Psalm 91:10

There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(10) Dwelling.—Literally, tent: an instance in which the patriarchal life became stereotyped, so to speak, in the language. (See Note, Psalm 104:3.) Even we speak of “pitching our tent.”

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

91:9-16 Whatever happens, nothing shall hurt the believer; though trouble and affliction befal, it shall come, not for his hurt, but for good, though for the present it be not joyous but grievous. Those who rightly know God, will set their love upon him. They by prayer constantly call upon him. His promise is, that he will in due time deliver the believer out of trouble, and in the mean time be with him in trouble. The Lord will manage all his worldly concerns, and preserve his life on earth, so long as it shall be good for him. For encouragement in this he looks unto Jesus. He shall live long enough; till he has done the work he was sent into this world for, and is ready for heaven. Who would wish to live a day longer than God has some work to do, either by him or upon him? A man may die young, yet be satisfied with living. But a wicked man is not satisfied even with long life. At length the believer's conflict ends; he has done for ever with trouble, sin, and temptation.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

There shall no evil befall thee - The Chaldee Paraphrase has, "The Lord of the world answered and said, 'There shall no evil befall thee,'" etc. The sentiment, however, is that the psalmist could assure such an one, from his own personal experience, that he would be safe. He had himself made Yahweh his refuge, and he could speak with confidence of the safety of doing so. This, of course, is to be understood as a general truth, in accordance with what has been said above.

Neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling - On the word rendered "plague" here נגע nega‛ - see Psalm 38:12, note; Psalm 39:11, note. It is not the same word which is used in Psalm 91:6, and translated "pestilence;" and it does not refer to what is technically called the "plague." It may denote anything that would be expressive of the divine displeasure, or that would be sent as a punishment. The word rendered "dwelling" here means a tent; and the idea is, that no such mark of displeasure would abide with him, or enter his tent as its home. Of course, this also must be understood as a general promise, or as meaning that religion would constitute a general ground of security.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

9-12. This exemption from evil is the result of trust in God, who employs angels as ministering spirits (Heb 1:14).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

To wit, so as to destroy thee, as the next verse limits and expounds it. For surely this promise is not made to all that dwell nigh to his children and servants, who may possibly be wicked men, and so strangers from God’s covenant and promises. How far this secures his own person, See Poole "Psalm 91:7".

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

There shall no evil befall thee,.... The evil of sin cleaves to the best of saints, the evil of temptations besets them, and the evil of afflictions comes upon them, as chastisements from the Lord; for they must expect to receive evil, in this sense, as well as good, from his hands; but the evil of punishment never touches them; and therefore, when any public calamity befalls them in common with others, yet not as an evil of punishment; it is not an evil to them, it is for their good:

neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling; how should it, when they dwell in God, and have made him, the most High, their habitation (u); Psalm 91:1 otherwise it may come nigh their temporal dwellings; See Gill on Psalm 91:7 though it may not enter into them; and, should it, yet not as an evil, or by way of punishment; see Proverbs 3:33.

(u) "excelsum posuisti habitaculum tuum", Pagninus, Montanus, De Dieu, Gejerus.

Geneva Study Bible

There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

10. befall thee] Lit., be let befall thee. Cp. Proverbs 12:21.

thy dwelling] Lit., thy tent, a survival of the language of nomad life.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 10. - There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. The faithful man is to be preserved from evil of every kind. His very "dwelling" is to be protected so that his family may suffer no hurt. Psalm 91:10

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The first voice continues this ratification, and goes on weaving these promises still further: thou hast made the Most High thy dwelling-place (מעון); there shall not touch thee.... The promises rise ever higher and higher and sound more glorious. The Pual אנּה, prop. to be turned towards, is equivalent to "to befall one," as in Proverbs 12:21; Aquila well renders: ου ̓ μεταχθήσεται πρὸς σὲ κακία. לא־יקרב reminds one of Isaiah 54:14, where אל follows; here it is בּ, as in Judges 19:13. The angel guardianship which is apportioned to him who trusts in God appears in Psalm 91:11, Psalm 91:12 as a universal fact, not as a solitary fact and occurring only in extraordinary instances. Haec est vera miraculorum ratio, observes Brentius on this passage, quod semel aut iterum manifeste revelent ea quae Deus semper abscondite operatur. In ישּׂאוּנך the suffix has been combined with the full form of the future. The lxx correctly renders Psalm 91:12: μήποτε προσκόψῃς πρὸς λίθον τὸν πόδα σου, for נגף everywhere else, and therefore surely here too and in Proverbs 3:23, has a transitive signification, not an intransitive (Aquila, Jerome, Symmachus), cf. Jeremiah 13:16. Psalm 91:13 tells what he who trusts in God has power to do by virtue of this divine succour through the medium of angels. The promise calls to mind Mark 16:18, ὄφεις ἀροῦσι, they shall take up serpents, but still more Luke 10:19 : Behold, I give you power to tread ἐπάνω ὄφεων καὶ σκορπίων καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ ἐχθροῦ. They are all kinds of destructive powers belonging to nature, and particularly to the spirit-world, that are meant. They are called lions and fierce lions from the side of their open power, which threatens destruction, and adders and dragons from the side of their venomous secret malice. In Psalm 91:13 it is promised that the man who trusts in God shall walk on over these monsters, these malignant foes, proud in God and unharmed; in Psalm 91:13, that he shall tread them to the ground (cf. Romans 16:20). That which the divine voice of promise now says at the close of the Psalm is, so far as the form is concerned, an echo taken from Psalm 50. Psalm 50:15, Psalm 50:23 of that Psalm sound almost word for word the same. Genesis 46:4, and more especially Isaiah 63:9, are to be compared on Psalm 50:15. In B. Taanith 16a it is inferred from this passage that God compassionates the suffering ones whom He is compelled by reason of His holiness to chasten and prove. The "salvation of Jahve," as in Psalm 50:23, is the full reality of the divine purpose (or counsel) of mercy. To live to see the final glory was the rapturous thought of the Old Testament hope, and in the apostolic age, of the New Testament hope also.