Psalms 55:10
in Psalms 55Day and night they encircle the walls, while malice and trouble lie within.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof: Iniquity also and mischief are in the midst of it.
KJV
Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof: mischief also and sorrow are in the midst of it.
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This verse in Psalms 55
Commentary
8 notes on this verseDay and night they go about it upon the walls thereof. The city, the holy city had become a den of wickedness; conspirators met in the dark, and talked in little knots in the streets even in broad daylight. Meanwhile the country was being roused to revolt, and the traitors without threatened to environ the city, and act in concert with the rebels within.
This site's exposition
violence and strife in the city
on Psalms 55:9-11
The prayer asks God to confuse and confound their speech, which is what He did at Genesis 11:7. The trouble is inside the city, and verses 10 and 11 keep it there, on the walls, within, and in the streets. Malice, destruction, oppression and deceit are what fill it.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
"Day and night." Here he shows in particular. In every city there are three things: namely, walls that surround it, the central habitation, and the public squares. And the Philosopher distinguishes three classes of men. By walls are understood the rulers and magnates of the …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
If he looked into the heart of the city, mischief and injury, mutual wrong and vexation, were in the midst of it: Wickedness, all manner of wickedness, is in the midst thereof. Jusque datum sceleri--Wickedness was legalized.
Day and night they go about it, upon the walls thereof,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof. The city, the holy city had become a den of wickedness; conspirators met in the dark, and talked in little knots in the streets even in broad daylight. Meanwhile the country was being roused to revolt, and the traitors without threatened to environ the city, and act in concert with the rebels within. No doubt there was a smothered fire of insurrection which Absalom kindled and fanned, which David perceived with alarm some time before he left Jerusalem; and when he quitted the city it broke out into an open flame. Mischief also and sorrow are in the midst of it. Unhappy capital to be thus beset by foes, left by her monarch, and filled with all those elements of turbulence which breed evil and trouble. Unhappy king to be thus compelled to see the mischief which he could not avert laying waste the city which he loved so well. There was another King whose many tears watered the rebellious city, and who said, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!"
Day and night they go about - This and the following verse show the state of Jerusalem at this time. Indeed, they exhibit a fair view of the state of any city in the beginning of an insurrection. The leaders are plotting continually; going about to strengthen their party, and to sow new dissensions by misrepresentation, hypocrisy, calumny, and lies.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Day and night they go about it, upon the walls thereof - That is, continually. The word “they” in this place probably refers to the violence and strife mentioned in the preceding verse. They are here personified, and they seem to surround the city; to be everywhere moving, even on the very walls. They are like a besieging army. Inside and outside; in the midst of the city and on the walls, there was nothing but violence and strife - conspiracy, rebellion, and crime. Mischief also and sorrow are in the midst of it - Crime abounded, and the result was anguish or sorrow. This language would well describe the scenes when Absalom rebelled; when the city was filled with conspirators and rebels; and when crime and anguish seemed to prevail in every part of it.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
divide their tongue Divide it so that no one should pay them heed. And Menachem (p. 142) interpreted פלג as an expression of division.
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. 6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יוֹמָ֤ם | yomam | by day | H3119 → | 50 times |
| וָלַ֗יְלָה | valaylah | and night | H3915 → | 233 times |
| יְסוֹבְבֻ֥הָ | yesovuha | they go around it | H5437 → | 161 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| חוֹמֹתֶ֑יהָ | chomoteiha | walls its | H2346 → | |
| וְאָ֖וֶן | veaven | and wickedness | H205 → | 77 times |
| וְעָמָ֣ל | veamal | and trouble | H5999 → | 55 times |
| בְּקִרְבָּֽהּ׃ | bekirbah | [are] in midst its | H7130 → | 227 times |
יוֹמָ֤םby day
yomamH3119 →50 times
וָלַ֗יְלָהand night
valaylahH3915 →233 times
יְסוֹבְבֻ֥הָthey go around it
yesovuhaH5437 →161 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
חוֹמֹתֶ֑יהָwalls its
chomoteihaH2346 →
וְאָ֖וֶןand wickedness
veavenH205 →77 times
וְעָמָ֣לand trouble
veamalH5999 →55 times
בְּקִרְבָּֽהּ׃[are] in midst its
bekirbahH7130 →227 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
John 18:28Then they led Jesus away from Caiaphas into the Praetorium. By now it was early morning, and the Jews did not enter the Praetorium, to avoid being defiled and unable to eat the Passover.
it leads to
- John 18:33
Pilate went back into the Praetorium, summoned Jesus, and asked Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?”
- John 19:9
and he went back into the Praetorium. “Where are You from?” he asked. But Jesus gave no answer.
- John 19:14
It was the day of Preparation for the Passover, about the sixth hour. And Pilate said to the Jews, “Here is your King!”
- Mark 15:1–5
Early in the morning, the chief priests, elders, scribes, and the whole Sanhedrin devised a plan. They bound Jesus, led Him away, and handed Him over to Pilate.
- Matthew 27:27
Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company around Him.
- John 18:33
Through
Acts 9:24but Saul learned of their plot. Day and night they watched the city gates in order to kill him.
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 11:32
In Damascus, the governor under King Aretas secured the city of the Damascenes in order to arrest me.
- Acts 25:3
to grant them a concession against Paul by summoning him to Jerusalem, because they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way.
- 2 Corinthians 11:32
Through
Psalms 59:6They return in the evening, snarling like dogs and prowling around the city.
it leads to
- Psalms 59:14
They return in the evening, snarling like dogs and prowling around the city.
- Psalms 59:14
About Psalms
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 3; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; 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.