The Meaning of Psalms 109:10 Explained

Psalms 109:10

KJV: Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places.

YLT: And wander continually do his sons, Yea, they have begged, And have sought out of their dry places.

Darby: Let his sons be vagabonds and beg, and let them seek their bread far from their desolate places;

ASV: Let his children be vagabonds, and beg; And let them seek their bread out of their desolate places.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Let his children  be continually  vagabonds,  and beg:  let them seek  [their bread] also out of their desolate places. 

What does Psalms 109:10 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalms 109:1-16 - The Persecutor Of The Needy
This psalm is like a patch of the Sahara amid a smiling Eden. But, terrible as the words are, remember that they were written by the man who, on two occasions, spared the life of his persecutor, and who, when the field of Gilboa was wet with Saul's life-blood, sang the loveliest of elegiacs to his memory. These maledictions do not express personal vindictiveness. Probably they should be read as depicting the doom of the wrong-doer. The Apostle, quoting this psalm, expressly says that the Spirit of Inspiration spoke before by the mouth of David, Acts 1:16. The imperative let might better be translated by the future shall. This would be in perfect conformity with Hebrew usage.
Notice in Psalms 109:4 that by omitting the three words in italics, a beautiful suggestion is made of the life of prayer: But I-prayer. The only response of the psalmist to the hatred of his enemies was to give himself more absolutely to prayer. His whole being was consumed in the one intense appeal to God. Such times come to us all. Such prayers always end in praise and thanksgiving, Psalms 109:30. Happy are we who also can count on the Advocate with the Father, Psalms 109:31. Jesus prays our prayers with us. [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 109

1  David complains of his slanderous enemies
16  He shows their sin
21  Complaining of his own misery, he prays for help
29  He promises thankfulness

What do the individual words in Psalms 109:10 mean?

And continually let be vagabonds his children and beg and let them seek [their bread] from their desolate places
וְנ֤וֹעַ יָנ֣וּעוּ בָנָ֣יו וְשִׁאֵ֑לוּ וְ֝דָרְשׁ֗וּ מֵחָרְבוֹתֵיהֶֽם

וְנ֤וֹעַ  And  continually 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Infinitive absolute
Root: נוּעַ  
Sense: to quiver, totter, shake, reel, stagger, wander, move, sift, make move, wave, waver, tremble.
יָנ֣וּעוּ  let  be  vagabonds 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: נוּעַ  
Sense: to quiver, totter, shake, reel, stagger, wander, move, sift, make move, wave, waver, tremble.
בָנָ֣יו  his  children 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, third person masculine singular
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
וְשִׁאֵ֑לוּ  and  beg 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Piel, Conjunctive perfect, third person common plural
Root: שָׁאַל 
Sense: to ask, enquire, borrow, beg.
וְ֝דָרְשׁ֗וּ  and  let  them  seek  [their  bread] 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, third person common plural
Root: דַּרְיׄושׁ 
Sense: to resort to, seek, seek with care, enquire, require.
מֵחָרְבוֹתֵיהֶֽם  from  their  desolate  places 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, feminine plural construct, third person masculine plural
Root: חָרְבָּה  
Sense: a place laid waste, ruin, waste, desolation.