Psalms 107:40 · Bible study
Psalms 107:40 Commentary: God’s Justice Over Proud Rulers
Hebrew · 11 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Why does God pour contempt on princes? This study explores divine justice, the humbling of tyrants, and the meaning of a trackless waste.
Research Summary
- Meaning: God justly humbles proud rulers, reducing them to confusion and exile.
- Key words: שָׁפַךְ (pour contempt), נָדִיב (princes/nobles), תֹּהוּ (trackless waste).
- Main debate: Whether the “wandering” refers to literal exile, spiritual confusion, or the afterlife.
- Theological theme: Divine sovereignty over human authority; God opposes the proud but lifts the lowly.
- Best use: To comfort the oppressed and warn the powerful.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
He pours out contempt on the nobles and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.
WEB World English Bible 2000
He pours contempt on princes, and causes them to wander in a trackless waste.
KJV King James Version 1769
He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
He poureth contempt upon princes, And causeth them to wander in the waste, where there is no way.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
He is pouring contempt upon nobles, And causeth them to wander in vacancy--no way.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
He poureth contempt upon nobles, and causeth them to wander in a pathless waste;
Translations in other languages (9 available)
El derrama menosprecio sobre los príncipes, y les hace andar errados, vagabundos, sin camino:
Ele derrama desprezo sobre os governantes, e os faz andar sem rumo pelos desertos, sem terem caminho.
Verse-t-il le mépris sur les grands,
Er schüttete Verachtung auf die Fürsten und ließ sie irren in der Wüste, da kein Weg ist,
Hij stort verachting uit over de prinsen, en doet hen dwalen in het woeste, waar geen weg is.
Egli spande lo sprezzo sui principi, e li fa errare per deserti senza via;
Gdy wylewa wzgardę na książąt, dopuszczając, aby błądzili po puszczy bezdrożnej.
他使 君王 蒙羞 被辱，使他們在荒廢 無 路 之地漂流。
He puts an end to the pride of kings, and sends them wandering in the waste lands where there is no way.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Psalms 107:40
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions agree that this verse describes God’s righteous judgment on proud, oppressive rulers. Barnes notes that God “pays no regard in his providence to their station and rank,” treating princes the same as common people, especially in death and the grave. Gill adds that God sets up and pulls down rulers at his pleasure, bringing them to shameful ends. Adam Clarke points to historical examples like Napoleon, whose downfall he saw as direct divine intervention. Keil and Delitzsch observe that the verse is borrowed from Job 12:21,24, where similar language describes God destabilizing the powerful. The context of Psalm 107 reinforces this: verse 39 speaks of people brought low through oppression and sorrow, and verse 41 sets God’s exaltation of the needy in direct contrast. The “wandering in a trackless waste” is understood variously as literal exile, mental confusion, or the grave, but the core meaning is the same: human power melts before God’s sovereign hand.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- The grave / afterlife (Barnes): Job 10:21–22 uses similar language for the land of death; the contrast with the living oppressed in v.41 supports a boundary beyond history.
- Historical exile of tyrants (Clarke, Gill): Parallels with Nebuchadnezzar’s expulsion and Napoleon’s exile on St. Helena; the language fits literal wandering in a desolate place.
- Mental confusion and loss of counsel (Aben Ezra / Kimchi): Job 12:17,20 show God making counselors fools; the ‘wandering’ may be intellectual disorientation rather than physical movement.
What is clear: God humbles proud rulers in his justice, and this reversal brings gladness to the upright and silences oppression.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning of 'contempt' | God’s active judgment that strips rulers of honor. | Some see it as public shame and downfall (Clarke, Gill); others as a leveling that applies equally to all in the grave (Barnes). |
| Identity of 'princes' | They are powerful rulers in positions of authority. | Whether they are specifically oppressive tyrants (Gill’s antichristian princes) or include all nobles regardless of character (Barnes’ more universal sense). |
| Interpretation of 'wandering' | A state of confusion, loss of direction, and helplessness. | Literal exile from kingdom (Clarke on Napoleon), mental confusion and loss of counsel (Aben Ezra via Gill), or the grave as a pathless land (Barnes). |
| Relationship to Job 12 | The verse quotes or closely echoes Job 12:21,24. | Whether the psalmist simply borrows the language (Keil & Delitzsch) or intentionally invokes the entire Joban context of divine sovereignty over the wise and powerful. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Psalm 107 is a liturgical hymn celebrating God’s deliverance from various distresses, desert wanderings (vv.4, 9), imprisonment (vv.10, 16), sickness (vv.17, 22), and sea perils (vv.23, 32). The structure uses two recurring refrains to guide congregational response. But from verse 33 to 42, the pattern changes. The refrains disappear, and the psalm shifts to a broader meditation on God’s providential reversals in the world. This section draws heavily on the Book of Job, especially Job 12.
The verse resembles Job 12:21,24 almost word-for-word. The word תֹּהוּ (tohu, “trackless waste”) echoes Genesis 1:2, where it describes the formless, empty earth before creation. Here it conveys a place of confusion and desolation, no path, no guidance, no hope. The verb “pours contempt” (שָׁפַךְ, shafakh) is often used for pouring out anger or blood, signaling deliberate divine action. The term for princes (נְדִיבִים, nedivim) literally means “willing, noble ones,” but in context it designates those in high social rank.
In the ancient near east, kings were considered semi-divine or divinely protected. This verse directly challenges that view. The cross-reference to Adoni-Bezek (Judges 1:7) illustrates the principle: “As I have done, so God has done to me.” The psalmist asserts that no human authority stands outside God’s judgment. Verses 33, 35 show God turning rivers into deserts and fruitful land into salt wastes, the same power can reverse the fortunes of the proud. Lange and other recent critics date the psalm to the post-exilic period, but its theme is timeless: God actively opposes the proud and rescues the needy.
Textual Notes
No significant textual variants for this verse appear in the supplied sources. The Hebrew text is stable across manuscripts, and the English translations (KJV, ASV, WEB, BSB, YLT, Darby) agree closely in meaning.
Reception History
This verse has been read as a vivid picture of God’s sovereignty over human rulers. Early church fathers used it to affirm that Christ is Lord over earthly powers. In the Reformation, Calvin emphasized it as a call to recognize God’s hand in the rise and fall of nations. Adam Clarke’s application to Napoleon shows how preachers have applied the verse to contemporary tyrants. Matthew Henry read it as part of God’s “revolutions of providence” designed to humble all people. Modern readings often connect it to the fall of oppressive regimes and the hope that justice will ultimately prevail.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- God sees the proud and responds, He is not indifferent to oppression. The act of pouring contempt is deliberate, not accidental.
- God reverses human status, Those who exalt themselves are brought low; they lose their bearings and their way. What looked secure becomes a wasteland.
- The wandering is a sign of judgment, Without God’s guidance, even the powerful stagger in a trackless waste. It is a foretaste of the final hollowing of all rebellion.
Five-point outline
- The target: princes, those with power, rank, and influence.
- The action: God pours contempt, stripping them of dignity.
- The mechanism: He makes them wander, removing stable ground.
- The setting: a trackless waste, no path, no map, no exit.
- The contrast: verse 41, the needy are lifted high. Justice cuts both ways.
Illustration hooks
- A powerful executive caught in scandal loses everything overnight, house, career, reputation. The network that used to open doors now shuts them. This is the trackless waste.
- Think of a dictator hiding in a bunker, trusting no one, with no clear way forward. The mental fog of paranoia is a kind of wandering God uses to bring them down.
- Imagine a traveler stranded in a desert without map or compass. Every step is guesswork. That is what pride does to the soul: it takes away the one reliable guide.
Questions your congregation is asking
- If God humbles tyrants, why do they seem to succeed for so long?
- Does this verse mean every powerful person is guilty of pride?
- Can God still bring down the proud in our day, and how should we pray for that?
Leading a Discussion
This verse challenges us to see God’s hand in world events and to trust that no human power is beyond his reach. As you discuss, keep the full context of Psalm 107 in view: these reversals are not random. They serve to display God’s character as a God who rescues the needy and humbles the proud.
Discussion questions
- Read Psalm 107:33, 43. How does verse 40 fit into the overall message of this section?
- In what ways have you seen God “pour contempt on princes” in history or in your own experience?
- Why does God specifically target the proud and oppressive? What does that tell us about his character?
- What does the phrase “wander in a trackless waste” suggest about the consequences of opposing God? Is it physical, spiritual, or both?
- How does verse 41 (God lifts the needy) give you hope when you see injustice?
- What is the proper response to seeing God’s justice executed (verses 42, 43)?
- How can we remain humble and avoid the pride that leads to such judgment?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Exodus 8:3 | The river will swarm with frogs, which will go up and come into your house, and into your bedroom, and on your bed, and into the house of your servants, and on your people, and into your ovens, and into your kneading troughs. |
| Exodus 8:17 | They did so; and Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and struck the dust of the earth, and there were lice on man, and on animal; all the dust of the earth became lice throughout all the land of Egypt. |
| Exodus 8:24 | Yahweh did so; and there came grievous swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants’ houses. In all the land of Egypt the land was corrupted by reason of the swarms of flies. |
| Deuteronomy 32:10 | He found him in a desert land, in the waste howling wilderness. He surrounded him. He cared for him. He kept him as the apple of his eye. |
| Joshua 10:24 | When they brought those kings out to Joshua, Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said to the chiefs of the men of war who went with him, “Come near. Put your feet on the necks of these kings.” They came near, and put their feet on their necks. |
| Joshua 10:26 | Afterward Joshua struck them, put them to death, and hanged them on five trees. They were hanging on the trees until the evening. |
| Judges 1:6 | But Adoni-Bezek fled. They pursued him, caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his big toes. |
| Judges 1:7 | Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings, having their thumbs and their big toes cut off, scavenged under my table. As I have done, so God has done to me.” They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
10 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes emphasizes that God shows contempt for human status by making death the great leveler: princes, the wealthy, and the beautiful all face the same corruption and decay. He interprets the "wandering in the wilderness" as a reference to the afterlife, a pathless, desolate world where no earthly distinctions remain.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin insists that nothing in life happens by random chance or fortune. Every adversity is God's summons to account for sin, and every prosperity is a display of His grace. Those who fail to see God's hand in such events are guilty of ignoring clear evidence of His providence.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The commentary draws attention to a shift in the psalm's style, where specific examples of deliverance give way to broader proofs of God's providential rule over nations and peoples. The wise person, it argues, will recognize in these patterns how the Lord deals with humanity.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva note emphasizes that God personally humbles the powerful by making them lose their way in the wilderness. It is not merely misfortune; God actively pours contempt on princes and causes them to stumble in barren, directionless places.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill emphasizes that God actively humiliates proud rulers, stripping them of honor and leaving them confused or exiled like wanderers in a trackless wilderness. He cites Herod's shameful end and Nebuchadnezzar's madness as examples, and applies this especially to antichristian princes facing divine judgment.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
Wandering in the wilderness, for this commentator, is not simply aimless travel but a picture of being brought low into misery. The phrase draws on Job's description of princes stripped of all stability and left destitute.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil-Delitzsch insists this passage describes a real chronological sequence, not a flashback. The people first thrived, then fell under tyrannical oppression, and God directly intervened to humble tyrants and raise the needy. The wise reader will recognize such reversals as acts of God's enduring mercy
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange argues that the psalm’s four examples of distress are not figurative pictures of the Babylonian exile but depict actual, recurring human experiences. Only the opening verses and first stanza directly refer to the exile. The psalm’s purpose is to call for thanksgiving for God’s deliverance in these ordinary crises.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry draws attention to the surprising reversals God brings about through his providence. Fertile land becomes barren because of human sin, yet God also turns deserts into springs where the hungry settle. These changes are not random; they show that every shift in fortune comes from the Lord's hand.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley explains that contempt strips people of honor and makes them despised. Wandering forces them out of their own courts and kingdoms, driving them to seek shelter in desolate wildernesses.