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Psalm 10:8

ESV He sits in ambush in the villages; in hiding places he murders the innocent. His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;
NIV He lies in wait near the villages; from ambush he murders the innocent. His eyes watch in secret for his victims;
NASB He sits in the lurking places of the villages; He kills the innocent in the secret places; His eyes surreptitiously watch for the unfortunate.
CSB He waits in ambush near settlements; he kills the innocent in secret places. His eyes are on the lookout for the helpless;
NLT They lurk in ambush in the villages, waiting to murder innocent people. They are always searching for helpless victims.
KJV He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor.
NKJV He sits in the lurking places of the villages; In the secret places he murders the innocent; His eyes are secretly fixed on the helpless.

What does Psalm 10:8 mean?

What an indictment David levels against the wicked man here! Earlier verses depicted a wicked man preying on the poor and weak for his own gain (Psalm 10:2–3). This verse continues that sense of predatory evil. The wicked man makes deliberate effort to surprise and attack; hiding until he finds someone to murder, watching carefully to prey on someone weak enough to easily overcome. The depravity of this action is highlighted through the term rendered "helpless" in translations such as the ESV. The Hebrew root word hē'lekāh refers to someone to be pitied, often one who is poor. In poetic language, such a person is a "poor wretch."

The wicked man is like the proverbial robbers on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. They ambushed a man, robbed him, stripped him, beat him, and left him half dead (Luke 10:30). Crimes against the poor were especially common in Bible times. Robbers were known to hide from their intended victims until they could safely pounce upon them, rob them, and harm them. The wicked man David writes about here not only robbed his victims but also murdered them. He violated the Lord's commands: "You shall not murder" (Exodus 20:13), "You shall not steal" (Exodus 20:15), and "You shall not covet …" (Exodus 20:17).
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