Psalms 58:8
Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime, like the stillborn child who never sees the sun.
English Standard Version (ESV)
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The Psalmist uses two vivid images of complete dissolution: the snail that melts away into slime, leaving no trace, and the stillborn child that never experiences life. These aren't just random comparisons; they powerfully depict the complete annihilation and lack of any lasting impact the wicked will face, highlighting their ultimate futility.
The psalm has shifted into a desperate prayer for God's justice against wicked people who plot evil and speak lies. The psalmist has just described their venomous words and destructive actions, comparing them to lions and snakes, and now pleads for God to utterly destroy them. These verses serve as a powerful image of how completely and shamefully these enemies should be annihilated, vanishing without a trace.
The Psalmist uses a vivid, almost repulsive image to describe the end of the wicked. What does this peculiar comparison reveal about their ultimate fate?
The wicked are compared to a snail that melts away. This isn't just about disappearing; it's about a self-consuming, dissolving end.
The second image is equally stark: an untimely birth. What does this reveal about the wicked's existence and their encounter with God's light?
The Psalmist likens the wicked to an untimely birth that never sees the sun. This emphasizes a life that never truly began, never experienced light or warmth.
This passage echoes the imagery of stillborn children, emphasizing the idea of never seeing the light and a life cut short before it truly begins.
Matthew 15:14Jesus uses a similar metaphor of blindness, referring to the Pharisees as 'blind guides of the blind,' highlighting a spiritual lack of perception akin to never seeing the light.
Psalm 68:2This psalm also uses the image of melting, likening the wicked to wax melting before fire, which reinforces the theme of swift and complete dissolution presented in Psalm 58:8.
Romans 9:11While not directly about stillbirth, this passage discusses God's sovereign election and how children 'not yet born and done nothing either good or bad' are chosen, touching on the concept of life before it has had the chance to 'see the sun' of its own deeds.
calvinPsalms 58:6-9: "Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O LORD."
- Break their teeth, O God! in their mouth: break the jaws of the lions. 7. Let them flow away like waters, let them depart: let them bend their bow, and let their arrows be as broken. [352] 8. Let him vanish like a snail, which melts away; like the untimely birth of a woman, which does not see the sun. 9. Before your pots [353] can feel the fire of the thorns, a whirlwind shall car…
bensonPsalms 58:8: "As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away: like the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not see the sun."
Psalm 58:8 . As a snail melteth — Which thrusts forth itself, and seems to threaten with its horns, but is quickly dissolved. For it wastes by its own motions, in every stretch it makes, leaving some of its moisture behind, which, by degrees, must needs consume it, though it makes a path to shine after it. Like the untimely birth of a woman — Which dies as…
The Psalmist uses two vivid images of complete dissolution: the snail that melts away into slime, leaving no trace, and the stillborn child that never experiences life. These aren't just random comparisons; they powerfully depict the complete annihilation and lack of any lasting impact the wicked will face, highlighting their ultimate futility.
The psalm has shifted into a desperate prayer for God's justice against wicked people who plot evil and speak lies. The psalmist has just described their venomous words and destructive actions, comparing them to lions and snakes, and now pleads for God to utterly destroy them. These verses serve as a powerful image of how completely and shamefully these enemies should be annihilated, vanishing without a trace.
The psalm has shifted into a desperate prayer for God's justice against wicked people who plot evil and speak lies. The psalmist has just described their venomous words and destructive actions, comparing them to lions and snakes, and now pleads for God to utterly destroy them. These verses serve as a powerful image of how completely and shamefully these enemies should be annihilated, vanishing without a trace.
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"Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime, like the stillborn child who never sees the sun." — The Psalmist uses two vivid images of complete dissolution: the snail that melts away into slime, leaving no trace, and the stillborn child that never experiences life. These aren't just random compa…
