Psalms Chapter 78 verse 9 Holy Bible

ASV Psalms 78:9

The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, Turned back in the day of battle.
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BBE Psalms 78:9

The children of Ephraim, armed with bows, were turned back on the day of the fight.
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DARBY Psalms 78:9

The sons of Ephraim, armed bowmen, turned back in the day of battle.
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KJV Psalms 78:9

The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.
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WBT Psalms 78:9

The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.
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WEB Psalms 78:9

The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, Turned back in the day of battle.
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YLT Psalms 78:9

Sons of Ephraim -- armed bearers of bow, Have turned in a day of conflict.
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Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerses 9-72. - The historical portion of the psalm now follows. It commences with some general remarks on the transgressions of Ephraim, i.e. of Israel while under the guidance of Ephraim - from Joshua to Samuel (vers. 9-11). It then proceeds to details, and sketches the Israelite history. from the deliverance out of Egypt to the establishment of David's kingdom (vers, 12-72). Verse 9. - The children of Ephraim (comp. ver. 67). Ephraim was the leading tribe, from the appointment of Joshua to succeed Moses until the establishment of Saul as king. Hence the tabernacle was set up within the territory of Ephraim (Joshua 18:1). The importance of Ephraim appears in Judges 3:27; Judges 7:24; Judges 8:1, 2; Judges 10:9; Judges 12:1-6. Being armed, and carrying bows. There is no "and" in the original. "Carrying bows" is exegetical of "being armed" (comp. 2 Chronicles 17:17). Turned back in the day of battle. The allusion is not to any one particular occasion, but to the ill success of Israel under the leadership of Ephraim during the whole period of the Judges (see Judges 2:14; Judges 3:8, 13, 31; Judges 4:2; Judges 6:1; Judges 10:7, 12, etc.).

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(9) Armed, and carrying bows.--Following Jeremiah 4:29, and from analogy with Jeremiah 44:9 ("handle and bend the bow") we get as literal rendering of the Hebrew here, drawing and shooting with the bow. LXX. and Vulgate, "bending and shooting with the bow." But a close comparison of this verse with Psalm 78:57 of this psalm, and with Hosea 7:16, has suggested to a recent commentator a much more satisfactory explanation, The sons of Ephraim (are like men) drawing slack bowstrings which turn back in the day of battle. "Both the disappointment on the day of battle and the cause of the disappointment, which are mentioned in the text, will be appreciated by the English reader who remembers that the result of the battle of Crecy was determined at the outset by a shower of rain which relaxed the strings of our enemy's bows" (Burgess, Notes on the Hebrew Psalms.)[15][15] This translation assumes that the primitive meaning of the verb r?mah is was slack. Certainly the root idea of the word (comp. the cognate r?phah and the meaning of the derivation in Proverbs 10:4; Proverbs 12:24) seems to have been relaxation. That turned back, both here and in Psalm 78:57, refers to the recoil of a bow, seems indubitable. . . .