Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
What does Psalms 91:13 mean?
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.
Key themes
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Keep this verse inside its immediate passage and alongside a few nearby related passages.
Commentary on Psalms 91:13
Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder - Thou shalt be safe among dangers, as if the rage of the lion were restrained, and he became like a lamb, and as if the poisonous tooth of the serpent were extracted. Compare Mark 16:18 . The word used here to denote the "lion" is a poetic term, not employed in prose. The word rendered "adder" is, in the margin, asp. The Hebrew word - pethen - commonly means viper, asp, or adder. See Job 20:14 , note; Job 20:16 , note; compare Psalm 58:4 ; Isaiah 11:8 . It may be applied to any venomous serpent. The young lion - The "young" lion is mentioned as particularly fierce and violent.
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Context in Psalms 91
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Psalms 91 belongs to the middle movement of the book, especially the section often described as Book IV. Psalms is the Bible’s great book of sung prayer, teaching the full range of faithful speech from anguish and repentance to jubilation and doxology. Read this chapter with the wider themes of prayer, praise, and lament in view so the individual verses keep their proper weight.
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