Bible Strands
Psalms 89:10
You crushed Rahab like a carcass; You scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist declares God’s sovereign actions against chaotic forces and opposing nations, placing this statement between descriptions of God stilling the sea and founding the earth.
The words — דִכִּ֣אתָ (di.Ki.ta) translates literally as “you crushed,” and רָ֑הַב (Ra.hav) denotes Rahab, a mythological sea monster representing chaotic opposition.
The thread — The motif of scattering enemies and subduing chaotic powers appears in Psalms 68:30, 87:4, and 144:6, where divine military might and creation authority intersect.
Why it lands — The text states that God defeats opposing forces with the same power that calms the sea and establishes the earth, requiring the reader to acknowledge divine authority over chaos and rebellion.
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
Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm.
Cross-references
- Psalms 68:30 Rebuke the beast in the reeds, the herd of bulls among the calves of the nations, until it submits, bringing bars of silver. Scatter the nations who delight in war.
- Psalms 87:4 “I will mention Rahab and Babylon among those who know Me—along with Philistia, Tyre, and Cush—when I say, ‘This one was born in Zion.’”
- Psalms 144:6 Flash forth Your lightning and scatter them; shoot Your arrows and rout them.
- Exodus 3:19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go unless a mighty hand compels him.
- Exodus 7:1 The LORD answered Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.
- Deuteronomy 4:34 Or has any god tried to take as his own a nation out of another nation—by trials, signs, wonders, and war, by a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors—as the LORD your God did for you in Egypt, before your eyes?
- Psalms 59:11 Do not kill them, or my people will forget. Scatter them by Your power, and bring them down, O Lord, our shield.
- Psalms 68:1 For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A song. God arises. His enemies are scattered, and those who hate Him flee His presence.
- Psalms 78:43 when He performed His signs in Egypt and His wonders in the fields of Zoan.
- Psalms 105:27 They performed His miraculous signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham.