Bible Strands
Psalms 9:6
The enemy has come to eternal ruin, and You have uprooted their cities; the very memory of them has vanished.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses God directly, declaring the permanent defeat of hostile nations immediately after noting their erased names and immediately before affirming God’s eternal throne for judgment.
The words — The Hebrew לָ֫/נֶ֥צַח (la./Ne.tzach) literally means "to perpetuity," marking the endless duration of the enemy's ruin, while נָתַ֑שְׁתָּ (na.Tash.ta) conveys "you have plucked up" regarding the destruction of their cities.
The thread — The motif of obliterated names and cities runs into Isaiah 14:22, and the final elimination of an opposing force is echoed in 1 Corinthians 15:26.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to acknowledge that temporal opposition ends in fixed ruin, directing attention to God's unshakable judgment rather than the stability of human power.
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
O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end: and thou hast destroyed cities; their memorial is perished with them.
Cross-references
- Exodus 14:13 But Moses told the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the LORD’s salvation, which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again.
- Isaiah 14:22 “I will rise up against them,” declares the LORD of Hosts. “I will cut off from Babylon her name and her remnant, her offspring and her posterity,” declares the LORD.
- 1 Corinthians 15:26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
- Micah 7:8 Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will arise; though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light.
- Exodus 15:16 and terror and dread will fall on them. By the power of Your arm they will be as still as a stone until Your people pass by, O LORD, until the people You have bought pass by.
- 1 Samuel 31:7 When the Israelites along the valley and those on the other side of the Jordan saw that the army of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their cities and ran away. So the Philistines came and occupied their cities.
- 2 Kings 19:25 Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it; in days of old I planned it. Now I have brought it to pass, that you should crush fortified cities into piles of rubble.
- Psalms 7:5 then may my enemy pursue me and overtake me; may he trample me to the ground and leave my honor in the dust. Selah
- Psalms 8:2 From the mouths of children and infants You have ordained praise on account of Your adversaries, to silence the enemy and avenger.
- Psalms 34:16 But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to wipe out all memory of them from the earth.