Bible Strands
Psalms 37:15
But their swords will pierce their own hearts, and their bows will be broken.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses the covenant community concerning the wicked who have drawn weapons to kill the poor and upright. This declaration follows a description of their prepared violence and precedes a contrast between righteous simplicity and wicked abundance.
The words — The Hebrew חַרְבָּם (charbam) translates literally as "their sword," and תָּבוֹא (tavo) means "it will go" or "enter." These terms describe the physical mechanism by which the weapons will turn against their owners.
The thread — The text records that the wicked's own weapons will destroy them, a pattern repeated in Psalms 7:14 and Psalms 35:8 where trouble is conceived and the trap set for others becomes their own downfall. The immediate context of Psalm 37 frames this as the inevitable collapse of violent schemes.
Why it lands — The verse states that instruments of aggression will pierce the wielder and their bows will snap, establishing a principle of self-defeating violence. A reader must acknowledge that destructive plans carry their own termination and require no external force to collapse.
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
Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.
Cross-references
- Psalms 7:14 Behold, the wicked man travails with evil; he conceives trouble and births falsehood.
- Psalms 35:8 May ruin befall them by surprise; may the net they hid ensnare them; may they fall into the hazard they created.
- 1 Samuel 31:4 Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through with it, or these uncircumcised men will come and run me through and torture me!” But his armor-bearer was terrified and refused to do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.
- 2 Samuel 17:23 When Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out for his house in his hometown. He put his affairs in order and hanged himself. So he died and was buried in his father’s tomb.
- Psalms 46:9 He makes wars to cease throughout the earth; He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; He burns the shields in the fire.
- Jeremiah 51:56 For a destroyer is coming against her—against Babylon. Her warriors will be captured, and their bows will be broken, for the LORD is a God of retribution; He will repay in full.
- Hosea 1:5 And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.”
- Hosea 2:18 On that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the creatures that crawl on the ground. And I will abolish bow and sword and battle in the land, and will make them lie down in safety.
- 1 Samuel 2:4 The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble are equipped with strength.
- Esther 7:9 Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said: “There is a gallows fifty cubits high at Haman’s house. He had it built for Mordecai, who gave the report that saved the king.” “Hang him on it!” declared the king.