Psalms 109:18
in Psalms 109The cursing that he wore like a coat, may it soak into his body like water, and into his bones like oil.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He clothed himself also with cursing as with his garment, And it came into his inward parts like water, And like oil into his bones.
KJV
As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones.
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This verse in Psalms 109
Commentary
10 notes on this verseGarment - Which a man wears constantly. Like water - Water in the cavity of the belly, between the bowels, is almost certain death. And oil soaking into any of the bones, will soon utterly destroy it.
This site's exposition
The cursing that he loved
on Psalms 109:17-19
He asks that the cursing this man loved fall on him, and that the blessing he refused stay far off. The cursing was worn like a coat, and the request is that it soak into him like water and reach his bones like oil. It wraps him like a robe.
This site's exposition
soak into his body like water
Numbers 5:22 pictures a curse carried in water into the body of the accused. Here the cursing he wore outside like a coat passes inward, into body and bones. Oil was rubbed into the skin and soaked deep.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Let it be unto him as the cloak which covers him" [Psalm 109:18]. Since he has before spoken of the cloak, why does he repeat it? When he said, "He clothed himself with cursing as with a raiment;" does the raiment with which he is "covered" differ from that with which he is "clothed"? For every man is clothed with his tunic, covered with his cloak; and what is this, save boasting in iniquity, even in the sight of men? "and as the girdle," he says, "that he is always girded withal." Men are girded chiefly that they may be better fit for toil, that they may not be hindered by the folds of their dress. He therefore girds himself with curses, who designs an evil which he has carefully contrived, not on a sudden impulse, and who learns in such a manner to do evil, that he is always ready to commit it.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment,.... He was full of it; his mouth was full of cursing and bitterness; it was visible in him, easy to be discerned; he took pride as well as pleasure in it, it was in his esteem an ornament to him, as his clothes were. The Syriac version renders it, "as armour"; as if it was a protection to him, or he thought it to be so.
And let him have enough of it. Let God's curse come into his bowels like water and swell him as with a dropsy, and let it soak like oil into his bones. The word of the curse is quick and powerful, and divides between the joints and the marrow; it works powerfully and effectually; it fastens on the soul; it is a piercing thing, and there is no antidote against it.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Let his loved sin, cursing, come upon him in punishment (Ps 35:8), thoroughly fill him as water and oil, permeating to every part of his system (compare Nu 5:22-27), and become a garment and a girdle for a perpetual dress.
He was so openly in the habit of wishing ill to others that he seemed to wear robes of cursing, therefore let it be as his raiment girded and belted about him, yea, let it enter as water into his bowels, and search the very marrow of his bones like a penetrating oil. It is but common justice that he should receive a return for his malice, and receive it in kind, too.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Let it come into his bowels like water - Houbigant thinks this is an allusion to the waters of jealousy; and he is probably right, - the bitter waters that produce the curse. See Num 5:18.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
As he clothed himself with cursing like as with a garment - Moral qualities are often compared with raiment - as that in which we “appear” to our fellow-men. See 1Pe 5:5; Job 29:14. So let it come into his bowels like water - Margin, “within him.” Hebrew, “In his midst.” Let it penetrate him through and through. Let no part of him be unaffected by it. And like oil into his bones - As if oil flowed through all his bones, so let the effects of cursing pervade his whole frame. The prayer is, that his entire nature might feel the effects of cursing; that he might know to the full what he was endeavoring to bring on others.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּלְבַּ֥שׁ | vaiyilbash | and he put on | H3847 → | 110 times |
| קְלָלָ֗ה | kelalah | a curse | H7045 → | |
| כְּמַ֫דּ֥וֹ | kemado | like garment his | H4055 → | |
| וַתָּבֹ֣א | vatavo' | and it went | H935 → | 2568 times |
| כַמַּ֣יִם | khamayim | like <the> water | H4325 → | 581 times |
| בְּקִרְבּ֑וֹ | bekirbo | in inward part[s] his | H7130 → | 227 times |
| וְ֝כַשֶּׁ֗מֶן | vekhashemen | and like <the> oil | H8081 → | 193 times |
| בְּעַצְמוֹתָֽיו׃ | beatzmotav | in bones his | H6106 → | 126 times |
וַיִּלְבַּ֥שׁand he put on
vaiyilbashH3847 →110 times
קְלָלָ֗הa curse
kelalahH7045 →
כְּמַ֫דּ֥וֹlike garment his
kemadoH4055 →
וַתָּבֹ֣אand it went
vatavo'H935 →2568 times
כַמַּ֣יִםlike <the> water
khamayimH4325 →581 times
בְּקִרְבּ֑וֹin inward part[s] his
bekirboH7130 →227 times
וְ֝כַשֶּׁ֗מֶןand like <the> oil
vekhashemenH8081 →193 times
בְּעַצְמוֹתָֽיו׃in bones his
beatzmotavH6106 →126 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
Colossians 3:12Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
it leads to
- Ephesians 4:32
Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.
- Ephesians 4:2
with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,
- 1 John 4:19
We love because He first loved us.
- 2 Peter 1:5–8
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge;
- Galatians 5:22–23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
- Ephesians 4:32
Through
Colossians 3:8But now you must put aside all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.
it leads to
- Ephesians 4:29
Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up the one in need and bringing grace to those who listen.
- Ephesians 4:22
to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
- James 1:20–21
for man’s anger does not bring about the righteousness that God desires.
- Ephesians 4:29
Where this verse is studied
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About Psalms
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 109; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 5; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; 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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.