Bible Strands
Psalms 35:8
May ruin befall them by surprise; may the net they hid ensnare them; may they fall into the hazard they created.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The psalmist speaks to God, describing the moment his enemies secretly prepared a snare for him without cause, immediately before he vows to rejoice in divine deliverance.
The words — The Hebrew שׁוֹאָה (sho.'Ah) translates to destruction, paired with יֵ֫דָ֥ע (ye.Da') meaning he knows, which together render the literal sense of a ruin that strikes without prior awareness.
The thread — The pattern of hidden traps rebounding on their makers runs through Psalms 9:15 and resurfaces in the plea for protection from concealed lures in Psalms 141:9.
Why it lands — It requires the reader to acknowledge that covert hostility generates its own consequences, demanding a posture of patient vigilance rather than personal retaliation.
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
Let destruction come upon him at unawares; and let his net that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let him fall.
Cross-references
- Psalms 141:9 Keep me from the snares they have laid for me, and from the lures of evildoers.
- Luke 21:34 But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare.
- Psalms 9:15 The nations have fallen into a pit of their making; their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.
- Proverbs 5:22 The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him.
- Psalms 57:6 They spread a net for my feet; my soul was despondent. They dug a pit before me, but they themselves have fallen into it! Selah
- Isaiah 47:11 But disaster will come upon you; you will not know how to charm it away. A calamity will befall you that you will be unable to ward off. Devastation will happen to you suddenly and unexpectedly.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:3 While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
- 1 Samuel 18:17 Then Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab. I will give her to you in marriage. Only be valiant for me and fight the LORD’s battles.” But Saul was thinking, “I need not raise my hand against him; let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”
- Esther 7:10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the fury of the king subsided.
- Psalms 7:15 He has dug a hole and hollowed it out; he has fallen into a pit of his own making.