Bible Strands
Psalms 58:8
Like a slug that dissolves in its slime, like a woman’s stillborn child, may they never see the sun.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — A psalmist pronounces a curse against the wicked, positioned between pleas for their arrows to be blunted and their destruction to be swept away like burning thorns.
The words — שַׁבְּלוּל (She.be.lul) denotes a snail that melts away, while נֶפֶל (Ne.fel) refers to a stillborn child that never witnesses daylight.
The thread — The imagery of a stillborn child hidden from light echoes Job 3:16, and the theme of the wicked’s sudden end parallels Ecclesiastes 6:3 and Psalms 37:35.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that divine judgment will utterly erase the wicked, leaving no trace or legacy for them to behold.
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
As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away: like the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not see the sun.
Cross-references
- Job 3:16 Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child, like an infant who never sees daylight?
- Ecclesiastes 6:3 A man may father a hundred children and live for many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he is unsatisfied with his prosperity and does not even receive a proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.
- Psalms 37:35 I have seen a wicked, ruthless man flourishing like a well-rooted native tree,
- James 1:10 But the one who is rich should exult in his low position, because he will pass away like a flower of the field.
- Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.