Psalms 52:2
in Psalms 52Your tongue devises destruction like a sharpened razor, O worker of deceit.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thy tongue deviseth very wickedness, Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.
KJV
Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.
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This verse in Psalms 52
Commentary
13 notes on this verseThy tongue deviseth mischiefs,.... Abundance of mischiefs, in a variety of ways, against many persons, even all good men. What properly belongs to the heart is here ascribed to the tongue; because, as Aben Ezra observes, it is the interpreter and discoverer of the thoughts of the heart: out of the abundance of that the tongue speaks and declares the mischief it has devised.
This site's exposition
Why do you boast of evil
on Psalms 52:1-2
The boast of a mighty man stands against God's loving devotion, which endures all day long. The heading names him Doeg, the Edomite who killed the priests of Nob at 1 Samuel 22:18. His tongue is a sharpened razor doing a blade's work.
This site's exposition
like a sharpened razor
A razor works quietly, and the man under it feels nothing until the damage is done. Charles Spurgeon applied that to Doeg's report, which sounded like service to Saul but was meant to destroy the priests. A half-truth bent to harm still lies, as Matthew Henry notes.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"In iniquity the whole day upon injustice has your tongue thought" [Psalm 52:2]: that is, in the whole of time, without weariness, without intermission, without cessation. And when you do not, you think, so that when anything of evil is away from your hands, from your heart it is not away; either you do an evil thing, or while you can not do, you say an evil thing, that is, thou evil-speakest: or when not even this you can do, you will and thinkest an evil thing. "The whole day," then, that is, without intermission. We expect punishment to this man. Is he to himself a small punishment? Thou threatenest him: thou, when you threaten him, wilt send him whither? Unto evil? Send him away unto himself. In order that you may vent much rage, you are going to give him into the power of beasts: unto himself he is worse than beasts. For a beast can mangle his body: of himself he cannot leave his heart whole. Within, against himself he does rage of himself, and do you from without seek for stripes? Nay, pray God for him, that he may be set free from himself. Nevertheless in this Psalm, my brethren, there is not a prayer for evil men, or against evil men, but a prophecy of what is to result to evil men. Think not therefore that the Psalm of ill-will says anything: for it is said in the spirit of prophecy.
A commentator
Eusebius of CaesareaCommentary on the Psalms: Ps. 51 (52) · Written before 339.
proposed
The material we have before us was spoken much earlier in time than the history pertaining to the 50th Psalm. For [the history of Doeg] took place, and [the words] were spoken, while Saul was still alive, and before David's kingship. Many long years later, after the death of Saul, and at the end of his own kingship, David made the confession contained in the 50th Psalm, which he placed before [the 51st] because of its connection to the 49th Psalm, as I have already shown.
The Medieval Church1 voice
"All day long your tongue devises injustice," etc. Here he shows the second point which he set forth above: namely, that they not only glory in their malice, but think about how they may do evil. And first he sets forth the assiduity of their …
The Reformation1 voice
Thy tongue reckons up mischiefs David is not to be considered as here venting a flood of reproaches against his adversary, as many who have been unjustly injured are in the habit of doing, merely to gratify a feeling of revenge.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
It will not save us from the guilt of lying to be able to say, "There was some truth in what we said," if we pervert it, and make it to appear otherwise than it was. Subtlety in sin: " Thy tongue devises mischiefs; that is, it speaks the mischief which thy heart devises." The more there is of craft and contrivance in any wickedness the more there is of the devil in it.
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
He accuses him of the wickedness of his tongue (that unruly evil, full of deadly poison) and the wickedness of his heart, which that was an evidence of.
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs. Thou speakest with an ulterior design. The information given was for Saul's assistance apparently, but in very deed in his heart the Edomite hated the priests of the God of Jacob. It is a mark of deep depravity, when the evil spoken is craftily intended to promote a yet greater evil. Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. David represents the false tongue as being effectual for mischief, like a razor which, unawares to the person operated on, is making him bald; so softly and deftly do Oriental barbers perform their work.
Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs. Thou speakest with an ulterior design. The information given was for Saul's assistance apparently, but in very deed in his heart the Edomite hated the priests of the God of Jacob. It is a mark of deep depravity, when the evil spoken is craftily intended to promote a yet greater evil. Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. David represents the false tongue as being effectual for mischief, like a razor which, unawares to the person operated on, is making him bald; so softly and deftly do Oriental barbers perform their work. Or he may mean that as with a razor a man's throat may be cut very speedily, under the pretence of shaving him, even thus keenly, basely, but effectually Doeg destroyed the band of the priests. Whetted by malice, and guided by craft, he did his cruel work with accursed thoroughness.
Deviseth mischiefs - Lies and slanders proceeding from the tongue argue the desperate wickedness of the heart. Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully - Which instead of taking off the beard, cuts and wounds the flesh; or as the operator who, when pretending to trim the beard, cuts the throat.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs - The word rendered “mischiefs” means (a) desire, cupidity: Pro 10:3; then (b) fall, ruin, destruction, wickedness: Psa 5:9; Psa 38:12. The meaning here is, that he made use of his tongue to ruin others. Compare Psa 50:19. The particular thing referred to here is the fact that Doeg sought the ruin of others by giving “information” in regard to them. He “informed” Saul of what Ahimelech had done; he informed him where David had been, thus giving him, also, information in what way he might be found and apprehended. All this was “designed” to bring ruin upon David and his followers. It “actually” brought ruin on Ahimelech and those associated with him, 1Sa 22:17-19. Like a sharp razor - See the notes at Isa 7:20. His slanders were like a sharp knife with which one stabs another. So we stay of a slanderer that he “stabs” another in the dark. Working deceitfully - literally, making deceit. That is, it was by deceit that he accomplished his purpose. There was no open and fair dealing in what he did.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Why do you boast of evil, you mighty man? Why do you boast and brag of the evil that you do, you who are mighty in Torah?
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. 5 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
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַ֭וּוֹת | havot | destruction<s> | H1942 → | 16 times |
| תַּחְשֹׁ֣ב | tachsho | it plots | H2803 → | 124 times |
| לְשׁוֹנֶ֑ךָ | leshonekha | tongue your | H3956 → | 117 times |
| כְּתַ֥עַר | ketaar | like a razor | H8593 → | |
| מְ֝לֻטָּ֗שׁ | melutash | sharpened | H3913 → | |
| עֹשֵׂ֥ה | ʾoseh | O doer of | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| רְמִיָּֽה׃ | remiyah | deceit | H7423 → | 15 times |
הַ֭וּוֹתdestruction<s>
havotH1942 →16 times
תַּחְשֹׁ֣בit plots
tachshoH2803 →124 times
לְשׁוֹנֶ֑ךָtongue your
leshonekhaH3956 →117 times
כְּתַ֥עַרlike a razor
ketaarH8593 →
מְ֝לֻטָּ֗שׁsharpened
melutashH3913 →
עֹשֵׂ֥הO doer of
ʾosehH6213 →2628 times
רְמִיָּֽה׃deceit
remiyahH7423 →15 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
Proverbs 18:21Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
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.
- Matthew 12:35–37
The good man brings good things out of his good store of treasure, and the evil man brings evil things out of his evil store of treasure.
- Colossians 4:6
Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
- Proverbs 10:19–21
When words are many, sin is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise.
- James 3:6–9
The tongue also is a fire, a world of wickedness among the parts of the body. It pollutes the whole person, sets the course of his life on fire, and is itself set on…
- Ephesians 4:29
Through
Proverbs 12:18Speaking rashly is like a piercing sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
it leads to
- Proverbs 16:24
Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
- Proverbs 15:4
A soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.
- Psalms 57:4
My soul is among the lions; I lie down with ravenous beasts— with men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.
- Proverbs 16:24
About Psalms
This page draws on 10 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 52; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 2; Eusebius of Caesarea, Commentary on the Psalms: Ps. 51 (52); John Calvin, Commentaries; 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.