Then did I beat them as small as the dust of the earth, I did stamp them as the mire of the street, and did spread them abroad.
Then did I beat them as small as the dust of the earth. This language may be only expressive of that contempt in which ancient conquerors were accustomed to indulge in speaking of worthless foes; they would tread them underfoot as the dust (cf. Isaiah 10:6; Zephaniah 1:17; Zechariah 10:5). But it is literally true that they might be reduced as small as dust. The bodies of slain enemies that lie exposed without the rites of burial on the field or streets, soon become the prey of dogs and vultures (1 Kings 14:11; 1 Kings 16:4; 1 Kings 21:19-23), and the bones, stripped of all flesh, blanch in the warm climate, where they are not long in being crumbled to dust, and so trodden under the feet of their masters. It was this sad issue, doubtless, that David had in his mind when he penned this passage in the song.