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Psalm 143

Psa. 143:3 KJV (With Strong’s)

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3
For the enemy
'oyeb (Hebrew #341)
active participle of 340; hating; an adversary
KJV usage: enemy, foe.
Pronounce: o-yabe'
Origin: or (fully) owyeb {o-yabe'}
hath persecuted
radaph (Hebrew #7291)
to run after (usually with hostile intent; figuratively (of time) gone by)
KJV usage: chase, put to flight, follow (after, on), hunt, (be under) persecute(-ion, -or), pursue(-r).
Pronounce: raw-daf'
Origin: a primitive root
my soul
nephesh (Hebrew #5315)
properly, a breathing creature, i.e. animal of (abstractly) vitality; used very widely in a literal, accommodated or figurative sense (bodily or mental)
KJV usage: any, appetite, beast, body, breath, creature, X dead(-ly), desire, X (dis-)contented, X fish, ghost, + greedy, he, heart(-y), (hath, X jeopardy of) life (X in jeopardy), lust, man, me, mind, mortally, one, own, person, pleasure, (her-, him-, my-, thy-)self, them (your)-selves, + slay, soul, + tablet, they, thing, (X she) will, X would have it.
Pronounce: neh'-fesh
Origin: from 5314
; he hath smitten
daka' (Hebrew #1792)
to crumble; transitively, to bruise (literally or figuratively)
KJV usage: beat to pieces, break (in pieces), bruise, contrite, crush, destroy, humble, oppress, smite.
Pronounce: daw-kaw'
Origin: a primitive root (compare 1794)
my life
chay (Hebrew #2416)
alive; hence, raw (flesh); fresh (plant, water, year), strong; also (as noun, especially in the feminine singular and masculine plural) life (or living thing), whether literally or figuratively
KJV usage: + age, alive, appetite, (wild) beast, company, congregation, life(-time), live(-ly), living (creature, thing), maintenance, + merry, multitude, + (be) old, quick, raw, running, springing, troop.
Pronounce: khah'-ee
Origin: from 2421
down
daka' (Hebrew #1792)
to crumble; transitively, to bruise (literally or figuratively)
KJV usage: beat to pieces, break (in pieces), bruise, contrite, crush, destroy, humble, oppress, smite.
Pronounce: daw-kaw'
Origin: a primitive root (compare 1794)
to the ground
'erets (Hebrew #776)
the earth (at large, or partitively a land)
KJV usage: X common, country, earth, field, ground, land, X natins, way, + wilderness, world.
Pronounce: eh'-rets
Origin: from an unused root probably meaning to be firm
; he hath made me to dwell
yashab (Hebrew #3427)
properly, to sit down (specifically as judge. in ambush, in quiet); by implication, to dwell, to remain; causatively, to settle, to marry
KJV usage: (make to) abide(-ing), continue, (cause to, make to) dwell(-ing), ease self, endure, establish, X fail, habitation, haunt, (make to) inhabit(-ant), make to keep (house), lurking, X marry(-ing), (bring again to) place, remain, return, seat, set(- tle), (down-)sit(-down, still, -ting down, -ting (place) -uate), take, tarry.
Pronounce: yaw-shab'
Origin: a primitive root
in darkness
machshak (Hebrew #4285)
darkness; concretely, a dark place
KJV usage: dark(-ness, place).
Pronounce: makh-shawk'
Origin: from 2821
, as those that have been long
`owlam (Hebrew #5769)
from 5956; properly, concealed, i.e. the vanishing point; generally, time out of mind (past or future), i.e. (practically) eternity; frequentatively, adverbial (especially with prepositional prefix) always
KJV usage: alway(-s), ancient (time), any more, continuance, eternal, (for, (n-))ever(-lasting, -more, of old), lasting, long (time), (of) old (time), perpetual, at any time, (beginning of the) world (+ without end). Compare 5331, 5703.
Pronounce: o-lawm'
Origin: or lolam {o-lawm'}
dead
muwth (Hebrew #4191)
causatively, to kill
KJV usage: X at all, X crying, (be) dead (body, man, one), (put to, worthy of) death, destroy(-er), (cause to, be like to, must) die, kill, necro(-mancer), X must needs, slay, X surely, X very suddenly, X in (no) wise.
Pronounce: mooth
Origin: a primitive root: to die (literally or figuratively)
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More on:

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Darkness,
Life,
Soul; Spirit

Cross References

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Ministry on This Verse

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the enemy.
Psa. 7:1‑2• 1<<Shiggaion of David, which he sang unto the Lord, concerning the words of Cush the Benjamite.>> O Lord my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me:
 2Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver. (Psa. 7:1‑2)
;
Psa. 17:9‑13• 9From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about.
 10They are inclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly.
 11They have now compassed us in our steps: they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth;
 12Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.
 13Arise, O Lord, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword: (Psa. 17:9‑13)
;
Psa. 35:4• 4Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt. (Psa. 35:4)
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Psa. 54:3• 3For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul: they have not set God before them. Selah. (Psa. 54:3)
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Psa. 142:6• 6Attend unto my cry; for I am brought very low: deliver me from my persecutors; for they are stronger than I. (Psa. 142:6)
smitten.
Psa. 7:5• 5Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it; yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth, and lay mine honor in the dust. Selah. (Psa. 7:5)
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2 Sam. 2:22• 22And Abner said again to Asahel, Turn thee aside from following me: wherefore should I smite thee to the ground? how then should I hold up my face to Joab thy brother? (2 Sam. 2:22)
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2 Sam. 18:11• 11And Joab said unto the man that told him, And, behold, thou sawest him, and why didst thou not smite him there to the ground? and I would have given thee ten shekels of silver, and a girdle. (2 Sam. 18:11)
made me.
Psa. 31:12‑13• 12I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel.
 13For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life. (Psa. 31:12‑13)
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Psa. 88:4‑6• 4I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength:
 5Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand.
 6Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps. (Psa. 88:4‑6)
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Ezek. 37:11• 11Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. (Ezek. 37:11)
• (vv. 3-6) The next verses present the sorrowful circumstances that call forth the prayer. The godly man is persecuted by the enemy; his life is crushed; his way is dark, and, he himself, forgotten as one long dead. (“Psalms 143” by H. Smith)
• They recall what the Assyrian had done in their earlier attack (the 1st attack—the King of the North and his Arab confederacy, Ps. 79:1-3) when they desolated the whole land, and fear another similar carnage (vs. 1-3). (“Book 5.” by B. Anstey)

J. N. Darby Translation

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3
For the enemy persecuteth my soul: he hath crushed my life down to the earth; he hath made me to dwell in dark places, as those that have been long dead.