Psalms 59:7

Psa 59:7 Behold, they belch out with their mouth: swords [are] in their lips: for who, [say they], doth hear?

Ver. 7. Behold, they belch out with their mouth] Calling me traitor wherever they come, and seeking to double murder him, viz. by detraction, and by deadly practice. As a fountain casteth out waters, so do graceless men wickedness, Jer 6:7.

Swords are in their lips] Or, to their lips they add swords; they word it not only, but are armed and well-appointed. But it is well that they blurt out their bloody purposes, and so give warning, Hunc tibi pugionem mittit Senatus; detexit facinus fatuus, et non implevit.

For who, say they, doth hear?] i.e. Who, that we need care for? David’s friends, they thought, durst not utter their discontent; and for God they took no great thought, Psa 10:3; Psa 55:20.

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.

8. (Psa 59:7). Lo, they pour out with their mouths; swords (are) in their lips; for who (is) hearing? He here reverts to his description and complaint of his enemies. The first verb is expressive of a constant flow or gush. See above, on Psa 19:2. What it is that they thus pour out, although not expressed, may be readily gathered from the context, namely, slanders and reproaches. The swords in their lips are significant of sharp and cutting speeches. Compare Psa 52:3. The English version, by supplying "say they," makes the last clause the language of these wicked foes, who are then to be understood as denying God's omniscience or his justice. See above, on Psa 10:11; Psa 10:13, and compare Psa 14:1; Psa 42:10. But a still more striking sense may be obtained by making this clause the complaint of the Psalmist himself, as if he had said: no wonder that they thus pour out their bitter words; for who is there to observe and punish them? The question implies that God himself had ceased to notice their offences, and the participial form, that this neglect had now become habitual.

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

They boast openly in their wicked devices, and every word is as a sword: for they neither fear God nor are ashamed of men.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

for who, say they--For the full expression with the supplied words, compare Psa 64:5.

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

Verse 7. They belch out with their mouth] They use the lowest insult, the basest abuse. They deal in sarcasm, ridicule, slander, and lies.

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

In the verse which follows, he describes their fierceness. The expression, prating, or belching out with their mouth, denotes that they proclaimed their infamous counsels openly, and without affecting concealment. The Hebrew word נבע, nabang, means, metaphorically, to speak, but properly, it signifies to gush out, and here denotes more than simply speaking. He would inform us, that not content with plotting the destruction of the innocent secretly amongst themselves, they published their intentions abroad, and boasted of them. Accordingly, when he adds, that swords were in their lips, he means that they breathed out slaughter, and that every word they spoke was a sword to slay the oppressed. He assigns as the cause of their rushing to such excess of wickedness, that they had no reason to apprehend disgrace. It may be sufficiently probable, that David adverts here, as in many other places, to the gross stupidity of the wicked, who, in order to banish fear from their minds, conceive of God as if he were asleep in heaven; but I am of opinion that he rather traces the security with which they prosecuted their counsels, and openly proclaimed them, to the fact, that they had long ere now been in possession of the uncontrolled power of inflicting injury. They had succeeded so completely in deceiving the people, and rendering David odious by their calumnies, that none had the courage to utter a word in his defense. Nay, the more atrociously that any man might choose to persecute this victim of distress, from no other motive than to secure the good graces of the king, the more did he rise in estimation as a true friend to the commonwealth.

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.

(7) Behold.—Without question this word should, as Mr. Burgess suggests, be emended to “spears” (chanîth instead of hinneh), to give—

“Spears they pour out with their mouths,

Swords with their lips.”

(Comp. Psa_57:5, and

“She speaks poniards.”—As You Like It.

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

7. The figure of Psa_59:6 is dropped. A flood of cursing and falsehood (Psa_59:12) pours from their mouth (Pro_15:2; Pro_15:28); they menace him with death, or openly boast that he will soon be got rid of; cp. Psa_52:2, note.

‘Say they’ is rightly inserted. ‘Who doth hear’? is not the Psalmist’s complaint that there is no one to take his part, but the scornful sneer of his enemies, who do not believe that God cares for His servant. Cp. Psa_10:4; Psa_10:11; Psa_10:13; Psa_64:5; Psa_73:11; Psa_94:7.

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.

Behold, they belch out with their mouth,.... Bark like dogs, so Aben Ezra; or "bubble out" (u), as a fountain bubbles out with water; so they cast out their wickedness in great abundance; see Jer 6:7; the phrase denotes the abundance of evil things and wicked speeches that came out of their mouths, which showed the naughtiness of their hearts; so David's enemies blustered and threatened what they would do to him could they find him; and Christ's enemies poured out their wicked charges of blasphemy and sedition against him, in great plenty, and without proof;

swords are in their lips; the words of their lips were like sharp swords; see Psa 55:21; threatening the most severe and cruel things: or, besides their lips, and what they belched out with their mouths, they took swords in their hands in a literal sense; as Saul's messengers did to kill David, and as Judas and his band of men, who came to take Christ as a thief, with swords and staves, Mat 26:55;

for who, say they, doth hear? what they uttered with their mouths and lips, in a blustering and threatening manner; though they were overheard by men, who carried what they said and designed to do to Michal, David's wife. The meaning may be, they would say what they pleased, and did not care who heard them, having nothing to fear from any, they having their orders from the king; see Psa 12:4; and so the Targum,

"behold they belch out with their mouths words which are sharp as swords, and with their lips saying, we shall prevail; for who is he that hears, and can punish?''

Aben Ezra's note is,

"they thought that God did not hear their counsels;''

and therefore the next words are in direct opposition to them; but so to think is monstrous stupidity and brutishness, Psa 94:4; some take the words to be the words of David, complaining that the civil magistrate, none of the judges, took notice of or punished such who belched out their lies and calumnies against him, saying, "for who doth hear?" no man.

(u) "scaturient", Montanus; "copiose eructant", Gejerus.

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

Behold, they belch out with their mouth - The word rendered “belch out” means properly to boil forth; to gush out, to flow; and then, to pour forth copiously, or in a running stream, as a fountain does. Hence, the word means also to pour out “words” - words that flow freely - words of folly, abuse, or reproach. Pro 15:2, “the mouth of fools poureth out (Margin, belcheth or babbleth) foolishness.” Pro 15:28, “the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things;” that is, “gushes over” with wicked things - as a fountain overflows. In this place, the word means that the enemies of David who were in pursuit of his life, poured out reproaches and threatenings like a gushing fountain.

Swords are in their lips - Their words are as sharp swords. See the notes at Psa 57:4.

For who, say they, doth hear? - That is, no one hears who will be able to punish us. They dread no man; and they have no fear of God. Compare the notes at Psa 10:11. The words “say they” are, however, supplied here by the translators, and are not in the original; and the language “may” be understood as that of David himself, “as if” no one heard; that is, It is no wonder that they thus pour out words of reproach, for who “is” there to hear and to punish them? The former interpretation, however, is to be preferred. The language expresses the feelings of the enemies of David, who indulged freely in language of abuse and reproach “as if” there were none to hear.

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

They belch out; or, they pour forth, (to wit, words, for what else should come out of the mouth? even sharp and bitter words, as the next clause explains it,) abundantly and vehemently, as a fountain doth waters, as this word signifies. See Pro 15:28; Jer 6:7.

Swords, i.e. words as keen and mischievous as swords, as Psa 55:21; 57:4.

Who, say they, doth hear? David doth not hear us, either to discover, and so to prevent our plots; Or to punish us for them; and God either doth not hear or not regard what we say and do against David; and therefore we may speak and act what we think fit.

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

Ver. 7. Behold they belch out with their mouth. The noisy creatures are so remarkable in their way, that attention is called to them with a behold. Ecce homines, might we not say, Ecce canes! Their malicious speech gushes from them as from a bubbling fountain. The wicked are voluble in slander; their vocabulary of abuse is copious, and as detestable as it is abundant. What torrents of wrathful imprecation will they pour on the godly! They need no prompters, their feelings force for themselves their own vent, and fashion their own expressions.

Swords are in their lips. They speak daggers. Their words pierce like rapiers, and cleave like cutlasses. As the cushion of a lions's paw conceals his claw, so their soft ruby lips contain bloody words.

For who, say they, doth hear? They are free from all restraint, they fear no God in heaven, and the government on earth is with them. When men have none to call them to account, there is no accounting for what they will do. He who neither fears God nor regards man sets out on errands of oppression with gusto, and uses language concerning it of the most atrociously cruel sort. David must have been in a singular plight when he could hear the foul talk and hideous braggings of Saul's black guards around the house. After the style in which a Cavalier would have cursed a Puritan, or Claverhouse a Coventanter, the Saulites swore at the upstarts whom the king's majesty had sent them to arrest. David called them dogs, and no doubt a pretty pack they were, a cursed cursing company of curs. When they said, "Who doth hear?" God was listening, and this David knew, and therefore took courage.

Ver. 7. Behold, they belch out with their mouth, etc. Bark like dogs, so Aben Ezra; or, bubble out, as a fountain bubbles out with water; so they cast out their wickedness in great abundance (see Jer 6:7); the phrase denotes the abundance of evil things and wicked speeches that come out of their mouths, which showed the naughtiness of their hearts; so David's enemies blustered and threatened what they would do to him could they find him; and Christ's enemies poured out their wicked charges of blasphemy and sedition against him in great plenty, and without proof. John Gill.

None.

Psalms 59:8*

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

7. They belch out with their mouth—A continuation of the figure, Psa_59:6. As applied to David’s enemies it is an expression of the lowest contempt.

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

Behold, they belch out with their mouth. All night long they keep uttering abuse and execrations and threats. (comp. Psa_94:4) Swords are in their lips. (comp. Psa_57:4) Speeches that wound and cut to the heart. For who, say they, doth hear!. (comp. Psa_10:11-13 Psa_64:5 Psa_73:11 Psa_94:7) They think themselves irresponsible for their words. No one will hear or know what they say.

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

Pour out - Sharp and bitter word's, abundantly and vehemently, as a fountain doth waters, as this word signifies. Swords - Words as keen and mischievous as swords. For who - David doth not hear us, and God either doth not hear, or not regard what we say.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

They return in the evening, etc... Behold, they spew forth with their mouth The interpretation of these two verses connects one to the other. They return in the evening What they did by day does not suffice them; in the evening they repeat their evil: guarding me that I do not escape and leave the city Now what did they do by day? Behold, all day they spew forth with their mouth, to spy on me to Saul.

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.