Psalm 124:3
◄  Psalm 124:3  ►
New International Version (©2011)
they would have swallowed us alive when their anger flared against us;

New Living Translation (©2007)
They would have swallowed us alive in their burning anger.

English Standard Version (©2001)
then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their anger was kindled against us;

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
Then they would have swallowed us alive, When their anger was kindled against us;

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:

Holman Christian Standard Bible (©2009)
then they would have swallowed us alive in their burning anger against us.

International Standard Version (©2012)
then they would have devoured us alive, when their anger burned against us.

NET Bible (©2006)
they would have swallowed us alive, when their anger raged against us.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English (©2010)
They would have swallowed us alive, and when their rage was provoked upon us,

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
then they would have swallowed us alive when their anger exploded against us.

King James 2000 Bible (©2003)
Then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their wrath was kindled against us:

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

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

Douay-Rheims Bible
perhaps they had swallowed us up alive. When their fury was enkindled against us,

Darby Bible Translation
Then they had swallowed us up alive, when their anger was kindled against us;

English Revised Version
Then they had 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;

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

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

124:1-5 God suffers the enemies of his people sometimes to prevail very far against them, that his power may be seen the more in their deliverance. Happy the people whose God is Jehovah, a God all-sufficient. Besides applying this to any particular deliverance wrought in our days and the ancient times, we should have in our thoughts the great work of redemption by Jesus Christ, by which believers were rescued from Satan.

Pulpit Commentary

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.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Then they had swallowed us up quick,.... Or "alive"; as the earth swallowed up Korah and his company; or as the fish swallowed up Jonah; or rather as ravenous beasts swallow their prey; to which the allusion is. The people of God are comparable to sheep and lambs, and such like innocent creatures: and the wicked to lions, tigers, wolves, bears, and such like beasts of prey that devour living creatures;

when their wrath was kindled against us; which is cruel and outrageous; there is no standing against it, nor before it; it is like a fierce flame of fire that burns furiously, and there is no stopping it; none but God can restrain it.

Psalm 124:3 Parallel Commentaries
Bible Hub: Online Parallel Bible


Our Help is in the Name of the Lord
1If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say; 2If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us: 3Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us: …

Genesis 39:19 When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, "This is how your slave treated me," he burned with anger.
Numbers 16:30 But if the LORD brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the realm of the dead, then you will know that these men have treated the LORD with contempt."
Psalm 18:4 The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
Psalm 35:25 Do not let them think, "Aha, just what we wanted!" or say, "We have swallowed him up."
Psalm 56:1 For the director of music. To the tune of "A Dove on Distant Oaks." Of David. A miktam. When the Philistines had seized him in Gath. Be merciful to me, my God, for my enemies are in hot pursuit; all day long they press their attack.
Psalm 56:2 My adversaries pursue me all day long; in their pride many are attacking me.
Psalm 57:3 He sends from heaven and saves me, rebuking those who hotly pursue me-- God sends forth his love and his faithfulness.
Psalm 124:2 if the LORD had not been on our side when people attacked us,
Psalm 138:7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life. You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes; with your right hand you save me.
Proverbs 1:12 let's swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those who go down to the pit;
Lamentations 2:16 All your enemies open their mouths wide against you; they scoff and gnash their teeth and say, "We have swallowed her up. This is the day we have waited for; we have lived to see it."