Psalms 9:109
His eyes are upon the poor man: He lieth in wait in secret like a lion in his den. He lieth in ambush that he may catch the poor man: to catch the poor, whilst he draweth him to him.
Open Psalms 9:109 in the Motif Searcher, word by word across all five texts →Show on the spiral →The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine) shown from Psalms 9:30
- Oculi ejus in pauperem respiciunt ; insidiatur in abscondito, quasi leo in spelunca sua. Insidiatur ut rapiat pauperem ; rapere pauperem dum attrahit eum.
- Septuagint (Swete) shown from Psalms 9:30
- ἐνεδρεύει ἐν ἀποκρύφῳ, ὡς λέων ἐν τῇ μάνδρᾳ αὐτοῦ· ἐνεδρεύει τοῦ ἁρπάσαι πτωχόν, ἁρπάσαι πτωχὸν ἐν τῷ ἑλκύσαι αὐτόν· ἐν τῇ παγίδι αὐτοῦ
- Hebrew (WLC) shown from Psalms 10:9
- יֶאֱרֹ֬ב בַּמִּסְתָּ֨ר כְּאַרְיֵ֬ה בְסֻכֹּ֗ה יֶ֭אֱרֹב לַחֲט֣וֹף עָנִ֑י יַחְטֹ֥ף עָ֝נִ֗י בְּמָשְׁכ֥וֹ בְרִשְׁתּֽוֹ
Haydock's commentary
Poor. "His eyes look round the strong," for aid; or "the poor," (Protestants) for destruction. See ver. 14(35).
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.
The Fathers on this verse
St Augustine Expositions on the Book of Psalms, Psalm X
7. “His eyes look against the poor,” for he is chiefly to persecute the righteous, of whom it is said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” ( ver. 9 ). “He lieth in wait in a secret place, as a lion in his den.” By a lion in a den, he means one in whom both violence and deceit will work. For the first persecution of the Church was violent, when by proscriptions, by torments, by murders, the Christians were compelled to sacrifice: another persecution is crafty, which is now conducted by heretics of any kind and false brethren: there remains a third, which is to come by Antichrist, than which there is nothing more perilous; for it will be at once violent and crafty. Violence he will exert in empire, craft in miracles. To the violence, the word “lion” refers; to craft, the words “in his den.” And these are again repeated with a change of order. …
St Jerome The Letters of St. Jerome, To Heliodorus, Monk
4. But all this, you argue, only touches the case of martyrs. Ah! my brother, you are mistaken, you are mistaken, if you suppose that there is ever a time when the Christian does not suffer persecution. Then are you most hardly beset when you know not that you are beset at all. “Our adversary as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour,” and do you think of peace? “He sitteth in the lurking-places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent; his eyes are privily set against the poor. …
St John Cassian The Conferences of John Cassian. Part I. Containing Conferences I-X, Chapter XXI. Of the fact that devils struggle with men not without effort on their part
But our belief is that they undertake this struggle not without effort on their part. For in their conflict they themselves have some sort of anxiety and depression, and especially when they are matched with stronger rivals, i.e., saints and perfect men. Otherwise no contest or struggle, but only a simple deception of men, and one free from anxiety on their part would be assigned to them. And how then would the Apostle’s words stand, where he says: “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against world-rulers of this darkness, against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places;” and this too: “So fight I, not as one that beateth the air;” and again: “I have fought a good fight”? For where it is spoken of as a fight, and conflict, and battle, there must be effort and exertion and anxiety on both sides, and equally there must either be in store for …