Psalms 18:9

Geneva Bible

He bowed the heauens also & came downe, and darkenes was vnder his feete.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
He bent the heavens and came down,total darkness beneath his feet.

Hebrew Names Version
He bowed the heavens also, and came down. Thick darkness was under his feet.

King James Version
He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.

English Standard Version
He bowed the heavens and came down; thick darkness was under his feet.

New Century Version
He tore open the sky and came down with dark clouds under his feet.

New English Translation
He made the sky sink as he descended; a thick cloud was under his feet.

Amplified Bible
He bowed the heavens also and came down; And thick darkness was under His feet.

New American Standard Bible
He also bowed the heavens down low, and came down With thick darkness under His feet.

World English Bible
He bowed the heavens also, and came down. Thick darkness was under his feet.

Legacy Standard Bible
He bowed the heavens and came downWith thick darkness under His feet.

Berean Standard Bible
He parted the heavens and came down with dark clouds under His feet.

Contemporary English Version
You opened the heavens like curtains, and you came down with storm clouds under your feet.

Complete Jewish Bible
Smoke arose in his nostrils; out of his mouth came devouring fire; sparks blazed forth from him.

Darby Translation
And he bowed the heavens, and came down; and darkness was under his feet.

Easy-to-Read Version
He tore open the sky and came down! He stood on a thick, dark cloud.

George Lamsa Translation
He bowed the heavens and came down; and thick darkness was under his feet.

Good News Translation
He tore the sky open and came down with a dark cloud under his feet.

Lexham English Bible
So he bowed the heavens and came down with a thick cloud under his feet.

Literal Translation
He bowed the heavens also and came down, and darkness was under His feet;

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
He bowed the heaues & came downe, & it was darcke vnder his fete.

American Standard Version
He bowed the heavens also, and came down; And thick darkness was under his feet.

Bible in Basic English
The heavens were bent, so that he might come down; and it was dark under his feet.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Smoke arose up in His nostrils, and fire out of His mouth did devour;

King James Version (1611)
He bowed the heauens also, and came downe: and darkenesse was vnder his feet.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
He bowed the heauens also, and he came downe: and it was darke vnder his feete.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And he bowed the heaven, and came down: and thick darkness was under his feet.

English Revised Version
He bowed the heavens also, and came down, and thick darkness was under his feet.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Smoke stiede in the ire of hym, and fier brente out fro his face; coolis weren kyndlid of hym.

Update Bible Version
He bowed the heavens also, and came down; And thick darkness was under his feet.

Webster's Bible Translation
He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness [was] under his feet.

New King James Version
He bowed the heavens also, and came down With darkness under His feet.

New Living Translation
He opened the heavens and came down; dark storm clouds were beneath his feet.

New Life Bible
He parted the heavens and came down. Dark clouds were under His feet.

New Revised Standard
He bowed the heavens, and came down; thick darkness was under his feet.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then he stretched out the heaven, and came down, - and, thick gloom, was under his feet;

Douay-Rheims Bible
(17-10) He bowed the heavens, and came down, and darkness was under his feet.

Revised Standard Version
He bowed the heavens, and came down; thick darkness was under his feet.

Young's Literal Translation
And He inclineth the heavens, and cometh down, And thick darkness [is] under His feet.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
He bowed the heavens also, and came down With thick darkness under His feet.

Contextual Overview

¹ To him that excelleth. A Psalme of Dauid the seruant of the Lorde, which spake vnto the Lord the wordes of this song (in the day that the Lorde deliuered him from the hande of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul) and sayd, I will loue thee dearely, O Lord my strength. ² The Lorde is my rocke, and my fortresse, and he that deliuereth me, my God and my strength: in him will I trust, my shield, the horne also of my saluation, and my refuge. ³ I will call vpon the Lorde, which is worthie to be praysed: so shall I be safe from mine enemies. ⁴ The sorowes of death compassed me, and the floods of wickednes made me afraide. ⁵ The sorowes of the graue haue compassed me about: the snares of death ouertooke me. ⁶ But in my trouble did I call vpon the Lord, and cryed vnto my God: he heard my voyce out of his Temple, and my crye did come before him, euen into his eares. ⁷ Then the earth trembled, and quaked: the foundations also of the mountaines mooued and shooke, because he was angrie. ⁸ Smoke went out at his nostrels, & a consuming fire out of his mouth: coales were kindled thereat. ⁹ He bowed the heauens also & came downe, and darkenes was vnder his feete. ¹⁰ And he rode vpon Cherub and did flie, and he came flying vpon the wings of the winde.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

He bowed: Jehovah is here represented as a mighty warrior going forth to fight the battles of David. When He descended to the engagement, the very heavens bowed to render his descent more awful: His military tent was substantial darkness; the voice of His thunder was the warlike alarm which sounded to battle; the chariot in which He rode was the thick clouds of heaven, conducted by cherubs, and carried on by the irresistible force and rapid wings of an impetuous tempest; and the darts and weapons He employed were thunder-bolts, lightnings, fiery hail, deluging rains, and stormy winds! No wonder that when God arose all His enemies were scattered, and those that hated Him fled before Him. Psalms 68:4, Psalms 144:5-15, Deuteronomy 33:26, 2 Samuel 22:10, Isaiah 51:6, Joel 3:16, Matthew 24:29, Hebrews 12:26, 2 Peter 3:10, Revelation 20:11

darkness: Deuteronomy 5:22, Deuteronomy 5:23, Mark 15:33, John 13:7

Reciprocal: Exodus 3:8 - I am Exodus 19:11 - the Lord Exodus 20:21 - thick Luke 9:34 - there

Cross-References

Genesis 4:9
Then the Lorde said vnto Kain, Where is Habel thy brother? Who answered, I cannot tell. Am I my brothers keeper?

Genesis 24:67
Afterward Izhak brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother, and he tooke Rebekah, and she was his wife, and he loued her: So Izhak was comforted after his mothers death.

Genesis 31:33
Then came Laban into Iaakobs tent, and into Leahs tent, and into the two maides tentes, but founde them not. So hee went out of Leahs tent, and entred into Rahels tent.

Titus 2:5
That they be temperate, chaste, keeping at home, good & subiect vnto their husbands, that the word of God be not euill spoken of.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

He bowed the heavens also, and came down,.... To execute wrath and vengeance on wicked men; which is always the sense of these phrases when they go together; see Psalms 144:6; The Targum is, "he bowed the heavens, and his glory appeared"; that is, the glory of his power, and of his mighty hand of vengeance; for not his grace and mercy, but his indignation and wrath, showed themselves; for it follows,

and darkness [was] under his feet; the Targum is, "a dark cloud", expressive of the awfulness of the dispensation to wicked men; who are not allowed to see the face of God, are debarred his presence, and denied, communion with him, and to whom everything appears awful and terrible, Psalms 97:2.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

He bowed the heavens also - He seemed to bend down the heavens - to bring them nearer to the earth. “He inclines the canopy of the heavens, as it were, toward the earth; wraps himself in the darkness of night, and shoots forth his arrows; hurls abroad his lightnings, and wings them with speed.” Herder, Spirit of Hebrew Poetry (Marsh), ii. 157. The allusion is still to the tempest, when the clouds ran low; when they seem to sweep along the ground; when it appears as if the heavens were brought nearer to the earth - as if, to use a common expression, “the heavens and earth were coming together.”

And came down - God himself seemed to descend in the fury of the storm.

And darkness was under his feet - A dark cloud; or, the darkness caused by thick clouds. Compare Nahum 1:3, “The Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.” Deuteronomy 4:11, “the mountain burned ... with thick darkness.” Deuteronomy 5:22, “these words the Lord spake out of the thick darkness.” Psalms 97:2, “clouds and darkness are round about him.” The idea here is that of awful majesty and power, as we are nowhere more forcibly impressed with the idea of majesty and power than in the fury of a storm.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Psalms 18:9. He bowed the heavens also, and came down — - He made the heavens bend under him when he descended to take vengeance on his enemies. The psalmist seems here to express the appearance of the Divine majesty in a glorious cloud, descending from heaven, which underneath was substantially dark, but above, bright, and shining with exceeding lustre; and which, by its gradual approach to the earth, would appear as though the heavens themselves were bending down and approaching towards us.