Bible Strands
Psalms 68:13
Though you lie down among the sheepfolds, the wings of the dove are covered with silver, and her feathers with shimmering gold.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses God, depicting a moment of military victory where fleeing armies leave spoils for those who remained. This scene bridges the distribution of plunder and the description of divine scattering.
The words — The Hebrew text specifies lying down between two saddlebags (שְׁפַתַּיִם, shefatayim) rather than sheepfolds, while noting that the wings of a dove (יוֹנָה, yonah) are covered (נֶחְפָּה, neḥpāh) with silver (כֶּסֶף, keseḵ).
The thread — The motif of resting between saddlebags appears in Genesis 49:14, while the association of victory with silver and gold echoes Psalms 105:37. The contrast between active military flight and stationary waiting also parallels Judges 5:16.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that divine provision transforms ordinary resting places into sites of honored reward. Readers must observe how material wealth is distributed not by human strategy but by sovereign action.
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
Though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold.
Cross-references
- Genesis 49:14 Issachar is a strong donkey, lying down between the sheepfolds.
- Psalms 105:37 He brought Israel out with silver and gold, and none among His tribes stumbled.
- Judges 5:16 Why did you sit among the sheepfolds to hear the whistling for the flocks? In the clans of Reuben there was great indecision.
- 1 Corinthians 6:9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts,
- Ephesians 2:1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
- Titus 3:3 For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
- Revelation 1:5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has released us from our sins by His blood,
- Exodus 1:14 and made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar, and with all kinds of work in the fields. Every service they imposed was harsh.
- 1 Kings 4:20 The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore, and they were eating and drinking and rejoicing.
- Psalms 74:19 Do not deliver the soul of Your dove to beasts; do not forget the lives of Your afflicted forever.