Psalms 59:7
in Psalms 59See what they spew from their mouths— sharp words from their lips: “For who can hear us?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Behold, they belch out with their mouth; Swords are in their lips: For who, say they, doth hear?
KJV
Behold, they belch out with their mouth: swords are in their lips: for who, say they, doth hear?
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This verse in Psalms 59
Commentary
11 notes on this verseBehold they belch out with their mouth. The noisy creatures are so remarkable in their way, that attention is called to them with a behold. Ecce homines, might we not say, Ecce canes! Their malicious speech gushes from them as from a bubbling fountain. The wicked are voluble in slander; their vocabulary of abuse is copious, and as detestable as it is abundant. What torrents of wrathful imprecation will they pour on the godly! They need no prompters, their feelings force for themselves their own vent, and fashion their own expressions. Swords are in their lips. They speak daggers.
This site's exposition
They return in the evening
on Psalms 59:6-8
Verse 6 has them returning in the evening, dogs snarling and prowling the city, and verse 14 says it again word for word. Their mouths are the weapon, sharp words and the boast, for who can hear us. Verse 8 answers that: the LORD laughs, as at Psalm 2:4.
This site's exposition
sharp words from their lips
Sharp words is the Berean rendering of swords in their lips. Matthew Henry read them as slanders that stab a man's name and whetted Saul's sword against him. Their question, who can hear us, is answered in verse 8.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Behold, themselves shall speak in their mouth, and a sword is on the lips of them" (ver. 7). Here is that sword twice whetted, whereof the Apostle saith, "And the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." Wherefore twice whetted? Wherefore, but because smiting out of both Testaments? With this sword were slain those whereof it was said to Peter, "Slay, and eat." "And a sword is on the lips of them. For who hath heard?" They all speak in their mouth, "Who hath heard?" That is, they shall be wroth with men that are slow to believe. They that a little before were even themselves unwilling to believe, do feel disgust from men not believing. And truly, brethren, so it is. Thou seest a man slow before he is made a Christian; thou criest to him daily, hardly he is converted: suppose him to be converted, and then he would have all men to be Christians, and wondereth that not yet they are. It hath chanced out to him at evening to have been converted: but because he hath been made hungering like a dog, he hath also on his lips a sword; he saith, "Who hath heard?" What is, "Who hath heard?" "Who hath believed our hearing, and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?" "For who hath heard?" The Jews believe not: they have turned them to the nations, and have preached. The Jews did not believe; and nevertheless through believing Jews the Gospel went around the city, and they said, "For who hath heard?"
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Swords are in their lips; that is, reproaches that would my heart with grief ( Ps. xlii. 10 ), and slanders that stab and wound my reputation. They were continually suggesting that which drew and whetted Saul's sword against him, and the fault is laid upon the false accusers.
Note, It is not strange if those regard not what they say who have made themselves believe the God regards not what they say. He refers himself and his cause to the just judgment of God,
Pour out - Sharp and bitter word's, abundantly and vehemently, as a fountain doth waters, as this word signifies. Swords - Words as keen and mischievous as swords.
Behold, they belch out with their mouth,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Behold they belch out with their mouth. The noisy creatures are so remarkable in their way, that attention is called to them with a behold. Ecce homines, might we not say, Ecce canes! Their malicious speech gushes from them as from a bubbling fountain. The wicked are voluble in slander; their vocabulary of abuse is copious, and as detestable as it is abundant. What torrents of wrathful imprecation will they pour on the godly! They need no prompters, their feelings force for themselves their own vent, and fashion their own expressions. Swords are in their lips. They speak daggers. Their words pierce like rapiers, and cleave like cutlasses. As the cushion of a lions's paw conceals his claw, so their soft ruby lips contain bloody words. For who, say they, doth hear? They are free from all restraint, they fear no God in heaven, and the government on earth is with them. When men have none to call them to account, there is no accounting for what they will do. He who neither fears God nor regards man sets out on errands of oppression with gusto, and uses language concerning it of the most atrociously cruel sort. David must have been in a singular plight when he could hear the foul talk and hideous braggings of Saul's black guards around the house. After the style in which a Cavalier would have cursed a Puritan, or Claverhouse a Coventanter, the Saulites swore at the upstarts whom the king's majesty had sent them to arrest. David called them dogs, and no doubt a pretty pack they were, a cursed cursing company of curs. When they said, "Who doth hear?" God was listening, and this David knew, and therefore took courage.
They belch out with their mouth - They use the lowest insult, the basest abuse. They deal in sarcasm, ridicule, slander, and lies.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Behold, they belch out with their mouth - The word rendered “belch out” means properly to boil forth; to gush out, to flow; and then, to pour forth copiously, or in a running stream, as a fountain does. Hence, the word means also to pour out “words” - words that flow freely - words of folly, abuse, or reproach. Pro 15:2, “the mouth of fools poureth out (Margin, belcheth or babbleth) foolishness.” Pro 15:28, “the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things;” that is, “gushes over” with wicked things - as a fountain overflows. In this place, the word means that the enemies of David who were in pursuit of his life, poured out reproaches and threatenings like a gushing fountain. Swords are in their lips - Their words are as sharp swords. See the notes at Psa 57:4. For who, say they, doth hear? - That is, no one hears who will be able to punish us. They dread no man; and they have no fear of God. Compare the notes at Psa 10:11. The words “say they” are, however, supplied here by the translators, and are not in the original; and the language “may” be understood as that of David himself, “as if” no one heard; that is, It is no wonder that they thus pour out words of reproach, for who “is” there to hear and to punish them? The former interpretation, however, is to be preferred. The language expresses the feelings of the enemies of David, who indulged freely in language of abuse and reproach “as if” there were none to hear.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הִנֵּ֤ה׀ | hineh | here! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| יַבִּ֘יע֤וּן | yabiun | they pour forth ! | H5042 → | 11 times |
| בְּפִיהֶ֗ם | befihem | with mouth their | H6310 → | 498 times |
| חֲ֭רָבוֹת | charavot | swords | H2719 → | 413 times |
| בְּשִׂפְתוֹתֵיהֶ֑ם | besiftoteihem | [are] on lips their | H8193 → | 176 times |
| כִּי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| מִ֥י | mi | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| שֹׁמֵֽעַ׃ | shomea' | [is] hearing | H8085 → | 1159 times |
הִנֵּ֤ה׀here!
hinehH2009 →843 times
יַבִּ֘יע֤וּןthey pour forth !
yabiunH5042 →11 times
בְּפִיהֶ֗םwith mouth their
befihemH6310 →498 times
חֲ֭רָבוֹתswords
charavotH2719 →413 times
בְּשִׂפְתוֹתֵיהֶ֑ם[are] on lips their
besiftoteihemH8193 →176 times
כִּי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
מִ֥יwho?
miH4310 →423 times
שֹׁמֵֽעַ׃[is] hearing
shomea'H8085 →1159 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 55:21His speech is smooth as butter, but war is in his heart. His words are softer than oil, yet they are swords unsheathed.
it leads to
- 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 5:3–4
Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil,
- Proverbs 26:28
A lying tongue hates those it crushes, and a flattering mouth causes ruin.
- Psalms 28:3
Do not drag me away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, who speak peace to their neighbors while malice is in their hearts.
- Psalms 57:4
Through
Psalms 10:11He says to himself, “God has forgotten; He hides His face and never sees.”
it leads to
- Psalms 94:7
They say, “The LORD does not see; the God of Jacob pays no heed.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 94:7
Through
Proverbs 15:2The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool spouts folly.
it leads to
- Proverbs 12:23
A shrewd man keeps his knowledge to himself, but a foolish heart proclaims its folly.
- Proverbs 15:28
The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked blurts out evil.
- Proverbs 12:23
Through
Psalms 57:4My soul is among the lions; I lie down with ravenous beasts— with men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.
it leads to
- Psalms 58:6
O God, shatter their teeth in their mouths; O LORD, tear out the fangs of the lions.
- Psalms 58:6
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, ON THE PSALMS - Psalm 59; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 3; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; 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.
