Psalms 76:12 - Exposition

He shall cut off the spirit of princes . "The spirit" seems here to mean "the life." God cuts off princes in their prime as a gardener cuts off bunches of grapes (comp. Isaiah 18:5 ). He is terrible to the kings of the earth. Not "princes" only— נגידים —but "kings"— מלכים —also are cut off in their prime when God pleases. Sennacherib's untimely death ( 2 Kings 19:37 ) followed not many years after the destruction of his host, in which there must have been many "princes."