Psalms 37:14

KJV1611 – Modern English

The wicked have drawn the sword and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay those who are of upright conduct.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

חֶ֤רֶב ׀ פָּֽתְח֣וּ רְשָׁעִים֮ וְדָרְכ֢וּ קַ֫שְׁתָּ֥ם לְ֭הַפִּיל עָנִ֣י וְאֶבְי֑וֹן לִ֝טְב֗וֹחַ יִשְׁרֵי־דָֽרֶךְ׃

Transliteration

Ḥereb pātəḥû rəšāʿîm and they have bent their qaštām to cause to fall ʿānî wəʾebyôn, to liṭbôaḥ yišrê-dārek.

Grammar Details

• *ḥereb*: feminine singular noun - sword
• *pātəḥû*: Qal perfect, 3rd person common plural - they have drawn
• *rəšāʿîm*: masculine plural adjective/noun - wicked ones
• *wədārəkû*: conjunction + Qal perfect, 3rd person common plural - and they have bent/drawn
• *qaštām*: feminine singular noun + 3rd person masculine plural suffix - their bow
• *ləhappîl*: preposition + Hiphil infinitive construct - to cause to fall/to bring down
• *ʿānî*: masculine singular adjective/noun - poor/afflicted
• *wəʾebyôn*: conjunction + masculine singular adjective/noun - and needy
• *liṭbôaḥ*: preposition + Qal infinitive construct - to slaughter/kill
• *yišrê*: masculine plural construct adjective - upright ones of
• *dārek*: masculine singular noun - way/path

Word Meanings

• *pātəḥû ḥereb*: have drawn the sword/have unsheathed the sword
• *dārəkû qaštām*: have bent their bow/have strung their bow
• *ʿānî wəʾebyôn*: poor and needy/afflicted and destitute
• *liṭbôaḥ yišrê-dārek*: to slaughter the upright of way/to kill those who are upright in conduct

Other Translations

• Linguistic Bible Translation from Source Texts

  The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows to bring down the poor and the needy, to slaughter those whose ways are upright.

• King James Version 1769 (Standard Version)

  The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation.

• American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

  The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, To cast down the poor and needy, To slay such as are upright in the way.

• King James Version with Strong's Numbers

  The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent{H8804)} their bow, to cast down{H8687)} the poor and needy, and to slay{H8800)} such as be of upright conversation.

• Coverdale Bible (1535)

  The vngodly drawe out the swerde & bende their bowe, to cast downe ye symple & poore, and to slaye soch as go ye right waye.

• Geneva Bible (1560)

  The wicked haue drawen their sworde, and haue bent their bowe, to cast downe the poore and needie, and to slay such as be of vpright conuersation.

• Bishops' Bible (1568)

  The vngodly haue drawen out the sworde, and haue bended their bowe: to cast downe the poore and needie, and to slay such as be of right conuersation.

• Authorized King James Version (1611)

  The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, [and] to slay such as be of upright conversation.

• Webster's Bible (1833)

  The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, To cast down the poor and needy, To kill those who are upright in the way.

• Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

  A sword have the wicked opened, And they have trodden their bow, To cause to fall the poor and needy, To slaughter the upright of the way.

• American Standard Version (1901)

  The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, To cast down the poor and needy, To slay such as are upright in the way.

• American Standard Version (1901)

  The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, To cast down the poor and needy, To slay such as are upright in the way.

• Bible in Basic English (1941)

  The evil-doers have taken out their swords, their bows are bent; for crushing the poor, and to put to death those who are upright in their ways.

• World English Bible (2000)

  The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, to kill those who are upright in the way.

• NET Bible® (New English Translation)

  Evil men draw their swords and prepare their bows, to bring down the oppressed and needy, and to slaughter those who are godly.

Referenced Verses

• Ps 11:2 : 2 For behold, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, to secretly shoot at the upright in heart.
• Prov 29:27 : 27 An unjust man is an abomination to the just; and he who is upright in the way is an abomination to the wicked.
• Hab 1:13 : 13 You are of purer eyes than to behold evil and cannot look on wickedness. Why do You look on those who deal treacherously and hold Your tongue when the wicked devours a man more righteous than he?
• Matt 23:30-34 : 30 and say, If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. 31 Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are the sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt. 33 Serpents, brood of vipers, how can you escape the condemnation of hell? 34 Therefore, indeed, I send to you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city:
• Acts 7:52 : 52 Which of the prophets have your fathers not persecuted? And they have killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you have now become the betrayers and murderers,
• Acts 12:2-3 : 2 And he killed James, the brother of John, with the sword. 3 And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. (This was during the days of Unleavened Bread.)
• Acts 12:11 : 11 And when Peter had come to himself, he said, 'Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.'
• Ps 35:10 : 10 All my bones shall say, LORD, who is like you, who delivers the poor from him who is too strong for him, yes, the poor and the needy from him who plunders him?
• Ps 64:2-6 : 2 Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked, from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity. 3 Who sharpen their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words. 4 That they may shoot in secret at the blameless; suddenly do they shoot at him and fear not. 5 They encourage themselves in an evil matter; they talk of laying snares secretly; they say, Who shall see them? 6 They search out iniquities; they accomplish a diligent search; the inward thought of every one of them, and the heart, is deep.
• Prov 29:10 : 10 The bloodthirsty hate the upright; but the just seek his life.
• 1 Sam 24:11 : 11 Moreover, my father, see, yes, see the edge of your robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the edge of your robe and killed you not, know and see that there is neither evil nor rebellion in my hand, and I have not sinned against you; yet you hunt my soul to take it.
• 1 Sam 24:17 : 17 And he said to David, You are more righteous than I: for you have rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded you evil.
• 1 John 3:12 : 12 Not as Cain, who was of the wicked one, and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.
• Acts 12:23 : 23 And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and died.