Bible Strands
Psalms 107:41
But He lifts the needy from affliction and increases their families like flocks.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The psalmist declares God’s reversal of human status, contrasting the downfall of proud nobles with the exaltation of the afflicted. This declaration occurs within a communal recounting of divine deliverance across various crises.
The words — The Hebrew verb יְשַׂגֵּב (y.sa.gev) means “he sets on high,” applied to אֶבְיוֹן ('ev.yon), “the needy,” and מֵעוֹנִי (me.'o.ni), “from affliction.” The clause continues with וַיָּשֶׂם (va.ya.sem), “he made,” and מִשְׁפָּחֹת (mish.pa.chot), “families,” compared to צֹאן (tzon), “a flock.”
The thread — This pattern of divine reversal echoes in 1 Samuel 2:8, where God lifts the needy from the dust, and parallels 1 Samuel 2:21, which records Hannah’s specific household increase. The motif of multiplied offspring appears in Job 21:11, where children are sent forth like a flock.
Why it lands — The text asserts that God actively removes the oppressed from distress and multiplies their households, demanding recognition of His sovereign control over human status. Readers are called to observe this pattern as a factual declaration of divine action rather than a conditional promise.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction, and maketh him families like a flock.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 2:8 He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap. He seats them among princes and bestows on them a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s, and upon them He has set the world.
- Job 21:11 They send forth their little ones like a flock; their children skip about,
- 1 Samuel 2:21 So the LORD attended to Hannah, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD.
- Esther 8:15 Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal garments of blue and white, with a large gold crown and a purple robe of fine linen. And the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced.
- Job 8:7 Though your beginnings were modest, your latter days will flourish.
- Psalms 78:52 He led out His people like sheep and guided them like a flock in the wilderness.
- Isaiah 49:20 Yet the children of your bereavement will say in your hearing, ‘This place is too small for us; make room for us to live here.’
- Ruth 4:14 Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a kinsman-redeemer. May his name become famous in Israel.
- Job 5:11 He sets the lowly on high, so that mourners are lifted to safety.
- Job 11:15 then indeed you will lift up your face without blemish; you will stand firm and unafraid.