Bible Strands
Psalms 33:17
A horse is a vain hope for salvation; even its great strength cannot save.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses the assembly of Israel, placing this statement immediately after a declaration that no king or warrior is saved by human armies.
The words — The Hebrew שֶׁקֶר (sheqer) denotes literal "vanity" or "falsehood," while סוּס (sus) translates directly as "horse."
The thread — The insufficiency of military equipment for deliverance recurs in Proverbs 21:31, Psalm 20:7, and Psalm 147:10.
Why it lands — The text asserts that a horse's strength cannot save, and therefore requires readers to reject reliance on human power and direct their hope exclusively to God.
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
An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 21:31 A horse is prepared for the day of battle, but victory is of the LORD.
- Psalms 20:7 Some trust in chariots and others in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
- Psalms 147:10 He does not delight in the strength of the horse; He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man.
- Job 39:19 Do you give strength to the horse or adorn his neck with a mane?
- Isaiah 30:16 “No,” you say, “we will flee on horses.” Therefore you will flee! “We will ride swift horses,” but your pursuers will be faster.
- Hosea 14:3 Assyria will not save us, nor will we ride on horses. We will never again say, ‘Our gods!’ to the work of our own hands. For in You the fatherless find compassion.”
- Judges 4:15 And in front of him the LORD routed with the sword Sisera, all his charioteers, and all his army. Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled on foot.
- 2 Kings 7:6 For the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots, horses, and a great army, so that they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel must have hired the kings of the Hittites and Egyptians to attack us.”
- Ecclesiastes 9:11 I saw something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; neither is the bread to the wise, nor the wealth to the intelligent, nor the favor to the skillful. For time and chance happen to all.