Psalms 35:25
in Psalms 35Let them not say in their hearts, “Aha, just what we wanted!” Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up!”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Let them not say in their heart, Aha, so would we have it: Let them not say, We have swallowed him up.
KJV
Let them not say in their hearts, Ah, so would we have it: let them not say, We have swallowed him up.
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This verse in Psalms 35
Commentary
10 notes on this verseLet them not say in their hearts, ah, so would we have it,.... Or we have what our souls wished for and desired: the sense of the petition is the same with Psa 27:12; let them not say, we have swallowed him up; as roaring lions swallow down their prey, to which he had compared them, Psa 35:17; and as wicked men eat up the Lord's people as they eat bread, Psa 14:4.
This site's exposition
We have swallowed him up
on Psalms 35:25-26
The enemies' triumph is put into their own mouths so that it can be refused, We have swallowed him up. Verse 26 returns to the words of verse 4, shame and confusion asked on the men who gloat. Shame is asked as clothing they will wear.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Let them not say in their heart, Aha, aha, so would we have it" [Psalm 35:25]; that is, We have done what we could, we have slain him, we have taken him away. "Let them not say:" show them that they have done nothing. "Let them not say, We have swallowed him up." Whence say those Martyrs, "If the Lord had not been on our side, then they had swallowed us up quick." What is, "had swallowed us up"? Had passed into their own body. For that you swallow up, which you pass into your own body. The world would swallow you up; swallow thou the world, pass it into your own body: kill and eat. As it was said to Peter, "Kill and eat;" [Acts 10:13] do thou kill in them what they are, make them what you are. But if they on the other hand persuade you to ungodliness, you are swallowed up by them. Not when they persecute you are you swallowed up by them, but when they persuade you to be what they are. "Let them not say, We have swallowed him up." Do thou swallow up the body of Pagans. Why the body of Pagans? It would swallow you up. Do thou to it, what it would to you. Therefore perhaps that calf, being ground to powder, was cast into the water and given to the children of Israel to drink, [Exodus 32:20] that so the body of ungodliness might be swallowed up by Israel.
The Medieval Church1 voice
As to the second, he says, "let them not say in their hearts." Insult is done in two things, just as joy. For joy is either about present goods or about future goods. Similarly, insult is either about evils already done or about evils yet …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
9 And my soul shall be joyful in the L ORD : it shall rejoice in his salvation. 10 All my bones shall say, L ORD , who is like unto thee, which deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from him that spoileth him?
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:92%@v9-10
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Let them not say in their hearts - Let them not congratulate themselves on the result; let them not feel that they have triumphed; let them not, under thy government, come off victorious in doing wrong. Ah, so would we have it - Margin, as in Hebrew, “Ah, our soul.” That is, It is just as we thought it was; just as we desired it should be; that is exactly our mind in the case. God has permitted us to triumph, and he has showed that we are right in the matter.
"Let them not say in their hearts, Ah, so would we have it: let them not say, We have swallowed him up." Disappoint them of their prey when their mouths are ready to swallow it. Saints are too dear a morsel for the powers of evil; God will not give his sheep over to the wolfish jaws of the persecutors. Just when they are tuning their pipes to celebrate their victory, they shall be made to laugh on the other side of their mouths.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
"Let them not say in their hearts, Ah, so would we have it: let them not say, We have swallowed him up." Disappoint them of their prey when their mouths are ready to swallow it. Saints are too dear a morsel for the powers of evil; God will not give his sheep over to the wolfish jaws of the persecutors. Just when they are tuning their pipes to celebrate their victory, they shall be made to laugh on the other side of their mouths.
"Let them not say in their hearts, Ah, so would we have it: let them not say, We have swallowed him up." Disappoint them of their prey when their mouths are ready to swallow it. Saints are too dear a morsel for the powers of evil; God will not give his sheep over to the wolfish jaws of the persecutors. Just when they are tuning their pipes to celebrate their victory, they shall be made to laugh on the other side of their mouths. They are all too sure, and too boastful; they reckon without their host: little do they dream of the end which will be put to their scheming. Their bird shall be flown, and they themselves shall be in the trap. The prayer of this text is a promise. Even before the lips of the wicked can frame a speech of exultation, they shall be disappointed; their heart-speech shall be forestalled, their wishes frustrated, their knavish tricks exposed.
Swallowed him up - בלענוהו billaanuhu, we have gulped him down.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| יֹאמְר֣וּ | yomeru | they say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| בְ֭לִבָּם | velibom | in heart their | H3820 → | 595 times |
| הֶאָ֣ח | heach | aha! | H1889 → | 12 times |
| נַפְשֵׁ֑נוּ | nafshenu | desire our | H5315 → | 754 times |
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| יֹ֝אמְר֗וּ | yomeru | they say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| בִּֽלַּעֲנֽוּהוּ׃ | bilaanuhu | we have swallowed him | H1104 → | 49 times |
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
יֹאמְר֣וּthey say
yomeruH559 →5305 times
בְ֭לִבָּםin heart their
velibomH3820 →595 times
הֶאָ֣חaha!
heachH1889 →12 times
נַפְשֵׁ֑נוּdesire our
nafshenuH5315 →754 times
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
יֹ֝אמְר֗וּthey say
yomeruH559 →5305 times
בִּֽלַּעֲנֽוּהוּ׃we have swallowed him
bilaanuhuH1104 →49 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
Matthew 27:43He trusts in God. Let God deliver Him now if He wants Him. For He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”
it leads to
- Psalms 22:8
“He trusts in the LORD, let the LORD deliver him; let the LORD rescue him, since He delights in him.”
- Psalms 22:8
Through
Lamentations 2:16All your enemies open their mouths against you. They hiss and gnash their teeth, saying, “We have swallowed her up. This is the day for which we have waited. We have lived to see…
it leads to
- Psalms 35:21
They gape at me and say, “Aha, aha! Our eyes have seen!”
- Psalms 37:12
The wicked scheme against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them,
- Lamentations 3:46
All our enemies open their mouths against us.
- Psalms 56:2
My enemies pursue me all day long, for many proudly assail me.
- Psalms 35:21
Through
Exodus 15:9The enemy declared, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword; my hand will destroy them.’
it leads to
- Judges 5:30
‘Are they not finding and dividing the spoil—a girl or two for each warrior, a plunder of dyed garments for Sisera, the spoil of embroidered garments for the neck of the looter?’
- Exodus 14:5
When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What have we done? We have released Israel from serving us.”
- Judges 5:30
Through
2 Samuel 20:19I am among the peaceable and faithful in Israel, but you are trying to destroy a city that is a mother in Israel. Why would you swallow up the LORD’s inheritance?”
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 26:19
Now please, may my lord the king hear the words of his servant: If the LORD has stirred you up against me, then may He accept an offering. But if men have done it,…
- 1 Samuel 26:19
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
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); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 35; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 2; 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.