Psalms 12:4
in Psalms 12They say, “With our tongues we will prevail. We own our lips—who can be our master?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; Our lips are our own: who is lord over us?
KJV
Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us?
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This verse in Psalms 12
Commentary
4 notes on this verseWith mouths agape they heedlessly utter whatever occurs to them, scornful of divine long-suffering and giving no thought to their falling under the lordship of God.
This site's exposition
cut off all flattering lips
on Psalms 12:3-4
Verse 3 asks the LORD to cut off the flattering lips of verse 2 and every boastful tongue with them. Verse 4 gives their boast, that their tongues will prevail and no one is their master. Spurgeon reads it as the tongue made its own sovereign.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
(2.) An insolent contempt of God's dominion as if he had no propriety in them-- Our lips are our own (an unjust pretension, for who made man's mouth, in whose hand is his breath, and whose is the air he breathes in?) and as if he had no authority either to command them or to judge them: Who is Lord over us?
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
on Psalms 12:3-4
Total destruction shall overwhelm the lovers of flattery and pride, but meanwhile how they hector and fume! Well did the apostle call them "raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame." Free-thinkers are generally very free-talkers, and they are never more at ease than when railing at God's dominion, and arrogating to themselves unbounded license. Strange is it that the easy yoke of the Lord should so gall the shoulders of the proud, while the iron bands of Satan they bind about themselves as chains of honour: they boastfully cry unto God, "Who is lord over us?"
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
with a double heart Lit. with a heart and a heart; with two hearts. They feign friendliness, but there is hatred hidden in their heart.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
With our tongue we will overpower With our tongue we will gain strength.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֲשֶׁ֤ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אָֽמְר֨וּ׀ | ʾameru | they say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לִלְשֹׁנֵ֣נוּ | lilshonenu | <to> tongues our | H3956 → | 117 times |
| נַ֭גְבִּיר | nagbir | we will make strong | H1396 → | 25 times |
| שְׂפָתֵ֣ינוּ | sefateinu | lips our | H8193 → | 176 times |
| אִתָּ֑נוּ | ʾitanu | [are] with us | H854 → | 929 times |
| מִ֖י | mi | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| אָד֣וֹן | ʾadon | [is] master | H113 → | 333 times |
| לָֽנוּ׃ | lanu | of us |
אֲשֶׁ֤רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אָֽמְר֨וּ׀they say
ʾameruH559 →5305 times
לִלְשֹׁנֵ֣נוּ<to> tongues our
lilshonenuH3956 →117 times
נַ֭גְבִּירwe will make strong
nagbirH1396 →25 times
שְׂפָתֵ֣ינוּlips our
sefateinuH8193 →176 times
אִתָּ֑נוּ[are] with us
ʾitanuH854 →929 times
מִ֖יwho?
miH4310 →423 times
אָד֣וֹן[is] master
ʾadonH113 →333 times
לָֽנוּ׃of us
lanu
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Exodus 5:2But Pharaoh replied, “Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go.”
it leads to
- Exodus 3:19
But I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go unless a mighty hand compels him.
- Job 21:15
Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’
- Exodus 3:19
Through
2 Thessalonians 2:4He will oppose and exalt himself above every so-called god or object of worship. So he will seat himself in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 28:2
“Son of man, tell the ruler of Tyre that this is what the Lord GOD says: Your heart is proud, and you have said, ‘I am a god; I sit in the seat of…
- Daniel 7:25
He will speak out against the Most High and oppress the saints of the Most High, intending to change the appointed times and laws; and the saints will be given into his hand for…
- Revelation 13:6–7
And the beast opened its mouth to speak blasphemies against God and to slander His name and His tabernacle—those who dwell in heaven.
- Isaiah 14:13–14
You said in your heart: “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God. I will sit on the mount of assembly, in the far reaches of…
- Ezekiel 28:6
Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Because you regard your heart as the heart of a god,
- Ezekiel 28:2
Through
Jeremiah 18:18Then some said, “Come, let us make plans against Jeremiah, for the law will never be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the wise, nor an oracle to the prophet. Come, let us…
it leads to
- Psalms 52:2
Your tongue devises destruction like a sharpened razor, O worker of deceit.
- Psalms 52:2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Psalms
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 1; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 12:3.