Bible Strands
Psalms 74:8
They said in their hearts, “We will crush them completely.” They burned down every place where God met us in the land.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The psalmist describes hostile forces who secretly plotted to utterly destroy Israel and systematically burned every designated meeting place of God in the land.
The words — The Hebrew מוֹעֲדֵי (mo.'a.dei) literally means “appointed places,” and שָׂרְפ֖וּ (sa.re.Fu) translates as “they burned.”
The thread — The hostile intent to erase a people echoes in Psalms 83:4, while the lament over absent prophetic voices in verse 9 contrasts with the active ministry of the sons of prophets in 2 Kings 2:3 and 2 Kings 2:5.
Why it lands — The text records the systematic destruction of worship sites and the loss of prophetic guidance, demanding recognition of how spiritual desolation follows targeted violence against sacred institutions.
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
They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land.
Cross-references
- Psalms 83:4 saying, “Come, let us erase them as a nation; may the name of Israel be remembered no more.”
- 2 Kings 2:3 Then the sons of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and said, “Do you know that the LORD will take your master away from you today?” “Yes, I know,” he replied. “Do not speak of it.”
- 2 Kings 2:5 Then the sons of the prophets at Jericho came up to Elisha and said, “Do you know that the LORD will take your master away from you today?” “Yes, I know,” he replied. “Do not speak of it.”
- 2 Kings 4:23 “Why would you go to him today?” he replied. “It is not a New Moon or a Sabbath.” “Everything is all right,” she said.
- Esther 3:8 Then Haman informed King Xerxes, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples of every province of your kingdom. Their laws are different from everyone else’s, and they do not obey the king’s laws. So it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them.
- Psalms 137:7 Remember, O LORD, the sons of Edom on the day Jerusalem fell: “Destroy it,” they said, “tear it down to its foundations!”
- Matthew 4:23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.
- 2 Chronicles 17:9 They taught throughout Judah, taking with them the Book of the Law of the LORD. They went throughout the towns of Judah and taught the people.