Psalms 59:12
in Psalms 59By 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For the sin of their mouth, and the words of their lips, Let them even be taken in their pride, And for cursing and lying which they speak.
KJV
For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips let them even be taken in their pride: and for cursing and lying which they speak.
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This verse in Psalms 59
Commentary
10 notes on this verseFor the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips let them even be taken in their pride. Such dreadful language of atheism and insolence deserves a fit return. As they hope to take their victims, so let them be taken themselves, entangled in their own net, arrested in the midst of their boastful security. Sins of the lips are real sins, and punishable sins. Men must not think because their hatred gets no further than railing and blasphemy that therefore they shall be excused.
This site's exposition
Do not kill them, or my people will forget
on Psalms 59:11-13
David asks God to leave them alive and scatter them, so his people will not forget. Verse 12 puts the charge on their mouths, curses and lies, and verse 13 asks that they be consumed till they are no more. Cain was kept alive as a sign at Genesis 4:15.
This site's exposition
let them be trapped in their pride
The sin charged here is speech, curses and lies. Charles Spurgeon held sins of the lips are punishable sins, and he asked that the men who hoped to take a victim be taken themselves. Their pride is the snare.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"The transgressions of their mouth, the discourse of their lips: and let them be taken in their pride: and out of cursing and lying shall be declared consummations, in the anger of consummation, and they shall not be" [Psalm 59:12]. Obscure words these are, and I fear lest they be not well instilled.... The Second Part.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
): For the sin of their mouth, even for the words of their lips (for every word they speak has sin in it), let them for this be taken in their pride, even for their cursing others and themselves (a sin Saul was subject to, 1 Sam. xiv. Note, There is a great deal of malignity in tongue-sins, more than is commonly thought of.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
1 Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God: defend me from them that rise up against me. 2 Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me from bloody men. 3 For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul: the mighty are gathered against me; not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O L ORD .
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:96%@v1-3
For the sin of their mouth, and the words of their lips,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips let them even be taken in their pride. Such dreadful language of atheism and insolence deserves a fit return. As they hope to take their victims, so let them be taken themselves, entangled in their own net, arrested in the midst of their boastful security. Sins of the lips are real sins, and punishable sins. Men must not think because their hatred gets no further than railing and blasphemy that therefore they shall be excused. He who takes the will for the deed, will take the word for the deed and deal with men accordingly. Wretches who are persecutors in talk, burners and stabbers with the tongue, shall have a reckoning for their would be transgressions. Pride though it show not itself in clothes, but only in speech, is a sin; and persecuting pride, though it pile no faggots at Smithfield, but only revile with its lips, shall have to answer for it among the unholy crew of inquisitors. And for cursing and lying which they speak. Sins, like hounds, often hunt in couples. He who is not ashamed to curse before God, will be sure to lie unto men. Every swearer is a liar. Persecution leads on to perjury. They lie and swear to it. They curse and give a lying reason for their hate. This shall not go unnoticed of the Lord, but shall bring down its recompense. How often has it happened that while haughty speeches have been fresh in the mouths of the wicked they have been overtaken by avenging providence, and made to see their mischief recoil upon themselves!
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
For the sin of their mouth - This verse has puzzled all the commentators. If we take חטאת chattath for sin-offering instead of sin, we shall get a better sense. Some of Nehemiah’s enemies made a profession of the Jewish religion. Tobiah and his son were allied by marriage to the Jews; for Eliashib the priest had married his grandson to the daughter of Sanballat; and this produced a connection with Tobiah, the fast friend of Sanballat. Besides this very priest had given Tobiah one of the great chambers in the house of the Lord, where formerly the meat-offerings, the frankincense, the vessels, and the tithe of the corn and wine and oil were kept; Neh 13:4, Neh 13:5, Neh 13:7-9. And there were children of Tobiah (probably the same family) who professed to be of the Levites, Nethinim, or children of Solomon’s servants; but as they could not show their father’s house and their seed, whether they were of Israel; these, and others which were children of the priests, were put out of the priesthood, and out of the sacred service, as polluted; as having sprung from intermarriages with heathens. See Ezr 2:59-62. Tobiah was expelled from the house of the Lord by Nehemiah, and all his household stuff thrown out of doors: Neh 13:7, Neh 13:8. And this was doubtless one ground of the enmity of Tobiah to Nehemiah; and in this verse of the Psalm he may allude particularly to his occupancy of the chamber of offerings, which offerings, instead of being given to the Levites, were consumed by Tobiah and his household. This may be fairly gathered from Neh 13:6, Neh 13:10, Neh 13:11. Here then we have the sin of their mouth; their eating the offerings that belonged to the Levites; so that the temple service was deserted, the Levites being obliged to go and till the ground in order to obtain the means of life. […]
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
For the sin of their mouth ... - That is, in belching out words of reproach and malice, Psa 59:7. Let them even be taken in their pride - In the very midst of their schemes, or while confidently relying on the success of their plans. Even while their hearts are elated, and they are sure of success, let them be arrested, and let their plans be foiled. And for cursing and lying which they speak - That is, on account of the false charges which they have brought against me, and of their bitter imprecations on me. The allusion is to the accusations brought against David, and which were believed by Saul, and which were the foundation of the efforts made by Saul to take his life.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Do not kill them because this is not recognizable [as] revenge.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
will precede He will give me His help before the hand of my enemy overwhelms me.
The sin of their mouth is the word of their lips, and the poor who are pursued by them because of the curse and the lies that they tell, are seized through their haughtiness.
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. 2 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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| חַטַּאת־ | chatat- | [the] sin of | H2403 → | 295 times |
| פִּ֗ימוֹ | pimo | mouth their | H6310 → | 498 times |
| דְּֽבַר־ | devar- | [the] word of | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| שְׂפָ֫תֵ֥ימוֹ | sefateimov | lips their | H8193 → | 176 times |
| וְיִלָּכְד֥וּ | veyilakhedu | and let them be caught | H3920 → | 121 times |
| בִגְאוֹנָ֑ם | vigonam | in pride their | H1347 → | |
| וּמֵאָלָ֖ה | umealah | and from a curse | H423 → | |
| וּמִכַּ֣חַשׁ | umikachash | and from lying | H3585 → | |
| יְסַפֵּֽרוּ׃ | yesaperu | [which] they speak | H5608 → | 159 times |
חַטַּאת־[the] sin of
chatat-H2403 →295 times
פִּ֗ימוֹmouth their
pimoH6310 →498 times
דְּֽבַר־[the] word of
devar-H1697 →1440 times
שְׂפָ֫תֵ֥ימוֹlips their
sefateimovH8193 →176 times
וְיִלָּכְד֥וּand let them be caught
veyilakheduH3920 →121 times
בִגְאוֹנָ֑םin pride their
vigonamH1347 →
וּמֵאָלָ֖הand from a curse
umealahH423 →
וּמִכַּ֣חַשׁand from lying
umikachashH3585 →
יְסַפֵּֽרוּ׃[which] they speak
yesaperuH5608 →159 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 12:13An evil man is trapped by his rebellious speech, but a righteous man escapes from trouble.
it leads to
- Psalms 64:8
They will be made to stumble, their own tongues turned against them. All who see will shake their heads.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 21:23
He who guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from distress.
- Proverbs 11:8
The righteous man is delivered from trouble; in his place the wicked man goes in.
- Psalms 64:8
Through
Proverbs 18:7A fool’s mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul.
it leads to
- Proverbs 13:3
He who guards his mouth protects his life, but the one who opens his lips invites his own ruin.
- Psalms 140:9
May the heads of those who surround me be covered in the trouble their lips have caused.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 12:13
An evil man is trapped by his rebellious speech, but a righteous man escapes from trouble.
- Proverbs 10:14
The wise store up knowledge, but the mouth of the fool invites destruction.
- Proverbs 13:3
Through
Psalms 10:7His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and violence; trouble and malice are under his tongue.
it leads to
- Psalms 7:14
Behold, the wicked man travails with evil; he conceives trouble and births falsehood.
- Psalms 7:14
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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 59; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 3; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.