Psalms 11:3

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

When the foundations are destroyed, what can the godly accomplish?”

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

כִּ֣י הַ֭שָּׁתוֹת יֵֽהָרֵס֑וּן צַ֝דִּ֗יק מַה־פָּעָֽל׃

Transliteration

For the-šāṯôṯ yēhārēsûn, ṣaddîq what-pāʿāl?

Grammar Details

• *šāṯôṯ*: definite article + noun, feminine plural - the foundations
• *yēhārēsûn*: niphal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural (paragogic nun) - they are destroyed/torn down
• *ṣaddîq*: adjective/noun, masculine singular - righteous person
• *pāʿāl*: qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular - he has done/accomplished

Word Meanings

• *šāṯôṯ*: foundations/pillars/established order
• *yēhārēsûn*: they are destroyed/torn down/overthrown
• *ṣaddîq*: righteous one/just person/righteous individual
• *pāʿāl*: has done/accomplished/performed/worked

Referenced Verses

• Ps 82:5 : 5 They neither know nor understand. They stumble around in the dark, while all the foundations of the earth crumble.
• Acts 4:24-33 : 24 When they heard this, they raised their voices to God with one mind and said,“Master of all, you who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything that is in them, 25 who said by the Holy Spirit through your servant David our forefather,‘Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot foolish things? 26 The kings of the earth stood together, and the rulers assembled together, against the Lord and against his Christ.’ 27 “For indeed both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together in this city against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, 28 to do as much as your power and your plan had decided beforehand would happen. 29 And now, Lord, pay attention to their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your message with great courage, 30 while you extend your hand to heal, and to bring about miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 When they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God courageously. 32 Conditions Among the Early Believers The group of those who believed were of one heart and mind, and no one said that any of his possessions was his own, but everything was held in common. 33 With great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was on them all.
• 2 Tim 2:19 : 19 However, God’s solid foundation remains standing, bearing this seal:“The Lord knows those who are his,” and“Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from evil.”
• Isa 58:12 : 12 Your perpetual ruins will be rebuilt; you will reestablish the ancient foundations. You will be called,‘The one who repairs broken walls, the one who makes the streets inhabitable again.’
• Jer 26:11-15 : 11 Then the priests and the prophets made their charges before the officials and all the people. They said,“This man should be condemned to die because he prophesied against this city. You have heard him do so with your own ears.” 12 Then Jeremiah made his defense before all the officials and all the people.“The LORD sent me to prophesy everything you have heard me say against this temple and against this city. 13 But correct the way you have been living and do what is right. Obey the LORD your God. If you do, the LORD will forgo destroying you as he threatened he would. 14 As to my case, I am in your power. Do to me what you deem fair and proper. 15 But you should take careful note of this: If you put me to death, you will bring on yourselves and this city and those who live in it the guilt of murdering an innocent man. For the LORD has sent me to speak all this where you can hear it. That is the truth!”
• Dan 3:15-18 : 15 Now if you are ready, when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, trigon, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, you must bow down and pay homage to the statue that I had made. If you don’t pay homage to it, you will immediately be thrown into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire. Now, who is that god who can rescue you from my power?” 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to King Nebuchadnezzar,“We do not need to give you a reply concerning this. 17 If our God whom we are serving exists, he is able to rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and he will rescue us, O king, from your power as well. 18 But if he does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we don’t serve your gods, and we will not pay homage to the golden statue that you have erected.”
• Dan 6:10-28 : 10 When Daniel realized that a written decree had been issued, he entered his home, where the windows in his upper room opened toward Jerusalem. Three times daily he was kneeling and offering prayers and thanks to his God just as he had been accustomed to do previously. 11 Then those officials who had gone to the king came by collusion and found Daniel praying and asking for help before his God. 12 So they approached the king and said to him,“Did you not issue an edict to the effect that for the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or human other than to you, O king, would be thrown into a den of lions?” The king replied,“That is correct, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be changed.” 13 Then they said to the king,“Daniel, who is one of the captives from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or to the edict that you issued. Three times daily he offers his prayer.” 14 When the king heard this, he was very upset and began thinking about how he might rescue Daniel. Until late afternoon he was struggling to find a way to rescue him. 15 Then those men came by collusion to the king and said to him,“Recall, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no edict or decree that the king issues can be changed.” 16 So the king gave the order, and Daniel was brought and thrown into a den of lions. The king consoled Daniel by saying,“Your God whom you continually serve will rescue you!” 17 Then a stone was brought and placed over the opening to the den. The king sealed it with his signet ring and with those of his nobles so that nothing could be changed with regard to Daniel. 18 Then the king departed to his palace. But he spent the night without eating, and no diversions were brought to him. He was unable to sleep. 19 God Rescues Daniel from the Lions In the morning, at the earliest sign of daylight, the king got up and rushed to the lions’ den. 20 As he approached the den, he called out to Daniel in a worried voice,“Daniel, servant of the living God, was your God whom you continually serve able to rescue you from the lions?” 21 Then Daniel spoke to the king,“O king, live forever! 22 My God sent his angel and closed the lions’ mouths so that they have not harmed me, because I was found to be innocent before him. Nor have I done any harm to you, O king.” 23 Then the king was delighted and gave an order to haul Daniel up from the den. So Daniel was hauled up out of the den. He had no injury of any kind, because he had trusted in his God. 24 The king gave another order, and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the lions’ den– they, their children, and their wives. They did not even reach the bottom of the den before the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones. 25 Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and language groups who were living in all the land:“Peace and prosperity! 26 I have issued an edict that throughout all the dominion of my kingdom people are to revere and fear the God of Daniel.“For he is the living God; he endures forever. His kingdom will not be destroyed; his authority is forever. 27 He rescues and delivers and performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions!” 28 So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
• John 11:8-9 : 8 The disciples replied,“Rabbi, the Jewish leaders were just now trying to stone you to death! Are you going there again?” 9 Jesus replied,“Are there not twelve hours in a day? If anyone walks around in the daytime, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if anyone walks around at night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”
• Acts 4:5-9 : 5 On the next day, their rulers, elders, and experts in the law came together in Jerusalem. 6 Annas the high priest was there, and Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and others who were members of the high priest’s family. 7 After making Peter and John stand in their midst, they began to inquire,“By what power or by what name did you do this?” 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, replied,“Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today for a good deed done to a sick man– by what means this man was healed– 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, this man stands before you healthy. 11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, that has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved.”
• 2 Kgs 19:13-18 : 13 Where are the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the king of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’” 14 Hezekiah took the letter from the messengers and read it. Then Hezekiah went up to the LORD’s temple and spread it out before the LORD. 15 Hezekiah prayed before the LORD:“LORD God of Israel, who is enthroned on the cherubim! You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the sky and the earth. 16 Pay attention, LORD, and hear! Open your eyes, LORD, and observe! Listen to the message Sennacherib sent and how he taunts the living God! 17 It is true, LORD, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands. 18 They have burned the gods of the nations, for they are not really gods, but only the product of human hands manufactured from wood and stone. That is why the Assyrians could destroy them.
• 2 Kgs 22:12-14 : 12 The king ordered Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Achbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant, 13 “Go, seek an oracle from the LORD for me and the people– for all Judah. Find out about the words of this scroll that has been discovered. For the LORD’s great fury has been ignited against us, because our ancestors have not obeyed the words of this scroll by doing all that it instructs us to do.” 14 So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shullam son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, the supervisor of the wardrobe.(She lived in Jerusalem in the Mishneh district.) They stated their business,
• 2 Chr 32:13-15 : 13 Are you not aware of what I and my predecessors have done to all the nations of the surrounding lands? Have the gods of the surrounding lands actually been able to rescue their lands from my power? 14 Who among all the gods of these nations whom my predecessors annihilated was able to rescue his people from my power, that your God would be able to rescue you from my power? 15 Now don’t let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you like this. Don’t believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to rescue his people from my power or the power of my predecessors. So how can your gods rescue you from my power?’”
• Neh 6:10-12 : 10 Then I went to the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel. He was confined to his home. He said,“Let’s set up a time to meet in the house of God, within the temple. Let’s close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you. It will surely be at night that they will come to kill you.” 11 But I replied,“Should a man like me run away? Would someone like me flee to the temple in order to save his life? I will not go!” 12 I recognized the fact that God had not sent him, for he had spoken the prophecy against me as a hired agent of Tobiah and Sanballat.
• Ps 75:3 : 3 When the earth and all its inhabitants dissolve in fear, I make its pillars secure.”(Selah)