Psalms 35:6 · Bible study
Psalms 35:6 Commentary: The Imprecatory Cry for Justice
Hebrew · 10 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Examine the psalmist's prayer for God's judgment on enemies via a dark, slippery path and the pursuing angel.
Research Summary
- Meaning: A plea for God to make the path of the wicked so treacherous that they cannot continue their pursuit, with the Angel of Yahweh driving them.
- Key words: darkness (choshekh), slippery places (chalaklakkot), angel of Yahweh (mal'akh YHWH), pursuing (rodef, a participle describing ongoing action).
- Main debate: Is this imprecation compatible with Christian ethics, or does it belong only to the Old Testament context of covenantal warfare?
- Theological theme: God as the divine warrior who vindicates the innocent and judges the guilty.
- Best use: As a model for handing over our deepest cries for justice to God, trusting his timing and his ways.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
May their path be dark and slick, as the angel of the LORD pursues.
WEB World English Bible 2000
Let their way be dark and slippery, Yahweh’s angel pursuing them.
KJV King James Version 1769
Let their way be dark and slippery: and let the angel of the Lord persecute them.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
Let their way be dark and slippery, And the angel of Jehovah pursuing them.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
Their way is darkness and slipperiness, And a messenger of Jehovah their pursuer.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
Let their way be dark and slippery, and let the angel of Jehovah pursue them.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
O Lord, thy mercy is in heaven, and thy truth reacheth even to the clouds.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Sea su camino oscuridad y resbaladeros; y el ángel de Jehová los persiga.
Que o caminho deles seja escuro e escorregadio; e o anjo do SENHOR os persiga.
Que leur route soit ténébreuse et glissante,
Ihr Weg müsse finster und schlüpfrig werden, und der Engel des HERRN verfolge sie.
Hun weg zij duister en gans slibberig; en de Engel des HEEREN vervolge hen.
Sia la via loro tenebrosa e sdrucciolevole, e l’insegua l’angelo dell’Eterno.
Niech będzie droga ich ciemna i śliska, Anioł Pański niech ich goni.
Господи! милость Твоя до небес, истина Твоя до облаков!
願 他們的道路 又暗 又滑，有耶和華 的使者 追趕他們。
Let their way be dark and full of danger; let them be troubled by the angel of the Lord.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Psalms 35:6
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 verse 6 intensifies the image of divine judgment begun in verse 5. Barnes and Gill note the compounded terrors: darkness that blinds, slippery ground that makes every step dangerous, and the Angel of Yahweh in close pursuit. The Cambridge Bible observes that this may reflect a warrior's memory of a defeated enemy fleeing down the slick limestone paths of Palestine. Calvin places these verses in David's experience of being hounded by Saul's court, but insists the imprecations are directed only against those who 'from deliberate malice and wickedness' oppose God's anointed. Keil and Delitzsch connect the Angel to the same figure who fought for Israel in Exodus 15 and Judges 5. All agree this is a call for God's justice, not personal vengeance.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Imprecation as poetic hyperbole: The intense imagery (darkness, slipperiness, angelic pursuit) may be dramatic language expressing emotional intensity rather than a literal request.
- Prayer for divine justice: David appeals to God as Judge; the verbs are in the jussive (may it be) – a submission to God's will, not a demand.
- Typological prayer against spiritual enemies: New Testament language of spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6:12) sees the real struggle as against spiritual forces, which these imprecations could target.
What is clear: The psalmist does not take vengeance into his own hands but calls on God, the righteous Judge, to act.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| The Angel of Yahweh | Most traditions identify the Angel of Yahweh as a messenger sent by God, often associated with God's own presence and action (cf. Exodus 23:20-23). | Some see this as a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ (theophany), while others understand it as a created angel acting as God's representative. |
| Ethics of Imprecation | Christians agree that personal revenge is forbidden (Romans 12:19). The psalm is not a model for private cursing. | Some hold that imprecatory prayers are entirely superseded by the New Testament call to bless persecutors; others argue they remain a valid way to cry out for God's justice against systemic evil. |
| Identity of the Enemies | The immediate context points to Saul and his supporters who sought David's life without cause (verse 7). | Some interpreters read these enemies as typological, representing all who oppose God's kingdom. A few modern readings see them as the poet's own internal fears or sins. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Psalm 35 belongs to the group of Davidic laments that cry out against enemies while affirming the psalmist's innocence. David was hunted by Saul and his court for years, forced to flee through the rugged terrain of the Judean wilderness. The paths in these limestone hills are naturally dark and slippery, as travellers like Maundrell noted, a detail that makes the poet's imagery intensely local. The Hebrew noun chalaklakkot (slippery places) appears elsewhere only in Psalm 73:18 and Jeremiah 23:12, always describing the sudden downfall of the wicked under divine judgment.
The military language in the surrounding verses (spear, net, ambush) fits David's experience as a guerilla leader evading a royal army. But the figure of the Angel of Yahweh lifts this beyond human warfare. This same Angel led Israel out of Egypt, threw Pharaoh's chariots into confusion (Exodus 14:24-25), and fought alongside Deborah (Judges 5:20). Keil and Delitzsch highlight the Angel's role at critical moments in the history of redemption, here, protecting the promise of the Davidic line.
David's prayer is not a personal vendetta. As Calvin notes, he distinguishes between those who oppose him out of ignorance and those who act from deliberate malice. The imprecation targets the latter. In the ancient Near East, such prayers served as a way to bring unjust situations before the divine Judge, releasing the petitioner from the burden of retaliation.
Textual Notes
The supplied sources note no significant textual variants for Psalm 35:6. The Hebrew text is well preserved, and the few differences among translations (e.g., 'persecute' vs. 'pursue') reflect options in rendering the verb radaph, not manuscript disagreement.
Reception History
In the early church, Origen and Augustine often interpreted imprecatory verses allegorically, seeing the enemies as demons or vices rather than human opponents. During the Reformation, Luther and Calvin read them historically, as David's genuine cries for deliverance, while cautioning against using them as a warrant for personal vengeance. Medieval commentators like Thomas Aquinas connected the 'angel of the Lord' to Christ, the divine warrior who pursues evil. In modern times, the psalm has troubled some readers, leading Christian ethicists to wrestle with how to appropriate the language of judgment while following Jesus' command to love enemies. Many pastors now use these verses to teach the importance of bringing every honest emotion, including anger at injustice, before God in prayer.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- The Path of the Wicked: dark and slippery, human schemes lead to confusion and ruin (Jeremiah 23:12).
- The Pursuer: the Angel of Yahweh, God himself takes up the cause of the innocent.
- The Purpose: vindication, not revenge, but the clearing of God's holy name and the deliverance of the oppressed.
Five-point outline
- The Situation: David's innocence and his enemies' unjust persecution (vv. 7, 11-16).
- The Cry: 'Let their way be dark and slippery', a plea for God to thwart their plans.
- The Agent: the Angel of Yahweh, the divine warrior who has rescued Israel before.
- The Contrast: the wicked stumble in darkness; the righteous rejoice in salvation (v. 9).
- The Resolution: the psalm ends with praise, showing that trust in God's justice transforms lament into worship.
Illustration hooks
- A driver on an icy mountain road at night, headlights off, trying to avoid a sheer drop, that sense of hopelessness and danger.
- Being chased through an unfamiliar forest in the dark, not knowing what's ahead.
- An innocent person falsely accused, with no human court to hear their case, they can only cry out to God.
Questions your congregation is asking
- How can a loving God be behind such terrifying imagery?
- Does praying against my enemies make me a bad Christian?
- Where is the line between asking for justice and wanting revenge?
Leading a Discussion
This verse confronts us with the hard edge of Old Testament prayer. It sounds jarring to ears shaped by Jesus' command to love enemies. But the psalmist is not acting out personal fury; he is entrusting his cause to the only Judge who sees all. As you discuss, hold the tension: God's justice and mercy meet at the cross.
Discussion questions
- What do the words 'dark' and 'slippery' communicate about the fate David wishes for his enemies?
- Why does David mention the 'angel of the Lord' here? What earlier stories does that phrase call to mind?
- How does the surrounding context (verses 1-10) show that David is not acting out of personal spite but from a desire for God's justice?
- In what ways is this prayer different from a curse spoken in anger?
- How does the New Testament teaching on loving enemies (Matthew 5:44) challenge or deepen your understanding of this psalm?
- Can a Christian honestly pray imprecatory psalms today? If so, how?
- What does it mean to 'let God fight your battles'? Share a time when you had to wait for God to vindicate you.
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)
| Psalms 73:18 | Surely you set them in slippery places. You throw them down to destruction. |
| Proverbs 4:19 | The way of the wicked is like darkness. They don’t know what they stumble over. |
| Jeremiah 13:16 | Give glory to Yahweh your God, before he causes darkness, and before your feet stumble on the dark mountains, and while you look for light, he turns it into the shadow of death, and makes it deep darkness. |
| Jeremiah 23:12 | Therefore their way will be to them as slippery places in the darkness. They will be driven on, and fall therein; for I will bring evil on them, even the year of their visitation,” says Yahweh. |
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.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke reads the dark and tangled path described here as military language, not general trouble. He sees it as a prayer that the enemy would lose their way in ambushes, hidden snares, and failed stratagems, being completely confounded in their attempts to harm.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes focuses on the terrifying cumulative imagery: enemies scattered like chaff, driven along a dark and slippery path with no guide, and pursued by an avenging angel close behind. He clarifies that "persecute" here means simply "pursue" or "follow," not inflict pain for religious beliefs.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin emphasizes that David did not view everyone who opposed him as an enemy. He recognized that most people were simply misled by ignorance and the influence of those in power. Only those who knowingly and maliciously sided with Saul to gain his favor did David consider true enemies, and against them alone he called for God's judgment.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The writer suggests these vivid images of chaff driven by the wind and fugitives slipping on dark paths may come from a real battle memory, perhaps against the Philistines. While the language could be purely figurative, a literal event behind the prayer is considered more natural and likely.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva note highlights two distinct judgments: the enemies' path is made dark and slippery, robbing them of safety or direction, and the Angel of the Lord personally pursues them. The curse invokes active, direct divine intervention against the wicked.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill draws attention to the physical geography of Palestine, noting that ancient travelers observed dark valleys with slippery roads. He applies this image to the condition of the wicked: their way becomes calamitous, unstable, and uncomfortable in this life, making them unable to stand or know where to flee.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil and Delitzsch object to deriving the psalmist's words for shame from colors like pale or red. They trace one root to the idea of being disturbed and the other to being covered or hidden. They also identify the Angel of the Lord who drives back the wicked as the same Angel who hindered Pharaoh's chariots at the Red Sea.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange argues this psalm is not a repetitive lamentation but a rhythmic, agitated prayer with a threefold movement: petition for God’s
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry draws attention to David's situation as God's appointed servant, living with a clear conscience and following God's guidance, yet facing relentless enemies. Henry's point is that David's innocence makes the persecution completely unjust and that David's cause is ultimately God's own cause.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Their way - By which they flee, being chased.