Bible Strands
Psalms 55:7
How far away I would flee! In the wilderness I would remain. Selah
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The speaker voices a desperate wish for escape immediately after longing for dove-like wings and before describing a flight from a "raging tempest." The psalmist addresses the immediate crisis of betrayal and turmoil surrounding him in Jerusalem.
The words — The Hebrew אַרְחִ֣יק ('ar.Chik) literally means "I want to be far away," paired with אָלִ֖ין ('a.Lin), which means "I want to lodge." These terms frame the speaker's explicit desire to distance himself and stay in the wilderness.
The thread — This motif of fleeing to a wilderness shelter appears in Jeremiah 9:2, where the prophet wishes for a traveler’s lodge to abandon his people. It parallels the historical flight of David in 2 Samuel 15:14 and Jeremiah's departure to Benjamin in Jeremiah 37:12.
Why it lands — The text states a literal desire to flee to a remote location rather than offering theological justification or emotional comfort. It demands the reader recognize the raw human impulse to physically remove oneself from inescapable conflict.
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
Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. Selah.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 9:2 If only I had a traveler’s lodge in the wilderness, I would abandon my people and depart from them, for they are all adulterers, a crowd of faithless people.
- 2 Samuel 15:14 And David said to all the servants with him in Jerusalem, “Arise and let us flee, or we will not escape from Absalom! We must leave quickly, or he will soon overtake us, heap disaster on us, and put the city to the sword.”
- Jeremiah 37:12 Jeremiah started to leave Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to claim his portion there among the people.
- 2 Samuel 17:21 After the men had gone, Ahimaaz and Jonathan climbed up out of the well and went to inform King David, saying, “Get up and cross over the river at once, for Ahithophel has given this advice against you.”
- Proverbs 6:4 Allow no sleep to your eyes or slumber to your eyelids.
- 1 Samuel 27:1 David, however, said to himself, “One of these days now I will be swept away by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will stop searching for me all over Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.”