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My God, make them like tumbleweed; Like chaff before the wind.

Verse Takeaways

1

A Picture of Powerlessness

Commentators explain that the Hebrew word translated as "wheel" or "whirling dust" likely refers to a dried plant, such as a wild artichoke or thistledown. These plants form light, round balls that are broken from their stems and sent rolling and tumbling helplessly across the plains by the wind. The prayer is for God's enemies to be made just as powerless, rootless, and completely subject to His overwhelming power.

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Book Overview

Psalms

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Commentaries

6

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes

On Psalms 83:13

18th Century

Theologian

O my God, make them like a wheel ... Or rather, like a rolling thing—something that the wind rolls along. The word גלגל

Charles Ellicott

Charles Ellicott

On Psalms 83:13

19th Century

Bishop

A wheel. —Hebrew, galgal. (See Note, Psalms 77:18, and compare to Isaiah 17:13, where the Authorized Version h…

Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon

On Psalm 83:13

19th Century

Preacher

Or rather, "You shall make them a wheel," never still. The real translation, I think, would be, "Make them like those light, dry flowers w…

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John Calvin

John Calvin

On Psalms 83:13

16th Century

Theologian

O my God! make them like a whirling ball. As the ungodly, when they prepare themselves for destroying the Church, are usually inflated wit…

John Gill

John Gill

On Psalms 83:13

17th Century

Pastor

O my God, make them like a wheel
Which, as the Targum adds, is rolled, and goes on, and rests not in a declivity; le…

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry

On Psalms 83:9–18

17th Century

Minister

All who oppose the kingdom of Christ can read their doom here. God is still the same as He always was: the same to His people, and the same against…

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