Psalms 69:8
in Psalms 69I have become a stranger to my brothers and a foreigner to my mother’s sons,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I am become a stranger unto my brethren, And an alien unto my mother’s children.
KJV
I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother’s children.
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This verse in Psalms 69
Commentary
9 notes on this verseI am become a stranger unto my brethren. The Jews his brethren in race rejected him, his family his brethren by blood were offended at him, his disciples his brethren in spirit forsook him and fled; one of them sold him, and another denied him with oaths and cursings. Alas, my Lord, what pangs must have smitten thy loving heart to be thus forsaken by those who should have loved thee, defended thee, and, if need be, died for thee. And an alien unto my mother's children.
This site's exposition
O Lord GOD of Hosts
on Psalms 69:6-8
The plea of verse 6 is that no one who hopes in God be shamed by this man's fall. Verse 8 makes him a stranger to his brothers, and John 7:5 says Christ's own brothers did not believe in Him. The scorn of verse 7 was endured for God's sake.
This site's exposition
a foreigner to my mother’s sons
Albert Barnes explains the mother's sons from households with several wives, where sons of one mother were the closest brothers. The circle of strangers narrows to the nearest. Verse 9 gives the cause: zeal for God's house.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"An alien I have become to My brethren, and a stranger to the sons of My mother" [Psalm 69:8]. To the sons of the Synagogue He became a stranger...Why so? Why did they not acknowledge? Why did they call Him an alien? Why did they dare to say, we know not whence He is? "Because the zeal of Your House has eaten Me up:" that is, because I have persecuted in them their own iniquities, because I have not patiently borne those whom I have rebuked, because I have sought Your glory in Your House, because I have scourged them that in the Temple dealt unseemly: [John 2:15] in which place also there is quoted, "the zeal of Your House has eaten Me up." Hence an alien, hence a Stranger; hence, we know not whence He is. They would have acknowledged whence I am, if they had acknowledged that which You have commanded. For if I had found them keeping Your commandments, the zeal of Your House would not have eaten Me up. "And the reproaches of men reproaching You have fallen upon Me." Of this testimony Paul the Apostle has also made use (there has been read but now the very lesson), and says, "Whatsoever things aforetime have been written, have been written that we might be instructed." [Romans 15:4] ...Why "You"? Is the Father reproached, and not Christ Himself? Why have "the reproaches of men reproaching You fallen upon Me"? Because, "he that has known Me, has known the Father also:" [John 14:9] because no one has reviled Christ without reviling God: because no one honours the Father, except he that honours the Son also. [John 5:23]
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
): " I have become a stranger to my brethren; they make themselves strange to me and use me as a stranger, are shy of conversing with me and ashamed to own me." This was fulfilled in Christ, whose brethren did not believe on him ( John vii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
Complaints and Petitions. 13 But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O L ORD , in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation. 14 Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:93%@v12-14
I am become a stranger unto my brethren,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
I am become a stranger unto my brethren. The Jews his brethren in race rejected him, his family his brethren by blood were offended at him, his disciples his brethren in spirit forsook him and fled; one of them sold him, and another denied him with oaths and cursings. Alas, my Lord, what pangs must have smitten thy loving heart to be thus forsaken by those who should have loved thee, defended thee, and, if need be, died for thee. And an alien unto my mother's children. These were the nearest of relatives, the children of a father with many wives felt the tie of consanguinity but loosely, but children of the same mother owned the band of love; yet our Lord found his nearest and dearest ones ashamed to own him. As David's brethren envied him, and spake evil of him, so our Lord's relatives by birth were jealous of him, and his best beloved followers in the hour of his agony were afraid to be known as having any connection with him. These were sharp arrows of the mighty in the soul of Jesus, the most tender of friends. May none of us ever act as if we were strangers to him; never may we treat him as if he were an alien to us: rather let us resolve to be crucified with him, and may grace turn the resolve into fact.
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
I am become a stranger unto my brethren - That is, They treat me as they would a stranger; as one in whom they have no interest, and whom they regard with no friendship. Compare the notes at Psa 31:11. And an alien unto my mother’s children - A foreigner; one of another tribe or nation; one to whom they were bound by no tie of relationship. The allusion in the language “unto my mother’s children” is intended to denote the most intimate relationship. In families where a man had many wives, as was common among the Hebrews, the nearest relationship would be denoted by being of the same “mother” rather than of the same “father.” See the notes at Psa 50:20. The same thing occurs also where polygamy is not practiced, in cases where a man has married more wives than one. The idea of the psalmist here, therefore, is, that his nearest relatives treated him as if he were a stranger and a foreigner. Compare Job 19:13-19.
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מ֭וּזָר | muzor | estranged | H2114 → | 77 times |
| הָיִ֣יתִי | hayiti | I have become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לְאֶחָ֑י | leechai | to brothers my | H251 → | 630 times |
| וְ֝נָכְרִ֗י | venakheri | and a foreigner | H5237 → | |
| לִבְנֵ֥י | livnei | to [the] children of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| אִמִּֽי׃ | ʾimi | mother my | H517 → | 220 times |
מ֭וּזָרestranged
muzorH2114 →77 times
הָיִ֣יתִיI have become
hayitiH1961 →3559 times
לְאֶחָ֑יto brothers my
leechaiH251 →630 times
וְ֝נָכְרִ֗יand a foreigner
venakheriH5237 →
לִבְנֵ֥יto [the] children of
livneiH1121 →4930 times
אִמִּֽי׃mother my
ʾimiH517 →220 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
John 1:11He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.
it leads to
- Luke 19:14
But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We do not want this man to rule over us.’
- Isaiah 53:2–3
He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no stately form or majesty to attract us, no beauty that we should desire Him.
- John 3:32
He testifies to what He has seen and heard, yet no one accepts His testimony.
- Acts 7:51–52
You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.
- Luke 20:13–15
‘What shall I do?’ asked the owner of the vineyard. ‘I will send my beloved son. Perhaps they will respect him.’
- Luke 19:14
Through
John 7:5For even His own brothers did not believe in Him.
it leads to
- Mark 3:21
When His family heard about this, they went out to take custody of Him, saying, “He is out of His mind.”
- John 1:11–13
He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.
- Mark 3:21
Through
Psalms 31:11Among all my enemies I am a disgrace, and among my neighbors even more. I am dreaded by my friends— they flee when they see me on the street.
it leads to
- Psalms 38:11
My beloved and friends shun my disease, and my kinsmen stand at a distance.
- Psalms 38:11
Where this verse is studied
About Psalms
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 69; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 3; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.