Psalms 64:7

Therefore God shoots at them with an arrow;

Suddenly are they smitten.

The peculiar idiom of the Heb. in this and the following verses conveys the idea that this judgement is the immediate consequence of their conduct, and though still future, is as certain as though it were already historical fact. Lit. So God hath shot … they have been wounded … and they have been made to stumble … and all men have feared, and they have declared … and understood &c.: Note the parallelism of this verse to Psalms 64:4, They aim their arrows at the righteous, unseen, as they fancy, by man, and unregarded by God; but swift retribution overtakes them unawares. Cp. Psalms 7:12 ff. R.V. follows the Massoretic accents in attaching with an arrowto the second line; but the balance of the clauses is in favour of dividing the verses as A.V. does, and the parallel with Psalms 64:4 is more striking if -suddenly" occupies the same emphatic position at the beginning of the second line as there. Note how their punishment is described in terms of their crime (Psalms 64:4).