Psalms 144:8
in Psalms 144whose mouths speak falsehood, whose right hands are deceitful.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Whose mouth speaketh deceit, And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
KJV
Whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
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This verse in Psalms 144
Commentary
10 notes on this verseWhose mouth has spoken vanity. They promise themselves knowledge, and they raise up their mouth against their Creator. 'They have set their mouth against heaven.' Whose mouth has spoken vanity. Their knowledge is the knowledge of vanity. And their right hand is the right hand of iniquity. Both are condemned, both mouth and hand, both knowledge and works. Whose mouth has spoken vanity: this to knowledge. And their right hand is the right hand of iniquity. The right hand, in work. They say that they have a right hand, but they are wholly left-handed.
This site's exposition
Reach down from on high
on Psalms 144:7-8
The plea is for a hand reaching down into deep waters. The danger is foreigners whose mouths speak falsehood and whose right hands are deceitful. Henry took that right hand as the hand men give on their word, which cannot be trusted.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"From the hand of strange children." Hear, brethren, among whom we are, among whom we live, from whom we long to be delivered. "Whose mouth has spoken vanity" [Psalm 144:8]. All of you today, if you had not gathered yourselves together to these divine shows of the word of God, and were not at this hour engaged in them, how great vanities would ye be hearing! "whose mouth has spoken vanity:" when, in short, would they, speaking vanity, hear you speaking vanity? "And their right hand is a right hand of iniquity." What doest thou among them with your pastoral scrip with five stones in it? Say it to me in another form: that same law which you have signified by five stones, signify in some other way also.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
That he might see the public peace and prosperity: "Lord, let us have victory, that we may have quietness, which we shall never have while our enemies have it in their power to do us mischief." David, as a king, here expresses the earnest desire he had of the welfare of his people, wherein he was a type of Christ, who provides effectually for the good of his chosen.
He does not specify who they were that he was in fear of, but says, Scatter them, destroy them. God knew whom he meant, though he did not name them. But afterwards he describes them (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Vanity - Vain brags and threatenings which shall come to nothing. Falsehood - Deceiving themselves, by being unable to do what they designed; and others, by not giving them that help which they promised.
Whose mouth speaketh vanity,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Whose mouth speaketh vanity. No wonder that men who are vanity speak vanity. "When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own. "They cannot be depended upon, let them promise as fairly as they may: their solemn declarations are light as the foam of the sea, in no wise to be depended upon. Good men desire to be rid of such characters: of all men deceivers and liars are among the most disgusting to true hearts. And their right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
Whose mouth speaketh vanity. No wonder that men who are vanity speak vanity. "When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own. "They cannot be depended upon, let them promise as fairly as they may: their solemn declarations are light as the foam of the sea, in no wise to be depended upon. Good men desire to be rid of such characters: of all men deceivers and liars are among the most disgusting to true hearts. And their right hand is a right hand of falsehood. So far their hands and their tongues agree, for they are vanity and falsehood. These men act as falsely as they speak, and prove themselves to be all of a piece. Their falsehood is right handed, they lie with dexterity, they deceive with all their might. It is a dreadful thing when a man's expertness lies more in lies than in truth; when he can neither speak nor act without proving himself to be false. God save us from lying mouths, and hands of falsehood.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Those mouth speaketh vanity - Vain things; things not real and true; falsehood; lies. See the notes at Psa 24:4. The idea is, that what they said had no foundation in truth - no reality. Truth is solid and reliable; falsehood is unreliable and vain. And their right hand is a right hand of falsehood - The meaning here seems to be that even under the solemnities of an oath, when they lifted up their hands to swear, when they solemnly appealed to God, there was no reliance to be placed on what they affirmed or promised. Oaths were taken by lifting up the right hand as toward God. See Gen 14:22; Exo 6:8 (Margin, and Hebrew); Deu 32:40.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| פִּ֭יהֶם | pihem | mouth their | H6310 → | 498 times |
| דִּבֶּר־ | diber- | it speaks | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| שָׁ֑וְא | shav' | falsehood | H7723 → | 53 times |
| וִֽ֝ימִינָ֗ם | viminam | and right [hand] their | H3225 → | 140 times |
| יְמִ֣ין | yemin | [is] a right [hand] of | H3225 → | 140 times |
| שָֽׁקֶר׃ | shaker | deception | H8267 → | 113 times |
אֲשֶׁ֣רwho
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
פִּ֭יהֶםmouth their
pihemH6310 →498 times
דִּבֶּר־it speaks
diber-H1696 →1141 times
שָׁ֑וְאfalsehood
shav'H7723 →53 times
וִֽ֝ימִינָ֗םand right [hand] their
viminamH3225 →140 times
יְמִ֣ין[is] a right [hand] of
yeminH3225 →140 times
שָֽׁקֶר׃deception
shakerH8267 →113 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
Psalms 62:4They fully intend to cast him down from his lofty perch; they delight in lies; with their mouths they bless, but inwardly they curse. Selah
it leads to
- Psalms 5:9
For not a word they speak can be trusted; destruction lies within them. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 55:21
His speech is smooth as butter, but war is in his heart. His words are softer than oil, yet they are swords unsheathed.
- Psalms 28:3
Do not drag me away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, who speak peace to their neighbors while malice is in their hearts.
- Romans 7:22
For in my inner being I delight in God’s law.
- Psalms 5:9
Through
Psalms 12:2They lie to one another; they speak with flattering lips and a double heart.
it leads to
- Romans 16:18
For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
- Jeremiah 9:8
Their tongues are deadly arrows; they speak deception. With his mouth a man speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart he sets a trap for him.
- Psalms 41:6
My visitor speaks falsehood; he gathers slander in his heart; he goes out and spreads it abroad.
- Romans 16:18
Through
Psalms 41:6My visitor speaks falsehood; he gathers slander in his heart; he goes out and spreads it abroad.
it leads to
- Psalms 12:2
They lie to one another; they speak with flattering lips and a double heart.
- Psalms 12:2
About Psalms
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 144; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 7; Jerome, Homily 54, on Psalm 143; 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.