Psalms 78:57 BSB — MannaFest

Psalms 78:57

They turned back and were faithless like their fathers, twisted like a faulty bow.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

But turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers: They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.

KJV

But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow.

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Commentary

1 voice

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

They were turned aside like a deceitful bow - The eastern bow, which when at rest is in the form of a [curved figure], must be recurved, or turned the contrary way, in order to be what is called bent and strung. If a person who is unskilful or weak attempt to recurve and string one of these bows, if he take not great heed it will spring back and regain its quiescent position, and perhaps break his arm. And sometimes I have known it, when bent, to start aside, and regain its quiescent position, to my no small danger, and in one or two cases to my injury. This image is frequently used in the sacred writings; but no person has understood it, not being acquainted with the eastern bow [curved figure], which must be recurved, or bent the contrary way, [figure] in order to be proper for use. If not well made, they will fly back in discharging the arrow. It is said of the bow of Jonathan, it turned not back, 2Sa 1:22, לא נשוג אחור lo nasog achor, “did not twist itself backward.” It was a good bow, one on which he could depend. Hosea, Hos 7:16, compares the unfaithful Israelites to a deceitful bow; one that, when bent, would suddenly start aside and recover its former position. We may find the same passage in Jer 9:3. And this is precisely the kind of bow mentioned by Homer, Odyss. xxi., which none of Penelope’s suitors could bend, called καμπυλα τοξα and αγκυλα τοξα, the crooked bow in the state of rest; but τοξον παλιντονον, the recurred bow when prepared for use. And of this trial of strength and skill in the bending of the bow of Ulysses, none of the critics and commentators have been able to make any thing, because they knew not the instrument in question. On the τοξου θησις of Homer, I have written a dissertation elsewhere. The image is very correct; these Israelites, when brought out of their natural bent, soon recoiled, and relapsed into their former state.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

6 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
וַיִּסֹּ֣גוּ	vai.yi.So.gu	and they turned back	H5472 →
וַֽ֭יִּבְגְּדוּ	Vai.yiv.ge.du	and they acted treacherously	H898 →
כַּאֲבוֹתָ֑ם	ka.'a.vo.Tam	like ancestors their	H1 →
נֶ֝הְפְּכ֗וּ	neh.pe.Khu	they changed	H2015 →
כְּקֶ֣שֶׁת	ke.Ke.shet	like a bow of	H7198 →
רְמִיָּֽה׃	re.mi.Yah	deceit	H7423 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Psalms 78:8
Then they will not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose heart was not loyal, whose spirit was not faithful to God.
leads to
- Psalms 78:37
  Their hearts were disloyal to Him, and they were unfaithful to His covenant.
- Exodus 32:9
  The LORD also said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people.
- 2 Kings 17:14
  But they would not listen, and they stiffened their necks like their fathers, who did not believe the LORD their God.
- Ezekiel 20:18
  In the wilderness I said to their children: ‘Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers or keep their ordinances or defile yourselves with their idols.
- Deuteronomy 31:27
  For I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you are already rebelling against the LORD while I am still alive, how much more will you rebel after my death!
Through
Hosea 7:16
They turn, but not to the Most High; they are like a faulty bow. Their leaders will fall by the sword for the cursing of their tongue; for this they will be ridiculed in…
leads to
- Hosea 9:3
  They will not remain in the land of the LORD; Ephraim will return to Egypt and eat unclean food in Assyria.
- Psalms 73:9
  They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongues strut across the earth.
- Ezekiel 23:32
  This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘You will drink your sister’s cup, a cup deep and wide. It will bring scorn and derision, for it holds so much.

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About Psalms

Saul attempts to kill David (the harpist of Israel) — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

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Continue: Psalms 78 →

01Commentary

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About Psalms

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About Psalms