TRV
Translation
King James Version
Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm.
Complete Jewish Bible
You crushed Rahav like a carcass; with your strong arm you scattered your foes.
Berean Standard Bible
You crushed Rahab like a carcass; You scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.
American Standard Version
Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; Thou hast scattered thine enemies with the arm of thy strength.
World English Bible Messianic
You have broken Rahab in pieces, like one of the slain. You have scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.
Geneva Bible (1599)
Thou hast beaten downe Rahab as a man slaine: thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy mightie arme.
Young's Literal Translation
Thou hast bruised Rahab, as one wounded. With the arm of Thy strength Thou hast scattered Thine enemies.
In the KJVVerse 15,337 of 31,102
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Commentary on Psalms 89 verses 5–14
5 ¶ And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O LORD: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints.
6 For who in the heaven can be compared unto the LORD? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the LORD?
7 God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.
8 O LORD God of hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee?
9 Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.
10 Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm.
11 The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them.
12 The north and the south thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name.
13 Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand.
14 Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.
These verses are full of the praises of God. Observe,
I. Where, and by whom, God is to be praised. 1. God is praised by the angels above: The heavens shall praise thy wonders, O Lord! Psa 89:5; that is, "the glorious inhabitants of the upper world continually celebrate thy praises." Bless the Lord, you his angels, Psa 103:20. The works of God are wonders even to those that are best acquainted and most intimately conversant with them; the more God's works are known the more they are admired and praised. This should make us love heaven, and long to be there, that there we shall have nothing else to do but to praise God and his wonders. 2. God is praised by the assemblies of his saints on earth (praise waits for him in Zion); and, though their praises fall so far short of the praises of angels, yet God is pleased to take notice of them, and accept of them, and reckon himself honoured by them. "Thy faithfulness and the truth of thy promise, that rock on which the church is built, shall be praised in the congregation of the saints, who owe their all to that faithfulness, and whose constant comfort it is that there is a promise, and that he is faithful who has promised." It is expected from God's saints on earth that they praise him; who should, if they do not? Let every saint praise him, but especially the congregation of saints; when they come together, let them join in praising God. The more the better; it is the more like heaven. Of the honour done to God by the assembly of the saints he speaks again (Psa 89:7): God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints. Saints should assemble for religious worship, that they may publicly own their relation to God and may stir up one another to give honour to him, and, in keeping up communion with God, may likewise maintain the communion of saints. In religious assemblies God has promised the presence of his grace, but we must also, in them, have an eye to his glorious presence, that the familiarity we are admitted to may not breed the least contempt; for he is terrible in his holy places, and therefore greatly to be feared. A holy awe of God must fall upon us, and fill us, in all our approaches to God, even in secret, to which something may very well be added by the solemnity of public assemblies. God must be had in reverence of all that are about him, that attend him continually as his servants or approach him upon any particular errand. See Lev 10:3. Those only serve God acceptably who serve him with reverence and godly fear, Heb 12:28.
II. What it is to praise God; it is to acknowledge him to be a being of unparalleled perfection, such a one that there is none like him, nor any to be compared with him, Psa 89:6. If there be any beings that can pretend to vie with God, surely they must be found among the angels; but they are all infinitely short of him: Who in the heaven can be compared with the Lord, so as to challenge any share of the reverence and adoration which are due to him only, or to set up in rivalship with him for the homage of the children of men? They are sons of the mighty, but which of them can be likened unto the Lord? Nobles are princes' peers; some parity there is between them. But there is none between God and the angels; they are not his peers. To whom will you liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One, Isa 40:25. This is insisted on again (Psa 89:8): Who is a strong Lord like unto thee? No angel, no earthly potentate, whatsoever, is comparable to God, or has an arm like him, or can thunder with a voice like him. Thy faithfulness is round about thee; that is, "thy angels who are round about thee, attending thee with their praises and ready to go on thy errands, are all faithful." Or, rather, "In every thing thou doest, on all sides, thou approvest thyself faithful to thy word, above whatever prince or potentate was." Among men it is too often found that those who are most able to break their word are least careful to keep it; but God is both strong and faithful; he can do every thing, and yet will never do an unjust thing.
III. What we ought, in our praises, to give God the glory of. Several things are here mentioned. 1. The command God has of the most ungovernable creatures (Psa 89:9): Thou rulest the raging of the sea, than which nothing is more frightful or threatening, nor more out of the power of man to give check to; it can swell no higher, roll no further, beat no harder, continue no longer, nor do any more hurt, than God suffers it. "When the waves thereof arise thou canst immediately hush them asleep, still them, and make them quiet, and turn the storm into a calm." This coming in here as an act of omnipotence, what manner of man then was the Lord Jesus, whom the winds and seas obeyed? 2. The victories God has obtained over the enemies of his church. His ruling the raging of the sea and quelling its billows was an emblem of this (Psa 89:10): Thou hast broken Rahab, many a proud enemy (so it signifies), Egypt in particular, which is sometimes called Rahab, broken it in pieces, as one that is slain and utterly unable to make head again. "The head being broken, thou hast scattered the remainder with the arm of thy strength." God has more ways than one to deal with his and his church's enemies. We think he should slay them immediately, but sometimes he scatters them, that he may send them abroad to be monuments of his justice, Psa 59:11. The remembrance of the breaking of Egypt in pieces is a comfort to the church, in reference to the present power of Babylon; for God is still the same. 3. The incontestable property he has in all the creatures of the upper and lower world (Psa 89:11, Psa 89:12): "Men are honoured for their large possessions; but the heavens are thine, O Lord! the earth also is thine; therefore we praise thee, therefore we trust in thee, therefore we will not fear what man can do against us. The world and the fulness thereof, all the riches contained in it, all the inhabitants of it, both the tenements and the tenants, are all thine; for thou hast founded them," and the founder may justly claim to be the owner. He specifies, (1.) The remotest parts of the world, the north and south, the countries that lie under the two poles, which are uninhabited and little known: "Thou hast created them, and therefore knowest them, takest care of them, and hast tributes of praise from them." The north is said to be hung over the empty place; yet what fulness there is there God is the owner of it. (2.) The highest parts of the world. He mentions the two highest hills in Canaan - "Tabor and Hermon" (one lying to the west, the other to the east); "these shall rejoice in thy name, for they are under the care of thy providence, and they produce offerings for thy altar." The little hills are said to rejoice in their own fruitfulness, Psa 65:12. Tabor is commonly supposed to be that high mountain in Galilee on the top of which Christ was transfigured; and then indeed it might be said to rejoice in that voice which was there heard, This is my beloved Son. 4. The power and justice, the mercy and truth, with which he governs the world and rules in the affairs of the children of men, Psa 89:13, Psa 89:14. (1.) God is able to do every thing; for his is the Lord God Almighty. His arm, his hand, is mighty and strong, both to save his people and to destroy his and their enemies; none can either resist the force or bear the weight of his mighty hand. High is his right hand, to reach the highest, even those that set their nests among the stars (Amo 9:2, Amo 9:3; Oba 1:4); his right hand is exalted in what he has done, for in thousands of instances he has signalized his power, Psa 118:16. (2.) He never did, nor ever will do, any thing that is either unjust or unwise; for righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. None of all his dictates or decrees ever varied from the rules of equity and wisdom, nor could ever any charge God with unrighteousness or folly. Justice and judgment are the preparing of his throne (so some), the establishment of it, so others. The preparations for his government in his counsels from eternity, and the establishment of it in its consequences to eternity, are all justice and judgment. (3.) He always does that which is kind to his people and consonant to the word which he has spoken: "Mercy and truth shall go before thy face, to prepare thy way, as harbingers to make room for thee - mercy in promising, truth in performing - truth in being as good as thy word, mercy in being better." How praiseworthy are these in great men, much more in the great God, in whom they are in perfection!
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 5–14. Public domain.
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Augustine of HippoAD 430
Exposition on Psalm 89
Lastly, what have You done in the sea itself, to pacify its rage, and to weaken it? "You have humbled the proud as one that is wounded" [Psalm 89:10]. There is a certain proud serpent in the sea, of which another passage of Scripture speaks, "I will command the serpent, and he shall bite him;" [Amos 9:3] and again, "There is that Leviathan, whom You have made to mock him," whose head He bruises above the water. "You," he says, "hast humbled the proud, as one that is wounded." You have humbled Yourself, and the proud was humbled: for the proud held the proud ones through pride: but the great One is humbled, and by believing in Him become small. While the little one is nourished by the example of One who from greatness descended to humility, the devil has lost what he held: because the proud held only the proud. When such an example of humility was displayed before them, men learned to condemn their own pride, and to imitate the humility of God. Thus also the devil, by losing those whom he had in his power, has even himself been humbled; not chastened, but thrown prostrate. "You have humbled the proud like one that is wounded." You have been humbled, and hast humbled others: You have been wounded, and hast wounded others: for Your blood, as it was shed to blot the handwriting of sins, [Colossians 2:14] could not but wound him. For what was the ground of his pride, except the bond which he held against us. This bond, this handwriting, You have blotted out with Your blood: him therefore have You wounded, from whom You have rescued so many victims. You must understand the devil wounded, not by the piercing of the flesh, which he has not, but by the bruising of his proud heart. "You have scattered Your enemies abroad with Your mighty arm."
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
Psalm 89:10 powerfully declares God's unparalleled strength and His historical acts of deliverance, particularly for His people, Israel. It recounts God's decisive victory over "Rahab," a symbolic representation of Egypt and the forces of chaos, emphasizing His absolute sovereignty and irresistible might. This verse, embedded within a psalm that both celebrates God's covenant faithfulness and laments perceived abandonment, functions as a foundational reminder of divine power, offering a basis for profound hope and trust in God's ability to overcome any opposition, past, present, or future.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Psalm 89:10 is rich with profound Imagery and Metaphor. The most prominent metaphor is "Rahab," which stands in for Egypt and, by extension, any formidable, chaotic, or oppressive force that opposes God and His people. This single word encapsulates a complex historical and theological reality. The phrase "strong arm" is a powerful Anthropomorphism, attributing a human physical characteristic (an arm, symbolizing strength and action) to God to convey His immense power and active intervention, making His divine might more comprehensible to human understanding. The verse also employs a striking Simile in "as one that is slain," vividly comparing Rahab's utter defeat to the lifelessness of a corpse, underscoring the completeness and finality of God's victory. The actions described—"broken in pieces" and "scattered"—are examples of vivid Imagery and perhaps Hyperbole, emphasizing the overwhelming and decisive nature of God's triumph over His enemies, leaving no doubt about His absolute and unchallenged sovereignty.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
This verse profoundly underscores the foundational biblical truth of God's absolute sovereignty and His active, decisive engagement in history to deliver His people and defeat His enemies. The victory over "Rahab" (Egypt) is not merely a historical anecdote but a theological paradigm, demonstrating unequivocally that no power, however mighty or chaotic, can ultimately withstand the Lord's "strong arm." This historical act of salvation serves as a perpetual reminder that God is eternally faithful to His covenant promises and possesses the omnipotent power to fulfill them, even when circumstances appear dire or insurmountable. It establishes a consistent pattern of divine intervention that grounds the hope of believers in every generation, assuring them that the same God who delivered Israel from Pharaoh's iron grip can and will deliver them from their own spiritual and physical adversaries.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Psalm 89:10 offers profound and enduring encouragement for believers navigating a world often characterized by overwhelming challenges and seemingly insurmountable obstacles. It calls us to fix our gaze not on the magnitude of our problems, but on the infinite and irresistible power of our God. Just as God decisively "broken Rahab in pieces" and "scattered His enemies" in the past, He remains the sovereign Lord over all circumstances today. When we face personal struggles that feel like an oppressive "Egypt," or societal evils that seem like chaotic "Rahab," this verse reminds us that no enemy, visible or invisible, can ultimately stand against the Almighty. It invites us to cultivate a deep-seated and unwavering trust in God's historical faithfulness and His unchanging ability to bring about victory, even when our circumstances appear bleak or hopeless. Our faith is anchored in a God whose "strong arm" is never shortened, and who continues to work for the deliverance and ultimate triumph of His people.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What does "Rahab" mean in Psalm 89:10?
Answer: In Psalm 89:10, "Rahab" (רַהַב, Rahab', H7294) is a symbolic and often derogatory name for Egypt, specifically referring to its defeat during the Exodus, particularly at the Red Sea. It is important to note that this "Rahab" is distinct from Rahab of Jericho, the woman mentioned in the book of Joshua. Beyond the historical reference, "Rahab" also carries broader poetic and theological connotations, representing forces of chaos, pride, and opposition to God's divine order. God's "breaking" of Rahab signifies His ultimate triumph over both historical oppressors and the very forces of disorder and evil, demonstrating His supreme and unchallenged sovereignty over all creation.
How does God's "strong arm" relate to His power?
Answer: The phrase "strong arm" (זְרוֹעַ עֹז, zᵉrôwaʻ_ _ʻôz', H2220, H5797) is a powerful anthropomorphic idiom used throughout the Old Testament to describe God's irresistible might, active intervention, and sovereign power. It is a vivid metaphor for His divine strength and His absolute ability to execute His will without hindrance or opposition. This imagery is frequently and notably associated with the Exodus, where God used His "strong arm" to deliver Israel from Egyptian bondage (e.g., Exodus 6:6). It signifies a direct, forceful, and supremely effective display of divine power that no earthly or spiritual force can withstand, ensuring His purposes are always accomplished.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Psalm 89:10, with its declaration of God's decisive victory over "Rahab" and His scattering of enemies with a "strong arm," finds its ultimate and most profound fulfillment in the person and redemptive work of Jesus Christ. The "Rahab" of the Old Testament—symbolizing chaos, sin, death, and the oppressive powers of darkness—is utterly vanquished by the "strong arm" of God manifested in Christ. Through His crucifixion, Jesus disarmed the principalities and powers, making a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it (as seen in Colossians 2:15). His glorious resurrection is the supreme demonstration of God's "strong arm," breaking the chains of death and securing eternal victory over sin for all who believe, echoing the ancient triumph over the Red Sea as the ultimate act of salvation (as powerfully described in 1 Corinthians 15:54-57). Just as God scattered His enemies in the past, Christ, the Lamb of God, takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29), and through Him, believers are promised not just victory, but to be "more than conquerors" over every spiritual foe (Romans 8:37). Thus, the ancient declaration of God's power in Psalm 89:10 powerfully foreshadows the cosmic and eternal victory accomplished by Christ, establishing His eternal reign over all creation and all opposing forces.