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Saturday, July 19th, 2025
the Week of Proper 10 / Ordinary 15
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Read the Bible

Douay-Rheims Bible

Psalms 18:14

(17-15) And he sent forth his arrows, and he scattered them: he multiplied lightnings, and troubled them.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - God;   Lightning;   Meteorology and Celestial Phenomena;   Readings, Select;   Wicked (People);   Thompson Chain Reference - Arrows;   God;   God's;   Lightning;   Meteorology;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Arrow;   Fire;   Psalms, the Book of;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Fire;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Arrows;   Beth-Horon;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Clouds;   Lightning;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Apocalyptic Literature;   David;   English Versions;   Greek Versions of Ot;   Jonah;   Kingdom of God;   Lightning;   Psalms;   Salvation, Saviour;   Sin;   Text, Versions, and Languages of Ot;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - David;   Psalms the book of;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Red Sea;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Lightning;   Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia - Arrow;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - El 'Elyon;   Hail;   Theophany;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
He shot his arrows and scattered them;he hurled lightning bolts and routed them.
Hebrew Names Version
He sent out his arrows, and scattered them; Yes, lightnings manifold, and routed them.
King James Version
Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them.
English Standard Version
And he sent out his arrows and scattered them; he flashed forth lightnings and routed them.
New Century Version
He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies. His many bolts of lightning confused them with fear.
New English Translation
He shot his arrows and scattered them, many lightning bolts and routed them.
Amplified Bible
He sent out His arrows and scattered them; And He sent an abundance of lightning flashes and confused and routed them [in defeat].
New American Standard Bible
He sent out His arrows, and scattered them, And lightning flashes in abundance, and routed them.
World English Bible
He sent out his arrows, and scattered them; Yes, lightnings manifold, and routed them.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Then hee sent out his arrowes and scattred them, and he increased lightnings and destroyed them.
Legacy Standard Bible
He sent out His arrows, and scattered them,And lightning flashes in abundance, and threw them into confusion.
Berean Standard Bible
He shot His arrows and scattered the foes; He hurled lightning and routed them.
Contemporary English Version
You scattered your enemies with arrows of lightning.
Complete Jewish Bible
" Adonai also thundered in heaven, Ha‘Elyon sounded his voice — hailstones and fiery coals.
Darby Translation
And he sent his arrows, and scattered [mine enemies]; and he shot forth lightnings, and discomfited them.
Easy-to-Read Version
He scattered his enemies with his arrows— the lightning bolts that threw them into confusion.
George Lamsa Translation
Yea, he sent out his arrows and scattered them; and he multiplied his lightnings and confused them.
Good News Translation
He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies; with flashes of lightning he sent them running.
Lexham English Bible
And he shot his arrows and scattered them, and many lightning bolts and routed them.
Literal Translation
Yea, He sent out His arrows and scattered them; and He shot out lightnings and confounded them.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
He sent out his arowes & scatred the, he cast sore lighteninges, & destroyed the.
American Standard Version
And he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; Yea, lightnings manifold, and discomfited them.
Bible in Basic English
He sent out his arrows, driving them in all directions; by his flames of fire they were troubled.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High gave forth His voice; hailstones and coals of fire.
King James Version (1611)
Yea, he sent out his arrowes, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
He shot out his arrowes, and scattered them: he cast foorth much lyghtnynges, and destroyed them.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And he sent forth his weapons, and scattered them; and multiplied lightnings, and routed them.
English Revised Version
And he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; yea, lightnings manifold, and discomfited them.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the Lord thundrid fro heuene; and the hiyeste yaf his vois, hail and the coolis of fier `camen doun.
Update Bible Version
And he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; Yes, lightnings manifold, and discomfited them.
Webster's Bible Translation
Yes, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them.
New King James Version
He sent out His arrows and scattered the foe, Lightnings in abundance, and He vanquished them.
New Living Translation
He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies; great bolts of lightning flashed, and they were confused.
New Life Bible
He sent out His arrows and divided them. He threw down lightning and sent them running.
New Revised Standard
And he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; he flashed forth lightnings, and routed them.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And he sent forth his arrows and scattered them, yea, lightnings, he shot out, and confused them.
Revised Standard Version
And he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; he flashed forth lightnings, and routed them.
Young's Literal Translation
And He sendeth His arrows and scattereth them, And much lightning, and crusheth them.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
He sent out His arrows, and scattered them, And lightning flashes in abundance, and routed them.

Contextual Overview

1 (17-1) <Unto the end, for David, the servant of the Lord, who spoke to the Lord the words of this canticle, in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: and he said:> (17-2) I will love thee, O Lord, my strength: 2 (17-3) The Lord is my firmament, my refuge, and my deliverer. My God is my helper, and in him will I put my trust. My protector, and the horn of my salvation, and my support. 3 (17-4) Praising, I will call upon the Lord: and I shall be saved from my enemies. 4 (17-5) The sorrows of death surrounded me: and the torrents of iniquity troubled me. 5 (17-6) The sorrows of hell encompassed me: and the snares of death prevented me. 6 (17-7) In my affliction I called upon the Lord, and I cried to my God: And he heard my voice from his holy temple: and my cry before him came into his ears. 7 (17-8) The earth shook and trembled: the foundations of the mountains were troubled and were moved, because he was angry with them. 8 (17-9) There went up a smoke in his wrath: and a fire flamed from his face: coals were kindled by it. 9 (17-10) He bowed the heavens, and came down, and darkness was under his feet. 10 (17-11) And he ascended upon the cherubim, and he flew; he flew upon the wings of the winds.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Yea: Psalms 21:12, Psalms 77:17, Numbers 24:8, Deuteronomy 32:23, Deuteronomy 32:42, Joshua 10:10, Job 6:4, Isaiah 30:30, Habakkuk 3:11

he shot: Psalms 144:6, Job 38:35, Job 40:9-12, Zechariah 9:14, Zechariah 9:15

Reciprocal: Exodus 14:24 - looked unto Numbers 21:30 - have shot 1 Samuel 2:10 - he thunder 2 Samuel 22:15 - arrows 2 Kings 19:7 - a blast Psalms 64:7 - God Psalms 140:10 - burning coals Jeremiah 46:15 - the Lord Ezekiel 13:11 - there shall Daniel 5:9 - greatly Revelation 4:5 - proceeded

Cross-References

Genesis 17:21
But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sara shall bring forth to thee at this time in the next year.
Genesis 18:1
And the Lord appeared to him in the vale of Mambre as he was sitting at the door of his tent, in the very heat of the day.
Genesis 18:2
And when he had lifted up his eyes, there appeared to him three men standing near to him: and as soon as he saw them, he ran to meet them from the door of his tent, and adored down to the ground.
Genesis 18:10
And he said to him: I will return and come to thee at this time, life accompanying, and Sara, thy wife, shall have a son. Which when Sara heard, she laughed behind the door of the tent.
Numbers 11:23
And the Lord answered him: Is the hand of the Lord unable? Thou shalt presently see whether my word shall come to pass or no.
Deuteronomy 7:21
Thou shalt not fear them, because the Lord thy God is in the midst of thee, a God mighty and terrible:
Deuteronomy 30:3
The Lord thy God will bring back again thy captivity, and will have mercy on thee, and gather thee again out of all the nations, into which he scattered thee before.
1 Samuel 14:6
And Jonathan said to the young man that bore his armour: Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised, it may be the Lord will do for us: because it is easy for the Lord to save either by many, or by few.
2 Kings 4:16
He said to her: At this time, and this same hour, if life be in company, thou shalt have a son in thy womb. But she answered: Do not, I beseech thee, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie to thy handmaid.
Job 36:5
God doth not cast away the mighty, whereas he himself also is mighty.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Yea, he sent out his arrows,.... By which thunderbolts, cracks of thunder, and flashes of lightning, seem to be meant; see

Psalms 77:17; comparable to arrows shot, and sent out of a bow; and may denote, either the doctrines of the Gospel, which were sharp in the hearts of Christ's enemies, and are either the means of subduing them to him, or of destroying them, being the savour of death unto death; or however, like arrows, give great pain and uneasiness where they stick, and grievously distress and torment; as does the fire which comes out of the mouth of the two witnesses, Revelation 11:5. The Targum is,

"he sent his word as arrows;''

or else the judgments of God are meant, as famine, pestilence, and the sword, which God sent unto, and spent upon the Jewish nation,

Deuteronomy 32:23;

and scattered them; among the nations of the world, where they have been dispersed ever since;

and he shot out lightnings; or "many lightnings", so the Targum:

and discomfited them; troubled, terrified, and distressed them.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Yea, he sent out his arrows - The word arrows here probably refers to the lightnings mentioned in the other clause of the verse. Those lightnings scattered around, and accomplishing such destruction, seemed to be arrows sent forth from the hand of God.

And scattered them - Herder refers this to the lightnings; DeWette, to the enemies of the psalmist. The latter seems to be the more correct interpretation, though the enemies of the psalmist are not here particularly specified. They seem, however, to have been in his eye throughout the psalm, for it was the victory achieved over them by the divine interposition that he was celebrating throughout the poem.

And he shot out lightnings - As arrows; or, as from a bow.

And discomfited them - literally, to impel, to drive; then, to put in commotion or consternation. The allusion is to an army whose order is disturbed, or which is thrown into confusion, and which is, therefore, easily conquered. The idea is that David achieved a victory over all his enemies, as if God had scattered them by a storm and tempest.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Psalms 18:14. He sent out his arrows - he shot out lightnings — I believe the latter clause to be an illustration of the former. He sent out his arrows-that is, he shot out lightnings; for lightnings are the arrows of the Lord, and there is something very like the arrowhead apparent in the zigzag lightning. Sense and sound are wonderfully combined in the Hebrew of this last clause: וברכים רב ויהמם uberakim rab vaihummem, "and thunderings he multiplied and confounded them." Who does not hear the bursting, brattling, and pounding of thunder in these words? See Delaney?


 
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