Psalms 91:7
in Psalms 91Though a thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, no harm will come near you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
A thousand shall fall at thy side, And ten thousand at thy right hand; But it shall not come nigh thee.
KJV
A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
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This verse in Psalms 91
Commentary
11 notes on this verseA thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand. "At your side" and "at your right hand." He did not say, "at your left," because the just man has no left, just as it is written in the Gospel: "Whoever shall strike you on the right cheek, offer him the other also." He did not say, "offer the left"; since indeed the lambs shall stand at the right, and the kids at the left. A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand.
This site's exposition
a thousand may fall
on Psalms 91:7-8
Ten thousand fall on the right hand and a thousand at the side, and the harm stops short of the one addressed. Verse 8 puts him in the place of a witness, watching the punishment of the wicked. Verses 1 and 9 hold the condition, a man dwelling there.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Many then fell before the demon of the noon-day. Would ye know how many? He goes on, and says, "A thousand shall fall beside you, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you" [Psalm 91:7]. To whom, brethren, but to Christ Jesus, is this said?...For the members, the body, and the head, are not separate from one another: the body and the head are the Church and her Saviour. How then is it said, "A thousand shall fall beside you, and ten thousand by your right hand"? Because they shall fall before the devil, that destroys at noon. It is a terrible thing, my brethren, to fall from beside Christ, from His right hand but how shall they fall from beside Him? Why the one beside Him, the other at His right hand? Why a thousand beside Him, ten thousand at His right hand? Why a thousand beside Him? Because a thousand are fewer than the ten thousand who shall fall at His right hand. Who these are will soon be clear in Christ's name; for to some He promised that they should judge with Him, namely, to the Apostles, who left all things, and followed Him....Those judges then are the heads of the Church, the perfect. To such He said, "If you will be perfect, go and sell that you have, and give to the poor." [Matthew 19:21] What means the expression, "if you will be perfect"? It means, if you will judge with Me, and not be judged....Many such at that period, who had distributed their all to the poor, and already promised themselves a seat beside Christ in judgment of the nations, failed amid their torments under the blazing fire of persecution, as before the demon of the noon-day, and denied Christ. These are they who have fallen "beside" Him: when about to sit with Christ for the judgment of the world, they fell.
A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand. The individual words of the Scriptures are individual mysteries. Those rustic words which are thought so by the men of the world are full of mysteries. "For we have this treasure in earthen vessels": we have the treasure of the divine meaning in the most worthless words. A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand. At whose side? At the side of him to whom it had been said, His truth shall surround you with a shield, you shall not fear the terror of the night. Who is this? He of whom it was said above, Who dwells in the help of the Most High, he shall abide under the protection of the God of heaven. From him, therefore, who dwells in the help of the Lord, a thousand shall fall at his side, and ten thousand at his right hand. The right hand of the holy man is spoken of: the left is not spoken of, but the side. For see what is said: And ten thousand at your right hand. And how had you said it? A thousand shall fall at your side. For when the right hand is spoken of and the left is not named, in place of the left the side is named. For it could not be just that the just man should have a left hand. "Whoever," he says, "strikes you on the right cheek, offer him the other as well." He did not say, "and the left": for it is not a left cheek that is offered, but another right one. Therefore I say plainly that the just man has two right hands. Indeed even that Ehud, who is written of in the book of Judges, is said to have two right hands for this reason, because he was just, and he killed that very fat king. A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand. There are more who lie in wait for our right hand, there are not more who lie in wait for the left: therefore at the side a thousand shall fall, and at the right hand ten thousand. […]
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCollations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 17 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
Scripture enlightens from the right by means of dangerous satisfactions. Nor is it without reason that satisfactions are called dangerous and punishments benign, for satisfactions entail serious risk. Behold Adam, Saul, Solomon, the idolater Jeroboam, and the Prince of Angels, to all of whom temporal …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The sprinkling of blood secured the first-born of Israel when thousands fell. Nay, it is promised to God's people that they shall have the satisfaction of seeing, not only God's promises fulfilled to them, but his threatenings fulfilled upon those that hate them (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A thousand shall fall at thy side,....
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A thousand shall fall at thy side and ten thousand at thy right hand. So terribly may the plague rage among men that the bills of mortality may become very heavy and continue to grow ten times heavier still, yet shall such as this Psalm speaks of survive the scythe of death. It shall not come nigh thee. It shall be so near as to be at thy side, and yet not nigh enough to touch thee; like a fire it shall burn all around, yet shall not the smell of it pass upon thee.
A thousand shall fall at thy side and ten thousand at thy right hand. So terribly may the plague rage among men that the bills of mortality may become very heavy and continue to grow ten times heavier still, yet shall such as this Psalm speaks of survive the scythe of death. It shall not come nigh thee. It shall be so near as to be at thy side, and yet not nigh enough to touch thee; like a fire it shall burn all around, yet shall not the smell of it pass upon thee. How true is this of the plague of moral evil, of heresy, and of backsliding. Whole nations are infected, yet the man who communes with God is not affected by the contagion; he holds the truth when falsehood is all the fashion. Professors all around him are plague smitten, the church is wasted, the very life of religion decays, but in the same place and time, in fellowship with God, the believer renews his youth, and his soul knows no sickness. In a measure this also is true of physical evil; the Lord still puts a difference between Israel and Egypt in the day of his plagues. Sennacherib's army is blasted, but Jerusalem is in health.
A thousand shall fall at thy side - Calmet thinks this place should be translated thus: “A thousand enemies may fall upon thee on one side, and ten thousand may fall upon thee on thy right hand: but they shall not come nigh thee to take away thy life.” It is a promise of perfect protection, and the utmost safety.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
A thousand shall fall at thy side - Though a thousand should fall at thy side, or close to thee. This alludes to the manner in which the pestilence often moves among people. And ten thousand at thy right hand - Compare Psa 3:6. The word “myriad” would better represent the exact idea in the original, as the Hebrew word is different from that which is translated “a thousand.” It is put here for any large number. No matter how many fall around thee, on the right hand and the left, you will have nothing to fear. But it shall not come nigh thee - You will be safe. You may feel assured of the divine protection. Your mind may be calm through a sense of such guardianship, and your very calmness will conduce to your safety. This refers, as remarked above, to a “general” law in regard to the judgments of God. It is true that others, beside the dissipated, vicious, and debased, may be the victims; but the great law is that temperance, soberness, virtue, cleanliness, and that regard to comfort and health to which religion and virtue prompt, constitute a marked security - so marked as to illustrate the “general” law referred to in the psalm before us.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יִפֹּ֤ל | yipol | it will fall | H5307 → | 435 times |
| מִצִּדְּךָ֨׀ | mitzidekha | from side your | H6654 → | |
| אֶ֗לֶף | ʾelef | a thousand | H505 → | 505 times |
| וּרְבָבָ֥ה | urevavah | and ten thousand | H7233 → | |
| מִימִינֶ֑ךָ | miminekha | from right [hand] your | H3225 → | 140 times |
| אֵ֝לֶ֗יךָ | ʾeleikha | to you | H413 → | 5510 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִגָּֽשׁ׃ | yigash | it will draw near | H5066 → |
יִפֹּ֤לit will fall
yipolH5307 →435 times
מִצִּדְּךָ֨׀from side your
mitzidekhaH6654 →
אֶ֗לֶףa thousand
ʾelefH505 →505 times
וּרְבָבָ֥הand ten thousand
urevavahH7233 →
מִימִינֶ֑ךָfrom right [hand] your
miminekhaH3225 →140 times
אֵ֝לֶ֗יךָto you
ʾeleikhaH413 →5510 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יִגָּֽשׁ׃it will draw near
yigashH5066 →
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
Psalms 32:6Therefore let all the godly pray to You while You may be found. Surely when great waters rise, they will not come near.
it leads to
- Isaiah 55:6
Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.
- Isaiah 43:2
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you go through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched;…
- 2 Corinthians 6:2
For He says: “In the time of favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is the time of favor; now is the day of salvation!
- Proverbs 1:28
Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will earnestly seek me, but will not find me.
- Psalms 4:3
Know that the LORD has set apart the godly for Himself; the LORD hears when I call to Him.
- Isaiah 55:6
Through
Genesis 7:23And every living thing on the face of the earth was destroyed—man and livestock, crawling creatures and birds of the air; they were blotted out from the earth, and only Noah and those with…
it leads to
- 2 Peter 2:5
if He did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood on its ungodly people, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, among the eight;
- Hebrews 11:7
By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in godly fear built an ark to save his family. By faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes…
- 1 Peter 3:20
who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In the ark a few people, only eight souls, were saved through water.
- 2 Peter 2:5
Where this verse is studied
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About Psalms
This page draws on 10 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 91; Bonaventure, Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 17; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 4; Jerome, Homily 68, on Psalm 90 (Alternate Series); Jerome, Homily 20, on Psalm 90; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.