The Meaning of Psalms 124:3 Explained

Psalms 124:3

KJV: Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:

YLT: Then alive they had swallowed us up, In the burning of their anger against us,

Darby: Then they had swallowed us up alive, when their anger was kindled against us;

ASV: Then they had swallowed us up alive, When their wrath was kindled against us;

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Then  they had swallowed us up  quick,  when their wrath  was kindled  against us: 

What does Psalms 124:3 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalms 124:1-8 - The Christian's Fortress
Here are three instances of escaped peril. In Psalms 124:3 is an allusion to Korah and his company; see Numbers 16:32-33. Why are we spared when others have been overwhelmed by swift disasters? In Psalms 124:4 and Psalms 124:5, as the morning breaks, we see the proud waters that have burst their banks and are inundating the low-lying lands. Why did our house escape? In Psalms 124:6 and Psalms 124:7 we have the metaphor of the ensnared bird and as the fluttering fledgling, when freed, leaps into the sunny air, so do we rejoice when God frees us. But why should we escape when so many never break loose?
Psalms 125:1-5
Jerusalem lies on a broad and high mountain range, shut in by two deep valleys. But the surrounding hills are higher, and made her almost impregnable to the methods of ancient warfare. They who trust in God live within ramparts of His loving care for evermore. The scepter of evil may sometimes cast its gaunt shadow over their lives, but it is always arrested in time. Crooked ways are by-paths. The commandments of God are a public thoroughfare. Keep on the highway and no hurt shall assail you. [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 124

1  The church blesses God for a miraculous deliverance

What do the individual words in Psalms 124:3 mean?

Then alive they would have swallowed us when was kindled their wrath against us
אֲ֭זַי חַיִּ֣ים בְּלָע֑וּנוּ בַּחֲר֖וֹת אַפָּ֣ם בָּֽנוּ

חַיִּ֣ים  alive 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: חַי 
Sense: living, alive.
בְּלָע֑וּנוּ  they  would  have  swallowed  us 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural, first person common plural
Root: בָּלַע 
Sense: to swallow down, swallow up, engulf, eat up.
בַּחֲר֖וֹת  when  was  kindled 
Parse: Preposition-b, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: חָרָה  
Sense: to be hot, furious, burn, become angry, be kindled.
אַפָּ֣ם  their  wrath 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: אַף 
Sense: nostril, nose, face.
בָּֽנוּ  against  us 
Parse: Preposition, first person common plural