What Does Psalms 83:10 Mean?

Which perished at En-dor: they became as dung for the earth. The victory description continues with graphic detail. Nishmadu v-En-dor (נִשְׁמְדוּ בְעֵין־דֹּאר, "perished at En-dor") uses shamad (שָׁמַד), meaning utterly destroyed, annihilated. En-dor, near Mount Tabor, became graveyard for Midianite forces. The phrase hayu domen la-adamah (הָיוּ דֹּמֶן לָאֲדָמָה, "they became dung for the earth") is deliberately crude—defeated warriors' corpses left unburied, decomposing, fertilizing soil.

This imagery deliberately dishonors the enemies while emphasizing complete defeat. Ancient Near Eastern culture valued proper burial deeply; leaving corpses unburied was ultimate degradation (1 Kings 14:11, Jeremiah 8:2). The dead become domen (דֹּמֶן, "dung/manure")—worthless refuse, their military pride reduced to fertilizer. This brutal language reflects warfare's horror while communicating that those who oppose God end in utter humiliation.

The agricultural metaphor contains ironic justice: enemies who plotted to "take to ourselves the houses of God in possession" (v. 12)—seize Israel's land—instead become manure enriching that very land. Their ambition to possess results in their decomposition fertilizing what they sought to steal. God's judgments often contain poetic justice—the punishment fitting the crime (Esther 7:10, Daniel 6:24).