Psalms 140:5

Psa 140:5 The proud have hid a snare for me, and cords; they have spread a net by the wayside; they have set gins for me. Selah.

Ver. 5. The proud have hid a snare, &c] They are restless to ruin me, adding all kind of craft to their cruelty.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6. (Psa 140:5) High (ones) have hid a snare for me, and cords—they have spread out a net by the side of the road—traps have they laid for me, Selah. This is little more than an accumulation of the various terms in which David elsewhere clothes one of his favourite figures, as if he saw his own perils reappearing in the future. High ones, i.e. proud or haughty men. By the side, literally the hand, as we say on either hand. The word translated road, according to its etymology, denotes a waggon-road, a track worn by wheels.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 5. Have hid a snare for me] They hunted David as they would a dangerous wild beast: one while striving to pierce him with the spear; another to entangle him in their snares, so as to take and sacrifice him before the people, on pretense of his being an enemy to the state.

Selah] This is the truth.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(5) Net.—An elaboration of the favourite image of the net. (Psa_9:15.) The frequent occurrence of this figure well indicates the dangers to which Israel was subjected through the leaning of many of the nation itself to foreign influences.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5. For the figures cp. Psa_31:4; Psa_119:110; Psa_141:9; Psa_142:3. The hunter sets his snares in the ‘run’ of the animal he wishes to catch, and the Psalmist’s enemies are scheming to ruin him as he goes about his daily duties. Cp. Mat_22:15, “how they might ensnare (παγιδεύσωσιν, cp. LXX παγίδα here) him in talk.” He calls them proud, for their hostility to God’s servant is virtually a defiance of God (Psa_10:2).

grins] More properly, baits or lures, to entice him to his ruin. Grins, the original reading of the A.V. of 1611, restored by Scrivener, is an obsolete word of the same meaning as gins, which has been substituted for it in modern editions of the A.V. here and in Psa_141:9. For examples of its use see Wright’s Bible Word Book.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The proud have hid a snare for me, and cords,.... These were the Ziphites, according to Arama; see Psa 119:85; the character well agrees with the Scribes and Pharisees, who were proud boasters, and despised others, and often laid snares for Christ to take away his life; and with the enemies of the church and people of God; who, through their pride, persecute them, and are insidious, and use artful methods to ensnare them; as the fowler lays his snare for the bird, and has his cords to draw it to him when it is taken in the snare, to which the allusion is;

they have spread a net by the wayside: they waylaid him; knowing the way he would go, they lay in wait for him, to seize him at once as he went along; see Joh 18:1; the word "cords" in the preceding clause should be connected with this, and be read, "and with cords they have spread a net by the wayside": it being usual, as Jarchi observes, to fasten a long cord at the top of the net; and when the fowler sees the birds under the net, he draws the cord, and the net falls upon the fowls;

they have set gins for me; all these expressions design the insidiousness, and the private, secret, artful methods, the enemies of David, of Christ and his people, took and do take to ensnare them. Arama interprets the "snare and cords" of the watching of David's house; the "net by the wayside" of posting themselves at the gates of the city, and surrounding it; and gins of spies; see Sa1 19:11.

Selah; on this word; see Gill on Psa 3:2.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The proud have hid a snare for me - Haughty; arrogant; oppressive men. See Psa 35:7, note; Psa 57:6, note.

And cords - Strings; twine; as those do who lay a net to catch birds, and who design to spring it upon them unawares.

They have spread a net by the wayside - Where I may be expected to walk, and where it may be suddenly sprung upon me.

They have set gins for me - Snares, toils - such as are set for wild beasts. The meaning is, that they had not only made open war upon him, but they had sought to bring him into an ambush - to rush upon him suddenly when he was not on his guard, and did not know that, danger was near.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The proud; my insolent enemies, who despise me for my meanness, and exalt themselves against thee.

By the wayside; in which I used to walk.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ver. 5. The proud have hid a snare for me. Proud as they are, they stoop to this mean action: they use a snare, and they hide it away, that their victim may be taken like a poor hare who is killed without warningkilled in its usual run, by a snare which it could not see. David's enemies wished to snare him in his path of service, the usual way of his life. Saul laid many snares for David, but the Lord preserved him. All around us there are snares of one sort or another, and he will be well kept, aye, divinely kept, who never falls into one of them. And cords. With these they pull the net together and with these they bind their captive. Thus fowlers do, and trappers of certain large animals. The cords of love are pleasant, but the cords of hate are cruel as death itself. They have spread a net by the wayside. Where it will be near their prey; where the slightest divergence from the path will bring the victim into it. Surely the common wayside ought to be safe: men who go out of the way may well be taken in a net, but the path of duty is proverbially the path of safety; yet it is safe nowhere when malicious persons are abroad. Birds are taken in nets, and men are taken by deceit. Satan instructs his children in the art of fowling, and they right speedily learn how to spread nets: perhaps they have been doing that for us already; let us make our appeal to God concerning it. They have set gins for me. One instrument of destruction is not enough; they are so afraid of missing their prey that they multiply their traps, using differing devices, so that one way or another they may take their victim. Those who avoid the snare and the net may yet be caught in a gin, and accordingly gins are placed in all likely places. If a godly man can be cajoled, or bribed, or cowed, or made angry, the wicked will make the attempt. Ready are they to twist his words, misread his intentions, and misdirect his efforts; ready to fawn, and lie, and make themselves mean to the last degree so that they may accomplish their abominable purpose. Selah. The harp needs tuning after such a strain, and the heart needs lifting up towards God.

Ver. 5. The proud have hid a snare for me, and cords. The following story illustrates how cords have been used by thieves so lately as the year 1822: "Two skilful leaders of Dacoits, having collected some forty followers, and distributed among them ten matchlocks, ten swords, and twenty-five spears, waylaid a treasure going from the native Collector's treasury at Budrauna to Goruckpore. The prize consisted of 1,200 pounds of sterling, and was guarded by a Naik, or corporal, with four sepoys and five troopers. It had to pass through a dense jungle, and it was settledsaid one of them in after yearsthat the attack should take place there; that we should have strong ropes tied across the road in front and festooned to trees on both sides, and, at a certain distance behind, similar ropes festooned to trees on one side, and ready to be fastened on the other, as soon as the escort of horse and foot should get well in between them. Having completed these preparations the gang laid down on either side of the road patiently awaiting their prey. `About five in the morning, 'continued the narrator, `we heard a voice as if calling upon the name of God (Allah), and one of the gang started up at the sound, and said, "Here comes the treasure!" We put five men in front with their match locks loadednot with ball but shot, that we might, if possible, avoid killing anybody. When we got the troopers, infantry, and treasure all within the space, the hind ropes were run across the road, and made fast to the trees on the opposite side, and we opened a fire in upon the party from all sides. The foot soldiers got into the jungle at the sides of the road, and the troopers tried to get over the ropes at both ends, but in vain.' The corporal and a horse were killed; two troopers wounded, and the treasure carried off in spite of a hot pursuit." From James Hutton's "Popular Account of the Thugs and Dacoits of India", 1857.

Ver. 5. The proud have hid a snare for me, and cords. There was "a trap hidden for him with cords"; a trap being sunk into some frequented hath, and always covered over with grass or brushwood, and having long cords attached to each side, by which the hunter, lurking at a little distance, might close it whenever he saw the game stepping on the spot. But the net spread for him by his enemies extended to the very "side of the encampment", which indicates, that even among the soldiers lying around him, there were some who had been bribed and persuaded to watch and betray him. Benjamin Weiss, in "A New Translation of the Psalms, with Notes", 1858.

Ver. 5. Snare. Net. Gins. The several uses to which the contrivances denoted by the Hebrew words thus rendered were respectively applied, do not appear to be well ascertained. In general the Psalmist alludes to the artifices employed for capturing birds or beasts. It is, however, a curious circumstance, as noticed by Thevenot, that artifices of this kind are literally employed against men as well as other animals by some of the Orientals. "The most cunning robbers in the world", says he, "are in this country. They use a certain slip with a running noose, which they cast with so much sleight about a man's neck when they are within reach of him, that they never fail, so that they strangle him in a trice." Richard Mast.

Ver. 5. The Dangers of Society.

1. The secrecy of the attacks of the ungodly: "hid a snare."

2. The variety of their weapons: "and cords."

3. The cunning choice of position: "by the wayside."

4. The object of their designs: "for me": they desire to destroy the man himself.

Ver. 5. The Net by the Wayside, or, covert temptations; temptations brought near, and made applicable to daily life.

Psalms 140:6*

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

5. Have hid a snare—Four different words are used to set forth the deceitful artifices of the psalmist’s enemies: “a snare,”—trap; “cords,”-nooses; “net” and “gins,”—toils. The number and variety indicate the prolific inventions of his enemies to decoy, deceive, and take him.

By the way-side—Whatever path he took, close to his steps was prepared a trap. See Psa_141:9; Psa_142:3

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The proud have hid a snare for me, and cords. An instance of the figure hendiadys. What is meant is a snare composed of cords. Such snares, when laid for animals, were "hidden" in long grass, or low shrubs, or rough ground. They have spread a net by the wayside; they have set gins for me. (comp. Psa_31:4 Psa_35:7 Psa_57:6 Psa_119:10 Psa_141:9 Psa_142:3) A second pause-sign marks off a second stanza.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.