Psalms 81:14
in Psalms 81how soon I would subdue their enemies and turn My hand against their foes!
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I would soon subdue their enemies, And turn my hand against their adversaries.
KJV
I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries.
⋯
This verse in Psalms 81
Commentary
14 notes on this verseI should soon have subdued their enemies. As he did in Egypt overthrow Pharaoh, so would he have baffled every enemy. And turned my hand against their adversaries. He would have smitten them once, and then have dealt them a return blow with the back of his hand. See what we lose by sin. Our enemies find the sharpest weapons against us in the armoury of our transgressions. They could never overthrow us if we did not first overthrow ourselves. Sin strips a man of his armour, and leaves him naked to his enemies.
This site's exposition
If only My people would listen
on Psalms 81:13-16
The close is a conditional that never came true. Had Israel listened, their enemies would have been subdued and God's hand turned against their foes. The withheld gift is the finest wheat and honey from the rock, the same honey Deuteronomy 32:13 gives Israel in the land.
This site's exposition
how soon I would subdue
Soon is literally like a little, as Albert Barnes noted, a victory won in little time. Matthew Henry drew the contrast. Israel would have been spared a long and weary war, and the delay came from their own sin.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
"If my people listened to me, if Israel traveled in my ways, I would have reduced their foes to nothing and laid my hand on those afflicting them." If they had adhered to my advice and followed my commandments, I would easily have destroyed their …
If my people had heard me. O most merciful Father, O compassionate God! He entreated, and was not heard; as though angered, he lets go the wanton son. Again he sees him perishing, and grieves that he perishes. And what does he say? If my people had heard me, if Israel had walked in my ways, I would perhaps have humbled their enemies for nothing. Was it a great thing for me to deliver you from tribulation? could I not send forth my majesty and rescue you from danger?
"If My people would have heard Me, if Israel would have walked in My ways" [Psalm 81:13]. For perchance that Israel says, Behold I sin, it is manifest, I go after the affections of my own heart: but what can I do? The devil does this. Demons do this. What is the devil? Who are the demons? Certainly your enemies. "Unto nothing all their enemies I would have brought down; and on them that oppress them I would have sent forth My hand" [Psalm 81:14]. But now what have they to do to complain of enemies? Themselves have become the worse enemies. For how? What follows? Of enemies ye complain, yourselves, what are you?
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
): I should have subdued their enemies; and it is God only that is to be depended on for the subduing of our enemies. Not would had have put them to the expense and fatigue of a tedious war: he would soon have done it; for he would have turned his hand against their adversaries, and then they would not have been able to stand before them.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
), designed to show how unwilling God is that any should perish and desirous that all should come to repentance (he delights not in the ruin of sinful persons or nations), and also what enemies sinners are to themselves and what an aggravation it will be of their misery that they might have been happy upon such easy terms.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
6 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Testimony - For a witness of that glorious deliverance. Went - As a captain at the head of his people. Egypt - To execute his judgments upon that land.
I should soon have subdued their enemies,....
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Obedience would have secured all promised blessings and the subjection of foes. In this passage, "should have," "would have," &c., are better, "should" and "would" expressing God's intention at the time, that is, when they left Egypt.
I should soon have subdued their enemies. As he did in Egypt overthrow Pharaoh, so would he have baffled every enemy. And turned my hand against their adversaries. He would have smitten them once, and then have dealt them a return blow with the back of his hand. See what we lose by sin. Our enemies find the sharpest weapons against us in the armoury of our transgressions. They could never overthrow us if we did not first overthrow ourselves. Sin strips a man of his armour, and leaves him naked to his enemies. Our doubts and fears would long ago have been slain if we had been more faithful to our God. Ten thousand evils which afflict us now would have been driven far from us if we had been more jealous of holiness in our walk and conversation. We ought to consider not only what sin takes from our present stock, but what it prevents our gaining: reflections will soon show us that sin always costs us dear. If we depart from God, our inward corruptions are sure to make a rebellion. Satan will assail us, the world will worry us, doubts will annoy us, and all through our own fault. Solomon's departure from God raised up enemies against him, and it will be so with us, but if our ways please the Lord he will make even our enemies to be at peace with us.
I should soon have subdued - If God’s promise appeared to fail in behalf of his people, it was because they rejected his counsel, and walked in their own. While they were faithful, they prospered; and not one jot or tittle of God’s word failed to them.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
I should soon have subdued their enemies - This is one of the consequences which, it is said, would have followed if they had been obedient to the laws of God. The phrase rendered soon means literally like a little; that is, as we might say, in a little, to wit, in a little time. The word rendered subdued means to bow down; to be curved or bent; and the idea is, that he would have caused them to bow down, to wit, by submission before them. Compare Deu 32:29-30. And turned my hand against their adversaries - Against those who oppressed and wronged them. The act of turning the hand against one is significant of putting him away - repelling him - disowning him - as when we would thrust one away from us with aversion.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
If only My people would hearken to Me Still, if they desired to return to Me and to hearken to Me..
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֭מְעַט | kimat | like a little | H4592 → | 101 times |
| אוֹיְבֵיהֶ֣ם | ʾoyveihem | enemies their | H341 → | 282 times |
| אַכְנִ֑יעַ | ʾakhnia' | I will subdue | H3665 → | 36 times |
| וְעַ֥ל | veal | and on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| צָ֝רֵיהֶ֗ם | tzareihem | opponents their | H6862 → | 109 times |
| אָשִׁ֥יב | ʾashiv | I will turn | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| יָדִֽי׃ | yadi | hand my | H3027 → | 1618 times |
כִּ֭מְעַטlike a little
kimatH4592 →101 times
אוֹיְבֵיהֶ֣םenemies their
ʾoyveihemH341 →282 times
אַכְנִ֑יעַI will subdue
ʾakhnia'H3665 →36 times
וְעַ֥לand on
vealH5921 →5755 times
צָ֝רֵיהֶ֗םopponents their
tzareihemH6862 →109 times
אָשִׁ֥יבI will turn
ʾashivH7725 →1056 times
יָדִֽי׃hand my
yadiH3027 →1618 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
Numbers 14:9Only do not rebel against the LORD, and do not be afraid of the people of the land, for they will be like bread for us. Their protection has been removed, and the LORD…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 7:18
But do not be afraid of them. Be sure to remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and all Egypt:
- Deuteronomy 31:6
Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or terrified of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.”
- Romans 8:31
What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
- Numbers 24:8
God brought him out of Egypt with strength like a wild ox, to devour hostile nations and crush their bones, to pierce them with arrows.
- Deuteronomy 31:8
The LORD Himself goes before you; He will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.”
- Deuteronomy 7:18
Through
Amos 1:8I will cut off the ruler of Ashdod and the one who wields the scepter in Ashkelon. I will turn My hand against Ekron, and the remnant of the Philistines will perish,” says the…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 25:16
therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I will stretch out My hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites and destroy the remnant along the coast.
- Ezekiel 25:16
Through
Joshua 23:13know for sure that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become for you a snare and a trap, a scourge in your sides and…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 7:16
You must destroy all the peoples the LORD your God will deliver to you. Do not look on them with pity. Do not worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.
- Deuteronomy 7:16
Through
Numbers 14:45Then the Amalekites and Canaanites who lived in that part of the hill country came down, attacked them, and routed them all the way to Hormah.
it leads to
- Numbers 21:3
And the LORD heard Israel’s plea and delivered up the Canaanites. Israel devoted them and their cities to destruction; so they named the place Hormah.
- Numbers 21:3
Where this verse is studied
About Psalms
This page draws on 12 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 81; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 4; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Homily 13, on Psalm 80; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 81:8.