Psalms 74 · Verse 4

Psalms 74:4

Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they set up their ensigns for signs.
Psalms 74:4, King James Version

Psalms 74:4 in other translations

BSBYour foes have roared within Your meeting place; they have unfurled their banners as signs,
WEBYour adversaries have roared in the middle of your assembly. They have set up their standards as signs.
ASVThine adversaries have roared in the midst of thine assembly; They have set up their ensigns for signs.
YLTRoared have thine adversaries, In the midst of Thy meeting-places, They have set their ensigns as ensigns.
DARBYThine adversaries roar in the midst of thy place of assembly; they set up their signs for signs.
BBESending out their voices like lions among your worshippers; they have put up their signs to be seen.
WebsterThy enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they set up their ensigns for signs.

What does Psalms 74:4 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
4. roar--with bestial fury. congregations--literally, "worshipping assemblies." ensigns--literally, "signs"--substituted their idolatrous objects, or tokens of authority, for those articles of the temple which denoted God's presence.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 4 Thine enemies roar - Thy people, who were formerly a distinct and separate people, and who would not even touch a Gentile, are now obliged to mingle with the most profane. Their boisterous mirth, their cruel mockings, their insulting commands, are heard every where in all our assemblies. They set up their ensigns for signs - שמו אותתם אתות samu othotham othoth, they set up their standards in the place of ours. All the ensigns and trophies were those of our enemies; our own were no longer to be seen. The fifth, sixth, and seventh verses give a correct historical account of the ravages committed by the Babylonians, as we may see from 2Kgs 25:4, 2Kgs 25:7-9, and Jer 52:7, Jer 52:18, Jer 52:19 : "And the city was broken up, and all the men fled by night by the way of the gate. They took Zedekiah, and slew his sons before his eyes; and put out his eyes, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon. And on the second day of the fifth month of the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, came unto Jerusalem; and he burnt the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and every great man's house; and all the houses of Jerusalem burnt he with fire. And they broke down the walls of Jerusalem round about. And the pillars of brass and the bases, and the brazen sea, they broke in pieces, and carried the brass to Babylon. And the pots, shovels, snuffers and spoons, and the fire pans and bowls, and such things as were of gold and silver, they took away." Thus they broke down, and carried away, and destroyed this beautiful house; and in the true barbarian spirit, neither sanctity, beauty, symmetry, nor elegance of workmanship, was any thing in their eyes. What hammers and axes could ruin, was ruined; Jerusalem was totally destroyed, and its walls laid level with the ground. Well might the psalmist sigh over such a desolation.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Psalms 74:1-11

This psalm appears to describe the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by the Chaldeans. The deplorable case of the people of God, at the time, is spread before the Lord, and left with him. They plead the great things God had done for them. If the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt was encouragement to hope that he would not cast them off, much more reason have we to believe, that God will not cast off any whom…

Read the full comment on Psalms 74:1-11 →

Psalms 74:4 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.

שָׁאֲג֣וּsha.'a.Guthey roaredH7580
צֹ֭רְרֶיךָTzo.re.rei.khaopposers yourH6887
בְּקֶ֣רֶבbe.Ke.revin [the] midst ofH7130
מוֹעֲדֶ֑ךָmo.'a.De.khaappointed place yourH4150
שָׂ֖מוּSa.muthey set upH7760
אוֹתֹתָ֣ם'o.to.Tamsigns theirH226
אֹתֽוֹת\׃'o.TotsignsH226

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

Cross references for Psalms 74:4

  • Lamentations 2:7

    The Lord hath cast off his altar, he hath abhorred his sanctuary, he hath given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces; they have made a noise in the house of the Lord, as in the day of a solemn feast.

  • Matthew 24:15

    When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

  • Numbers 2:2

    Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard, with the ensign of their father’s house: far off about the tabernacle of the congregation shall they pitch.

  • Daniel 6:27

    He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.

  • 2 Chronicles 36:17

    Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand.

  • Revelation 13:6

    And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

  • Luke 21:20

    And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.

  • Luke 13:1

    There were present at that season some that told him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.

  • Jeremiah 6:1-5

    O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of fire in Beth–haccerem: for evil appeareth out of the north, and great destruction. I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman. The shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her; they shall pitch their tents against her round about; they shall feed every one in his place. Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe unto us! for the day goeth away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out. …

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Thine.
2Ch 36:17; La 2:7; Lu 13:1; Re 13:6
they set.
Jer 6:1-5; Da 6:27; Mt 24:15; Lu 21:20

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

Context

  • Psalms 74:3

    Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.

  • Psalms 74:4

    Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they set up their ensigns for signs.

  • Psalms 74:5

    A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees.

Read all of Psalms 74

Psalms 74:4 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Tus enemigos han bramado en medio de tus sinagogas: han puesto sus divisas por señas.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Tes adversaires rugissent au milieu des lieux assignés pour ton service; ils ont mis leurs signes pour signes.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Es brüllen deine Widersacher inmitten deiner Versammlungsstätte; sie haben ihre Zeichen als Zeichen gesetzt.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Liquefacta est terra et omnes qui habitant in ea: ego confirmavi columnas ejus.