Psalms 69:12
in Psalms 69Those who sit at the gate mock me, and I am the song of drunkards.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They that sit in the gate talk of me; And I am the song of the drunkards.
KJV
They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards.
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This verse in Psalms 69
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThey that sit in the gate speak against me. The ordinary gossips who meet at the city gates for idle talk make me their theme, the business men who there resort for trade forget their merchandise to slander me, and even the beggars who wait at men's doors for alms contribute their share of insult to the heap of infamy. And I was the song of the drunkard. The ungodly know no merrier jest than that in which the name of the holy is traduced. The flavour of slander is piquant, and gives a relish to the revellers' wine.
This site's exposition
I wept and fasted
on Psalms 69:10-12
Weeping and fasting brought him reproach. Sackcloth made him a joke to them, and the men who sit at the gate mocked him while drunkards sang about him. Clarke marks the climb across the three verses, from private grief to public dress to open ridicule.
This site's exposition
Those who sit at the gate
The gate was the city's court and marketplace. Albert Barnes reports Calvin's view that the judges who sit at the gate joined the mockery, though he prefers the idlers and traders gathered there. The drunkards turn the mockery into a song.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Against Me were reviling they that were sitting in the gate" [Psalm 69:12]. "In the gate" is nothing else but in public. "And against Me they were chanting, they that were drinking wine." Do ye think, brethren, that this has befallen Christ alone? Daily to Him in His members it happens: whenever perchance it is necessary for the servant of God to forbid excess of wine and luxuries in any village or town, where there has not been heard the Word of God, it is not enough that they sing, nay more even against him they begin to sing, by whom they are forbidden to sing. Compare ye now His fasting and their wine.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
They that sit in the gate speak against me,....
Such drunkards as these make themselves vile, and he was the song of the drunkards; they made themselves and their companions merry with him. See the bad consequences of the sin of drunkenness; it makes men despisers of those that are good, 2 Tim. iii. When the king was made sick with bottles of wine he stretched out his hand with scorners, Hos. vii.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
They that sit in the gate speak against me. The ordinary gossips who meet at the city gates for idle talk make me their theme, the business men who there resort for trade forget their merchandise to slander me, and even the beggars who wait at men's doors for alms contribute their share of insult to the heap of infamy. And I was the song of the drunkard. The ungodly know no merrier jest than that in which the name of the holy is traduced. The flavour of slander is piquant, and gives a relish to the revellers' wine. The character of the man of Nazareth was so far above the appreciation of the men of strength to mingle strong drink, it was so much out of their way and above their thoughts, that it is no wonder it seemed to them ridiculous, and therefore well adapted to create laughter over their cups. The saints are ever choice subjects for satire. Butler's Hudibras owed more of its popularity to its irreligious banter than to any intrinsic cleverness. To this day the tavern makes rare fun of the tabernacle, and the ale bench is the seat of the scorner. What a wonder of condescension is here that he who is the adoration of angels should stoop to be the song of drunkards! What amazing sin that he whom seraphs worship with veiled faces should be a scornful proverb among the most abandoned of men.
They that sit in the gate - At the gates were the courts for public justice; there were complaints lodged, and causes heard. No doubt many vexatious complaints were made against the poor captives; and false accusations, through which they grievously suffered; so that, literally, they were often “obliged to restore that which they had not taken away.” See Psa 69:4. The song of the drunkards - These poor miserable people were exposed to all sorts of indignities. Though the conduct is base, the exultation over a fallen enemy is frequent. How miserable was this lot! Forsaken by friends, scorned by enemies, insulted by inferiors; the scoff of libertines, and the song of drunkards; besides hard travail of body, miserably lodged and fed; with the burning crown of all, a deep load of guilt upon the conscience. To such a life any death was preferable.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
They that sit in the gate speak against me - The gates of cities were places of concourse; places where business was transacted; places where courts were frequently held. See the notes at Job 29:7. Compare Isa 14:31; Isa 28:6; Psa 9:14. Calvin supposes that as the gates were the places where the judges sat to administer justice, the meaning here is that magistrates, or those who were high in rank and power, joined in the cry of reproach against him. The more probable interpretation, however, is, that he was subject to the reproach of those who were gathered around these places - the people of business, and the idlers who were assembled there; or, as we should say, that he was the subject of “towntalk.” And I was the song of the drunkards - Margin, as in the Hebrew, “drinkers of strong drink.” They made ballads or low songs about me. They selected me for an example in their drunken songs. David was not alone in this. It has not been uncommon that the songs of revellers and drunkards have been designed to turn piety and the pious into derision. Compare, alas! some of the songs of Burns. See Job 30:9, note; Psa 35:15-16, notes.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
and melodies they made of me for those who imbibe strong drink.
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. 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יָשִׂ֣יחוּ | yasichu | they speak | H7878 → | 20 times |
| בִ֭י | vi | in me | ||
| יֹ֣שְׁבֵי | yoshevei | [those who] sit of | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| שָׁ֑עַר | shaar | [the] gate | H8179 → | 374 times |
| וּ֝נְגִינ֗וֹת | uneginot | and taunt songs of | H5058 → | |
| שׁוֹתֵ֥י | shotei | drinkers of | H8354 → | 217 times |
| שֵׁכָֽר׃ | shekhar | strong drink | H7941 → |
יָשִׂ֣יחוּthey speak
yasichuH7878 →20 times
בִ֭יin me
vi
יֹ֣שְׁבֵי[those who] sit of
yosheveiH3427 →1079 times
שָׁ֑עַר[the] gate
shaarH8179 →374 times
וּ֝נְגִינ֗וֹתand taunt songs of
uneginotH5058 →
שׁוֹתֵ֥יdrinkers of
shoteiH8354 →217 times
שֵׁכָֽר׃strong drink
shekharH7941 →
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
Genesis 19:1Now the two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them, bowed facedown,
it leads to
- Hebrews 13:2
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.
- Genesis 18:22
And the two men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD.
- Genesis 18:1–5
Then the LORD appeared to Abraham by the Oaks of Mamre in the heat of the day, while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent.
- Job 31:32
but no stranger had to lodge on the street, for my door has been open to the traveler—
- Hebrews 13:2
Through
Deuteronomy 16:18You are to appoint judges and officials for your tribes in every town that the LORD your God is giving you. They are to judge the people with righteous judgment.
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 23:4
“Of these,” said David, “24,000 are to oversee the work of the house of the LORD, 6,000 are to be officers and judges,
- Exodus 21:6
then his master is to bring him before the judges. And he shall take him to the door or doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he shall serve his master for…
- Deuteronomy 21:2
your elders and judges must come out and measure the distance from the victim to the neighboring cities.
- Exodus 18:25–26
So Moses chose capable men from all Israel and made them heads over the people as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.
- 1 Chronicles 23:4
Where this verse is studied
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 69; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 3; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.