Psalms 144:11
in Psalms 144Set me free and rescue me from the grasp of foreigners, whose mouths speak falsehood, whose right hands are deceitful.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Rescue me, and deliver me out of the hand of aliens, Whose mouth speaketh deceit, And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
KJV
Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children, whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood:
⋯
This verse in Psalms 144
Commentary
10 notes on this verseRid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children,.... This is repeated from Psa 144:7; and is done to show the vehemency and importunity of the request, and the danger David was in, and his sense of it; See Gill on Psa 144:7; whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood. See Gill on Psa 144:8.
This site's exposition
who gives victory to kings
on Psalms 144:10-11
Victory belongs to the one who gives it, and the servant David is named as the man freed from the deadly sword. Verse 11 repeats the plea of verses 7 and 8, leaving out only the deep waters. The same foreigners and the same false right hands are named.
This site's exposition
rescue me from the grasp of foreigners
Charles Spurgeon called this plea the refrain of the song, aimed at foreign enemies who broke their treaties. John Gill heard urgency in the repetition. Albert Barnes saw the plea lead straight into the peace of verses 12 to 14, the answer it hoped for.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
"Lord, deliver me from the hand of foreign sons, whose mouth has spoken vanity, and their right hand is the right hand of iniquity." And he explains what vanity he speaks of and what right hand. For he calls the right hand of iniquity the happiness of this age. Not that it is not found among the good, but when the good have it, they have it in the left hand, not in the right hand. They have eternal happiness in the right hand; they have temporal happiness in the left hand. However, the desire for eternal things and eternal happiness should not be mixed with the desire for temporal things, that is, present and temporal happiness. And this is: "Let not your left hand know what your right hand does." Therefore: "Their right hand is a right hand of iniquity."
"Lord, deliver me from the hand of foreign sons, whose mouth has spoken vanity, and their right hand is the right hand of iniquity." And he explains what vanity he speaks of and what right hand. For he calls the right hand of iniquity the happiness of this age. Not that it is not found among the good, but when the good have it, they have it in the left hand, not in the right hand. They have eternal happiness in the right hand; they have temporal happiness in the left hand. However, the desire for eternal things and eternal happiness should not be mixed with the desire for temporal things, that is, present and temporal happiness. And this is: "Let not your left hand know what your right hand does." Therefore: "Their right hand is a right hand of iniquity."
"From" this "sword deliver me" (ver. 11). "And. take me out of the hand of strange children, whose mouth hath spoken vanity:" just as before. And that which followeth, "their right hand is a right hand of iniquity," the same he had set down before also, when he called them "many waters." For lest thou shouldest think that the "many waters" were good waters, he explained them by the "sword of ill intent."
Rescue me and free me from the hand of the sons of strangers. The little verses which were spoken above are repeated again. Whose mouth has spoken vanity, and their right hand is the right hand of iniquity. Whose sons are like new plantings established in their youth. From the hand of the sons of strangers. Let us see what sort the sons of the heretics are. Whose sons are like a new planting in their youth. From the hand of the sons of strangers. Attend diligently to what is said about the heretics.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Because of what the Lord had done, David returns to his pleading. He begs deliverance from him who is ever delivering him. Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children. This is in measure the refrain of the song, and the burden of the prayer. He desired to be delivered from his open and foreign adversaries, who had broken compacts, and treated treaties as vain things. Whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Because of what the Lord had done, David returns to his pleading. He begs deliverance from him who is ever delivering him. Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children. This is in measure the refrain of the song, and the burden of the prayer. He desired to be delivered from his open and foreign adversaries, who had broken compacts, and treated treaties as vain things. Whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood. He would not strike hands with those who carried a lie in their right hand: he would be quit of such at once, if possible. Those who are surrounded by such serpents know not how to deal with them, and the only available method seems to be prayer to God for a riddance and deliverance. David in Ps 144:7, according to the original, had sought the help of both the Lord's hands, and well he might, for his deceitful enemies, with remarkable unanimity, were with one mouth and one hand seeking his destruction. Riddance from the wicked and the gracious presence of the Lord are sought with a special eye to the peace and prosperity which will follow thereupon. The sparing of David's life would mean the peace and happiness of a whole nation. We can scarcely judge how much of happiness may hang upon the Lord's favour to one man.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Rid me, and deliver me ... - See the notes at Psa 144:7-8. The language is here repeated. The prayer had been interrupted by the thought that the answer to it would lay the foundation for praise, and by an acknowledgment of entire dependence on God. The psalmist now, after repeating the prayer, suggests what would result from the answer to it, and dwells on the happy consequences which must follow; the bright scenes in his own reign, in the prosperity of the people, in the happiness of the nation, in domestic comforts, and in the abundance which the land would produce when these dangers should pass away, when people now engaged in the conflict of arms might return to the peaceful pursuits of life, when families would be safe in their dwellings, and when the earth cultivated in time of peace would again produce abundance, Psa 144:12-14.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Deliver me and rescue me As You delivered me then, so shall You deliver me now.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Who gives salvation to kings This speaks about the Rock of the Divisions, when David was close to being seized by Saul (I Sam.:27): “A messenger came to Saul, saying, ‘Make haste and go, etc.’” He saved Saul from shedding innocent blood, and David from being killed.
For our sons are, etc. That is to say that now too this generation is righteous.
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. 3 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
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| פְּצֵ֥נִי | petzeni | set free me | H6475 → | 15 times |
| וְהַצִּילֵנִי֮ | vehatzileni | and deliver me | H5337 → | 212 times |
| מִיַּ֪ד | miyad | from [the] hand of | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| בְּֽנֵי־ | benei- | sons of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| נֵ֫כָ֥ר | nekhar | foreignness | H5236 → | 36 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| פִּ֭יהֶם | pihem | mouth their | H6310 → | 498 times |
| דִּבֶּר־ | diber- | it speaks | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| שָׁ֑וְא | shav' | falsehood | H7723 → | 53 times |
| וִֽ֝ימִינָ֗ם | viminam | and right [hand] their | H3225 → | 140 times |
| יְמִ֣ין | yemin | [is] a right [hand] of | H3225 → | 140 times |
| שָֽׁקֶר׃ | shaker | deception | H8267 → | 113 times |
פְּצֵ֥נִיset free me
petzeniH6475 →15 times
וְהַצִּילֵנִי֮and deliver me
vehatzileniH5337 →212 times
מִיַּ֪דfrom [the] hand of
miyadH3027 →1618 times
בְּֽנֵי־sons of
benei-H1121 →4930 times
נֵ֫כָ֥רforeignness
nekharH5236 →36 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwho
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
פִּ֭יהֶםmouth their
pihemH6310 →498 times
דִּבֶּר־it speaks
diber-H1696 →1141 times
שָׁ֑וְאfalsehood
shav'H7723 →53 times
וִֽ֝ימִינָ֗םand right [hand] their
viminamH3225 →140 times
יְמִ֣ין[is] a right [hand] of
yeminH3225 →140 times
שָֽׁקֶר׃deception
shakerH8267 →113 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 12:2They lie to one another; they speak with flattering lips and a double heart.
it leads to
- Romans 16:18
For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
- Jeremiah 9:8
Their tongues are deadly arrows; they speak deception. With his mouth a man speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart he sets a trap for him.
- Psalms 41:6
My visitor speaks falsehood; he gathers slander in his heart; he goes out and spreads it abroad.
- Psalms 144:8
whose mouths speak falsehood, whose right hands are deceitful.
- Psalms 5:9
For not a word they speak can be trusted; destruction lies within them. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.
- Romans 16:18
Through
Isaiah 44:20He feeds on ashes. His deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”
it leads to
- Romans 1:28
Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.
- Hosea 12:1
Ephraim chases the wind and pursues the east wind all day long; he multiplies lies and violence; he makes a covenant with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt.
- Psalms 102:9
For I have eaten ashes like bread and mixed my drink with tears
- Romans 1:28
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Psalms
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, SERMON 32; Augustine of Hippo, ON THE PSALMS, Psalm 144; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 7; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; Jerome, Homily 54, on Psalm 143; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament.