Psalms 109:10
8 May his days be few; may another take his position.
9 May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow.
May his children wander as beggars, seeking sustenance far from their ruined homes.
11 May the creditor seize all he owns, and strangers plunder the fruits of his labor.
12 May there be no one to extend kindness to him, and no one to favor his fatherless children.
This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- May his children wander as beggars, seeking sustenance far from their ruined homes.
- KJV
- Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places.
- WEB
- Let his children be wandering beggars. Let them be sought from their ruins.
- ASV
- Let his children be vagabonds, and beg; And let them seek [their bread] out of their desolate places.
- DARBY
- Let his sons be vagabonds and beg, and let them seek [their bread] far from their desolate places;
- BLB
- And let his sons wander continually and beg, and let them seek sustenance from their desolate places!
- ÅB
- og la hans barn flakke omkring og tigge, og la dem gå som tiggere fra sine ødelagte hjem!
- OTB
- Måtte hans barn vandre og søke hjelp;
Og måtte de lete etter næring langt fra sine ødelagte hjem. - B1930
- og la hans barn flakke omkring og tigge, og la dem gå som tiggere fra sine ødelagte hjem!
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Psalms 37:25
I once was young and now am old, yet never have I seen the righteous abandoned or their children begging for bread.
Read in contextGenesis 4:12–14
When you till the ground, it will no longer yield its produce to you. You will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”
Read in contextIsaiah 16:2
Like fluttering birds pushed out of the nest, so are the daughters of Moab at the fords of the Arnon:
Read in context2 Kings 5:27
Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman will cling to you and your descendants forever!” And as Gehazi left his presence, he was leprous—as white as snow.
Read in contextPsalms 59:15
They scavenge for food, and growl if they are not satisfied.
Read in contextJob 24:8–12
Drenched by mountain rains, they huddle against the rocks for want of shelter.
Read in contextJob 30:3–9
Gaunt from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, and the desolate wasteland by night.
Read in context2 Samuel 3:29
May it whirl over the heads of Joab and the entire house of his father, and may the house of Joab never be without one having a discharge or skin disease, or one who leans on a staff or falls by the sword or lacks food.”
Read in context