Psalms 78:56–64, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Psalms 78:56–64
A teaching poem retells rebellion and mercy: High places, Shiloh, and defeat
High places and images provoke a jealousy the fathers already knew
Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God, and kept not his testimonies: but turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow. For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.
A deceitful bow looks ready and then fails in the pull. Unfaithfulness is measured against testimonies already given, not against later church slogans. The poem is still Israel judging Israel.
Shiloh is forsaken, and the disaster is human, not a cartoon of a people
When God heard this, he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel: so that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men; and delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy's hand. He gave his people over also unto the sword; and was wroth with his inheritance.
The fire consumed their young men; and their maidens were not given to marriage. Their priests fell by the sword; and their widows made no lamentation. Strength and glory going into captivity remembers the ark's loss. Young men, maidens, priests, and silent widows are persons. Shiloh's fall is not proof that Judaism is discarded, not an antisemitic exhibit, and not a license to shame descendants. The unit ends in that wreck; Zion has not yet been named as the answer.
How this should shape us
Take rival loves and failed worship seriously enough to name them, and grieve real dead people when a holy tent falls. Do not use Shiloh to declare Jews abandoned, and do not skip the widows in order to reach a later capital.
Teach it back
Explain Psalms 78:56–64 in your own words. Name the poetic voice and movement, trace its place in Psalm 78 and Book III, identify one exact source control or uncertainty, and reject one use the passage does not authorize.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do responsible readings differ?
Best judgment: The poetic retelling selects and interprets Israel's past; it is not a neutral chronology, an anti-Jewish caricature, or permission to shame descendants.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Psalms 78:56–64, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ps.xml, OSIS 78:56–64
Supports: Verse-level controls for poetic syntax, imagery, older KJV language, textual issues, headings, and alternatives in Psalms 78:56–64.
Official NET Bible Psalm 78 HTML, translator, textual, and study notes attached to Psalms 78:56–64
Supports: Five-book, genre, poetic, historical, theological, liturgical, communal, and reception synthesis with visible limits.
Enter the Bible Psalms course, Introductory Issues: genres, parallelism, and forms; Theological Themes: Torah and human response; applied to Psalms 78:56–64
Supports: Ancient Greek wording, numbering, division, and superscription evidence where it materially clarifies translation or reception.
NETS Psalms, Pietersma introduction pp. 542–543 and exact Greek translation headed Ps 78 for Psalms 78:56–64
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Psalms 78:56–64, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Psalms
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ps.xml, OSIS 78:56–64
Open the fixed Hebrew Psalms file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Notes: Psalms 1-150
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, current official online edition
Supports: Verse-level controls for poetic syntax, imagery, older KJV language, textual issues, headings, and alternatives in Psalms 78:56–64.
Exact location: Official NET Bible Psalm 78 HTML, translator, textual, and study notes attached to Psalms 78:56–64
Open the official NET Psalms notes ↗modern scholarly book course
Psalms course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, theological themes, and Bible in the world
Fred Gaiser; revised by Nicholas Schaser
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, revised May 2024
Supports: Five-book, genre, poetic, historical, theological, liturgical, communal, and reception synthesis with visible limits.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Psalms course, Introductory Issues: genres, parallelism, and forms; Theological Themes: Torah and human response; applied to Psalms 78:56–64
Open the Enter the Bible Psalms course ↗ancient greek text translation and introduction
A New English Translation of the Septuagint: Psalms
Albert Pietersma
International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies; Oxford University Press, 2009
Supports: Ancient Greek wording, numbering, division, and superscription evidence where it materially clarifies translation or reception.
Exact location: NETS Psalms, Pietersma introduction pp. 542–543 and exact Greek translation headed Ps 78 for Psalms 78:56–64
Open NETS Psalms ↗