Psalms 41:7
in Psalms 41All who hate me whisper against me; they imagine the worst for me:
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
All that hate me whisper together against me; Against me do they devise my hurt.
KJV
All that hate me whisper together against me: against me do they devise my hurt.
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This verse in Psalms 41
Commentary
10 notes on this verseAll that hate me whisper together against me,.... That is, they privately conspired against him; see Mat 22:15; against me do they devise my hurt; not only to take away his name and credit, but his life.
This site's exposition
All who hate me whisper
on Psalms 41:7-9
The enemies read the illness as a death sentence, a vile disease poured in, and no getting up again. The sharpest wound is a trusted friend who shared his bread. Jesus applies the line to Judas at John 13:18, quoting it as Scripture to be fulfilled.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"All mine enemies whisper against Me unto the same thing" [Psalm 41:7]. Against Me all unto the same thing. How much better with me unto the same thing, than against me "unto the same thing." What is, "Against me unto the same thing"? With one counsel, with one conspiring. Christ then speaks unto you, You consent against Me, consent ye to Me: why against Me? Wherefore not with Me? That same thing if you had always had, you had not divided you into schisms. For, says the Apostle, "I beseech you, brethren, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no division among you." [1 Corinthians 1:10] "All mine enemies whisper against Me unto the same thing:" against Me do they "devise evil to Me." To themselves rather, for "they have gathered iniquity to themselves;" but therefore to Me, because by their intention they are to be weighed: for not because to do nothing was in their power, to do nothing was in their will. For the devil lusted to extinguish Christ, and Judas would slay Christ; yet Christ slain and rising again, we are made alive, but to the devil and to Judas is rendered the reward of their evil will, not of our salvation....The intention wherewith they spoke, not what they spoke, did He consider, who related that they spoke evil of Him, "Against Me they devised evil to Me." And what evil to Christ, to the Martyrs what evil? All has God turned to good.
The Medieval Church1 voice
"Against me." Here he shows their evil counsel, how they might do harm. And first he sets forth the counsel of enemies. Second he shows that in this also some good friends concurred, at "The man of my peace." And first he sets forth the …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Whisperers and backbiters are put together among the worst of sinners, Rom. i. They whispered, that their plot against him might not be discovered and so defeated; there is seldom whispering (we say) but there is lying, or some mischief on foot.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
All that hate me whisper together against me. The spy meets his comrades in conclave and sets them all a whispering. Why could they not speak out? Were they afraid of the sick warrior? Or were their designs so treacherous that they must needs be hatched in secrecy? Mark the unanimity of the wicked— all. How heartily the dogs unite to hunt the stag!
All that hate me whisper together against me. The spy meets his comrades in conclave and sets them all a whispering. Why could they not speak out? Were they afraid of the sick warrior? Or were their designs so treacherous that they must needs be hatched in secrecy? Mark the unanimity of the wicked— all. How heartily the dogs unite to hunt the stag! Would God we were half as united in holy labour as persecutors in their malicious projects, and were half as wise as they are crafty, for their whispering was craft as well as cowardice, the conspiracy must not be known till all is ready. Against me do they devise my hurt. They lay their heads together, and scheme and plot. So did Ahithophel and the rest of Absalom's counsellors, so also did the chief priests and Pharisees. Evil men are good at devising; they are given to meditation, they are deep thinkers, but the mark they aim at is evermore the hurt of the faithful. Snakes in the grass are never there for a good end.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Here we have a controversy between the pleader and his God. He has been a tender friend to the poor, and yet in the hour of his need the promised assistance was not forthcoming. In our Lord's case there was a dark and dreary night in which such arguments were well befitting himself and his condition.
All that hate me whisper together against me - This is in consequence of the information given by the hypocritical friend, who came to him with the lying tongue, and whose heart gathereth iniquity to itself, which, when he went abroad, he told to others as illminded as himself, and they also drew their wicked inferences.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
All that hate me whisper together against me - They talk the matter over where they suppose that no one can hear; they endeavonr to collect and arrange all that can be said against me; they place all that they can say or think as individuals, all that they have separately known or suspected, into “common stock,” and make use of it against me. There is a conspiracy against me - a purpose to do me all the evil that they can. This shows that, in the apprehension of the sufferer, the one who came to see for himself Psa 41:6 came as one of a company - as one deputed or delegated to find some new occasion for a charge against him, and that he had not to suffer under the single malignity of one, but under the combined malignity of many. Against me do they devise my hurt - Margin, as in Hebrew: “evil to me.” That is, they devise some report, the truth of which they endeavor to confirm by something that they may observe in my sickness which will be injurious to me, and which will prove to the world that I am a bad man - a man by whose death the world would be benefited. The slanderous report on which they seemed to agree is mentioned in the following verse - that he was suffering under a disease which was directly and manifestly the result of a sinful life, and that it must be fatal.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יַ֗חַד | yachad | together | H3162 → | 141 times |
| עָלַ֣י | ʾalai | on me | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| יִ֭תְלַחֲשׁוּ | yitlachashu | they whisper to one another | H3907 → | |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| שֹׂנְאָ֑י | soneai | [those who] hate me | H8130 → | 146 times |
| עָלַ֓י׀ | ʾalai | on me | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| יַחְשְׁב֖וּ | yachshevu | they plot | H2803 → | 124 times |
| רָעָ֣ה | raah | trouble | H7451 → | 662 times |
| לִֽי׃ | li | for me |
יַ֗חַדtogether
yachadH3162 →141 times
עָלַ֣יon me
ʾalaiH5921 →5755 times
יִ֭תְלַחֲשׁוּthey whisper to one another
yitlachashuH3907 →
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
שֹׂנְאָ֑י[those who] hate me
soneaiH8130 →146 times
עָלַ֓י׀on me
ʾalaiH5921 →5755 times
יַחְשְׁב֖וּthey plot
yachshevuH2803 →124 times
רָעָ֣הtrouble
raahH7451 →662 times
לִֽי׃for me
li
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 22:15Then the Pharisees went out and conspired to trap Jesus in His words.
it leads to
- Luke 20:20–26
So they watched Him closely and sent spies who pretended to be sincere. They were hoping to catch Him in His words in order to hand Him over to the rule and authority of…
- Mark 12:13–17
Later, they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to catch Jesus in His words.
- Luke 20:20–26
Through
Proverbs 16:28A perverse man spreads dissension, and a gossip divides close friends.
it leads to
- Proverbs 17:9
Whoever conceals an offense promotes love, but he who brings it up separates friends.
- Proverbs 18:8
The words of a gossip are like choice morsels that go down into the inmost being.
- Proverbs 15:18
A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger calms dispute.
- Romans 1:29
They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips,
- James 3:14–16
But if you harbor bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast in it or deny the truth.
- Proverbs 17:9
Through
Romans 1:29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips,
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 12:20
For I am afraid that when I come, I may not find you as I wish, and you may not find me as you wish. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, rage,…
- 2 Corinthians 12:20
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
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 41; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 2; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.