Bible Strands
Psalms 74:19
Do not deliver the soul of Your dove to beasts; do not forget the lives of Your afflicted forever.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses Yahweh during a period of national devastation, positioned between a complaint about the enemy mocking God’s name and an appeal to remember the divine covenant.
The words — The verse centers on the prohibitive אַל־ (al-) "may not" combined with תִּתֵּן (titten) "you give" and the noun חַיַּת (chaiyat) "beast," forming a direct command not to hand over the dove’s life to predators.
The thread — The text states that God must not forget the afflicted, a theme that runs alongside the assurance in Psalms 9:18 that the needy will not be abandoned forever and the intimate dove imagery in Song of Solomon 2:14.
Why it lands — The passage establishes that divine faithfulness requires active protection of the vulnerable, demanding that readers expect God to intervene against violence rather than abandon the oppressed to it.
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
O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked: forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever.
Cross-references
- Song of Solomon 2:14 O my dove in the clefts of the rock, in the crevices of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your countenance is lovely.
- James 2:5 Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him?
- Psalms 9:18 For the needy will not always be forgotten; nor the hope of the oppressed forever dashed.
- Matthew 10:16 Behold, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
- Psalms 68:10 Your flock settled therein; O God, from Your bounty You provided for the poor.
- 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.”
- Psalms 72:2 May he judge Your people with righteousness and Your afflicted with justice.
- Song of Solomon 4:1 How beautiful you are, my darling—how very beautiful! Your eyes are like doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down Mount Gilead.
- Isaiah 60:8 Who are these who fly like clouds, like doves to their shelters?
- Zephaniah 3:12 But I will leave within you a meek and humble people, and they will trust in the name of the LORD.