Psalms 69:22

May their table become a snare; may it be a retribution and a trap.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The psalmist petitions God to judge enemies who have just poisoned his food and offered him vinegar to drink. This plea for retribution follows his account of their hostility and immediately precedes a request for their eyes to be darkened and their backs bent.

The words — The Hebrew שֻׁלְחָנָ֣ם (shul.cha.Nam) means "their table," denoting the enemies' provision or fellowship. The phrase לִ/שְׁלוֹמִ֥ים (li/sh.lo.Mim) translates literally to "for allies," specifying that even their closest companions will be caught in the coming judgment.

The thread — This pattern of reversed security appears in 1 Thessalonians 5:3, where sudden destruction overtakes those claiming peace. It parallels Romans 11:8 and 1 Peter 2:8, which describe God hardening the disobedient and turning their confidence into a stone of stumbling.

Why it lands — The text states that God will convert the enemies' provision into a mechanism of their own capture. It requires the reader to acknowledge divine retribution as an active, factual reversal rather than a symbolic warning.

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

יְהִֽי־ye.hi-may it become שֻׁלְחָנָ֣םshul.cha.Na/mtable/ their לִפְנֵיהֶ֣םli/f.nei./Hem<to>/ before/ them לְפָ֑חle./Fach<into>/ a trap וְלִשְׁלוֹמִ֥יםve./li/sh.lo.Mimand/ for/ allies לְמוֹקֵֽשׁ׃le./mo.Kesh<into>/ a snare

King James Version

Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.

Cross-references

1 Thessalonians 5:3 While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
Romans 11:8 as it is written: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see, and ears that could not hear, to this very day.”
1 Peter 2:8 and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word—and to this they were appointed.
Proverbs 1:32 For the waywardness of the simple will slay them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them.
Isaiah 8:14 And He will be a sanctuary—but to both houses of Israel a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, to the dwellers of Jerusalem a trap and a snare.
Malachi 2:2 If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to honor My name,” says the LORD of Hosts, “I will send a curse among you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already begun to curse them, because you are not taking it to heart.