Chapter
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150
Verse
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Psalm 46:9
ESV He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire.
NIV He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire.
NASB He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariots with fire.
CSB He makes wars cease throughout the earth. He shatters bows and cuts spears to pieces; he sets wagons ablaze.
NLT He causes wars to end throughout the earth. He breaks the bow and snaps the spear; he burns the shields with fire.
KJV He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.
NKJV He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariot in the fire.

What does Psalm 46:9 mean?

The context of this verse is a celebration of God's protection for Jerusalem and His people of the nation of Israel (Psalm 46:1–7). The meaning is not that God would stop all combat on earth at that time. The imagery of the Lord destroying military equipment and leaving them charred and useless is a symbol of His absolute power. An example of this, which might have inspired this psalm, is the annihilation of 185,000 Assyrian soldiers who attempted to besiege Jerusalem (2 Kings 19:35).

At the same time, a God-ordained end to all war is part of earth's future. Isaiah 2:4 predicts a time when warfare ends and peace prevails. At that time, the Messiah will

"judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore."
Ezekiel 39:9 prophesies: "Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and make fires of the weapons and burn them, shields and bucklers, bow and arrows, clubs and spears; and they will make fires of them for seven years." Isaiah 9:6 identifies the Messiah as bearing the government on His shoulder during that time of peace. Verse 7 describes His government as one of endless peace. He will rule His kingdom from the throne of David and justice and righteousness will characterize the kingdom.
Expand
Expand
Expand
What is the Gospel?
Download the app:
BibleRef.com is part of Got Questions Ministries

For answers to your Bible questions, please visit