The Meaning of Psalms 80:16 Explained

Psalms 80:16

KJV: It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.

YLT: Burnt with fire -- cut down, From the rebuke of Thy face they perish.

Darby: It is burned with fire, it is cut down; they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.

ASV: It is burned with fire, it is cut down: They perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

[It is] burned  with fire,  [it is] cut down:  they perish  at the rebuke  of thy countenance. 

What does Psalms 80:16 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalm 80:8-19 - "cause Thy Face To Shine"
The imagery of the vine is taken from Jacob's dying words, in which he compared Joseph to a fruitful bough which had grown over the wall, Genesis 49:22. It is therefore a very apt and appropriate figure in this psalm, of which the northern tribes are the special subject. The figure of the vine is wrought out with extreme beauty. The book of Exodus tells of the transplanting, and those of Joshua and Judges of the ground that was cleared to receive it. In the days of Solomon, the boughs of the kingdom reached to the Euphrates on the east, and the Great Sea (the Mediterranean) on the west. But the walls were broken down by invasion, and the vine lay at the mercy of every passer-by or the wild creatures of the forest.
We, too, know the havoc which ensues when the Church no longer lives within the ring-fence of God's care. Revive us! Restore us! Cause thy face to shine! The man of thy right hand, Psalms 80:17, may be another term for Israel, Genesis 35:18. But our Lord alone can fulfill this description; and God's power is pledged to arrest the advance of the enemy, and to cause the true Vine and its branches to cover the earth. We must turn to John 15:1-27 to find the antitype of Israel, in the relation between Christ and His Church. [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalm 80

1  The psalmist in his prayer complains of the miseries of the church
8  God's former favors are turned into judgments
14  He prays for deliverance

What do the individual words in Psalms 80:16 mean?

[it is] burned with fire [it is] cut down at the rebuke of Your countenance they perish
שְׂרֻפָ֣ה בָאֵ֣שׁ כְּסוּחָ֑ה מִגַּעֲרַ֖ת פָּנֶ֣יךָ יֹאבֵֽדוּ

שְׂרֻפָ֣ה  [it  is]  burned 
Parse: Verb, Qal, QalPassParticiple, feminine singular
Root: שָׂרַף  
Sense: to burn.
בָאֵ֣שׁ  with  fire 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, common singular
Root: אֵשׁ  
Sense: fire.
כְּסוּחָ֑ה  [it  is]  cut  down 
Parse: Verb, Qal, QalPassParticiple, feminine singular
Root: כָּסַח  
Sense: to cut down, cut away, cut off (of plants).
מִגַּעֲרַ֖ת  at  the  rebuke 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: גְּעָרָה  
Sense: a rebuke, reproof.
פָּנֶ֣יךָ  of  Your  countenance 
Parse: Noun, common plural construct, second person masculine singular
Root: לִפְנֵי 
Sense: face.
יֹאבֵֽדוּ  they  perish 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: אָבַד  
Sense: perish, vanish, go astray, be destroyed.