Psalms 35:6

Psa 35:6 Let their way be dark and slippery: and let the angel of the LORD persecute them.

Ver. 6. Let their way be dark and slippery] Heb. Darkness and slipperiness. If a man have neither light nor firm footing, and a fierce enemy at his heels, what shift can he make for himself? The word rendered slippery is of a double form (like that libbi secharchar, my heart panteth or beateth about, throbbeth, Psa 38:10), to increase the signfication. See Jer 23:12. The soul of a wicked man is in a sling, 1Sa 25:29, violently tossed about.

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.

Psa 35:6-7. Let their way — By which they flee, being chased, as was now said; be dark and slippery — So as that they can neither discern the right path, nor be able to stand in it, and much less to escape, especially from so swift a pursuer as an angel. For without cause — Out of mere malice, without any injury or provocation on my part; have they hid, &c. — The sundry expressions used in this clause, aggravate their sin, and signify that their persecution of him was not the effect of a sudden passion, but of a deep and habitual hatred and malice, carried on in a constant and continued course, with deliberation, craft, and deceit, and that against David’s soul, or life; for nothing less would satisfy them.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6. (Psa 35:6) Let their way be dark and slippery, and the angel of Jehovah chasing them. The optative form of the verb at the beginning determines the sense of those which go before, and which otherwise might be ambiguous.—Dark and slippery, literally darkness and srnoothnesses, an emphatic substitution of the abstract for the concrete. The fearful image thus suggested of men driven, like chaff before the wind, along a dark and slippery path, is rendered more terrific by the additional idea of their being hotly pursued by the destroying angel. The construction of the last clause, both in this verse and the one before it, is: (let) the angel of Jehovah (be) pursuing them.

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

35:6 A path that is dark and slippery suggests instability and untimely doom under the Lord’s judgment (see 69:23; 73:18; 82:5; 107:10; 143:3). • The angel of the Lord is an agent of judgment as well as salvation.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 6. Let their way be dark] Let them lose their way, be entangled in morasses and thickets, and be confounded in all their attempts to injure me. All these phrases are military; and relate to ambushes, hidden snares, forced marches in order to surprise, and stratagems of different kinds.

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

(6) Dark and slippery.—See margin. Delitzsch supposes an allusion to the passage of the Red Sea, but the picture suggests rather the passage of some dangerous mountain pass in a raging storm. “The tracks in the limestone hills of Palestine are often worn as smooth as marble; comp. Psa_73:18” (quoted from Kay, in the Speaker’s Commentary).

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

Let their way be dark and slippery,.... In which they run before the angel, chasing and pursuing them; so that they know not where they are, at what they stumble, whither to flee, nor how to stand; the ways of wicked men are as darkness, they know not in what condition they are, and whither they are going; and utter darkness, even blackness of darkness, is reserved for them: but here it means a calamitous, uncomfortable, fickle, and unstable situation in this life; see Jer 23:11. The allusion is to some of the valleys in the land of Palestine, which were dark, and the roads in them very smooth and slippery, as travellers in those parts have observed (q);

and let the angel of God persecute them; See Gill on Psa 35:5.

(q) See Maundrell's Travel's, p. 7.

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

Let their way be dark - Margin, as in Hebrew: “darkness.” That is, let them not be able to see where they go; what danger they incur; what is before them. The idea is that of persons who wander in the night, not knowing what is before them, or what danger may be near. The succession of images and figures here is terrific. The representation is that of persons scattered as the chaff is before the wind; pursued by the angel seeking vengeance; and driven along a dark and slippery path, with no guide, and no knowledge as to the precipices which may be before them, or the enemies that may be pressing upon them.

And slippery - Margin, as in Hebrew: “slipperiness.” This is a circumstance which adds increased terror to the image. It is not only a dark road, but a road made slippery by rains; a road where they are in danger every moment of sliding down a precipice where they will be destroyed.

And let the angel of the Lord persecute them - Pursue or follow them. The word “persecute” we use now in the sense of subjecting one to pain, torture, or privation, on account of his religious opinions. This is not the meaning of the word used here. It is simply to “follow” or “pursue.” The image is that of the avenging angel following on, or pursuing them in this dark and slippery way; a flight in a dark and dangerous path, with a destroying angel close in the rear.

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

Their way, by which they flee, being chased, as was now said.

Dark and slippery; so as they can neither discern the right path, nor be able to stand in it, and much less to run away, especially from so swift a persecutor as an angel, whereby they must unavoidably fall into their enemies’ hands, and be destroyed.

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

Ver. 6. Let their way be dark and slippery. What terrors are gathered Here! No light, no foothold, and a fierce avenger at their heels! What a doom is appointed for the enemies of God! They may rage and rave today, but how altered will be their plight ere long! And let the angel of the Lord persecute them. He will follow them hot foot, as we say, never turning aside, but like a trusty pursuivant serving the writ of vengeance upon them, and arresting them in the name of unflinching justice. Woe, woe, woe, unto those who touch the people of God; their destruction is both swift and sure.

Ver. 6. Let their way be dark and slippery. A horrible way! Darkness alone who feareth not? A slippery way alone who avoids not? In a dark and slippery way, how shalt thou go? where set foot? These two ills are the great punishments of men: darkness, ignorance; a slippery way, luxury. Let their way be darkness and slipping; and let the angel of the Lord persecute them, that they be not able to stand. For anyone in a dark and slippery way, when he seeth that if he move his foot he will fall, and there is no light before his feet, haply resolves to wait until light come; but here is the angel of the Lord persecuting them. Augustine.

Ver. 6. Slippery. Margin, as in Hebrew, slipperiness. This is a circumstance which adds increased terror to the image. It is not only a dark road, but a road made slippery by rains; a road where they are in danger every moment of sliding down a precipice where they will be destroyed. Albert Barnes.

Ver. 6. The horrible pilgrimage of the ungodly.

Ver. 6. The trinity of dangers in the pathway of the wicked, their way dark with ignorance, and slippery with temptation, while behind them is the avenger.

Psalms 35:7*

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

Let their way be dark and slippery; literally, darkness and slipperiness; i.e. let them fly along dark and slippery paths, where they cannot see their way, and will be sure to stumble and fall. And let the angel of the Lord persecute them; rather, pursue after them.

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

Their way - By which they flee, being chased.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

angel

(See Scofield Heb 1:4).

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

dark and slippery Both together, so that their feet should slip on the slippery places and the darkness should not allow them to beware of the slippery places, as it is written (in Jer. 23: 12): “Therefore, their way shall be for them like slippery places in the dark: ‘let them be thrust and fall therein.’ “

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.