Bible Strands
Psalms 68:14
When the Almighty scattered the kings in the land, it was like the snow falling on Zalmon.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses God, contrasting the terror of divine judgment with the peace granted to the faithful. The verse marks a pivot from describing God's past military victories to highlighting the resulting tranquility for His people.
The words — תַּשְלֵג (tash.Leg) literally means "let it snow" or "it snows," describing the sudden, heavy descent of snow. The phrase בְּצַלְמֽוֹן (be./tzal.Mon) anchors the image to Mount Zalmon, a specific geographic landmark.
The thread — The text's snow imagery parallels Isaiah 1:18, where divine cleansing is compared to snow's whiteness. The scattering of hostile kings echoes the pattern in Joshua 10:10, where the LORD throws enemies into confusion before advancing armies.
Why it lands — The verse states that God's judgment on earthly rulers produces a tangible, covering peace for the faithful. It requires the reader to acknowledge that divine sovereignty governs both military conquest and the natural order.
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
When the Almighty scattered kings in it, it was white as snow in Salmon.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool.
- Joshua 10:10 And the LORD threw them into confusion before Israel, who defeated them in a great slaughter at Gibeon, pursued them along the ascent to Beth-horon, and struck them down as far as Azekah and Makkedah.
- Judges 2:7 And the people served the LORD throughout the days of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him, who had seen all the great works that the LORD had done for Israel.
- Judges 9:48 he and all his men went up to Mount Zalmon. Abimelech took his axe in his hand and cut a branch from the trees, which he lifted to his shoulder, saying to his men, “Hurry and do what you have seen me do.”
- Psalms 51:7 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
- Revelation 19:14 The armies of heaven, dressed in fine linen, white and pure, follow Him on white horses.
- Numbers 21:3 And the LORD heard Israel’s plea and delivered up the Canaanites. Israel devoted them and their cities to destruction; so they named the place Hormah.
- Numbers 21:21 Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying,
- Joshua 12:1 Now these are the kings of the land whom the Israelites struck down and whose lands they took beyond the Jordan to the east, from the Arnon Valley to Mount Hermon, including all the Arabah eastward:
- Jeremiah 2:3 Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of His harvest. All who devoured her were found guilty; disaster came upon them,’” declares the LORD.