Bible Strands
Psalms 76:5
The valiant lie plundered; they sleep their last sleep. No men of might could lift a hand.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses the community of Israel, describing the immediate aftermath of God’s judgment where enemy forces are completely neutralized. The declaration follows the description of God’s majestic presence and precedes the account of horse and rider stunned by His rebuke.
The words — The Hebrew אַבִּירֵי ('abbi.rei, "mighty men") and נָמוּ שְׁנָתָם (na.mu she.na.tam, "they slept their sleep") pinpoint the sudden collapse of the enemy's strongest fighters. The clause וְלֹא מָצְאוּ כָל־לֵב (ve.lo ma.tze'u khol-le.v, "and no one found all heart") literally records warriors who could not locate their courage or physical capacity to act.
The thread — The motif of defeated leaders and warriors falling into helpless sleep recurs in Nahum 3:18. The same divine reversal of human strength is echoed in Psalms 76:6, where combatants are rendered motionless by God's rebuke.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to acknowledge that human might and strategic courage are entirely dependent on divine allowance. It calls for a plain assessment of power that recognizes earthly strength as temporary when confronted by God's judgment.
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
The stouthearted are spoiled, they have slept their sleep: and none of the men of might have found their hands.
Cross-references
- Nahum 3:18 O king of Assyria, your shepherds slumber; your officers sleep. Your people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them.
- Psalms 13:3 Consider me and respond, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death,
- Isaiah 46:12 Listen to Me, you stubborn people, far removed from righteousness:
- Jeremiah 51:39 While they are flushed with heat, I will serve them a feast, and I will make them drunk so that they may revel; then they will fall asleep forever and never wake up, declares the LORD.
- Job 40:10 Then adorn yourself with majesty and splendor, and clothe yourself with honor and glory.
- Isaiah 31:8 “Then Assyria will fall, but not by the sword of man; a sword will devour them, but not one made by mortals. They will flee before the sword, and their young men will be put to forced labor.
- Isaiah 37:36 Then the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies!
- Ezekiel 30:21 “Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt. See, it has not been bound up for healing, or splinted for strength to hold the sword.
- Daniel 4:37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, for all His works are true and all His ways are just. And He is able to humble those who walk in pride.
- Luke 1:51 He has performed mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who are proud in the thoughts of their hearts.