Psalms 78:65
in Psalms 78Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, like a mighty warrior overcome by wine.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, Like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine.
KJV
Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine.
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This verse in Psalms 78
Commentary
9 notes on this verse[Daniel 9:14] "'And the Lord hath kept watch over the evil and hath brought it upon us...'" Whenever we are rebuked because of our sins, God is keeping watch over us and visiting us with chastenment. But whenever we are left alone by God and we do not suffer judgment but are unworthy of the Lord's rebuke, then He is said to slumber. And so we read in the Psalms as well: "The Lord has risen up as one who was slumbering or as a man out of a drunken sleep" (Psalm 78:65).
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"And the Lord was awakened as one sleeping" [Psalm 78:65]. For He seems to sleep, when He gives His people into the hands of those whom He hates, when there is said to them, "Where is your God?" "He was awakened, then, like one sleeping, like a mighty man drunken with wine." No one would dare to say this of God, save His Spirit. For he has spoken, as it seems to ungodly men reviling; as if like a drunken man He sleeps long, when He succours not so speedily as men think.
The blessed David fell into several errors, which God, who wisely orders all things, has caused to be recorded for the good of them that were to come after. But it was not on their account that Absalom, parricide, murderer, impious and altogether vile, started …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep,....
As the general scope of this psalm may be of use to us in the singing of it, to put us upon recollecting what God has done for us and for his church formerly, and what we have done against him, so the particulars also may be of use to us, for warning against those sins of unbelief and ingratitude which Israel of old was notoriously guilty of, and the record of which was preserved for our learning.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The Lord awaked as one out of sleep. Justly inactive, he had suffered the enemy to triumph, his ark to be captured, and his people to be slain; but now he arouses himself, his heart is full of pity for his chosen, and anger against the insulting foe. Woe to thee, O Philistia, now thou shalt feel the weight of his right hand! Waking and putting forth strength like a man who has taken a refreshing draught, the Lord is said to be, like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine. Strong and full of energy the Lord dashed upon his foes, and made them stagger beneath his blows. His ark from city to city went as an avenger rather than as a trophy, and in every place the false gods fell helplessly before it.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
The Lord awaked as one out of sleep. Justly inactive, he had suffered the enemy to triumph, his ark to be captured, and his people to be slain; but now he arouses himself, his heart is full of pity for his chosen, and anger against the insulting foe. Woe to thee, O Philistia, now thou shalt feel the weight of his right hand! Waking and putting forth strength like a man who has taken a refreshing draught, the Lord is said to be, like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine.
Then the Lord awaked - He seemed as if he had totally disregarded what was done to his people, and the reproach that seemed to fall on himself and his worship by the capture of the ark. Like a mighty man - כגבור kegibbor, like a hero that shouteth by reason of wine. One who, going forth to meet his enemy, having taken a sufficiency of wine to refresh himself, and become a proper stimulus to his animal spirits shouts - gives the war-signal for the onset; impatient to meet the foe, and sure of victory. The idea is not taken from the case of a drunken man. A person in such a state would be very unfit to meet his enemy, and could have little prospect of conquest.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep - literally, as one sleeping; that is, as one who is asleep suddenly arouses himself. The Lord seemed to have slept, or to have been inattentive to what was occurring. Suddenly he aroused himself to inflict vengeance on the enemies of his people. Compare Psa 7:6, note; Psa 44:23, note. And like a mighty man - The allusion is probably to a warrior.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּקַ֖ץ | vaiyikatz | and he awoke | H3364 → | |
| כְּיָשֵׁ֥ן׀ | keyashen | like a sleeper | H3463 → | |
| אֲדֹנָ֑י | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| כְּ֝גִבּ֗וֹר | kegibor | like a warrior | H1368 → | 158 times |
| מִתְרוֹנֵ֥ן | mitronen | overcome | H7442 → | 54 times |
| מִיָּֽיִן׃ | miyayin | from wine | H3196 → | 141 times |
וַיִּקַ֖ץand he awoke
vaiyikatzH3364 →
כְּיָשֵׁ֥ן׀like a sleeper
keyashenH3463 →
אֲדֹנָ֑י[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
כְּ֝גִבּ֗וֹרlike a warrior
kegiborH1368 →158 times
מִתְרוֹנֵ֥ןovercome
mitronenH7442 →54 times
מִיָּֽיִן׃from wine
miyayinH3196 →141 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
Isaiah 51:9Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD. Wake up as in days past, as in generations of old. Was it not You who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced through the…
it leads to
- Psalms 74:13–14
You divided the sea by Your strength; You smashed the heads of the dragons of the sea;
- Psalms 89:10
You crushed Rahab like a carcass; You scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.
- Isaiah 52:1
Awake, awake, clothe yourself with strength, O Zion! Put on your garments of splendor, O Jerusalem, holy city! For the uncircumcised and unclean will no longer enter you.
- Isaiah 27:1
In that day the LORD will take His sharp, great, and mighty sword, and bring judgment on Leviathan the fleeing serpent—Leviathan the coiling serpent—and He will slay the dragon of the sea.
- Isaiah 30:7
Egypt’s help is futile and empty; therefore I have called her Rahab Who Sits Still.
- Psalms 74:13–14
Through
Psalms 7:6Arise, O LORD, in Your anger; rise up against the fury of my enemies. Awake, my God, and ordain judgment.
it leads to
- Psalms 35:23
Awake and rise to my defense, to my cause, my God and my Lord!
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 44:23
Wake up, O Lord! Why are You sleeping? Arise! Do not reject us forever.
- Psalms 35:23
Through
Psalms 44:23Wake up, O Lord! Why are You sleeping? Arise! Do not reject us forever.
it leads to
- Psalms 7:6
Arise, O LORD, in Your anger; rise up against the fury of my enemies. Awake, my God, and ordain judgment.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 7:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies13
About Psalms
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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; Jerome, St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER NINE; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theodoret of Cyrus, LETTER 137.