Psalms 139:19

19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked! Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!

Psalms 139:19 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
19 Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.
English Standard Version (ESV)
19 Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God! O men of blood, depart from me!
New Living Translation (NLT)
19 O God, if only you would destroy the wicked! Get out of my life, you murderers!
The Message Bible (MSG)
19 And please, God, do away with wickedness for good! And you murderers - out of here! -
American Standard Version (ASV)
19 Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: Depart from me therefore, ye bloodthirsty men.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
19 I wish that you would kill wicked people, O God, and that bloodthirsty people would leave me alone.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
19 God, if only You would kill the wicked- you bloodthirsty men, stay away from me-
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
19 God, I wish you would kill the people who are evil! I wish those murderers would get away from me!

Psalms 139:19 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 139:19

Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God
Since he is God omniscient, and knows where they are, what they have done, are doing, and design to do; and God omnipresent, at hand to lay hold upon them; and God omnipotent, to hold them and inflict due punishment on them; this is a consequence rightly drawn from the above perfections of God. Or "if thou wilt slay the wicked" F26, then, when I awake, I shall be with thee, as Kimchi connects the words; that is, be at leisure to attend to thy works and wonders, and daily employ myself in the contemplation of them, having no wicked persons near me to molest and disturb me. The word is singular in the original text, "the wicked one"; meaning either Saul, who was David's enemy without a cause, and did very wickedly and injuriously by him, whom he might expect God in due time would take out of the world; though he did not choose to lay his hand on the Lord's anointed, when he was in his power. Jarchi interprets it of Esau, by whom he means Edom or Rome, in the Rabbinic language, that it, the Christians; if he meant no more than the Papal Christians, he may be much in the right; the man of sin, the son of perdition, the wicked one, whom the Lord will slay with the breath of his lips, may be intended, the common enemy of Christ and his cause, ( Isaiah 11:4 ) ( 2 Thessalonians 2:3 2 Thessalonians 2:8 ) . Though it may design a collective body of wicked men; all the followers of antichrist, all the antichristian states, on whom the vials of God's wrath will be poured; and even all the wicked of the earth, all Christ's enemies, that would not have him to reign over them, and none but they; the justice of God will not admit of it to slay the righteous with the wicked, and the omniscience of God will distinguish the one from the other, and separate the precious from the vile;

depart from me therefore, ye bloody men;
men guilty of shedding innocent blood, and therefore by the law of God should have their blood shed; such particularly are antichrist and his followers, who deserve to have blood given them to drink, because they have shed the blood of the saints, ( Revelation 16:6 Revelation 16:7 ) ( 17:6 ) ( 18:24 ) ; these and such as these the psalmist would have no company or fellowship with, lest he should be corrupted by them, fall into sin, and partake of deserved plagues with them, ( Revelation 18:4 ) . Some consider these as the words of God, and in connection with the former, and by way of wish, thus, "O that thou wouldest slay the wicked, O God" F1; and wouldest say, "depart from me, ye bloody men"; which will be said to the wicked at the last day, and even to such who have made a profession of the name of Christ, ( Matthew 7:23 ) ( 25:34 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F26 (ljqt Ma) "si occideris", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Musculus
F1 So some in Vatablus.

Psalms 139:19 In-Context

17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with you.
19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked! Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
20 They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, LORD, and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?

Cross References 3

  • 1. Psalms 5:6; Isaiah 11:4
  • 2. S Psalms 6:8; Psalms 119:115
  • 3. S Psalms 59:2
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