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Psalm 109:13
Let his posterity be cut off. In the generation following let their name be blotted out.
11Let the creditor seize all that he has. Let strangers plunder the fruit of his labor.
12Let there be no one to extend kindness to him, neither let there be anyone to have pity on his fatherless children.
13Let his posterity be cut off. In the generation following let their name be blotted out.
14Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered by the LORD. Don’t let the sin of his mother be blotted out.
15Let them be before the LORD continually, that he may cut off their memory from the earth;
Notice
The wish for a name to disappear reaches beyond one enemy to his descendants, making the scope of this curse hard to pass over.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What troubles you, if anything, about the curse extending to the next generation?
Write on thisWhat do you notice about family and memory across Psalm 109:11–15?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Proverbs 10:7The memory of the righteous is blessed, but the name of the wicked will rot.Both passages speak of a name’s loss, with Proverbs contrasting the wicked person’s name with the blessed memory of the righteous.
Nahum 1:14The LORD has commanded concerning you: “No more descendants will bear your name. Out of the house of your gods, I will cut off the engraved image and the …Both texts describe an end to descendants bearing a name, though Nahum presents a command from the LORD rather than a plea.
Job 18:17His memory will perish from the earth. He will have no name in the street.Both passages describe the disappearance of a person’s name and memory from human life.
Job 18:19He will have neither son nor grandson among his people, nor any remaining where he lived.The loss of posterity in the psalm matches Job’s description of someone left without son, grandson, or surviving family.
Psalm 37:28For the LORD loves justice, and doesn’t forsake his saints. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.Both passages speak of descendants being cut off; Psalm 37 sets that fate against the LORD’s preservation of his saints.
Deuteronomy 25:6It shall be that the firstborn whom she bears shall succeed in the name of his brother who is dead, that his name not be blotted out of Israel.Both texts link descendants with a continuing name; Deuteronomy provides for preserving the name that Psalm 109 asks to have erased.
Psalm 21:10You will destroy their descendants from the earth, their posterity from among the children of men.Both psalms speak of the destruction of descendants, extending judgment beyond those addressed to their posterity.
Isaiah 14:20You will not join them in burial, because you have destroyed your land. You have killed your people. The offspring of evildoers will not be named forever.Both passages connect the loss of descendants with the disappearance of their name, while Isaiah names violence against land and people.
Deuteronomy 9:14Leave me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under the sky; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.”Both passages speak of blotting out a name, linking destruction with the end of a continuing human identity.
Isaiah 26:14The dead shall not live. The departed spirits shall not rise. Therefore you have visited and destroyed them, and caused all memory of them to perish.Both texts connect destruction with erased remembrance, though Isaiah describes memory already lost and the psalm asks for its removal.
Jeremiah 11:19But I was like a gentle lamb that is led to the slaughter. I didn’t know that they had devised plans against me, saying, “Let’s destroy the tree with its …Both passages seek the erasure of a name; Jeremiah reports this wish as part of a plot against his own life.
Leviticus 20:20If a man lies with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness. They shall bear their sin. They shall die childless.Both texts speak of a family line ending, though Leviticus names a specific sexual offense and this verse voices a curse.
Where this verse fits
Injustice and anger. sermon or Bible study notes.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
The severity of these words deserves acknowledgment: descendants are included in the curse. The plea is addressed to God; it gives you no command to harm a family.
Now put it in your words.
Start an entry on Psalm 109:13. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).