Psalms 69:9
in Psalms 69because zeal for Your house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult You have fallen on me.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For the zeal of thy house hath eaten me up; And the reproaches of them that reproach thee are fallen upon me.
KJV
For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.
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This verse in Psalms 69
Commentary
10 notes on this verseFor the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. His burning ardour, like the flame of a candle, fed on his strength and consumed it. His heart, like a sharp sword, cut through the scabbard. Some men are eaten up with lechery, others with covetousness, and a third class with pride, but the master passion with our great leader was the glory of God, jealousy for his name, and love to the divine family.
This site's exposition
zeal for Your house has consumed me
Zeal for God's house consumed him, and the insults of those who insult God have fallen on him. John 2:17 quotes the first clause as Jesus clears the temple, and Romans 15:3 quotes the second of Christ. Barnes reads both as one pattern.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
"And the disciples remembered that it was written, 'The zeal for your house has eaten me up.' " For by zeal for the house of God the Lord cast those men out of the temple. Brothers, let each and every Christian in the members of Christ be consumed with zeal for God's house. Who is consumed with zeal for God's house? One who strives that all things that he, perhaps, sees are wicked there be corrected, [who] desires that they be improved, [who] does not keep quiet. If he cannot improve it, he suffers, he moans. The grain is not shaken out elsewhere than on the threshing floor; it puts up with the chaff that it may enter the storehouse when the chaff has been separated. You, if you are grain, do not be shaken out elsewhere than on the threshing floor in front of the storehouse, that you may not be picked up by birds before you are gathered into the storehouse. For the birds of the sky, the powers on high, are on the watch to snatch something from the threshing floor, and they snatch only what has been shaken out from there. Therefore let zeal for God's house consume you; let zeal for God's house, in which house of God he is a member, consume each and every Christian.
A commentator
Origen of AlexandriaCOMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 10:222 · Written before 253.
proposed
However, we must know that Psalm 68 [LXX], which contains the statement, "The zeal of your house has devoured me," and a little later "They gave me gall for my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink," both having been recorded in the Gospels, is placed in the mouth of Christ, indicating no change in the person of the speaker.
"Not every one who says to me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven," says the Scripture. Faith, therefore, august sovereign, must not be a mere matter of performance, for it is written, "The zeal of your house has devoured me." Let us then with faithful spirit and devout mind call on Jesus our Lord, let us believe that he is God, to the end that whatever we ask of the Father, we may obtain in his name. For the Father's will is that he be entreated through the Son, the Son's that the Father be entreated.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Complaints and Petitions. 13 But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O L ORD , in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation. 14 Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:93%@v12-14
For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. His burning ardour, like the flame of a candle, fed on his strength and consumed it. His heart, like a sharp sword, cut through the scabbard. Some men are eaten up with lechery, others with covetousness, and a third class with pride, but the master passion with our great leader was the glory of God, jealousy for his name, and love to the divine family. Zeal for God is so little understood by men of the world, that it always draws down opposition upon those who are inspired with it; they are sure to be accused of sinister motives, or of hypocrisy, or of being out of their senses. When zeal eats us up, ungodly men seek to eat us up too, and this was preeminently the case with our Lord, because his holy jealousy was preeminent. With more than a seraph's fire he glowed, and consumed himself with his fervour. And the reproaches of them that reproached thee have fallen upon me. Those who habitually blaspheme God now curse me instead. I have become the butt for arrows intended for the Lord himself. Thus the Great Mediator was, in this respect, a substitute for God as well as for man, he bore the reproaches aimed at the one, as well as the sins committed by the other.
The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up - The strong desire to promote thy glory has absorbed all others. All the desires of my body and soul are wrapped up in this. This verse is very properly applied to our Lord, Joh 2:17, who went about doing good; and gave up his life, not only for the redemption of man, but to “magnify the law, and make it honorable.”
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up - My zeal - my ardor - in the cause of religion (that is, of thy pure worship) has been so great as to consume me. It has been like a devouring fire within me. Zeal is represented under the idea of heat - as it is in the Greek language; and the characteristics of heat or fire are here applied to it. This passage is quoted in Joh 2:17, and applied to the Saviour, not as having had originally a reference to him, but as language which would accurately describe his character. See the notes at that passage. And the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me - This, too, is applied, in the same way, to the Saviour, by the Apostle Paul, in Rom 15:3. See the notes at that passage.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
the envy of Your house They saw the love that You showed us when Your house was still existing, and they envied me.
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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| קִנְאַ֣ת | kinat | [the] zeal of | H7068 → | 43 times |
| בֵּיתְךָ֣ | beitekha | house your | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| אֲכָלָ֑תְנִי | ʾakhalateni | it has consumed me | H398 → | 810 times |
| וְחֶרְפּ֥וֹת | vecherpot | and [the] reproaches of | H2781 → | 73 times |
| ח֝וֹרְפֶ֗יךָ | chorfeikha | [those who] reproach you | H2778 → | 41 times |
| נָפְל֥וּ | nafelu | they have fallen | H5307 → | 435 times |
| עָלָֽי׃ | ʾalai | on me | H5921 → | 5755 times |
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
קִנְאַ֣ת[the] zeal of
kinatH7068 →43 times
בֵּיתְךָ֣house your
beitekhaH1004 →2046 times
אֲכָלָ֑תְנִיit has consumed me
ʾakhalateniH398 →810 times
וְחֶרְפּ֥וֹתand [the] reproaches of
vecherpotH2781 →73 times
ח֝וֹרְפֶ֗יךָ[those who] reproach you
chorfeikhaH2778 →41 times
נָפְל֥וּthey have fallen
nafeluH5307 →435 times
עָלָֽי׃on me
ʾalaiH5921 →5755 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
Romans 15:3For even Christ did not please Himself, but as it is written: “The insults of those who insult You have fallen on Me.”
it leads to
- Philippians 2:8
And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross.
- Psalms 89:50–51
Remember, O Lord, the reproach of Your servants, which I bear in my heart from so many people—
- John 4:34
Jesus explained, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.
- John 6:38
For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but to do the will of Him who sent Me.
- John 5:30
I can do nothing by Myself; I judge only as I hear. And My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
- Philippians 2:8
Through
1 Kings 19:10“I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of Hosts,” he replied, “but the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I am…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 18:4
for when Jezebel had slaughtered the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty men per cave, providing them with food and water.)
- Exodus 34:14
For you must not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
- 1 Kings 18:4
Through
Psalms 119:139My zeal has consumed me because my foes forget Your words.
it leads to
- John 2:17
His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for Your house will consume Me.”
- John 2:17
Where this verse is studied
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 on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, Exposition of the Christian Faith 1.2.12; Augustine of Hippo, TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 10:9.1; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 3; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 10:222.