Psalms 120:3
in Psalms 120What will He do to you, and what will be added to you, O deceitful tongue?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
What shall be given unto thee, and what shall be done more unto thee, Thou deceitful tongue?
KJV
What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?
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This verse in Psalms 120
Commentary
9 notes on this verseWhat shall be given to you, or what shall be added to you, to a deceitful tongue? The Holy Spirit answers the prophet, who says, O Lord, deliver my soul from unjust lips and from a deceitful tongue: What shall be given to you, or what shall be added to you, to a deceitful tongue? He answers him and says: You who say, O Lord, deliver my soul from unjust lips and from a deceitful tongue, what do you want given to you?
This site's exposition
What will He do to you
on Psalms 120:3-4
The psalm turns and speaks to the tongue itself, asking what will be done to it. The answer is a warrior's sharpened arrows and burning coals of the broom tree, the shrub the King James calls juniper. Speech is answered with arrows.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
And your Lord says unto you, "What shall be given you, or what shall be set before you, against the deceitful tongue?" [Psalm 120:3]. What shall be given you, that is, as a weapon to oppose to the deceitful tongue, to guard yourself against the deceitful tongue? "Or what shall be set before you?" He asks to try you: for He will answer His own question. For He answers following up his own inquiry, "even sharp arrows of the Mighty One, with coals that desolate, or that lay waste" [Psalm 120:4]. They that desolate, or that lay waste (for it is variously written in different copies), are the same, because by laying waste, as you may observe, they easily lead unto desolation. What are these coals? First, beloved brethren, understand what are arrows. The "sharp arrows of the Mighty One," are the words of God...What then are the "coals that lay waste?" It is not enough to plead with words against a deceitful tongue and unrighteous lips: it is not enough to plead with words; we must plead with examples also...The word coals, then, is used to express the examples of many sinners converted to the Lord. Thou hear men wonder, and say, I knew that man, how addicted he was to drinking, what a villain, what a lover of the circus, or of the amphitheatre, what a cheat: now how he serves God, how innocent he has become! Wonder not; he is a live coal. You rejoice that he is alive, whom you were mourning as dead. But when you praise the living, if you know how to praise, apply him to the dead, that he may be inflamed; whosoever is still slow to follow God, apply to him the coal which was extinguished, and have the arrow of God's word, and the coal that lays waste, that you may meet the deceitful tongue and the lying lips.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
What shall be given unto thee?.... Or, "what shall it give unto thee?" (s) That is, what shall the deceitful tongue give unto thee, O my soul? or to thee, to anyone that hears and reads this psalm?
The threatening is addressed to the sinner himself, for the awakening of his conscience, if he have any left: "Consider what shall be given unto thee, and what shall be done unto thee, by the righteous Judge of heaven and earth, thou false tongue. " Surely sinners durst not do as they do if they knew, and would be persuaded to think, what will be in the end thereof.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
What shall be given unto thee? What is the expected guerdon of slander? It ought to be something great to make it worth while to work in so foul an atmosphere and to ruin one's soul. Could a thousand worlds be bribe enough for such villainous deeds? The liar shall have no welcome recompense: he shall meet with his deserts; but what shall they be? What punishment can equal his crime? The Psalmist seems lost to suggest a fitting punishment. It is the worst of offences—this detraction, calumny, and slander.
What shall be given unto thee? What is the expected guerdon of slander? It ought to be something great to make it worth while to work in so foul an atmosphere and to ruin one's soul. Could a thousand worlds be bribe enough for such villainous deeds? The liar shall have no welcome recompense: he shall meet with his deserts; but what shall they be? What punishment can equal his crime? The Psalmist seems lost to suggest a fitting punishment. It is the worst of offences—this detraction, calumny, and slander. Judgment sharp and crushing would be measured out to it if men were visited for their transgressions. But what punishment could be heavy enough? What form shall the chastisement take? O liar, "what shall be given unto thee?" Or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue? How shalt thou be visited? The law of retaliation can hardly meet the case, since none can slander the slanderer, he is too black to be blackened; neither would any of us blacken him if we could. Wretched being! He fights with weapons which true men cannot touch. Like the cuttlefish, he surrounds himself with an inky blackness into which honest men cannot penetrate. Like the foul skunk, he emits an odour of falsehood which cannot be endured by the true; and therefore he often escapes, unchastised by those whom he has most injured. His crime, in a certain sense, becomes his shield; men do not care to encounter so base a foe. But what will God do with lying tongues? He has uttered his most terrible threats against them, and he will terribly execute them in due time.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
What shall be given unto thee? - Thou art worthy of the heaviest punishments.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
What shall be given unto thee? - Margin, “What shall the deceitful tongue give unto thee;” or, “what shall it profit thee?” Luther, “What can the false tongue do?” Others render this, “How will God punish thee?” Others, “What will he (God) give to thee?” That is, What recompence can you expect from God for these malignant calumnies? A literal translation of this verse would be, “What shall the tongue of deceit give to thee, and what shall it add to thee?” - referring to the offender himself. The essential idea is, What will be the result of such conduct? What must be expected to follow from it? That is, either (a) from the unprofitableness of such a course; or (b) from the natural consequences to one’s reputation and happiness; or (c) from the judgment of God. The answer to these questions is found in Psa 120:4. Or what shall be done unto thee? - Margin, as in Hebrew, “added.” What must be the consequence of this? what will follow? Thou false tongue - This may be either an address to the tongue itself, or, as above, the word “tongue” may be used as the nominative to the verbs in the sentence. The sense is not materially affected either way.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
What can He give you [What can] the Holy One, blessed be He [give you]?
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
from false lips The arm of those who hunt people with their mouth with wicked accusations.
Sharpened arrows of a mighty man Behold you kill in a distant place like an arrow.
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. 2 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
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מַה־ | mah- | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| יִּתֵּ֣ן | yiten | will anyone give | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לְ֭ךָ | lekha | to you | ||
| וּמַה־ | umah- | and what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| יֹּסִ֥יף | yosif | will anyone add | H3254 → | 212 times |
| לָ֗ךְ | lakh | to you | ||
| לָשׁ֥וֹן | lashon | O tongue | H3956 → | 117 times |
| רְמִיָּֽה׃ | remiyah | deceit | H7423 → | 15 times |
מַה־what?
mah-H4100 →752 times
יִּתֵּ֣ןwill anyone give
yitenH5414 →2011 times
לְ֭ךָto you
lekha
וּמַה־and what?
umah-H4100 →752 times
יֹּסִ֥יףwill anyone add
yosifH3254 →212 times
לָ֗ךְto you
lakh
לָשׁ֥וֹןO tongue
lashonH3956 →117 times
רְמִיָּֽה׃deceit
remiyahH7423 →15 times
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
Matthew 16:26What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
it leads to
- Job 27:8
For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?
- Mark 8:36–37
What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?
- Luke 9:25
What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet lose or forfeit his very self?
- Luke 12:20
But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’
- Psalms 49:7–8
No man can possibly redeem his brother or pay his ransom to God.
- Job 27:8
Through
Romans 6:21What fruit did you reap at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The outcome of those things is death.
it leads to
- Romans 1:32
Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things are worthy of death, they not only continue to do these things, but also approve of those who practice them.
- Romans 7:5
For when we lived according to the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, bearing fruit for death.
- Romans 1:32
Through
Job 27:8For what is the hope of the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?
it leads to
- Matthew 16:26
What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
- Matthew 16:26
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Psalms
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 120; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 6; Jerome, Homily 41, on Psalm 119; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.