Bible Strands
Psalms 79:11
May the groans of the captives reach You; by the strength of Your arm preserve those condemned to death.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses God directly, pleading for intervention following the description of Israel's slaughtered servants and Jerusalem's desecration. The prayer is voiced during a period of national mourning and a demand for retribution against hostile nations.
The words — The Hebrew תָּבוֹא (ta.Vo') means "may it come," and אֶנְקַת (en.Kat) translates literally to "the groaning." The phrase כְּגֹדֶל זְרוֹעֲךָ (ke.Go.del ze.ro.a.Kha) renders "according to the greatness of your arm."
The thread — The petition to hear captives and preserve the condemned appears in Psalm 102:20 and parallels the liberation imagery of Isaiah 42:7.
Why it lands — The text states that God's power must be applied to rescue those facing execution and that their suffering must reach His presence. It requires the reader to accept that divine action, not human effort, is the sole mechanism for delivering the condemned.
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 the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die;
Cross-references
- Psalms 102:20 to hear a prisoner’s groaning, to release those condemned to death,
- Isaiah 42:7 to open the eyes of the blind, to bring prisoners out of the dungeon and those sitting in darkness out from the prison house.
- Psalms 146:6 the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. He remains faithful forever.
- Isaiah 33:2 O LORD, be gracious to us! We wait for You. Be our strength every morning and our salvation in time of trouble.
- Exodus 2:23 After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned and cried out under their burden of slavery, and their cry for deliverance from bondage ascended to God.
- Psalms 12:5 “For the cause of the oppressed and for the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says the LORD. “I will bring safety to him who yearns.”
- Psalms 69:33 For the LORD listens to the needy and does not despise His captive people.
- Ephesians 3:20 Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us,
- Numbers 14:17 So now I pray, may the power of my Lord be magnified, just as You have declared:
- Matthew 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’