Bible Strands
Psalms 48:4
For behold, the kings assembled; they all advanced together.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses the community of Zion, declaring what the approaching armies witnessed near the city’s fortified heights.
The words — הִנֵּה (hi.Neh, "behold") and נֽוֹעֲדוּ (no.'a.Du, "they assembled") frame the sudden gathering of rulers, while עָבְרוּ יַחְדָּו ('a.ve.Ru yach.Dav, "they advanced together") describes their coordinated movement.
The thread — The motif of assembled rulers recurs in 2 Samuel 10:6 where enemies hire mercenaries, and in Revelation 17:12 and 20:8 where gathered kings receive temporary authority or mobilize nations for conflict.
Why it lands — The text reports a historical observation before drawing its implication: human alliances cannot bypass divine protection, requiring the reader to acknowledge God’s sovereignty over political and military threats.
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
For, lo, the kings were assembled, they passed by together.
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 10:6 When the Ammonites realized that they had become a stench to David, they hired twenty thousand Aramean foot soldiers from Beth-rehob and Zoba, as well as a thousand men from the king of Maacah and twelve thousand men from Tob.
- Revelation 17:12 The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but will receive one hour of authority as kings along with the beast.
- Revelation 20:8 and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—to assemble them for battle. Their number is like the sand of the seashore.
- Psalms 83:2 See how Your enemies rage, how Your foes have reared their heads.
- Isaiah 7:1 Now in the days that Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, Rezin king of Aram marched up to wage war against Jerusalem. He was accompanied by Pekah son of Remaliah the king of Israel, but he could not overpower the city.
- Isaiah 8:8 It will pour into Judah, swirling and sweeping over it, reaching up to the neck; its spreading streams will cover your entire land, O Immanuel!
- Isaiah 10:8 “Are not all my commanders kings?” he says.
- Isaiah 29:5 But your many foes will be like fine dust, the multitude of the ruthless like blowing chaff. Then suddenly, in an instant,
- Revelation 19:20 But the beast was captured along with the false prophet, who on its behalf had performed signs deceiving those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. Both the beast and the false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.