Psalms 50:19

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

"You give your mouth to evil. You harnesses your tongue for deceit.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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תַּצְמִ֥יד

tsâmad

H6775

“to bind”

Verb, Hiphil, Imperfect, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular

Appears 5× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Numbers 25:3

Full BDB Definition

Origin: a primitive root

TWOT: 1927

to bind, join, fasten - (Niphal) to join, join or attach oneself to - (Pual) to be fastened, be bound - (Hiphil) to combine, fit together, hitch up

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 →

6: words
6: distinct lemmas
Wisdom: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is תַּצְמִ֥יד to bind H6775 — appearing just 5 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

תַּצְמִ֥יד to bind H6775 occurs in 5 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

2 verbs
4 nouns

Verb forms

שָׁלַ֣חְתָּ Qal · Perfect
תַּצְמִ֥יד Hiphil · Imperfect

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 12 words from the Hebrew and 11 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 6 Hebrew tokens and 11 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 50:19 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Psalms 10:7 His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and oppression. Under his tongue is mischief and iniquity.
Psalms 52:2–4 Your tongue plots destruction, Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.
Jeremiah 9:5 They will deceive everyone his neighbor, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they weary themselves to commit iniquity.
Revelation 21:8 But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."
Psalms 5:9 For there is no faithfulness in their mouth. Their heart is destruction. Their throat is an open tomb. They flatter with their tongue.
Psalms 55:21 His mouth was smooth as butter, But his heart was war. His words were softer than oil, Yet they were drawn swords.
Isaiah 59:3–4 For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue mutters wickedness.
Romans 3:13–14 "Their throat is an open tomb. With their tongues they have used deceit." "The poison of vipers is under their lips;"

James 3:5–9 So the tongue is also a little member, and boasts great things. See how a small fire can spread to a large forest!
Psalms 12:2–3 Everyone lies to his neighbor. They speak with flattering lips, and with a double heart.
Psalms 36:3–4 The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit. He has ceased to be wise and to do good.
Psalms 55:12 For it was not an enemy who insulted me, Then I could have endured it. Neither was it he who hated me who raised himself up against me, Then I would have hid myself from him.
Psalms 64:3–5 Who sharpen their tongue like a sword, And aim their arrows, deadly words,
Hosea 4:2 There is cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; They break boundaries, and bloodshed causes bloodshed.

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 49 (Hebrew Psalm 50). 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 50:19 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

פִּ֭יךָ שָׁלַ֣חְתָּ בְרָעָ֑ה וּ֝לְשׁוֹנְךָ֗ תַּצְמִ֥יד מִרְמָֽה

"You give your mouth to evil. You harnesses your tongue for deceit.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Greek Psalm 49:19 Septuagint · lemma form

ὁ στόμα σύ πλεονάζω κακία καί ὁ γλῶσσα σύ περιπλέκω δολιότης

Your mouth has multiplied wickedness, and your tongue has framed deceit.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

On this verse, Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 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 50:19 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 50:19 Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit.

Ver. 19. Thou givest thy mouth to evil] Heb. Thou sendest, the devil borroweth thy mouth, and thou lettest him have it.

And thy tongue frameth deceit] Heb. joineth, knitteth, compacteth.

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 50:19) Thy mouth thou hast given up to evil, and thy tongue will weave (or frame) deceit. The ninth commandment is now added to the other two, as being habitually violated by the person here addressed. Given up to, literally sent out with (or into) evil. The first clause is descriptive of mere evil speaking, the second of more artificial and ingenious lying. Both verbs include present time, but the first with the additional idea of an early habit, formed and settled in time past, the other with that of an inveterate habit, not likely to be broken or reformed hereafter.

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

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(19) Givest.—Literally, lettest loose.

Frameth.—Literally, weaves. So LXX. To weave snares is a common figure in all languages. Comp.

“My brain, more busy than the labouring spider,

Weaves tedious snares to trap mine enemies.”

SHAKSPERE: 2 Henry VI. 3:2.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

19. Thou hast let loose thy mouth for evil,

And thy tongue contriveth deceit.

Giving way to unbridled speech, evil in substance and mischievous in aim: contriving a whole structure of deliberate falsehoods.

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

Thou sittest,.... Either in the chair of Moses, or on the seat of judgment, in the great sanhedrim of the nation; or, as Aben Ezra paraphrases it, "in the seat of the scornful";

and speakest against thy brother; even to pass sentence upon him, to put him to death for professing faith in Christ, Mat 10:21;

thou slanderest thine own mother's son; the apostles and disciples of Christ, who were their brethren and kinsmen according to the flesh; and even our Lord Jesus Christ himself, who was bone of their bone, and flesh of their flesh.

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

Thou givest thy mouth to evil - Margin, as in Hebrew, “thou sendest.” That is, they gave it up to evil; they employed it in evil: in falsehood, malice, deceit, slander, deception, detraction.

And thy tongue frameth deceit - The word rendered “frameth” means properly to bind, to fasten; and then, to contrive, to frame. The meaning is, that it was employed in the work of deceit; that is, it was employed in devising and executing purposes of fraud and falsehood.

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

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

Thou givest, Heb. thou sendest forth, to wit, free; for the word is used of men’s dismissing their wives or their servants, whom they left to their freedom. Thou hast an unbridled tongue, and castest off all restraints of God’s law, and of thy own conscience, and givest thy tongue liberty to speak what thou pleasest, though it be offensive and dishonourable to God, and injurious to thy neighbour, or to thy own soul; which is justly produced as an evidence of their hypocrisy.

To evil; either to sinful or mischievous speeches.

Frameth deceit, i.e. uttereth lies or fair words, wherewith to circumvent those who deal with them.

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

The Treasury of David

Charles H. Spurgeon

Ver. 19. Thou givest thy mouth to evil. Sins against the ninth commandment are here mentioned. The man who surrenders himself to the habit of slander is a vile hypocrite if he associates himself with the people of God. A man's health is readily judged by his tongue. A foul mouth, a foul heart. Some slander almost as often as they breathe, and yet are great upholders of the church, and great sticklers for holiness. To what depths will not they go in evil, who delight in spreading it with their tongues? And thy tongue frameth deceit. This is a more deliberate sort of slander, where the man dexterously elaborates false witness, and concocts methods of defamation. There is an ingenuity of calumny in some men, and, alas! even in some who are thought to be followers of the Lord Jesus. They manufacture falsehoods, weave them in their loom, hammer them on their anvil, and then retail their wares in every company. Are these accepted with God? Though they bring their wealth to the altar, and speak eloquently of truth and of salvation, have they any favour with God? We should blaspheme the holy God if we were to think so. They are corrupt in his sight, a stench in his nostrils. He will cast all liars into hell. Let them preach, and pray, and sacrifice as they will; till they become truthful, the God of truth loathes them utterly.

Ver. 19. Thou givest thy mouth to evil, etc. Thou givest. Hebrew, thou sendest forth; to wit, free; for the word is used of men dismissing their wives or their servants, whom they left to their freedom. Thou hast an unbridled tongue, and castest off all restraints of God's law, and of thine own conscience, and givest thy tongue liberty to speak what you please, though it be offensive and dishonourable to God, and injurious to thy neighbour, or to thy own soul; which is justly produced as an evidence of their hypocrisy. To evil, either to sinful or mischievous speeches. Frameth deceit, i.e., uttereth lies or fair words, wherewith to circumvent those who deal with them. Matthew Poole.

Ver. 19. The ninth commandment is now added to the other two, as being habitually violated by the person here addressed. J. A. Alexander.

None.

Psalms 50:20*

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

Daniel D. Whedon

19. Mouth to evil… tongue frameth deceit—Wholly given to lies. Their business is to devise deceitful pretexts for unlawful gains and lustful pleasures.

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

Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit; rather, thou hast loosed thy mouth to evil; i.e. given it liberty to utter all manner of wicked speech; and especially thou hast used mouth and tongue to cozen and deceive.

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

Rashi

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)

you accustomed your tongue to deceit Heb. תצמיד. You accustom deceit to be with you; to speak evil. תצמיד is ajouter in French, to join, as (Num. 19:15): “a cover (צמיד) bound.”

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 6 words (6 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is tsâmad (“to bind”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

What does “to bind” (tsâmad) contribute to the verse as a whole?
How does Numbers 25:3, which shares the word «to bind», read alongside this verse?
These translations render this verse differently; the difference is in the English rendering, not the original. What questions does that raise?
«שָׁלַ֣חְתָּ» is a Qal Perfect verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
Compare how Trapp's Complete Commentary and J. A. Alexander on Psalms read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

This verse counts 6 Hebrew ↔ 11 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 7 words in this verse.
6 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 6 words in this verse.