Bible Strands
Psalms 44:13
You have made us a reproach to our neighbors, a mockery and derision to those around us.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses God directly, recounting how divine action has turned the community into an object of shame before neighboring groups. This declaration occurs within a communal lament where the speaker contrasts past divine deliverance with present national humiliation.
The words — The Hebrew verb תְּשִׂימֵ֣/נוּ (te.si.Me./nu) literally means "you have made us," establishing divine agency over the subsequent condition. The noun חֶ֭רְפָּה (Cher.pah) translates directly to "a reproach," denoting public disgrace or contempt.
The thread — The identical phrasing appears in Psalms 79:4, while Psalms 80:6 and Jeremiah 24:9 echo the theme of divine action producing neighboring scorn. These citations trace a consistent pattern of communal lament where national suffering is framed as a direct result of God's permitting or causing public shame.
Why it lands — The text demands acknowledgment that national disgrace is attributed to divine action rather than mere human failure. It requires the reader to confront the tension between covenant promises and present reality without softening the claim that God actively shapes this humiliation.
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
Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and a derision to them that are round about us.
Cross-references
- Psalms 79:4 We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and derision to those around us.
- Psalms 80:6 You make us contend with our neighbors; our enemies mock us.
- Jeremiah 24:9 I will make them a horror and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a disgrace and an object of scorn, ridicule, and cursing wherever I have banished them.
- Deuteronomy 28:37 You will become an object of horror, scorn, and ridicule among all the nations to which the LORD will drive you.
- Psalms 89:41 All who pass by plunder him; he has become a reproach to his neighbors.
- Psalms 89:51 how Your enemies have taunted, O LORD, and have mocked every step of Your anointed one!
- Psalms 123:3 Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy, for we have endured much contempt.
- Jeremiah 48:27 Was not Israel your object of ridicule? Was he ever found among thieves? For whenever you speak of him you shake your head.
- Ezekiel 36:19 I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered throughout the lands. I judged them according to their ways and deeds.