Psalms 141:6

When their rulers are thrown down from the cliffs, the people will listen to my words, for they are pleasant.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The psalmist speaks to God and the faithful community while facing persecution and the threat of execution. The moment is one of impending death, framed by immediate prayers for protection and endurance against the wicked.

The words — נִשְׁמְט֣וּ (nish.me.Tu) means "they have been thrown down," describing the fate of the judges (שֹׁפְטֵי/הֶ֑ם). The verb נָעֵֽמוּ (na.'E.mu) translates literally as "they are pleasant," referring directly to the psalmist's words.

The thread — The motif of leaders being cast from heights appears in 2 Chronicles 25:12, where captured soldiers are thrown off a cliff. The imagery of bodily destruction continues in Psalms 141:7, which describes bones scattered like plowed soil at the mouth of Sheol.

Why it lands — The text states that future divine judgment will validate the psalmist's current endurance and teachings. Readers must accept that present suffering does not negate the authority of the words, as God's intervention will ultimately prove their truth.

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

נִשְׁמְט֣וּnish.me.Tuthey have been thrown down בִֽידֵי־vi./dei-at/ [the] hands of סֶ֭לַעSe.la'a rock שֹׁפְטֵיהֶ֑םsho.fe.tei./Hemjudges/ their וְשָׁמְע֥וּve./sha.me.'Uand/ they will hear אֲ֝מָרַ֗י'a.ma.Ra/iwords/ my כִּ֣יkifor נָעֵֽמוּ׃na.'E.muthey are pleasant

King James Version

When their judges are overthrown in stony places, they shall hear my words; for they are sweet.

Cross-references

2 Chronicles 25:12 and the army of Judah also captured 10,000 men alive. They took them to the top of a cliff and threw them down so that all were dashed to pieces.
1 Samuel 31:1 Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa.
2 Samuel 1:17 Then David took up this lament for Saul and his son Jonathan,
2 Samuel 2:4 Then the men of Judah came to Hebron, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, “It was the men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul.”
2 Samuel 5:1 Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “Here we are, your own flesh and blood.
2 Samuel 23:1 These are the last words of David: “The oracle of David son of Jesse, the oracle of the man raised on high, the one anointed by the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel:
1 Chronicles 10:1 Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa.
1 Chronicles 11:1 Then all Israel came together to David at Hebron and said, “Here we are, your own flesh and blood.
1 Chronicles 12:38 All these men of war, arrayed for battle, came to Hebron fully determined to make David king over all Israel. And all the rest of the Israelites were of one mind to make David king.
1 Chronicles 13:2 And he said to the whole assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you, and if this is of the LORD our God, let us send word far and wide to the rest of our brothers in all the land of Israel, and also to the priests and Levites in their cities and pasturelands, so that they may join us.