Bible Strands
Psalms 78:50
He cleared a path for His anger; He did not spare them from death but delivered their lives to the plague.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The psalmist narrates God’s judgment on Israel during the wilderness period, positioned between the deployment of destroying angels and the slaughter of Egypt’s firstborn.
The words — The Hebrew יְפַלֵּס (ye.fal.lēs) literally means "he made level" or "cleared," paired with נָתִיב (na.tīv) for "path" and חָשַׂךְ (cha.sakh) for "kept back" or "withheld."
The thread — The declaration of divine non-sparing recurs in Ezekiel 7:4, where God refuses pity or restraint, and in 2 Peter 2:4, which records God’s refusal to spare sinning angels.
Why it lands — The text states that God deliberately removed all barriers to His wrath and withheld no protection from death, requiring the reader to acknowledge that rebellion triggers unmitigated judgment without exception.
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
He made a way to his anger; he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence;
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 7:4 I will not look on you with pity, nor will I spare you, but I will punish you for your ways and for the abominations among you. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’
- 2 Peter 2:4 For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them deep into hell, placing them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment;
- Exodus 9:3 then the hand of the LORD will bring a severe plague on your livestock in the field—on your horses, donkeys, camels, herds, and flocks.
- Ezekiel 8:18 Therefore I will respond with wrath. I will not look on them with pity, nor will I spare them. Although they shout loudly in My ears, I will not listen to them.”
- Ezekiel 9:10 But as for Me, I will not look on them with pity, nor will I spare them. I will bring their deeds down upon their own heads.”
- Romans 8:32 He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things?
- Job 27:22 It hurls itself against him without mercy as he flees headlong from its power.
- Ezekiel 5:11 Therefore as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable idols and abominations, I Myself will withdraw My favor; I will not look upon you with pity, nor will I spare you.
- Ezekiel 7:9 I will not look on you with pity, nor will I spare you, but I will punish you for your ways and for the abominations among you. Then you will know that it is I, the LORD, who strikes the blow.