Psalms 109:19

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

Let it be to him as the clothing with which he covers himself, For the belt that is always around him.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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וּ֝לְמֵ֗זַח

mâzîyach

H4206

“and · to/for · girdle”

Conjunction + Preposition + Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute

Appears 3× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Job 12:21

Full BDB Definition

Origin: from H2118

TWOT: 1172a

girdle

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

7: words
6: distinct lemmas
Wisdom: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is וּ֝לְמֵ֗זַח girdle H4206 — appearing just 3 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

וּ֝לְמֵ֗זַח girdle H4206 occurs in 3 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

3 verbs
3 nouns
1 preposition

Verb forms

תְּהִי Qal · Imperfect
יַעְטֶ֑ה Qal · Imperfect
יַחְגְּרֶֽהָ Qal · Imperfect

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 21 words from the Hebrew and 22 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 7 Hebrew tokens and 13 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Psalms 109:19 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Psalms 109:29 Let my adversaries be clothed with dishonor. Let them cover themselves with their own shame as with a robe.
Psalms 132:18 I will clothe his enemies with shame, But on himself, his crown will be resplendant."
Psalms 35:26 Let them be disappointed and confounded together who rejoice at my calamity. Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves against me.
Psalms 109:18 He clothed himself also with cursing as with his garment. It came into his inward parts like water, Like oil into his bones.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

You’re reading Greek Psalm 108 (Hebrew Psalm 109). The Septuagint counts the superscription, so verse numbers can differ from the Hebrew — chapter-level alignment, not verse-by-verse. Numbering follows Rahlfs.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Psalms 109:19 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

תְּהִי ל֭וֹ כְּבֶ֣גֶד יַעְטֶ֑ה וּ֝לְמֵ֗זַח תָּמִ֥יד יַחְגְּרֶֽהָ

Let it be to him as the clothing with which he covers himself, For the belt that is always around him.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Greek Psalm 108:19 Septuagint · lemma form

γίγνομαι αὐτός ὡς ἱμάτιον ὅς περιβάλλω καί ὡσεί ζωνή ὅς διά πᾶς περιζώννυμι

Let it be to him as a garment which he puts on, and as a girdle with which he girds himself continually.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

On this verse, The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges discusses the Septuagint’s reading. Read the note in Commentary ↓

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Commentary

Notes on Psalms 109:19 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

Psa 109:19 Let it be unto him as the garment [which] covereth him, and for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually.

Ver. 19. Let it be unto him as a garment] Yet as an inner, but outer garment also, that men may see and say, This is an accursed person; the visible vengeance of God pursueth him.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

J. A. Alexander on Psalms

Joseph Addison Alexander

19. (Psa 109:19) Let it be to him as a garment (that) he wears, and for a belt let hiim always gird it. This is not a mere reiteration of the figure in the first clause of Psa 109:18, but conveys the additional idea of a habitual and constant presence. The word belt is used in the translation of the last clause, be-cause the Hebrew word to which it corresponds is not the usual derivative of the verb that follows, but etymologically unconnected with it.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 19. And for a girdle] Let the curse cleave to him throughout life: as the girdle binds all the clothes to the body, let the curse of God bind all mischiefs and maladies to his body and soul.

The Hindoos, Budhists, and others often wear a gold or silver chain about their waist. One of those chains, once the ornament of a Moudeliar in the island of Ceylon, lies now before me: it is silver, and curiously wrought.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

19. (So) let it be unto him as the garment in which he wraps himself,

And as the belt wherewith he girds himself continually.

As the text stands, the verbs in Psa_109:17-18 cannot be rendered as optatives, let it come … let it be far … let it come. At first sight it is tempting to make the slight change in vocalisation which would give this sense (cp. LXX and Jer.); but the text admits of a good explanation. The past tenses it came … it was far … it came are not to be explained as ‘futures of certainty,’ water and oil (possibly with a reference to the water of jealousy, Num_5:22) being regarded as figures for what will inevitably penetrate his whole body. Water and oil naturally denote what is refreshing and strengthening (Job_15:16; Job_34:7; Pro_3:8). The wicked man deliberately chose the policy of cursing, and welcomed it to a home in his heart; he banished blessing from his thoughts and purposes. Cursing became the habit of mind, which he assumed each day as naturally as his garment: it was a positive refreshment and invigoration of his whole being. Therefore let it cleave inseparably to him and let him never be able to free himself from it Let it cling to him like a Nessus-shirt of venom.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

Let this be the reward of mine adversaries from the Lord,.... Who were so many Satans, as the word used signifies; and Judas particularly is called a devil; and of the same malevolent and diabolical disposition were the Jews in general, Joh 6:70 and what is before imprecated upon them is the just recompence of reward for their hatred to Christ and ill usage of him.

And of them that speak evil against my soul; or "life" (f); in order to take it away, as did the false witnesses that rose up against him, and the Jews who charged him with sedition and blasphemy.

(f) "contra vitam meam", Gejerus.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Let it be unto him as the garment which covereth him - He has chosen to put it on, to wear it, to appear in it; so let him constantly feel its consequences. As he is always obliged to wear clothing, so let this be as constantly with him and upon him as his mantle and his sash.

And for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually - The belt or girdle which he constantly wears. See the notes at Mat 5:38.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

Which cleaves closer and faster to a man than a garment, than the Eastern garments did, which were large and loose.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

Daniel D. Whedon

19. Continually—This garment and girdle are to be worn perpetually, not to be intermitted, or laid off, as with common apparel.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Pulpit Commentary

Let it be unto him as the garment which covereth him. Let it cling to him both outwardly and inwardly inwardly, as the penetrating oil; outwardly, as the everyday dress. And for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually. The "girdle" or "waistcloth" was even more inseparable from the wearer than his beged, his "cloak" or "wrap."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

unfoldingWord translationNotes

Door43 World Missions Community

May his curses be to him like the clothes he wears to cover himself

People wore their clothes everyday. David speaks of a wicked person always being cursed as if his curses always covered him as his clothing does. AT: "Let his curses be on him every day like the garment he wears" (See: Simile)

like the belt he always wears

The words "may his curses be to him" are understood from the previous phrase. They may be repeated here. AT: "may his curses be to him like the belt he always wears" or "and let his curses always be on him like the belt he always wears" (See: Ellipsis)

May this be the reward

"May these curses be the reward"

translationWords

curse

reward

accuse

Yahweh

evil

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Rashi

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)

May it be to him [May] the curse [be to him] as an envelopment like a garment. [This] I found.

and as a girdle...constantly Heb. ולמזח, a girdle, and so, (Job 12:21): “and loosens the belt (מזיח) of the strong.” He loosens the belt of the strong.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Psalms, in the Wisdom, opens this verse with 7 words (6 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is mâzîyach (“girdle”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

What does “girdle” (mâzîyach) contribute to the verse as a whole?
Job 12:21 shares the word «girdle» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
The translations on this page render this verse differently — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment. What might account for the different wordings?
The verb «תְּהִי» is Qal Imperfect. How does its form color the action?
Reading how Trapp's Complete Commentary and J. A. Alexander on Psalms read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

This verse counts 7 Hebrew ↔ 13 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 18 words in this verse.
6 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 7 words in this verse.