Psalms 3:7
in Psalms 3Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Arise, O Jehovah; save me, O my God: For thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; Thou hast broken the teeth of the wicked.
KJV
Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God: for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly.
⋯
This verse in Psalms 3
Commentary
17 notes on this verseWhen he foresees his deliverance after death, he has faith that he has been saved by grace and that kindness has been granted. He is certain that this faith of some in the resurrection of the Savior is able to come to him, and consequently he prays that the resurrection of the Lord be hastened so that through it he himself will experience salvation.… Now, he says, you have broken the teeth of sinners; that is, their conversations and blasphemous words hurled against me you have stripped away.
This site's exposition
all my enemies on the jaw
on Psalms 3:7-8
The psalm asks the LORD to arise and save, with the enemies struck on the jaw and the teeth of the wicked broken. A struck jaw silences the mouths that said God would not deliver him. Salvation belongs to the LORD.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
"Arise, O Lord, save me, O my God" [Psalm 3:7]. It is not said to God, "Arise," as if asleep or lying down, but it is usual in holy Scripture to attribute to God what He does in us; not indeed universally, but where it can be done suitably; as when He is said to speak, when by His gift Prophets speak, and Apostles, or whatsoever messengers of the truth. Hence that text, "Would you have proof of Christ, who speaks in me?" [2 Corinthians 13:3] For he does not say, of Christ, by whose enlightening or order I speak; but he attributes at once the speaking itself to Him, by whose gift he spoke. "Since You have smitten all who oppose me without a cause." It is not to be pointed as if it were one sentence, "Arise, O Lord, save me, O my God; since You have smitten all who oppose me without a cause." For He did not therefore save Him, because He smote His enemies; but rather He being saved, He smote them. Therefore it belongs to what follows, so that the sense is this; "Since You have smitten all who oppose me without a cause, You have broken the teeth of the sinners;" that is, thereby have You broken the teeth of the sinners, since You have smitten all who oppose me. It is forsooth the punishment of the opposers, whereby their teeth have been broken, that is, the words of sinners rending with their cursing the Son of God, brought to nought, as it were to dust; so that we may understand "teeth" thus, as words of cursing. Of which teeth the Apostle speaks, "If you bite one another, take heed that you be not consumed one of another." [Galatians 5:15] The teeth of sinners can also be taken as the chiefs of sinners; by whose authority each one is cut off from the fellowship of godly livers, and as it were incorporated with evil livers. […]
The phrase "breaking the teeth of sinners," that is to say, depriving them of all strength, is by comparison with wild beasts, which when bereft of their teeth are quite undaunting and open to attack.
This psalm can pertain to David or to Christ, and through him to all the saints.
It is not that God is awakened while sleeping or lying down for rest, but it is common for the divine Scriptures to express a matter through a metaphor, to say something about God using what is familiar to us.
He has struck his adversaries, he has broken the teeth of sinners; indeed, so that he may heal them again: "I will strike [he said], and again I will heal." He has broken the teeth of sinners, or, in other words, the wicked words and …
10 more voices on this verse
The Church Fathers1 voice
The teeth of sinners are thoughts foreign to reason coming to us on account of our nature by which our enemies approach us, just like using their teeth time after time again to devour our flesh. That is, those [are] things that spring forth from …
The Medieval Church1 voice
And whence he has this confidence he shows when he says, "arise," that is, manifest your power by making me rise from death. And this means, "save me," etc. "Because you have struck," etc. Above he had said two things: that they trouble him -- …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Saul and the Philistines, who were sometimes ready to swallow him up, could not effect what they designed. The teeth that are gnashed or sharpened against God's people shall be broken. When, at any time, the power of the church's enemies seems threatening, it is good to remember how often God has broken it; and we are sure that his arm is not shortened.
Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God,....
Gives God the glory and takes to himself the comfort of the divine blessing and salvation which are sure to all the people of God,
The Nineteenth Century5 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Arise, O Lord - This is a common mode of calling upon God in the Scriptures, as if he had been sitting still, or had been inactive. It is, of course, language taken from human conceptions, for in the intervals of active effort, in labor or in battle, we sit or lie down, and when we engage in toil we arise from our sitting or recumbent posture. So the mind accustoms itself to think of God. The idea is simply that David now calls upon God to interpose in his behalf and to deliver him.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Arise, O Lord--God is figuratively represented as asleep to denote His apparent indifference (Ps 7:6). The use of "cheekbone" and "teeth" represents his enemies as fierce, like wild beasts ready to devour (Ps 27:2), and smiting their cheekbone (1Ki 22:24) denotes violence and insult. thou hast broken--God took his part, utterly depriving the enemy of power to injure.
His only hope is in his God, but that is so strong a confidence, that he feels the Lord hath but to arise and he is saved. It is enough for the Lord to stand up, and all is well. He compares his enemies to wild beasts, and he declares that God hath broken their jaws, so that they could not injure him; "Thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly." Or else he alludes to the peculiar temptations to which he was then exposed. They had spoken against him; God, therefore, has smitten them upon the cheek bone.
His only hope is in his God, but that is so strong a confidence, that he feels the Lord hath but to arise and he is saved. It is enough for the Lord to stand up, and all is well. He compares his enemies to wild beasts, and he declares that God hath broken their jaws, so that they could not injure him; "Thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly." Or else he alludes to the peculiar temptations to which he was then exposed. They had spoken against him; God, therefore, has smitten them upon the cheek bone. They seemed as if they would devour him with their mouths; God hath broken their teeth, and let them say what they will, their toothless jaws shall not be able to devour him. Rejoice, O believer, thou hast to do with a dragon whose head is broken, and with enemies whose teeth are dashed from their jaws!
Arise, O Lord - Though he knew that God had undertaken his defense, yet he knew that his continued protection depended on his continual prayer and faith. God never ceases to help as long as we pray. When our hands hang down, and we restrain prayer before him, we may then justly fear that our enemies will prevail. Those blast smitten - That is, Thou wilt smite. He speaks in full confidence of God’s interference; and knows as surely that he shall have the victory, as if he had it already. Breaking the jaws and the teeth are expressions which imply, confounding and destroying an adversary; treating him with extreme contempt; using him like a dog, etc.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
I lay down and slept My heart was clogged from worry and fear.
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
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ק֘וּמָ֤ה | kumah | arise ! | H6965 → | 628 times |
| יְהוָ֨ה׀ | yahweh | O Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| הוֹשִׁ֘יעֵ֤נִי | hoshieni | save me | H3467 → | 206 times |
| אֱלֹהַ֗י | ʾelohai | O God my | H430 → | 2601 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| הִכִּ֣יתָ | hikita | you have struck | H5221 → | 499 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֹיְבַ֣י | ʾoyevai | enemies my | H341 → | 282 times |
| לֶ֑חִי | lechi | jaw | H3895 → | |
| שִׁנֵּ֖י | shinei | [the] teeth of | H8127 → | 55 times |
| רְשָׁעִ֣ים | reshaim | wicked [people] | H7563 → | 263 times |
| שִׁבַּֽרְתָּ׃ | shibarta | you have broken | H7665 → | 147 times |
ק֘וּמָ֤הarise !
kumahH6965 →628 times
יְהוָ֨ה׀O Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
הוֹשִׁ֘יעֵ֤נִיsave me
hoshieniH3467 →206 times
אֱלֹהַ֗יO God my
ʾelohaiH430 →2601 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
הִכִּ֣יתָyou have struck
hikitaH5221 →499 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
אֹיְבַ֣יenemies my
ʾoyevaiH341 →282 times
לֶ֑חִיjaw
lechiH3895 →
שִׁנֵּ֖י[the] teeth of
shineiH8127 →55 times
רְשָׁעִ֣יםwicked [people]
reshaimH7563 →263 times
שִׁבַּֽרְתָּ׃you have broken
shibartaH7665 →147 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 10:12Arise, O LORD! Lift up Your hand, O God! Do not forget the helpless.
it leads to
- Micah 5:9
Your hand will be lifted over your foes, and all your enemies will be cut off.
- Psalms 94:2
Rise up, O Judge of the earth; render a reward to the proud.
- Micah 5:9
Through
Job 16:10They open their mouths against me and strike my cheeks with contempt; they join together against me.
it leads to
- Psalms 35:15
But when I stumbled, they assembled in glee; they gathered together against me. Assailants I did not know slandered me without ceasing.
- Psalms 22:13
They open their jaws against me like lions that roar and maul.
- Isaiah 50:6
I offered My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who tore out My beard. I did not hide My face from scorn and spittle.
- Lamentations 3:30
Let him offer his cheek to the one who would strike him; let him be filled with reproach.
- Micah 5:1
Now, O daughter of troops, mobilize your troops; for a siege is laid against us! With a rod they will strike the cheek of the judge of Israel.
- Psalms 35:15
Through
Job 29:17I shattered the fangs of the unjust and snatched the prey from his teeth.
it leads to
- Proverbs 30:14
there is a generation whose teeth are swords and whose jaws are knives, devouring the oppressed from the earth and the needy from among men.
- Proverbs 30:14
Where this verse is studied
About Psalms

This page draws on 15 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); Ammonius of Alexandria, FRAGMENTS ON PSALMS 3:8; Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 3; Cassiodorus, EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 3:8; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 1; Eusebius of Caesarea, COMMENTARY ON PSALMS 3:8; Evagrius Ponticus, NOTES ON THE PSALMS 3:8; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, BRIEF COMMENTARY ON PSALM 3; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 3:4 and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.
