Psalm 124:3
New International Version
they would have swallowed us alive when their anger flared against us;

New Living Translation
They would have swallowed us alive in their burning anger.

English Standard Version
then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their anger was kindled against us;

Berean Standard Bible
when their anger flared against us, then they would have swallowed us alive,

King James Bible
Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:

New King James Version
Then they would have swallowed us alive, When their wrath was kindled against us;

New American Standard Bible
Then they would have swallowed us alive, When their anger was kindled against us;

NASB 1995
Then they would have swallowed us alive, When their anger was kindled against us;

NASB 1977
Then they would have swallowed us alive, When their anger was kindled against us;

Legacy Standard Bible
Then they would have swallowed us alive, When their anger was kindled against us;

Amplified Bible
Then they would have [quickly] swallowed us alive, When their wrath was kindled against us;

Christian Standard Bible
then they would have swallowed us alive in their burning anger against us.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
then they would have swallowed us alive in their burning anger against us.

American Standard Version
Then they had swallowed us up alive, When their wrath was kindled against us;

Contemporary English Version
would have killed us all, because it was furious.

English Revised Version
Then they had swallowed us up alive, when their wrath was kindled against us:

GOD'S WORD® Translation
then they would have swallowed us alive when their anger exploded against us.

Good News Translation
then they would have swallowed us alive in their furious anger against us;

International Standard Version
then they would have devoured us alive, when their anger burned against us.

Majority Standard Bible
when their anger flared against us, then they would have swallowed us alive,

NET Bible
they would have swallowed us alive, when their anger raged against us.

New Heart English Bible
then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their wrath was kindled against us;

Webster's Bible Translation
Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:

World English Bible
then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their wrath was kindled against us,
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
Then they had swallowed us alive, "" In the burning of their anger against us,

Young's Literal Translation
Then alive they had swallowed us up, In the burning of their anger against us,

Smith's Literal Translation
Then they swallowed us down living, in the kindling of their anger against us:
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
perhaps they had swallowed us up alive. When their fury was enkindled against us,

Catholic Public Domain Version
perhaps they would have swallowed us alive. When their fury was enraged against us,

New American Bible
Then they would have swallowed us alive, for their fury blazed against us.

New Revised Standard Version
then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their anger was kindled against us;
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Then would they have swallowed us alive when their wrath was kindled against us,

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
They would have swallowed us alive, and when their rage was provoked upon us,
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Then they had swallowed us up alive, When their wrath was kindled against us;

Brenton Septuagint Translation
verily they would have swallowed us up alive, when their wrath was kindled against us:

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Our Help is in the Name of the LORD
2if the LORD had not been on our side when men attacked us, 3when their anger flared against us, then they would have swallowed us alive, 4then the floods would have engulfed us, then the torrent would have overwhelmed us,…

Cross References
Exodus 15:9
The enemy declared, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword; my hand will destroy them.’

Isaiah 8:7-8
the Lord will surely bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the Euphrates—the king of Assyria and all his pomp. It will overflow its channels and overrun its banks. / It will pour into Judah, swirling and sweeping over it, reaching up to the neck; its spreading streams will cover your entire land, O Immanuel!

Jeremiah 51:34
“Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured me; he has crushed me. He has set me aside like an empty vessel; he has swallowed me like a monster; he filled his belly with my delicacies and vomited me out.

Lamentations 2:16
All your enemies open their mouths against you. They hiss and gnash their teeth, saying, “We have swallowed her up. This is the day for which we have waited. We have lived to see it!”

Job 16:9
His anger has torn me and opposed me; He gnashes His teeth at me. My adversary pierces me with His eyes.

Daniel 6:24
At the command of the king, the men who had falsely accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the den of lions—they and their children and wives. And before they had reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.

Proverbs 1:12
let us swallow them alive like Sheol, and whole like those descending into the Pit.

Isaiah 28:18
Your covenant with death will be dissolved, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand. When the overwhelming scourge passes through, you will be trampled by it.

Hosea 8:8
Israel is swallowed up! Now they are among the nations like a worthless vessel.

Amos 9:3
Though they hide themselves atop Carmel, there I will track them and seize them; and though they hide from Me at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent to bite them.

Matthew 23:33
You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the sentence of hell?

Luke 21:23-24
How miserable those days will be for pregnant and nursing mothers! For there will be great distress upon the land and wrath against this people. / They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive into all the nations. And Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

1 Peter 5:8
Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Revelation 12:15-16
Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river to overtake the woman and sweep her away in the torrent. / But the earth helped the woman and opened its mouth to swallow up the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth.

2 Thessalonians 1:6-9
After all, it is only right for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, / and to grant relief to you who are oppressed and to us as well. This will take place when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels / in blazing fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ...


Treasury of Scripture

Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:

then they

Psalm 27:2
When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.

Psalm 35:25
Let them not say in their hearts, Ah, so would we have it: let them not say, We have swallowed him up.

Psalm 56:1,2
To the chief Musician upon Jonathelemrechokim, Michtam of David, when the Philistines took him in Gath. Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me…

swallowed

Numbers 16:30-34
But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD…

Proverbs 1:12
Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:

Jeremiah 51:34
Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out.

their wrath

Psalm 76:10
Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.

1 Samuel 20:30-33
Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion, and unto the confusion of thy mother's nakedness? …

Daniel 3:19
Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.

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Psalm 124
1. The church blesses God for a miraculous deliverance














then they would have swallowed us alive
then
The word "then" serves as a pivotal connector, indicating a sequence of events or a conditional scenario. In the context of Psalm 124, it points to a hypothetical situation that was narrowly avoided. The Hebrew root for "then" is "אָז" (az), which often introduces a consequence or result. This word sets the stage for understanding the dire circumstances from which the Israelites were delivered, emphasizing the immediacy and certainty of the threat they faced without divine intervention.

they would have swallowed
The phrase "they would have swallowed" is rich with imagery and urgency. The Hebrew verb "בָּלַע" (bala) means to swallow or engulf, often used in the context of overwhelming destruction. This word choice conveys the intensity of the danger, suggesting a complete and sudden annihilation. Historically, this reflects the numerous times Israel faced existential threats from surrounding nations, underscoring their vulnerability without God's protection. The imagery of being swallowed whole evokes a sense of being consumed by a powerful force, highlighting the miraculous nature of their deliverance.

us alive
The phrase "us alive" adds a layer of immediacy and horror to the threat. The Hebrew word "חַי" (chai) means alive or living, emphasizing the potential for a violent and premature end. This expression underscores the severity of the danger, as it implies not just defeat but a living destruction, a fate worse than death. In the scriptural context, it serves as a reminder of the living God's intervention in preserving His people. The historical context of Israel's survival against overwhelming odds serves as a testament to God's faithfulness and power, inspiring believers to trust in divine protection against seemingly insurmountable challenges.

(3) Then.--Critics are at issue both as to the form and meaning of the word--whether it is an archaism or an aramaism, expressing time or logical sequence.

Swallowed . . . quick (alive).--No doubt an allusion to the fall of Korah (Numbers 16:32-33), where the same verb and adjective occur together. (See also Psalm 55:15.)

Verse 3. - Then they had swallowed us up quick; or, "alive." A common expression for sudden and complete destruction (comp. Psalm 56:2; Psalm 57:3; Proverbs 1:12; Lamentations 2:2, 5, 8, etc.). When their wrath was kindled against us; or, "blazed out against us." The comparison of anger to fire is an almost universal commonplace.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
when their anger
אַפָּ֣ם (’ap·pām)
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 639: The nose, nostril, the face, a person, ire

flared
בַּחֲר֖וֹת (ba·ḥă·rō·wṯ)
Preposition-b | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 2734: To glow, grow warm, to blaze up, of anger, zeal, jealousy

against us,
בָּֽנוּ׃ (bā·nū)
Preposition | first person common plural
Strong's Hebrew

then
אֲ֭זַי (’ă·zay)
Adverb
Strong's 233: Then, in that case

they would have swallowed
בְּלָע֑וּנוּ (bə·lā·‘ū·nū)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural | first person common plural
Strong's 1104: To swallow down, swallow up, engulf

us alive,
חַיִּ֣ים (ḥay·yîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 2416: Alive, raw, fresh, strong, life


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OT Poetry: Psalm 124:3 Then they would have swallowed us up (Psalm Ps Psa.)
Psalm 124:2
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