Psalm 149:8
New International Version
to bind their kings with fetters, their nobles with shackles of iron,

New Living Translation
to bind their kings with shackles and their leaders with iron chains,

English Standard Version
to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron,

Berean Standard Bible
to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with shackles of iron,

King James Bible
To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;

New King James Version
To bind their kings with chains, And their nobles with fetters of iron;

New American Standard Bible
To bind their kings with chains, And their dignitaries with shackles of iron,

NASB 1995
To bind their kings with chains And their nobles with fetters of iron,

NASB 1977
To bind their kings with chains, And their nobles with fetters of iron;

Legacy Standard Bible
To bind their kings with chains And their honored men with fetters of iron,

Amplified Bible
To bind their kings with chains And their nobles with fetters of iron,

Christian Standard Bible
binding their kings with chains and their dignitaries with iron shackles,

Holman Christian Standard Bible
binding their kings with chains and their dignitaries with iron shackles,

American Standard Version
To bind their kings with chains, And their nobles with fetters of iron;

Contemporary English Version
Put chains of iron on their kings and rulers.

English Revised Version
To bind their king's with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;

GOD'S WORD® Translation
to put their kings in chains and their leaders in iron shackles,

Good News Translation
to bind their kings in chains, their leaders in chains of iron;

International Standard Version
binding their kings with chains, their officials with iron bands,

Majority Standard Bible
to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with shackles of iron,

NET Bible
They bind their kings in chains, and their nobles in iron shackles,

New Heart English Bible
To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;

Webster's Bible Translation
To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;

World English Bible
to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
To bind their kings with chains, "" And their honored ones with chains of iron,

Young's Literal Translation
To bind their kings with chains, And their honoured ones with fetters of iron,

Smith's Literal Translation
To bind their kings in fetters, and their honorable ones in fetters of iron;
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
To bind their kings with fetters, and their nobles with manacles of iron.

Catholic Public Domain Version
to bind their kings with shackles and their nobles with manacles of iron,

New American Bible
To bind their kings in shackles, their nobles in chains of iron,

New Revised Standard Version
to bind their kings with fetters and their nobles with chains of iron,
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
To bind their kings with fetters and their nobles with chains of iron.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
To bind their kings in shackles and their honorable ones in chains of iron
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
To bind their kings with chains, And their nobles with fetters of iron;

Brenton Septuagint Translation
to bind their kings with fetters, and their nobles with manacles of iron;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Sing to the LORD a New Song
7to inflict vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, 8to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with shackles of iron, 9to execute the judgment written against them. This honor is for all His saints. Hallelujah!…

Cross References
Revelation 19:15
And from His mouth proceeds a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.

Revelation 2:26-27
And to the one who overcomes and continues in My work until the end, I will give authority over the nations. / He will rule them with an iron scepter and shatter them like pottery—just as I have received authority from My Father.

Isaiah 24:22
They will be gathered together like prisoners in a pit. They will be confined to a dungeon and punished after many days.

Jeremiah 25:12-14
But when seventy years are complete, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, declares the LORD, and I will make it an everlasting desolation. / I will bring upon that land all the words I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations. / For many nations and great kings will enslave them, and I will repay them according to their deeds and according to the work of their hands.’”

Daniel 7:18
But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom and possess it forever—yes, forever and ever.’

Revelation 20:4
Then I saw the thrones, and those seated on them had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or hands. And they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

2 Corinthians 10:4-6
The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the flesh. Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. / We demolish arguments and every presumption set up against the knowledge of God; and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. / And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, as soon as your obedience is complete.

Isaiah 45:14
This is what the LORD says: “The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, along with the Sabeans, men of stature, will come over to you and will be yours; they will trudge behind you; they will come over in chains and bow down to you. They will confess to you: ‘God is indeed with you, and there is no other; there is no other God.’”

Isaiah 60:12
For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; it will be utterly destroyed.

Ezekiel 39:21-22
I will display My glory among the nations, and all the nations will see the judgment that I execute and the hand that I lay upon them. / From that day forward the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God.

Revelation 19:19-21
Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies assembled to wage war against the One seated on the horse, and against His army. / But the beast was captured along with the false prophet, who on its behalf had performed signs deceiving those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. Both the beast and the false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. / And the rest were killed with the sword that proceeded from the mouth of the One seated on the horse. And all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.

1 Corinthians 6:2-3
Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? / Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!

Isaiah 41:15-16
Behold, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff. / You will winnow them, and a wind will carry them away; a gale will scatter them. But you will rejoice in the LORD; you will glory in the Holy One of Israel.

Micah 4:13
Rise and thresh, O Daughter of Zion, for I will give you horns of iron and hooves of bronze to break to pieces many peoples. Then you will devote their gain to the LORD, their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.

Zechariah 14:12-13
And this will be the plague with which the LORD strikes all the peoples who have warred against Jerusalem: Their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths. / On that day a great panic from the LORD will come upon them, so that each will seize the hand of another, and the hand of one will rise against the other.


Treasury of Scripture

To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;

Joshua 10:23,24
And they did so, and brought forth those five kings unto him out of the cave, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon…

Joshua 12:7
And these are the kings of the country which Joshua and the children of Israel smote on this side Jordan on the west, from Baalgad in the valley of Lebanon even unto the mount Halak, that goeth up to Seir; which Joshua gave unto the tribes of Israel for a possession according to their divisions;

Judges 1:6,7
But Adonibezek fled; and they pursued after him, and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his great toes…

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Psalm 149
1. The prophet exhorts to praise God for his love to the church
5. And for that power which he has given to the church














to bind their kings with chains
This phrase reflects the theme of divine justice and the ultimate triumph of God's people over their oppressors. In the historical context of ancient Israel, kings often represented the pinnacle of earthly power and authority. Binding them with chains symbolizes the subjugation of those who oppose God's will. This imagery is reminiscent of the fate of defeated kings in the ancient Near East, where captured rulers were often paraded in chains as a sign of victory. Biblically, this can be connected to the prophetic visions in Daniel 2:44, where God's kingdom crushes all other kingdoms, and Revelation 19:11-16, where Christ returns as the conquering King. The binding of kings also foreshadows the ultimate defeat of Satan and his forces, as seen in Revelation 20:1-3, where Satan is bound for a thousand years.

and their nobles with shackles of iron
Nobles, as the ruling class, were often seen as the enforcers of a king's decrees and policies. Binding them with shackles of iron signifies the complete overthrow of oppressive systems and the establishment of God's justice. Iron, being a strong and durable metal, emphasizes the permanence and strength of this divine judgment. This imagery can be linked to the Psalms' frequent theme of God as the defender of the oppressed and the bringer of justice (Psalm 72:4, Psalm 82:3-4). The use of iron shackles also echoes the biblical narrative of God's deliverance of His people from bondage, as seen in the Exodus story, where God liberates the Israelites from Egyptian slavery. In a typological sense, this deliverance prefigures Christ's redemptive work, freeing humanity from the bondage of sin and death.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Kings and Nobles
These represent the earthly rulers and authorities who often stand in opposition to God's will and His people. In the context of Psalm 149, they symbolize those who are subject to God's ultimate authority and judgment.

2. Chains and Shackles of Iron
These are symbols of restraint and judgment. In biblical times, chains and shackles were used to bind prisoners, indicating a loss of freedom and power.

3. The Faithful
While not explicitly mentioned in this verse, the faithful are implied as the agents of God's justice, executing His judgment upon the earth.
Teaching Points
Divine Justice
God's justice will ultimately prevail over all earthly powers. Believers can take comfort in knowing that no authority is beyond God's reach.

Spiritual Authority
As followers of Christ, we are called to exercise spiritual authority through prayer and righteous living, trusting that God will bind the powers that oppose His kingdom.

Hope in God's Sovereignty
In times of injustice and oppression, we can find hope in God's promise to bring all things under His control and to execute His perfect justice.

Role of the Faithful
Believers are called to be instruments of God's justice, not through physical force, but through spiritual means and by living out the principles of God's kingdom.

Eternal Perspective
This verse encourages us to maintain an eternal perspective, recognizing that earthly powers are temporary and subject to God's eternal rule.Verse 8. - To bind their kings with chains. Even royal captives were thus treated in the ancient world. Assyrian and Babylonian monarchs always represent their captives, even when kings, as fettered. Nebuchadnezzar "bound Zedekiah with fetters of brass" (2 Kings 25:7). Parthia, and later Persia, and even Rome, followed the same practice. And their nobles with fetters of iron. On the monuments, cap-fives below the rank of kings are not often seen "fettered." Their arms, however, are frequently tied together with a cord, and they are fastened one to another by a stout rope.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
to bind
לֶאְסֹ֣ר (le’·sōr)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 631: To yoke, hitch, to fasten, to join battle

their kings
מַלְכֵיהֶ֣ם (mal·ḵê·hem)
Noun - masculine plural construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 4428: A king

with chains,
בְּזִקִּ֑ים (bə·ziq·qîm)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 2131: What leaps forth, flash of fire, a burning arrow, a bond

and their nobles
וְ֝נִכְבְּדֵיהֶ֗ם (wə·niḵ·bə·ḏê·hem)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Participle - masculine plural construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 3513: To be heavy, weighty, or burdensome

with shackles
בְּכַבְלֵ֥י (bə·ḵaḇ·lê)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 3525: A fetter

of iron,
בַרְזֶֽל׃ (ḇar·zel)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1270: Iron, an iron implement


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OT Poetry: Psalm 149:8 To bind their kings with chains (Psalm Ps Psa.)
Psalm 149:7
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