Psalm 135:10

Psalm 135:10, in plain English

After Egypt came other enemies: God gave Israel victories over many nations and their powerful kings. The psalmist is building a case that God has consistently shown up for His people in battle.

Why it's here

As Israel moved into Canaan after the wilderness, they faced military resistance. Joshua's conquest narratives show God providing victories that seemed humanly impossible. This wasn't ancient military history to the original audience—these were stories of God's faithfulness happening within living memory or recent tradition.

Who's speaking

The psalmist, recounting Israel's military history

Where it sits in the story

This connects to Joshua's campaigns in Canaan and the establishment of Israel as a settled nation, fulfilling the promise God made to Abraham centuries earlier.

The scholarly reading

The liberation narrative broadens: God struck down 'many nations' and 'mighty kings'—demonstrating that the conquest of Egypt was not an isolated act but part of a larger pattern of God overcoming human opposition to His purposes.

Language and setting

This verse transitions the narrative from Egypt toward the conquest of Canaan, which consumed the subsequent forty years of wilderness wandering. The emphasis on 'many nations' (גּוֹיִם רַבִּים) and 'mighty kings' (מְלָכִים אַדִּירִים) suggests the speaker is compressing an extended historical period into a summary statement. The use of 'slaughtered' (הָרַג) carries martial intensity, appropriate to the conquest narratives of Joshua.

Voice

The liturgical voice expands its historical scope, moving from Egypt to the broader conquest period.

Significance

This verse connects the exodus with the conquest tradition, asserting that Israel's territorial establishment was not a contingent military success but a divinely orchestrated elimination of opposition. Later Jewish theology grappled with the ethics of this narrative, and Christian theology has frequently spiritualized it—interpreting the conquest as a type of the Christian life's spiritual warfare (Eph. 6:12-18) rather than endorsing literal ethnic displacement.

8He struck down the firstborn of Egypt, of both man and beast.

9He sent signs and wonders into your midst, O Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants.

10He struck down many nations and slaughtered mighty kings:

11Sihon king of the Amorites, Og king of Bashan, and all the kings of Canaan.

12He gave their land as an inheritance, as a heritage to His people Israel.

Read all of Psalm 135 — The Lord chose Israel as His treasured possession. A hymn that celebrates divine choice and power with borrowed phrases from across the Psalter.