Psalms 7 · Verse 2

Psalms 7:2

Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.
Psalms 7:2, King James Version

Psalms 7:2 in other translations

BSBor they will shred my soul like a lion and tear me to pieces with no one to rescue me.
WEBlest they tear apart my soul like a lion, ripping it in pieces, while there is no one to deliver.
ASVLest they tear my soul like a lion, Rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.
YLTLest he tear as a lion my soul, Rending, and there is no deliverer.
DARBYLest he tear my soul like a lion, crushing it while there is no deliverer.
BBESo that he may not come rushing on my soul like a lion, wounding it, while there is no one to be my saviour.
WebsterLest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.

What does Psalms 7:2 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 7:1-2

Psa 7:1-17. Shiggaion--a plaintive song or elegy. Though obscure in details, this title seems to intimate that the occasion of this Psalm was some event in David's persecution by Saul. He prays for relief because he is innocent, and God will be glorified in his vindication. He thus passes to the celebration of God's righteous government, in defending the upright and punishing the wicked, whose malignant devices will…

Read the full comment on Psalms 7:1-2 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 2 Lest he tear my soul like a lion - These words seem to answer well to Saul. As the lion is king in the forest; so was Saul king over the land. As the lion, in his fierceness, seizes at once, and tears his prey in pieces; so David expected to be seized and suddenly destroyed by Saul. He had already, in his rage, thrown his javelin at him, intending to have pierced him to the wall with it. As from the power of the lion no beast in the forest could deliver any thing; so David knew that Saul's power was irresistible, and that none of his friends or well-wishers could save or deliver him out of such hands. "Lest he tear my soul (my life) like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver." All this answers to Saul, and to none else.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Psalms 7:1-9

David flees to God for succour. But Christ alone could call on Heaven to attest his uprightness in all things. All His works were wrought in righteousness; and the prince of this world found nothing whereof justly to accuse him. Yet for our sakes, submitting to be charged as guilty, he suffered all evils, but, being innocent, he triumphed over them all. The plea is, "For the righteous God trieth the hearts and the…

Read the full comment on Psalms 7:1-9 →

Psalms 7:2 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.

פֶּן\־pen-lestH6435
יִטְרֹ֣ףyit.Rofhe should tear to piecesH2963
כְּאַרְיֵ֣הke.'ar.Yehlike a lionH738
נַפְשִׁ֑יnaf.Shiself myH5315
פֹּ֝רֵ֗קpo.RektearingH6561
וְאֵ֣יןve.'Einand there notH369
מַצִּֽיל\׃ma.Tzil[is] a delivererH5337

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

Cross references for Psalms 7:2

  • Psalms 50:22

    Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver.

  • 2 Timothy 4:17

    Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.

  • Isaiah 38:13

    I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.

  • 1 Peter 5:8

    Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

  • Deuteronomy 33:20

    And of Gad he said, Blessed be he that enlargeth Gad: he dwelleth as a lion, and teareth the arm with the crown of the head.

  • Psalms 35:15

    But in mine adversity they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together: yea, the abjects gathered themselves together against me, and I knew it not; they did tear me, and ceased not:

  • Psalms 10:9

    He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net.

  • Proverbs 19:12

    The king’s wrath is as the roaring of a lion; but his favour is as dew upon the grass.

  • 2 Samuel 14:6

    And thy handmaid had two sons, and they two strove together in the field, and there was none to part them, but the one smote the other, and slew him.

  • Job 10:7

    Thou knowest that I am not wicked; and there is none that can deliver out of thine hand.

  • Hosea 13:7-8

    Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard by the way will I observe them: I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them.

  • Psalms 17:12

    Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Lest.
35:15; Isa 38:13
like.
10:9; 17:12; 22:13; De 33:20; Pr 19:12; 2Ti 4:17; 1Pe 5:8
rending.
50:22; Ho 13:7,8
while.
Jud 18:28; 2Sa 14:6; *marg:
Job 10:7
not to deliver. Heb. not a deliverer.

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

Context

  • Psalms 7:1

    Shiggaion of David, which he sang unto the Lord, concerning the words of Cush the Benjamite. O Lord my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me:

  • Psalms 7:2

    Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.

  • Psalms 7:3

    O Lord my God, if I have done this; if there be iniquity in my hands;

Read all of Psalms 7

Psalms 7:2 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		No sea que arrebate mi alma, cual león que despedaza, sin que haya quien libre.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Éternel, mon Dieu! en toi j’ai mis ma confiance: sauve-moi de tous ceux qui me poursuivent, et délivre-moi;
German
Elberfelder 1871		Daß er nicht meine Seele zerreiße wie ein Löwe, sie zermalmend, und kein Erretter ist da.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Domine Deus meus, in te speravi; salvum me fac ex omnibus persequentibus me, et libera me: