You make us a byword among the nations, a shaking of the head among the peoples.
Private to you. Anything you write on this verse, here or while reading, shows up here and in My study.
You make us a byword amongst the nations, a shaking of the head amongst the peoples.
You have made us a byword among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples.
Thou makest us a byword among the heathen, a shaking of the head among the people.
Thou makest us a byword among the nations, A shaking of the head among the peoples.
Our name is a word of shame among the nations, a sign for the shaking of heads among the peoples.
Tap a word to see what it means and everywhere else it's used.
"You made us a similitude among the heathen" [Psalm 44:14]. What is meant by a "similitude"? It is when men in imprecating a curse make a "similitude" of his name whom they detest. "So may thou die;" "So may thou be punished!" What a number of such reproaches were then uttered! "So may thou be crucified!" Even in the present day there are not wanting enemies of Christ (those very Jews themselves), against whom whenever we defend Christ, they say unto us, "So may thou die as He did." For they would not have inflicted that kind of death had they not an intense horror of dying by such a death: or had they been able to comprehend what mystery was contained in it. When the ointment is applied to the eyes of the blind man, he does not see the eye-salve in the physician's hand. For the very Cross was made for the benefit even of the persecutors themselves. Hereby they were healed afterwards; and they believed in Him whom they themselves had slain. "You made us a similitude among the heathen; a shaking of the head among the peoples," a "shaking of the head" by way of insult. "They spoke with their lips, they shook the head." This they did to the Lord: this to all His Saints also, whom they were able to pursue, to lay hold of, to mock, to betray, to afflict, and to slay.
Matthew Henry · Verses 9–16
The believer must have times of temptation, affliction, and discouragement; the church must have seasons of persecution. At such times the people of God will be ready to fear that he has cast them off, and that his name and truth will be dishonoured. But they should look above the instruments of their trouble, to God, well knowing that their worst enemies have no power against them, but what is permitted from above.
Spurgeon · Verse 14
Thou makest us a byword among the heathen, a shaking of the head among the people. The lamentation is here repeated. They had sunk so low that none did them reverence, but universally and publicly they were treated as infamous and despicable. Those who reviled others dragged in Israel's name by the way as a garnish to their insults, and if perchance they saw one of the seed of Jacob in the street they used lewd gestures to annoy him. Those whose heads were emptiest wagged them at the separated people. They were the common butts of every fool's arrow. Such has been the lot of the righteous in ages past, such is their portion in a measure now, such may be yet again their heritage in the worst sense. The world knows not its nobility, it has no eye for true excellence: it found a cross for the Master, and cannot be expected to award crowns to his disciples.
Cross-references: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. Hebrew and Greek data from STEPBible.org (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0. Library: sources.
Clearspring guide
Ask where anything is, or say what you need