Psalms 120:4
in Psalms 120Sharp arrows will come from the warrior, with burning coals of the broom tree!
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Sharp arrows of the mighty, With coals of juniper.
KJV
Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.
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This verse in Psalms 120
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThe sharp arrows of the mighty one, with the coals that lay waste. The arrows of the mighty one. This man now answers the Lord as to what he asks. Because the Lord had said, What shall be given to you, or what shall be added to you? now this man says what he asks. O Lord, this I ask: the sharp arrows of the mighty one, with the coals that lay waste. See what he says. The poison of my tongue and my slander nothing can cast out, except your arrows, which make a desolation of my tongue.
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 Awakening3 voices
Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper. Some think these words describe lying lips, and a false tongue; which are like arrows, sharp ones, sent out from a bow drawn with a mighty hand, which come with great force, suddenly and swiftly, and do much mischief; see Psa 11:2; and to "coals of juniper", very distressing and tormenting; the tongue being a fire, set on fire of hell, and sets on fire the course of nature; and throws out devouring words, which consume like fire, Jas 3:
Arrows - The wrath and vengeance of the mighty God, which in scripture is often compared to arrows, and here to coals of juniper, which burn very fiercely and retain their heat for a long time.
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 Century1 voice
Sharp arrows of the mighty. Swift, sure, and sharp shall be the judgment. Their words were as arrows, and so shall their punishment be. God will see to it that their punishment shall be comparable to an arrow keen in itself, and driven home with all the force with which a mighty man shoots it from his bow of steel, —"sharp arrows of the mighty". Nor shall one form of judgment suffice to avenge this complicated sin. The slanderer shall feel woes comparable to coals of juniper, which are quick in flaming, fierce in blazing, and long in burning.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Sharp arrows of the mighty. Swift, sure, and sharp shall be the judgment. Their words were as arrows, and so shall their punishment be. God will see to it that their punishment shall be comparable to an arrow keen in itself, and driven home with all the force with which a mighty man shoots it from his bow of steel, —"sharp arrows of the mighty". Nor shall one form of judgment suffice to avenge this complicated sin. The slanderer shall feel woes comparable to coals of juniper, which are quick in flaming, fierce in blazing, and long in burning. He shall feel sharp arrows and sharper fires. Awful doom! All liars shall have their portion in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone. Their worm dieth not, and their fire is not quenched. Juniper coals long retain their heat, but hell burneth ever, and the deceitful tongue may not deceive itself with the hope of escape from the fire which it has kindled. What a crime is this to which the All merciful allots a doom so dreadful! Let us hate it with perfect hatred. It is better to be the victim of slander than, to be the author of it. The shafts of calumny will miss the mark, but not so the arrows of God: the coals of malice will cool, but not the fire of justice. Shun slander as you would avoid hell.
Sharp arrows - The Chaldee has, “The strong, sharp arrows are like lightning from above, with coals of juniper kindled in hell beneath.” On the juniper, see the note on Job 30:4, where this passage is explained. Fiery arrows, or arrows wrapped about with inflamed combustibles, were formerly used in sieges to set the places on fire. See my notes on Eph 6:16 (note).
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Sharp arrows of the mighty - This is an answer to the question in Psa 120:3. The consequence - the effect - of such a use of the tongue must be like sharp and piercing arrows, or like intensely burning coals. The “sharp arrows of the mighty” are the arrows of the warrior - as war was conducted mainly by bows and arrows. Those arrows were, of course, sharpened to make them piercing, penetrating, more deadly. With coals of juniper - On the word here rendered “juniper,” see the notes at Job 30:4. The idea here is, that coals made from that would be intensely hot, and would cause severer pain than if made from other wood. The word refers to a species of broom or shrub growing in the deserts of Arabia, with yellowish flowers and a bitter root. See “Robinson’s Biblical Researches,” vol. i., p. 299. Burchardt says that he found the Bedouin of Sinai burning the roots into coal, and says that they make the best charcoal, and throw out the most intense heat. The shrub sometimes grows so large as to furnish a shade to those exposed to the heat of the sun in the desert, 1Ki 19:4; “Land and the Book” (Thomson), vol. ii., pp. 438, 439. The cut given below will give an idea of this plant.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Sharpened arrows of a mighty man Behold you kill in a distant place like an arrow.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
What can He give you [What can] the Holy One, blessed be He [give you]?
Woe is to me says the congregation of Israel, for I have already suffered in many exiles. Behold I sojourned in Meshech with the sons of Japheth in the kingdom of Persia, Greece, and Meshech.
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
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| חִצֵּ֣י | chitzei | arrows of | H2671 → | 53 times |
| גִבּ֣וֹר | gibor | a warrior | H1368 → | 158 times |
| שְׁנוּנִ֑ים | shenunim | sharpened | H8150 → | 9 times |
| עִ֝֗ם | ʾim | with | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| גַּחֲלֵ֥י | gachalei | burning coals of | H1513 → | 18 times |
| רְתָמִֽים׃ | retamim | broom plants | H7574 → |
חִצֵּ֣יarrows of
chitzeiH2671 →53 times
גִבּ֣וֹרa warrior
giborH1368 →158 times
שְׁנוּנִ֑יםsharpened
shenunimH8150 →9 times
עִ֝֗םwith
ʾimH5973 →1050 times
גַּחֲלֵ֥יburning coals of
gachaleiH1513 →18 times
רְתָמִֽים׃broom plants
retamimH7574 →
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
Proverbs 18:21Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
it leads to
- Ephesians 4:29
Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up the one in need and bringing grace to those who listen.
- Matthew 12:35–37
The good man brings good things out of his good store of treasure, and the evil man brings evil things out of his evil store of treasure.
- Colossians 4:6
Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
- Proverbs 10:19–21
When words are many, sin is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise.
- James 3:6–9
The tongue also is a fire, a world of wickedness among the parts of the body. It pollutes the whole person, sets the course of his life on fire, and is itself set on…
- Ephesians 4:29
Through
Proverbs 19:5A false witness will not go unpunished, and one who utters lies will not escape.
it leads to
- Proverbs 21:28
A lying witness will perish, but the man who listens to truth will speak forever.
- Exodus 23:1
“You shall not spread a false report. Do not join the wicked by being a malicious witness.
- Proverbs 6:19
a false witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up discord among brothers.
- Proverbs 21:28
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Psalms
This page draws on 10 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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.