Bible Strands
Psalms 118:12
They swarmed around me like bees, but they were extinguished like burning thorns; in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses a community while recounting a moment of total encirclement by hostile forces. He describes the crisis from the standpoint of having already survived the assault.
The words — The Hebrew verb סַבּ֤וּ/נִי (sa.Bu./ni) literally means "they surrounded me," establishing the immediate threat. The noun כִּדְבוֹרִ֗ים (ki/d.vo.Rim) translates "like bees," describing the swarm's relentless approach.
The thread — The swarm imagery appears in Deuteronomy 1:44, where Amorites chase Israelites like bees. The motif of acting in a divine name for deliverance surfaces in 1 Samuel 17:45 and Psalm 20:5.
Why it lands — The text records the psalmist's survival against encircling enemies and attributes the outcome to Yahweh's intervention. It requires the reader to acknowledge that divine action, not human strategy, ends the threat.
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
They compassed me about like bees; they are quenched as the fire of thorns: for in the name of the Lord I will destroy them.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 1:44 Then the Amorites who lived in the hills came out against you and chased you like a swarm of bees. They routed you from Seir all the way to Hormah.
- 1 Samuel 17:45 But David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
- Psalms 20:5 May we shout for joy at your victory and raise a banner in the name of our God. May the LORD grant all your petitions.
- Psalms 20:1 For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
- Ecclesiastes 7:6 For like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This too is futile.
- 2 Samuel 23:6 But the worthless are all like thorns raked aside, for they can never be gathered by hand.
- Psalms 8:9 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!
- Psalms 58:9 Before your pots can feel the burning thorns—whether green or dry—He will sweep them away.
- 1 Chronicles 14:10 So David inquired of God, “Should I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?” “Go,” replied the LORD, “for I will deliver them into your hand.”
- 1 Chronicles 14:14 So David again inquired of God, who answered him, “Do not march up after them, but circle around them and attack them in front of the balsam trees.