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Psalm 44:14
You make us a byword among the nations, a shaking of the head among the peoples.
12You sell your people for nothing, and have gained nothing from their sale.
13You make us a reproach to our neighbors, a scoffing and a derision to those who are around us.
14You make us a byword among the nations, a shaking of the head among the peoples.
15All day long my dishonor is before me, and shame covers my face,
16at the taunt of one who reproaches and verbally abuses, because of the enemy and the avenger.
Notice
A byword and a shaken head show a people exposed to contempt, while their prayer names God as the one who has brought them there.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What is hardest for you about addressing God with the words “You make us”?
Write on thisWhen have you seen a community’s suffering become a source of ridicule for others?
Write on thisHow does the silent contempt of a shaken head differ from a spoken insult?
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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
1 Kings 9:7then I will cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and I will cast this house, which I have made holy for my name, out of my sight; and Israel …Both texts describe Israel becoming a byword among other peoples, with God named as the one bringing this about.
Jeremiah 24:9I will even give them up to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth for evil, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all …Both describe God exposing his people to public disgrace, where other nations turn them into a subject of contempt.
Job 17:6“But he has made me a byword of the people. They spit in my face.Both describe being made a byword among people, with public contempt expressed through a bodily gesture.
2 Chronicles 7:20then I will pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have made holy for my name, I will cast out of my sight, …Both use the language of becoming a byword among peoples to describe disgrace brought about by God.
Job 16:4I also could speak as you do. If your soul were in my soul’s place, I could join words together against you, and shake my head at you,Head-shaking appears in both passages as a gesture directed against sufferers, though Job describes what he could do in reversed circumstances.
2 Kings 19:21This is the word that the LORD has spoken concerning him: ‘The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and ridiculed you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken …Both portray head-shaking as contempt, though Jerusalem directs the gesture in Kings and God’s people receive it in the psalm.
Deuteronomy 28:37You will become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where the LORD will lead you away.Both describe the disgrace of becoming a byword among peoples, in circumstances attributed to the Lord.
Lamentations 2:15–17All that pass by clap their hands at you. They hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, “Is this the city that men called ‘The perfection …Both depict God’s people enduring public contempt expressed through head-shaking; Lamentations adds the taunts of those passing Jerusalem.
Job 30:9“Now I have become their song. Yes, I am a byword to them.Both describe sufferers becoming a byword to others, with Job speaking as an individual and the psalm speaking for a people.
Psalm 22:7All those who see me mock me. They insult me with their lips. They shake their heads, saying,Both portray head-shaking as an expression of mockery directed at those already suffering.
Isaiah 37:22this is the word which the LORD has spoken concerning him: The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and ridiculed you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken …Both use head-shaking to express ridicule, though Jerusalem gives the gesture in Isaiah and God’s people receive it in the psalm.
Psalm 109:25I have also become a reproach to them. When they see me, they shake their head.Both connect public disgrace with the contemptuous gesture of others shaking their heads at the sufferer.
Where this verse fits
Injustice and anger. feeling distant from God.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
Shame does not have to end speech with God. Here, his people address him through public disgrace, even as they name him as the source of their humiliation.
Now put it in your words.
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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).