Psalms 62:3
in Psalms 62How long will you threaten a man? Will all of you throw him down like a leaning wall or a tottering fence?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
How long will ye set upon a man, That ye may slay him, all of you, Like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence?
KJV
How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? ye shall be slain all of you: as a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence.
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This verse in Psalms 62
Commentary
4 notes on this verse"How long do you rush in upon a person? You all kill, as if you were tearing down a leaning wall and a tottering fence." Again the homily speaks out against the depraved ministers of the devil, charging them with a lack of moderation in the snares they lay. Certainly, people are weak animals; but you rush on, not content with the first attack, but you attack a second and a third time, until you subdue the soul that has fallen beside you to such an extent that it is very similar to a leaning wall and a tottering fence.
This site's exposition
How long will you threaten
on Psalms 62:3-4
The complaint comes as a question put to the attackers themselves. Barnes reads the leaning wall and the tottering fence as how the enemies see him, ready to fall at a push. They bless with the mouth and keep the curse inside.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
How long will ye imagine mischief against a man?.... Against a good man, as the Targum; or against any Israelite, as Kimchi; or rather he means himself, a single man, a weak man, and an innocent one; which aggravated their sin, in devising his hurt, and contriving ways to take away his life, as did Saul and his courtiers; and, Absalom, and those that were with him. R.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Their destruction will come; as a tottering wall they already are feeble and failing. bowing wall shall ye be--better supply "are." Some propose to apply these phrases to describe the condition of "a man"--that is, the pious suffer: thus, "Will ye slay him," &c.; but the other is a good sense.
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עַד־ | ʾad- | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| אָ֤נָה׀ | ʾanah | when? | H575 → | 41 times |
| תְּהֽוֹתְת֣וּ | tehotu | will you attack | H2050 → | |
| עַל | ʾal | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אִישׁ֮ | ʾish | a person | H376 → | 1663 times |
| תְּרָצְּח֪וּ | teratzechu | you will be murdered | H7523 → | |
| כֻ֫לְּכֶ֥ם | khulekhem | all of you | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| כְּקִ֥יר | kekir | like a wall | H7023 → | |
| נָט֑וּי | natui | bent down | H5186 → | 214 times |
| גָּ֝דֵ֗ר | gader | a fence | H1447 → | |
| הַדְּחוּיָֽה׃ | hadechuyah | <the> pushed down | H1760 → | 8 times |
עַד־until
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
אָ֤נָה׀when?
ʾanahH575 →41 times
תְּהֽוֹתְת֣וּwill you attack
tehotuH2050 →
עַלon
ʾalH5921 →5755 times
אִישׁ֮a person
ʾishH376 →1663 times
תְּרָצְּח֪וּyou will be murdered
teratzechuH7523 →
כֻ֫לְּכֶ֥םall of you
khulekhemH3605 →5413 times
כְּקִ֥ירlike a wall
kekirH7023 →
נָט֑וּיbent down
natuiH5186 →214 times
גָּ֝דֵ֗רa fence
gaderH1447 →
הַדְּחוּיָֽה׃<the> pushed down
hadechuyahH1760 →8 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 21:11Though they intend You harm, the schemes they devise will not prevail.
it leads to
- Psalms 10:2
In pride the wicked pursue the needy; let them be caught in the schemes they devise.
- Psalms 2:1
Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
- Psalms 31:13
For I hear the slander of many; there is terror on every side. They conspire against me and plot to take my life.
- Jeremiah 11:18–19
And the LORD informed me, so I knew. Then You showed me their deeds.
- Isaiah 7:6–7
‘Let us invade Judah, terrorize it, and divide it among ourselves. Then we can install the son of Tabeal over it as king.’
- Psalms 10:2
Through
Jeremiah 4:14Wash the evil from your heart, O Jerusalem, so that you may be saved. How long will you harbor wicked thoughts within you?
it leads to
- James 4:8
Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
- James 4:8
Through
Psalms 82:2“How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah
it leads to
- Proverbs 18:5
Showing partiality to the wicked is not good, nor is depriving the innocent of justice.
- Deuteronomy 1:17
Show no partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be intimidated by anyone, for judgment belongs to God. And bring to me any case too difficult for you, and I…
- Proverbs 18:5
About Psalms
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Basil of Caesarea, HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 21:3; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).