Bible Strands
Psalms 69:23
May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist petitions God to judge those who have pursued him without cause. This curse immediately follows a prayer for divine wrath to strike the very traps his enemies have set.
The words — The Hebrew תֶּחְשַׁכְנָה (tech.shakh.nah) literally means "may they grow dim," paired with מָתְנֵיהֶם (ma.te.nei.hem), "their loins," which the verb הַמְעַד (ham.'ad) describes as continually "making to shake."
The thread — The exact phrasing is quoted in Romans 11:10 regarding Israel's hardened state. Parallel imagery of physical collapse appears in Daniel 5:6, while Isaiah 6:9 parallels the theme of impaired perception.
Why it lands — The text presents spiritual blindness and physical instability as direct consequences of entrenched hostility toward God's anointed. It requires the reader to acknowledge that divine judgment operates through the very mechanisms of the oppressor's schemes.
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
Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake.
Cross-references
- Daniel 5:6 his face grew pale and his thoughts so alarmed him that his hips gave way and his knees knocked together.
- Romans 11:10 May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.”
- Isaiah 6:9 And He replied: “Go and tell this people, ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
- 2 Corinthians 3:14 But their minds were closed. For to this day the same veil remains at the reading of the old covenant. It has not been lifted, because only in Christ can it be removed.
- Isaiah 21:3 Therefore my body is filled with anguish. Pain grips me, like the pains of a woman in labor. I am bewildered to hear, I am dismayed to see.
- Jeremiah 30:6 Ask now, and see: Can a male give birth? Why then do I see every man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor and every face turned pale?
- Acts 28:26 ‘Go to this people and say, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.”
- Deuteronomy 28:65 Among those nations you will find no repose, not even a resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and a despairing soul.
- Isaiah 29:9 Stop and be astonished; blind yourselves and be sightless; be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not from strong drink.
- Matthew 13:14 In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.