Psalms 78:34
in Psalms 78When He slew them, they would seek Him; they repented and searched for God.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
When he slew them, then they inquired after him; And they returned and sought God earnestly.
KJV
When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and enquired early after God.
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This verse in Psalms 78
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
they kept on sinning
on Psalms 78:32-39
They kept on sinning, and when He slew them they sought Him, then remembered that God was their Rock. Their repentance reached the mouth and stopped, and their hearts stayed disloyal to His covenant. He forgave them anyway, remembering they were flesh.
This site's exposition
When He slew them, they would seek Him
Augustine said the dead could not seek God, so those who searched for Him were the ones He had not slain. The people are spoken of as one body. Barnes judged that they repented only for a short time, as their lies in verse 36 show.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Nevertheless, "when he slew them they sought Him:" not for the sake of eternal life, but fearing to end the vapour too soon. There sought Him then, not indeed those whom He had slain, but they that were afraid of being slain according to the example of them. But the Scripture has so spoken of them as if they sought God who were slain; because they were one people, and it is spoken as if of one body: "and they returned, and at dawn they came to God" [Psalm 78:34]. "And they remembered that God is their Helper, and the High God is their Redeemer" [Psalm 78:35]. But all this is for the sake of acquiring temporal good things, and for avoiding temporal evil things. For they that did seek God for the sake of temporal blessings, sought not God indeed, but things. Thus with those God is worshipped with slavish fear, not free love. Thus then God is not worshipped, for that thing is worshipped which is loved. Whence because God is found to be greater and better than all things, He must be loved more than all things, in order that He may be worshipped.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Afflictions are sent to put us in mind of God as our rock and our redeemer; for, in prosperity, we are apt to forget him. (2.) They were not sincere in this profession (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
When he slew them,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Though there were partial reformations after chastisement, and God, in pity, withdrew His hand for a time, yet their general conduct was rebellious, and He was thus provoked to waste and destroy them, by long and fruitless wandering in the desert.
When he slew them, then they sought him. Like whipped curs, they licked their Master's feet. They obeyed only so long as they felt the whip about their loins. Hard are the hearts which only death can move. While thousands died around them, the people of Israel became suddenly religious, and repaired to the tabernacle door, like sheep who run in a mass while the black dog drives them, but scatter and wander when the shepherd whistles him off. And they returned and enquired early after God. They could not be too zealous, they were in hot haste to prove their loyalty to their divine King. "The devil was sick and the devil a monk would be." Who would not be pious while the plague is abroad? Doors, which were never so sanctified before, put on the white cross then. Even reprobates send for the minister when they lie a dying. Thus sinners pay involuntary homage to the power of right and the supremacy of God, but their hypocritical homage is of small value in the sight of the Great Judge.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
When he slew them, then they sought him. Like whipped curs, they licked their Master's feet. They obeyed only so long as they felt the whip about their loins. Hard are the hearts which only death can move. While thousands died around them, the people of Israel became suddenly religious, and repaired to the tabernacle door, like sheep who run in a mass while the black dog drives them, but scatter and wander when the shepherd whistles him off. And they returned and enquired early after God.
When he slew them - While his judgments were upon them, then they began to humble themselves, and deprecate his wrath. When they saw some fall, the rest began to tremble.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
When he slew them - When he came forth in his wrath and cut them down by the plague, by fiery serpents, or by their enemies. Then they sought him - Their calamities had the effect of producing temporary reformation. They became professedly penitent; they manifested a wish to know God, and expressed a purpose to serve him. It was, however, a temporary and hollow, not a deep and real reformation. This often occurs. In times of affliction, in sickness, in bereavement, in the loss of property, people become serious, and express a purpose to repent and turn to God. A deep impression seems to be produced on their minds, to last, alas! only as long as the hand of God rests upon them. Resolutions of repentance are formed only to be forgotten when the affliction is removed, and when the days of prosperity again return. And they returned and inquired early after God - The word rendered “inquired early” has reference to the first rays of the morning - the aurora - the dawn. Then it comes to denote the beginning of anything; or, the first thing. Thus employed, it may refer to the act of seeking God as the first thing; in youth; in the morning; at the commencement of any enterprise or undertaking. See Pro 8:17; Pro 1:28. Here it means that, in their affliction, they did not delay to seek God, but expressed an early intention of serving him. They evinced a prompt purpose to break off their sins, and to return to him.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| הֲרָגָ֥ם | haragam | he killed them | H2026 → | 167 times |
| וּדְרָשׁ֑וּהוּ | uderashuhu | and they sought him | H1875 → | 164 times |
| וְ֝שָׁ֗בוּ | veshavu | and they returned | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| וְשִֽׁחֲרוּ־ | veshicharu- | and they sought earnestly | H7836 → | |
| אֵֽל׃ | ʾel | God | H410 → | 241 times |
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
הֲרָגָ֥םhe killed them
haragamH2026 →167 times
וּדְרָשׁ֑וּהוּand they sought him
uderashuhuH1875 →164 times
וְ֝שָׁ֗בוּand they returned
veshavuH7725 →1056 times
וְשִֽׁחֲרוּ־and they sought earnestly
veshicharu-H7836 →
אֵֽל׃God
ʾelH410 →241 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
Hosea 5:15Then I will return to My place until they admit their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 26:16
O LORD, they sought You in their distress; when You disciplined them, they poured out a quiet prayer.
- Jeremiah 29:12–14
Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
- Deuteronomy 4:29–31
But if from there you will seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
- Leviticus 26:40–42
But if they will confess their iniquity and that of their fathers in the unfaithfulness that they practiced against Me, by which they have also walked in hostility toward Me—
- Psalms 50:15
Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.”
- Isaiah 26:16
Through
Numbers 21:7Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you. Intercede with the LORD so He will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses…
it leads to
- Acts 8:24
Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me, so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”
- Exodus 8:8
Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to the LORD to take the frogs away from me and my people. Then I will let your people go, that they may sacrifice to the…
- Acts 8:24
Through
Judges 4:3Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, because Jabin had nine hundred chariots of iron, and he had harshly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years.
it leads to
- Judges 1:19
The LORD was with Judah, and they took possession of the hill country; but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the plains because they had chariots of iron.
- Judges 1:19
Where this verse is studied
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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; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 78; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 3; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of Psalms; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.