:10
Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will surely help you; I will uphold you with My right hand…
- Psalms 138:7
If I walk in the midst of trouble, You preserve me from the anger of my foes; You extend Your hand, and Your right hand saves me.
- Isaiah 43:1–2
Now this is what the LORD says— He who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your…
- Isaiah 41:10
Where this verse is studied
About Psalms

This page draws on 14 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, Exposition on Psalm 3; Cassiodorus, EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 3:7; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 1; Eusebius of Caesarea, COMMENTARY ON PSALMS 3:7; Jerome, BRIEF COMMENTARY ON PSALM 3; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, SELECTIONS FROM THE PSALMS 3:7; Theodore of Mopsuestia, COMMENTARY ON PSALMS 3:7 and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.
