Psalms 10:7
in Psalms 10His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and violence; trouble and malice are under his tongue.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and oppression: Under his tongue is mischief and iniquity.
KJV
His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.
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This verse in Psalms 10
Commentary
12 notes on this verseLet us now hear the witnesses in court. Let the wretch speak for himself, for out of his own mouth he will be condemned. "His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud." There is not only a little evil there, but his mouth is full of it. A three-headed serpent hath stowed away its coils and venom within the den of its black mouth. There is cursing which he spits against both God and men, deceit with which he entraps the unwary, and fraud by which, even in his common dealings, he robs his neighbours.
This site's exposition
His mouth is full of cursing
on Psalms 10:7-11
The mouth comes first, full of cursing, deceit and violence, with trouble and malice under the tongue. The hands follow the mouth: he waits like a lion in a thicket and catches the lowly in his net. He tells himself God has forgotten and never sees.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
"Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness and deceit" [Psalm 10:7]. For it is a great curse to seek heaven by such abominable arts, and to get together such earnings for acquiring the eternal seat. But of this cursing his mouth is full. For this desire shall not take effect, but within his mouth only will avail to destroy him, who dared promise himself such things with bitterness and deceit, that is, with anger and insidiousness, whereby he is to bring over the multitude to his side. "Under his tongue is toil and grief." Nothing is more toilsome than unrighteousness and ungodliness: upon which toil follows grief; for that the toil is not only without fruit, but even unto destruction. Which toil and grief refer to that which he has said in his heart, "I shall not be moved from generation to generation without evil." And therefore, "under his tongue," not on his tongue, because he will devise these things in silence, and to men will speak other things, that he may appear good and just, and a son of God.
[By contrast] the righteous person praises God at all times.
His wickedness is described as a two-fold corruption, for in his mouth he will have a blasphemous cursing when he makes the false claim that he is the Son of God. He will also have bitterness when he imposes the death penalty on those who …
The Medieval Church1 voice
"Whose mouth." Here he sets forth the progress of malice. And first, in the heart, about which he has already spoken. Second, of the mouth. Third, of deed, "he sits in ambush," etc. Regarding the first, he sets forth two things. The sin of the …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
His mouth is full of cursing,.... Or, "he has filled his mouth with cursing" (e) God and good men, his superiors, himself and others.
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Thus have God's faithful worshippers been anathematized and cursed, with bell, book, and candle. Where there is a heart full of malice there is commonly a mouth full of curses. (2.) They are very false and treacherous.
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The malignity and deceit (Ps 140:3) of such are followed by acts combining cunning, fraud, and violence (compare Pr 1:11, 18), aptly illustrated by the habits of the lion, and of hunters taking their prey. "Poor," in Ps 10:8, 10, 14, represents a word peculiar to this Psalm, meaning the sad or sorrowful; in Ps 10:9, as usual, it means the pious or meek sufferer.
Let us now hear the witnesses in court. Let the wretch speak for himself, for out of his own mouth he will be condemned. "His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud." There is not only a little evil there, but his mouth is full of it. A three-headed serpent hath stowed away its coils and venom within the den of its black mouth. There is cursing which he spits against both God and men, deceit with which he entraps the unwary, and fraud by which, even in his common dealings, he robs his neighbours. Beware of such a man: have no sort of dealing with him: none but the silliest of geese would go to the fox's sermon, and none but the most foolish will put themselves into the society of knaves. But we must proceed. Let us look under this man's tongue as well as in his mouth; "under his tongue is mischief and vanity." Deep in his throat are the unborn words which shall come forth as mischief and iniquity.
His mouth is full of cursing, and deceit, and fraud - What a finished character! A blasphemer, a deceitful man, and a knave!
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
His mouth is full of cursing - Profaneness; blasphemy against God. In the former verse the writer had described the feelings of the “heart;” he now proceeds to specify the open acts of the wicked. The meaning is, that the wicked man, as here described, was one who was full of imprecation, swearing, execration; a “profane” man; a man who, whatever was his belief about God, would constantly call upon his name, and imprecate his wrath on himself or others.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אָלָ֤ה | ʾalah | a curse | H423 → | |
| פִּ֣יהוּ | pihu | mouth his | H6310 → | 498 times |
| מָ֭לֵא | male' | it is full | H4390 → | 249 times |
| וּמִרְמ֣וֹת | umirmot | and deceit<s> | H4820 → | 39 times |
| וָתֹ֑ךְ | vatokh | and oppression | H8496 → | 4 times |
| תַּ֥חַת | tachat | [are] under | H8478 → | 505 times |
| לְ֝שׁוֹנ֗וֹ | leshono | tongue his | H3956 → | 117 times |
| עָמָ֥ל | ʾamal | mischief | H5999 → | 55 times |
| וָאָֽוֶן׃ | vaaven | and wickedness | H205 → | 77 times |
אָלָ֤הa curse
ʾalahH423 →
פִּ֣יהוּmouth his
pihuH6310 →498 times
מָ֭לֵאit is full
male'H4390 →249 times
וּמִרְמ֣וֹתand deceit<s>
umirmotH4820 →39 times
וָתֹ֑ךְand oppression
vatokhH8496 →4 times
תַּ֥חַת[are] under
tachatH8478 →505 times
לְ֝שׁוֹנ֗וֹtongue his
leshonoH3956 →117 times
עָמָ֥לmischief
ʾamalH5999 →55 times
וָאָֽוֶן׃and wickedness
vaavenH205 →77 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 59:12By the sins of their mouths and the words of their lips, let them be trapped in their pride, in the curses and lies they utter.
it leads to
- Proverbs 12:13
An evil man is trapped by his rebellious speech, but a righteous man escapes from trouble.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 12:13
Through
Psalms 140:9May the heads of those who surround me be covered in the trouble their lips have caused.
it leads to
- Proverbs 18:7
A fool’s mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 7:16
His trouble recoils on himself, and his violence falls on his own head.
- Proverbs 18:7
Through
Psalms 7:14Behold, the wicked man travails with evil; he conceives trouble and births falsehood.
it leads to
- James 1:15
Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
- Job 15:35
They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb is pregnant with deceit.”
- Isaiah 33:11
You conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble. Your breath is a fire that will consume you.
- Job 15:20
A wicked man writhes in pain all his days; only a few years are reserved for the ruthless.
- James 1:15
Through
Psalms 64:3who sharpen their tongues like swords and aim their bitter words like arrows,
it leads to
- Jeremiah 9:3
“They bend their tongues like bows; lies prevail over truth in the land. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not take Me into account,” declares the LORD.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 9:3
About Psalms
This page draws on 12 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 10; Cassiodorus, Explanation of the Psalms 10:28; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 1; Evagrius Ponticus, NOTES ON THE PSALMS 9[10].28-29; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.