Psalms 35:5
in Psalms 35May they be like chaff in the wind, as the angel of the LORD drives them away.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Let them be as chaff before the wind, And the angel of Jehovah driving them on.
KJV
Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the Lord chase them.
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This verse in Psalms 35
Commentary
12 notes on this verse"Let them be as chaff before the wind." They were swift enough to attack, let them be as swift to flee. Let their own fears and the alarms of their consciences unman them so that the least breeze of trouble shall carry them hither and thither. Ungodly men are worthless in character, and light in their behaviour, being destitute of solidity and fixedness; it is but just that those who make themselves chaff should be treated as such.
This site's exposition
be disgraced and put to shame
on Psalms 35:4-8
David asks that the men who seek his life be shamed, driven like chaff, and chased by the angel of the LORD. Verses 7 and 8 ask that the net and the pit they hid take those who dug them. The ground he gives is that they had no cause.
This site's exposition
like chaff in the wind
Albert Barnes tied the chaff of verse 5 to Psalm 1:4 and to the winnowing of grain. He noted that angels often carry out God's punishments in Scripture, as against the Assyrians in 2 Kings 19:35. Charles Spurgeon asked that the swift attackers flee as swiftly.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
What of others? For all are not so conquered as to be converted and believe: many continue in obstinacy, many preserve in heart the spirit of going before, and if they exert it not, yet they labour with it, and finding opportunity bring it forth. Of such, what followeth? "Let them be as dust before the wind" (ver. 5). "Not so are the ungodly, not so; but as the dust which the wind driveth away from the face of the earth." The wind is temptation; the dust are the ungodly. When temptation cometh, the dust is raised, it neither standeth nor resisteth. "Let them be as dust before the wind, and let the Angel of the Lord trouble them."
Dust is indeed an earthy yet very dry and thin substance, which cannot remain in its place when the wind blows, but is lifted into the flowing breezes. So also the desires of sinners, when they have been admonished by the inspiration of the truth, …
The Medieval Church1 voice
Then, when he says, "let them be," he adduces a comparison. And first, regarding the first. Second, regarding the second, at "let their ways be." He says therefore, "let them be as dust." For he first asks for judgment against those who sought to destroy …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Let them be as chaff before the wind,....
Their way shall be dark and slippery, darkness and slipperiness (so the margin reads it); the way of sinners is so, for they walk in darkness and in continual danger of falling into sin, into hell; and it will prove so at last, for their foot shall slide in due time, Deut. xxxii. But this is not the worst of it.
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
"Let them be as chaff before the wind." They were swift enough to attack, let them be as swift to flee. Let their own fears and the alarms of their consciences unman them so that the least breeze of trouble shall carry them hither and thither. Ungodly men are worthless in character, and light in their behaviour, being destitute of solidity and fixedness; it is but just that those who make themselves chaff should be treated as such. When this imprecation is fulfilled in graceless men, they will find it an awful thing to be for ever without rest, without peace of mind, or stay of soul, hurried from fear to fear, and from misery to misery. "And let the angel-of the Lord chase them." Fallen angels shall haunt them, good angels shall afflict them. To be pursued by avenging spirits will be the lot of those who delight in persecution. Observe the whole scene as the Psalmist sketches it: the furious foe is first held at bay, then turned back, then driven to headlong flight, and chased by fiery messengers from whom there is no escape, while his pathway becomes dark and dangerous, and his destruction overwhelming.
"Let them be as chaff before the wind." They were swift enough to attack, let them be as swift to flee. Let their own fears and the alarms of their consciences unman them so that the least breeze of trouble shall carry them hither and thither. Ungodly men are worthless in character, and light in their behaviour, being destitute of solidity and fixedness; it is but just that those who make themselves chaff should be treated as such.
Let the angel of the Lord chase them - By angel we may either understand one of those spirits, whether good or bad, commonly thus denominated, or any thing used by God himself as the instrument of their confusion.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Let them be as chaff before the wind - As chaff is driven away in winnowing grain. See the notes at Psa 1:4. And let the angel of the Lord chase them - Drive them away, or scatter them. Angels are often represented in the Scriptures as agents employed by God in bringing punishment on wicked people. See 2Ki 19:35; Isa 37:36; 1Ch 21:12, 1Ch 21:30; 2Sa 24:16.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יִֽהְי֗וּ | yihyu | may they be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| כְּמֹ֥ץ | kemotz | like chaff | H4671 → | |
| לִפְנֵי־ | lifnei- | <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| ר֑וּחַ | ruach | a wind | H7307 → | 378 times |
| וּמַלְאַ֖ךְ | umalakh | and [the] angel of | H4397 → | 213 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| דּוֹחֶֽה׃ | docheh | pushing | H1760 → | 8 times |
יִֽהְי֗וּmay they be
yihyuH1961 →3559 times
כְּמֹ֥ץlike chaff
kemotzH4671 →
לִפְנֵי־<to> before
lifnei-H6440 →2123 times
ר֑וּחַa wind
ruachH7307 →378 times
וּמַלְאַ֖ךְand [the] angel of
umalakhH4397 →213 times
יְהוָ֣הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
דּוֹחֶֽה׃pushing
dochehH1760 →8 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 1:4Not so the wicked! For they are like chaff driven off by the wind.
it leads to
- Isaiah 17:13
The nations rage like the rush of many waters. He rebukes them, and they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweeds before a gale.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Job 21:18
Are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a storm?
- Matthew 3:12
His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
- Hosea 13:3
Therefore they will be like the morning mist, like the early dew that vanishes, like chaff blown from a threshing floor, like smoke through an open window.
- Isaiah 29:5
But your many foes will be like fine dust, the multitude of the ruthless like blowing chaff. Then suddenly, in an instant,
- Isaiah 17:13
Through
Job 21:18Are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a storm?
it leads to
- Psalms 1:4
Not so the wicked! For they are like chaff driven off by the wind.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 1:4
Through
Hebrews 11:28By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch Israel’s own firstborn.
it leads to
- Exodus 12:21–30
Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and told them, “Go at once and select for yourselves a lamb for each family, and slaughter the Passover lamb.
- Hebrews 9:19
For when Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, along with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and…
- Exodus 12:21–30
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Psalms

This page draws on 10 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; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, On the Psalms - Psalm 35; Cassiodorus, EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 35:5; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 2; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.
