Psalms 91

Whoever lives in the hidden shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

1He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

Note"Most High" and "Almighty" translate two old Hebrew titles for God, Elyon and Shaddai, both used in the oldest layers of Israel's poetry. "Secret place" renders a word for a hiding place or covert, the kind of concealed spot where someone takes cover; some hear in it the inner rooms of the temple. "Shadow" is not gloom but shade: in a hot country, being in someone's shadow meant being sheltered by them, and a king's or a god's "shadow" was a standard image for protection.

2I will say to the LORD, "You are my safe place and my strong tower. You are my God, and I trust you."

2I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

NotePrinted as LORD in capitals, this stands for the personal name of Israel's God, four Hebrew letters usually written YHWH. Jewish readers said "the Lord" aloud in its place, and English Bibles follow that custom by printing the substitute word in capitals. "Fortress" is a military word, a stronghold or mountain refuge, a place too steep or strong to be taken.

3He will surely save you from the trap set by the bird catcher, and from deadly disease.

3Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

NoteA fowler was a professional bird catcher, who worked with hidden nets and spring traps rather than weapons. The point of the image is that the danger is concealed and the victim walks into it without seeing it.

4He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will be safe. His faithfulness will be your shield and your wall of defense.

4He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

NoteThe bird imagery is of a parent bird sheltering chicks under its body; the same picture is used elsewhere of an eagle over its young. "Truth" here does not mean accurate statements, the Hebrew word means reliability, keeping faith, being someone who can be depended on. "Shield and buckler" are two different pieces of equipment: a small hand-held shield and a large one, tall enough to stand behind like a wall.

5You will not be afraid of the terror that comes at night, or of the arrow that flies during the day.

5Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

Note"The terror by night" and "the arrow that flieth by day" form a pair covering the whole twenty-four hours. Ancient readers could hear both literally (night raids, real arrows) and as hidden causes of harm, sudden illness or death was often spoken of as arrows shot by a god. The Hebrew leaves both readings open.

6You will not be afraid of the disease that moves through the dark, or of the disaster that destroys at noon.

6Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

NoteThe four dangers of verses 5 and 6 pair night with day twice over. "Pestilence" is epidemic disease; "the destruction that wasteth at noonday" translates a rare Hebrew word for a sudden ruinous blow, sometimes linked to the killing midday heat. The ancient Greek translation read these lines as naming demons, and the "noonday demon" became a fixed phrase in later writing, a sign of how open the Hebrew wording is.

7A thousand may fall beside you, and ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.

7A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

NoteA thousand and ten thousand are a standard poetic pair in Hebrew, the second number stepping up from the first; they mean an overwhelming number rather than a count. The right hand is the side left uncovered by a shield carried in the left, so "at thy right hand" names the exposed and vulnerable side.

8You will only look on with your own eyes and see the wicked get what is coming to them.

8Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.

Note"Reward" in 1611 English meant whatever a person had coming to them, good or bad, here it is punishment, not a prize. The line pictures the reader as an onlooker who sees the outcome without being caught up in it.

9You have made the LORD your home. He is my own safe place, and he is the Most High.

9Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;

NoteThe Hebrew of this verse shifts speaker mid-sentence ("the LORD, who is my refuge") and translators disagree about who is talking to whom, which is why English versions arrange the line differently. Some read it as the psalm's second voice breaking in; some as the reader repeating the confession of verse 2.

10So no harm will happen to you, and no plague will come near the place where you live.

10There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

Note"Plague" translates a word meaning a blow or stroke, used both for disaster in general and specifically for skin disease thought to be sent as a judgment. "Dwelling" is literally "tent," an old word for a household's living space that stayed in use long after people lived in houses.

11He will order his angels to take charge of you, to guard you everywhere you go.

11For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

NoteThe Hebrew word behind "angels" simply means messengers; it is used of human envoys as well as of God's heavenly servants. "Give charge" means issue orders, the picture is of a commander assigning guards to escort someone.

12They will lift you up in their hands, so that you do not strike your foot against a stone.

12They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

NoteThe setting is travel on foot over rocky ground, where a stubbed or broken foot could end a journey. The image is of attendants steadying a walker over stones, not of rescue from a fall.

13You will step on the lion and the poisonous snake. You will trample the young lion and the serpent under your feet.

13Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

NoteFour creatures, named by four different Hebrew words. The two lion words distinguish a full-grown lion from a young one already hunting. "Adder" is a cobra, a snake known for a bite that kills quickly. "Dragon" translates a word used for a large snake or a monster of the sea and rivers, the same word used elsewhere of the crocodile-like beasts of chaos; it does not mean the fire-breathing dragon of later European stories. To set your foot on a defeated enemy was the standard gesture of victory.

14God says, "Because he has set his love on me, I will rescue him. I will lift him up out of reach of harm, because he knows my name."

14Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.

NoteGod is now the speaker, answering the psalm. To "know someone's name" in Hebrew meant far more than knowing what to call them: it meant knowing who they are and having a recognized claim on them. "Set him on high" is a single verb meaning to put something up out of reach, as a stronghold sits above the plain.

15"He will call to me, and I will answer him. I will be with him when he is in trouble. I will rescue him and give him honor."

15He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.

16"I will satisfy him with a long life, and I will show him how I save."

16With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

Note"Long life" is literally "length of days," the ordinary Hebrew way of speaking of a full lifespan; a long life ending in old age was the mark of a life that had gone well. "Salvation" here translates a word meaning rescue or deliverance from concrete danger (enemies, illness, disaster), rather than a state after death.