Psalms 124 · Verse 3

Psalms 124:3

Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:
Psalms 124:3, King James Version

Psalms 124:3 in other translations

BSBwhen their anger flared against us, then they would have swallowed us alive,
WEBthen they would have swallowed us up alive, when their wrath was kindled against us,
ASVThen they had swallowed us up alive, When their wrath was kindled against us:
YLTThen alive they had swallowed us up, In the burning of their anger against us,
DARBYThen they had swallowed us up alive, when their anger was kindled against us;
BBEThey would have made a meal of us while still living, in the heat of their wrath against us:
WebsterThen they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:

What does Psalms 124:3 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
3. Then--that is, the time of our danger. quick--literally, "living" (Nu 16:32, 33), description of ferocity.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Psalms 124:1-5

God suffers the enemies of his people sometimes to prevail very far against them, that his power may be seen the more in their deliverance. Happy the people whose God is Jehovah, a God all-sufficient. Besides applying this to any particular deliverance wrought in our days and the ancient times, we should have in our thoughts the great work of redemption by Jesus Christ, by which believers were rescued from Satan.

Read the full comment on Psalms 124:1-5 →

Psalms 124:3 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

אֲ֭זַי'A.zaithenH233
חַיִּ֣יםchai.YimaliveH2416
בְּלָע֑וּנוּbe.la.'U.nuthey had swallowed up usH1104
בַּחֲר֖וֹתba.cha.Rotwhen burnedH2734
אַפָּ֣ם'a.Pamanger theirH639
בָּֽנוּ\׃Ba.nuon us

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Psalms 124:3

  • Psalms 57:3

    He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth.

  • Matthew 2:16

    Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men.

  • Esther 3:12-13

    Then were the king’s scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and there was written according to all that Haman had commanded unto the king’s lieutenants, and to the governors that were over every province, and to the rulers of every people of every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language; in the name of king Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the king’s ring. And the letters were sent by posts into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey.

  • Numbers 16:30-34

    But if the Lord make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the Lord. And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them: And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation. …

  • Acts 9:2

    And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.

  • Psalms 35:25

    Let them not say in their hearts, Ah, so would we have it: let them not say, We have swallowed him up.

  • Psalms 27:2

    When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.

  • Daniel 3:19

    Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.

  • Jeremiah 51:34

    Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out.

  • Psalms 76:10

    Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.

  • Psalms 74:8

    They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land.

  • 1 Samuel 20:30-33

    Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion, and unto the confusion of thy mother’s nakedness? For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. Wherefore now send and fetch him unto me, for he shall surely die. And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said unto him, Wherefore shall he be slain? what hath he done? And Saul cast a javelin at him to smite him: whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined of his father to slay David.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Then they.
27:2; 35:25; 56:1,2; 57:3; 74:8; 83:4; Es 3:6,12,13
swallowed.
Nu 16:30-34; Pr 1:12; Jer 51:34; Jon 1:17
their wrath.
76:10; 1Sa 20:30-33; Da 3:19; Mt 2:16; Ac 9:2

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Psalms 124:2

    If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us:

  • Psalms 124:3

    Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:

  • Psalms 124:4

    Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul:

Read all of Psalms 124

Psalms 124:3 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Vivos nos habrían entonces tragado, cuando se encendió su furor en nosotros.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Alors ils nous auraient engloutis vivants, quand leur colère s’enflammait contre nous;
German
Elberfelder 1871
Dann würden sie uns lebendig verschlungen haben, als ihr Zorn gegen uns entbrannte;
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Quia non relinquet Dominus virgam peccatorum super sortem justorum: ut non extendant justi ad iniquitatem manus suas,