Bible Strands
Psalms 89:32
I will attend to their transgression with the rod, and to their iniquity with stripes.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The speaker is God addressing the Davidic line regarding the conditional consequences of covenant violation. This declaration immediately follows the stipulation that breaking statutes and failing to keep commandments triggers a measured response.
The words — The Hebrew verb פָּקַדְתִּי (paqadti) literally means "I will attend to" or "I will punish," paired with שֵׁבֶט (shevet, "rod") and נְגָעִים (nega'im, "plagues" or "strikes"). These terms frame the divine response as structured correction rather than arbitrary destruction.
The thread — This pattern of covenant discipline appears in 2 Samuel 7:14, where God promises to discipline the Davidic king with the rod of men, and echoes in Proverbs 3:11 and Hebrews 12:6 regarding the Lord's chastisement of His children.
Why it lands — The text demands acknowledgment that covenant obedience carries real consequences and that divine correction is a factual response to violation. It requires the reader to accept discipline as a structural reality of the relationship rather than a sign of its termination.
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
Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 7:14 I will be his Father, and he will be My son. When he does wrong, I will discipline him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men.
- Proverbs 3:11 My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD, and do not loathe His rebuke;
- Hebrews 12:6 For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises every son He receives.”
- 1 Kings 11:39 Because of this, I will humble David’s descendants—but not forever.’”
- 1 Kings 11:14 Then the LORD raised up against Solomon an adversary, Hadad the Edomite, from the royal line of Edom.
- Amos 3:2 “Only you have I known from all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.”
- Exodus 32:34 Now go, lead the people to the place I described. Behold, My angel shall go before you. But on the day I settle accounts, I will punish them for their sin.”
- 1 Kings 11:6 So Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD; unlike his father David, he did not follow the LORD completely.
- 1 Kings 11:31 and said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself, for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and I will give you ten tribes.
- Job 9:34 Let Him remove His rod from me, so that His terror will no longer frighten me.