Psalms 44:3

For it was not by their sword that they took the land; their arm did not bring them victory. It was by Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your face, because You favored them.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — A corporate voice addresses God, recalling the conquest of Canaan within a lament over present abandonment (Psalms 44).

The words — יָרְשׁוּ (yareshu, "they inherited") frames the land as a gift received rather than a prize won; הוֹשִׁיעָה (hoshi'ah, "it saved") names the arm as the instrument that failed to deliver.

The thread — Deuteronomy 7:7 and 8:17 warn against the same self-attribution; Joshua 24:12 restates that the Amorite kings fell without Israel's sword or bow.

Why it lands — It removes the reader from the position of agent and places them in the position of recipient, which is harder to accept than the alternative.

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

כִּ֤יkifor לֹ֪אlo'not בְחַרְבָּ֡םve./char.Ba/mby/ sword/ their יָ֥רְשׁוּYa.re.shuthey took possession of אָ֗רֶץ'A.retz[the] land וּזְרוֹעָם֮u./ze.ro.'A/mand/ arm/ their לֹא־lo'-not הוֹשִׁ֪יעָ֫הho.Shi.'Ahit savedלָּ֥מוֹla./mo<to>/ themכִּֽי־ki-for יְמִֽינְךָ֣ye.mi.ne./Kharight [hand]/ your וּ֭זְרוֹעֲךָU./ze.ro.'a./khaand/ arm/ your וְא֥וֹרve./'orand/ [the] light of פָּנֶ֗יךָpa.Nei./khaface/ your כִּ֣יkifor רְצִיתָֽם׃re.tzi.Ta/myou took pleasure in/ them

King James Version

For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them.

Cross-references

Deuteronomy 7:7 The LORD did not set His affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than the other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.
Deuteronomy 8:17 You might say in your heart, “The power and strength of my hands have made this wealth for me.”
Joshua 24:12 I sent the hornet ahead of you, and it drove out the two Amorite kings before you, but not by your own sword or bow.
Zechariah 4:6 So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of Hosts.
2 Corinthians 4:7 Now we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this surpassingly great power is from God and not from us.
Exodus 15:16 and terror and dread will fall on them. By the power of Your arm they will be as still as a stone until Your people pass by, O LORD, until the people You have bought pass by.
Deuteronomy 4:37 Because He loved your fathers, He chose their descendants after them and brought you out of Egypt by His presence and great power,
Psalms 20:6 Now I know that the LORD saves His anointed; He answers him from His holy heaven with the saving power of His right hand.
Psalms 77:15 With power You redeemed Your people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah
Deuteronomy 10:15 Yet the LORD has set His affection on your fathers and loved them. And He has chosen you, their descendants after them, above all the peoples, even to this day.