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Texts -- Psalms 58:4-11 (NET)

Context
58:4 Their venom is like that of a snake , like a deaf serpent that does not hear , 58:5 that does not respond to the magicians , or to a skilled snake-charmer . 58:6 O God , break the teeth in their mouths ! Smash the jawbones of the lions , O Lord ! 58:7 Let them disappear like water that flows away ! Let them wither like grass ! 58:8 Let them be like a snail that melts away as it moves along! Let them be like stillborn babies that never see the sun ! 58:9 Before the kindling is even placed under your pots , he will sweep it away along with both the raw and cooked meat . 58:10 The godly will rejoice when they see vengeance carried out; they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked . 58:11 Then observers will say , “Yes indeed, the godly are rewarded ! Yes indeed , there is a God who judges in the earth !”

Pericope

NET

Bible Dictionary

  • Wicked

    [nave] WICKED Compared with: Abominable branches, Isa. 14:19; ashes under the feet, Mal. 4:3; bad fishes, Matt. 13:48; beasts, Psa. 49:12; 2 Pet. 2:12; the blind, Zeph. 1:17; Matt. 15:14; bronze and iron, Jer. 6:28; Ezek. 22:18; br...

  • Serpent

    [isbe] SERPENT - sur'-pent: 1. General: Serpents are not particularly abundant in Palestine, but they are often mentioned in the Bible. In the Hebrew there are 11 names. The New Testament has four Greek names and the Septuagint emp...
    [smith] The Hebrew word nachash is the generic name of any serpent. The following are the principal biblical allusions to this animal its subtlety is mentioned in (Genesis 3:1) its wisdom is alluded to by our Lord in (Matthew 10:18) ...
    [nave] SERPENT Satan appears in the form of, to Eve, Gen. 3:1-15; 2 Cor. 11:3. Subtlety of, Gen. 3:1; Eccl. 10:8; Matt. 10:16. Curse upon, Gen. 3:14, 15; 49:17. Feeds upon the dust, Gen. 3:14; Isa. 65:25; Mic. 7:17. Unfit for f...

  • POISON

    [ebd] (1.) Heb. hemah, "heat," the poison of certain venomous reptiles (Deut. 32:24, 33; Job 6:4; Ps. 58:4), causing inflammation. (2.) Heb. rosh, "a head," a poisonous plant (Deut. 29:18), growing luxuriantly (Hos. 10:4), of a bi...
    [isbe] POISON - poi'-z'-n (chemah, ro'-sh; thumos, ios): Residents in Palestine must, from the first, have been acquainted with venomous serpents. Six species of these are widely diffused in the land, and at least three of them are...

  • Music

    [nave] MUSIC Teachers of, 1 Chr. 15:22; 25:7, 8; 2 Chr. 23:13. Physical effect of, on people, 1 Sam. 16:15, 16, 23. Discoursed during the offering of sacrifices, 2 Chr. 29:27, 28. Precentor, Neh. 12:42. Chief musician, Neh. 12:...

  • Michtam

    [ebd] writing; i.e., a poem or song found in the titles of Ps. 16; 56-60. Some translate the word "golden", i.e., precious. It is rendered in the LXX. by a word meaning "tablet inscription" or a "stelograph." The root of the word ...

  • Lintel

    [ebd] (1.) Heb. mashkoph, a projecting cover (Ex. 12:22, 23; ver. 7, "upper door post," but R.V. "lintel"); the head-piece of a door, which the Israelites were commanded to mark with the blood of the paschal lamb. (2.) Heb. kaphta...

  • FUEL

    [ebd] Almost every kind of combustible matter was used for fuel, such as the withered stalks of herbs (Matt. 6:30), thorns (Ps. 58:9; Eccl. 7:6), animal excrements (Ezek. 4:12-15; 15:4, 6; 21:32). Wood or charcoal is much used sti...
    [isbe] FUEL - fu'-el ('okhlah, or ma'akholeth, "food"): Is mentioned specifically only in the Old Testament, in Isa 9:5,19; Ezek 15:4,6; 21:32. Its general, literal meaning in these connections is "food for fire," and might include...

  • Enchantments

    [ebd] (1.) The rendering of Hebrew latim_ or _lehatim, which means "something covered," "muffled up;" secret arts, tricks (Ex. 7:11, 22; 8:7, 18), by which the Egyptian magicians imposed on the credulity of Pharaoh. (2.) The rende...

  • ENCHANTMENT

    [isbe] ENCHANTMENT - en-chant'-ment: The occult arts, either supposedly or pretentiously supernatural, were common to all oriental races. They included enchantment, sorcery, witchcraft, sooth-saying, augury, necromancy, divination ...

  • EAR

    [isbe] EAR - er ('ozen; ous, otion, the latter word (literally, "earlet") in all the Gospels only used of the ear of the high priest's servant, which was cut off by Peter: Mt 26:51; Mk 14:47; Lk 22:51 (not 22:50); Jn 18:10,26): (1)...

  • David

    [nave] DAVID 1. King of Israel. Genealogy of, Ruth 4:18-22; 1 Sam. 16:11; 17:12; 1 Chr. 2:3-15; Matt. 1:1-6; Luke 3:31-38. A shepherd, 1 Sam. 16:11. Kills a lion and a bear, 1 Sam. 17:34-36. Anointed king, while a youth, by the ...

  • DEAF

    [isbe] DEAF - def (cheresh; kophos): Used either in the physical sense, or figuratively as expressing unwillingness to hear the Divine message (Ps 58:4), or incapacity to understand it for want of spirituality (Ps 38:13). The proph...

  • Charmers and Charming

    [nave] CHARMERS AND CHARMING. Isa. 19:3; Jer. 8:17. Prohibited, Deut. 18:11. Of serpents, Psa. 58:4, 5; Jer. 8:17. See: Sorcery.

  • Charmer

    [ebd] one who practises serpent-charming (Ps. 58:5; Jer. 8:17; Eccl. 10:11). It was an early and universal opinion that the most venomous reptiles could be made harmless by certain charms or by sweet sounds. It is well known that ...

  • CHEEK TEETH

    [isbe] CHEEK TEETH - (methalle`ah, transposed from malta`ah (only in Ps 58:6), literally "the biter," "crusher," "molar," "jaw-teeth," "great teeth" (Job 29:17 m; Joel 1:6)). Figurative: The word is used as a synonym of reckless st...

  • Bramble

    [ebd] (1.) Hebrew atad, Judg. 9:14; rendered "thorn," Ps. 58:9. The LXX. and Vulgate render by rhamnus, a thorny shrub common in Palestine, resembling the hawthorn. (2.) Hebrew hoah, Isa. 34:13 (R.V. "thistles"); "thickets" in 1 S...

  • Atad

    [ebd] buckthorn, a place where Joseph and his brethren, when on their way from Egypt to Hebron with the remains of their father Jacob, made for seven days a "great and very sore lamentation." On this account the Canaanites called ...

  • Altaschith

    [ebd] destroy not, the title of Ps. 57, 58, 59, and 75. It was probably the name of some song to the melody of which these psalms were to be chanted.
    [nave] ALTASCHITH Title of Psa. 57-59; 75. See: Music.

  • ASP

    [isbe] ASP - (pethen (Dt 32:33; Job 20:14,16; Isa 11:8); aspis (Rom 3:13)); Any poisonous snake, or even poisonous snakes in general, would satisfy the context in all the passages cited. Pethen is also translated ADDER (which see) ...
    [smith] (Heb. pethen), translated (adder in) (Psalms 58:4; 91:13) Probably the Egyptian cobra, a small and very poisonous serpent, a dweller in the holes of walls, (Isaiah 11:8) and a snake upon which the serpent-charmers practiced t...

  • AMULET

    [isbe] AMULET - am'-u-let (qemia, lechashim, mezuzah, tephillin, tsitsith; phulakterion): Modern scholars are of opinion that our English word amulet comes from the Latin amuletum, used by Pliny (Naturalis Historia, xxviii, 28; xxx...

Arts

Resources/Books

Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • The texts of the individual psalms do not usually indicate who wrote them.1However some of the titles of the individual psalms do contain information about the writers.2This is the only really reliable information we have as ...
  • I. Book 1: chs. 1-41II. Book 2: chs. 42-72III. Book 3: chs. 73-89IV. Book 4: chs. 90-106V. Book 5: chs. 107-150...
  • On the basis of God's protection of those who trust in Him David asked for protection from those who were pursuing him, perhaps Saul's men (cf. 1 Sam. 22:8; 24:9; 26:19). He felt like a helpless lamb that a powerful ferocious...
  • In Book 1 we saw that all the psalms except 1, 2, 10, and 33 claimed David as their writer. It is likely that he wrote these four as well even though they do not bear his name. In Book 2 the titles identify David as the write...
  • 58:1 The psalmist introduced his condemnation of certain unjust judges with two questions. He questioned the integrity of these men.The Hebrew word elohim(lit. strong ones) sometimes refers to rulers in the Old Testament. Of ...
  • 58:6-8 David called on God to deal with these unjust men. Breaking the teeth symbolizes painfully removing their ability to devour the people they oppressed. He asked God to remove them as water flows away. He requested that ...
  • 58:10 When God judges crooked rulers by cutting them off, the upright will rejoice. David described their rejoicing in terms of a military victory in which the victors bathed their feet in the blood of their vanquished foes. ...
  • Allen, Ronald B. "Evidence from Psalm 89."In A Case for Premillennialism: A New Consensus, pp. 55-77. Edited by Donald K. Campbell and Jeffrey L. Townsend. Chicago: Moody Press, 1992._____. Lord of Song. Portland: Multnomah P...
  • Abbot, T. K. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistles to the Ephesians and to the Colossians. International Critical Commentary series. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1897.Aldrich, Roy L. "The Gift of God."Biblioth...
  • Adamson, James B. The Epistle of James. New International Commentary on the New Testament series. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1976; reprint ed. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1984.Bailey, Mark...
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