Psalms 52:4

Psa 52:4 Thou lovest all devouring words, O [thou] deceitful tongue.

Ver. 4. Thou lovest all devouring words] Verba devoratoria ; the Greek hath it, καταποντισμου, that devour and swallow up, so as the sea doth things cast into it. So elsewhere, their throat is an open sepulchre, which devoureth all bodies, but rendereth none without a miracle. Some render it, Verba voraginis, the words of a whirlpool, which first turns men around, and then sucks them in. Others, Verba absorptionis, in reference to that use of the tongue, which is to sup up dish meats; Sic lingua attrahit homines ita ut absorbeantur, saith Vatablus. The Vulgate hath it, Verba praecipitationis, words that hurl one down headlong, Ex editis aedium vel rupium, as Hilary hath it, from the top of houses, or high rocks.

O thou deceitful tongue] Because, although it were for most part truth that he spake, yet he did it maliciously, and by dissimulation passed over that which might have made for Ahimelech, viz. that he relieved David in the simplicity of his heart, as thinking him to be high in the king’s favour, and employed by him. Hegesippus saith of Pilate, that he was Vir nequam, et parvi faciens mendacium, a naughty man, and one that made no bones of a lie: such another was Doeg (De excid. Jerus. l. 2. c. 5).

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.

Psa 52:4-5. Thou lovest all devouring words — Hebrew, דברי בלע, dibree balang, all the words of devouring, or destruction; that is, such calumnies as are the most pernicious in their nature, and as may most effectually involve others in utter destruction: such as might swallow up and destroy a whole family at once. God shall likewise destroy thee for ever — That is, totally and unavoidably, as thou didst destroy the priests. He shall pluck thee — Violently, irresistibly, and suddenly remove thee, as the word יסחךְ, jissachacha, signifies; out of thy dwelling-place — From thy house and lands, and all the wages of thy unrighteousness. Or, out of his, that is, the Lord’s tabernacle, from which thou didst cut off the Lord’s priests. Therefore God shall excommunicate thee from his presence, and from the society of the faithful. And though thou seemest to have taken very deep root, and to be more firmly settled in this barbarous cruelty; yet God shall root thee out of the land of the living, out of this world; shall pluck thee up by the very roots, and destroy thee, both root and branch. Which must have been very terrible to him who had his whole portion in this life.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6. (Psa 52:4). Thou hast loved all devouring words, tongue of fraud. This is not so much a continuation of the foregoing discourse, as a resumption or recapitulation for the purpose of drawing a conclusion from it. In periodic style, the connection of the ideas might be thus exhibited: "Since then thou lovest, etc., therefore God will," etc. Devouring words, literally words of swallowing or deglutition. The second noun occurs only here; but the verb to swallow up is continually used in Hebrew to express the idea of complete destruction. See above, on Psa 21:10 (9), Psa 35:25. Tongue of deceit or deceitful tongue. This phrase may be governed by the verb, thou past loved all devouring words (and or even) a deceitful tongue. But it adds to the strength of the expression, and agrees better with the form of the context, to make it an apostrophe or direct, address to the deceitful tongue itself.

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

all-devouring--literally, "swallowing," which utterly destroy (compare Psa 21:9; Psa 35:25).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The term בלע, balang, in verse fourth, which has been translated destruction, I prefer understanding in the sense of hiding or concealment. He seems to allude to the drawing back of the tongue when we swallow; and under this figure, to describe the deceitfulness of Doeg’s words, by which he devoured the unsuspecting and the innocent. The great design of David, as I have already remarked in the preceding verses, is to encourage himself in the hope of deliverance by dwelling upon the extreme character of that wickedness which his enemy had displayed.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(4) Devouring words.—Literally, words of swallowing, such as swallow down (comp. Psa_5:9, where the throat is called “an open sepulchre”) a neighbour’s life, honour, and goods.

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

4. devouring words] Lit., words of swallowing up. Cp. the use of the verb in Psa_35:25, “We have swallowed him up”: and Psa_53:4.

O thou deceitful tongue] This rendering is certainly preferable to that of the margin, ‘and the deceitful tongue.’ The bold identification of the offender with the offending member is far more vigorous, and perfectly legitimate. Cp. Psa_120:2-3; Psa_12:3; 1Ki_19:18.

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.

Thou lovest all devouring words,.... Or "words of swallowing up" (y); such as lies, calumnies, and detractions are, which devour the characters and reputations of men, and are the cause sometimes of their utter ruin and destruction; of the devouring and blasphemous words of antichrist see Rev 13:5;

O thou deceitful tongue; See Gill on Psa 52:2.

(y) "verba absorptionis", Vatablus, Gejerus, Schmidt.

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

Thou lovest all devouring words - All words that tend to devour or “swallow up” reputation and happiness. Luther, “Thou speakest gladly all things (anything) that will serve to destruction.” Anything, everything, that will serve to ruin people. The word rendered “devouring” - בלע bela‛ - occurs only here and in Jer 51:44, though the verb from which it is derived occurs frequently: Isa 28:4; Exo 7:12; Jon 2:1 Jon 1:17; Gen 41:7, Gen 41:24, et al. The verb means to swallow; and then, to consume or destroy.

O thou deceitful tongue - Margin, “and the deceitful tongue.” The sense is best expressed in the text. It is an address to the tongue as loving deceit or fraud.

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

Devouring words, such as might swallow up and destroy a whole family at once.

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

Ver. 4. Thou lovest. Thou hast a taste, a gusto for evil language. All devouring words. There are words that, like boa constrictors, swallow men whole, or like lions, rend men to pieces; these words evil minds are fond of. Their oratory is evermore furious and bloody. That which will most readily provoke the lowest passions they are sure to employ, and they think such pandering to the madness of the wicked to be eloquence of a high order. O thou deceitful tongue. Men can manage to say a great many furious things, and yet cover all over with the pretext of justice. They claim that they are jealous for the right, but the truth is they are determined to put down truth and holiness, and craftily go about it under this transparent pretence.

Ver. 4. Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue. He was all tongue; a man of words; and these the most deceitful and injurious. Adam Clarke.

None.

Psalms 52:5*

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

4. All devouring words—Literally, all words that gulp down. Words which swallow a man, as a voracious animal gulps his food without mastication. All such words of falsehood this “hero” in crime and perfidy loved, and none others. It is evident that Doeg was a man of marked ability, and of artful, insinuating address.

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

Thou lovest all devouring words. "Devouring words" are words that cause ruin and destruction. O thou deceitful tongue! or (as in the margin), and the deceitful tongue.

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

words that devour others

Here words that harm others are spoken of as if they were animals that devour people. AT: "words that harm others" (See: Metaphor)

you deceitful tongue

This refers to the person the author is speaking to. AT: "you speaker of deceit" or "you liar" (See: Synecdoche)

take you up ... pluck you ... root you

All three of these phrases are different ways of saying "remove you" (See: Parallelism)

root you out of the land of the living

Being alive on earth is spoken of as if people are plants with roots in the ground. God killing someone is spoken of as digging up the plant's roots and taking it out of the ground. AT: "he will take you out the land of the living" or "He will kill you so that you will no longer be on earth with living people" (See: Metaphor)

Selah

This may be a musical term that tells people how to sing or play their instruments here. Some translations write the Hebrew word, and some translations do not include it. (See: Copy or Borrow Words)

translationWords

word

devour

deceive

eternity

tent

life

selah

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

sharpened Heb. מְלֻטֳשּׁ.

working deceit Cutting the flesh with the hair.

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.