Psalms 73:6
in Psalms 73Therefore pride is their necklace; a garment of violence covers them.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Therefore pride is as a chain about their neck; Violence covereth them as a garment.
KJV
Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment.
⋯
This verse in Psalms 73
Commentary
13 notes on this verseTherefore pride compasseth them about as a chain. They are as great in their own esteem as if they were aldermen of the New Jerusalem; they want no other ornament than their own pomposity. No jeweller could sufficiently adorn them; they wear their own pride as a better ornament than a gold chain. Violence covereth them as a garment. In their boastful arrogance they array themselves; they wear the livery of the devil, and are fond of it.
This site's exposition
no struggle in their death
on Psalms 73:4-6
The ease of the wicked is described from outside: no pangs at death, a well-fed body, none of the burdens other men carry. Pride is worn where a necklace is worn, and violence is worn as clothing. Both are on the outside for anyone to see.
This site's exposition
pride is their necklace
Clarke noted that chains of gold were worn at the neck as marks of office. Pride is the necklace these men wear, and violence covers them like a garment. Therefore ties this to the ease of verse 5.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
Wherefore on this account what do these men, while they are not scourged, while they labour not with men? "Therefore," he saith "there hath holden them pride" (ver. 6). Observe these men, proud, undisciplined; observe the bull, devoted for a victim, suffered to stray at liberty; and to damage whatever he may, even up to the day of his slaughter. Now it is a good thing, brethren, that we should hear in the very words of a prophet of this bull as it were, whereof I have spoken. For thus of him the Scripture doth make mention in another place: he saith that they are, as it were, made ready as for a victim, and that they are spared for an evil liberty. "Therefore," he saith, "there hath holden them pride." What is, "there hath holden them pride"? "They have been clothed about with their iniquity and ungodliness." He hath not said, covered; but, "clothed about," on all sides covered up with their ungodliness. Deservedly miserable, they neither see nor are seen, because they are clothed about; and the inward parts of them are not seen. For whosoever could behold the inward parts of evil men, that are as it were happy for a time, whosoever could see their torturing consciences, whosoever could examine their souls racked with such mighty perturbations of desires and fears, would see them to be miserable even when they are called happy. But because "they are clothed about with their iniquity and ungodliness," they see not; but neither are they seen. The Spirit knew them, that saith these words concerning them: and we ought to examine such men with the same eye as that wherewith we know that we see, if there is taken from our eyes the covering of ungodliness. ...
Perhaps someone may say, Why did God cause Pharaoh to be hardened by sparing him, and why did he remove his scourges? At this point I reply with assurance: God removed his scourges so often because by the immense number of his sins Pharaoh did …
"Therefore their pride has gripped them; they are covered with their iniquity and their wickedness." Iniquity affords a bad covering, and if anyone wishes to hold it over us, we ought to remove it; else he may begin to come into judgment with us. And if anyone tries to carry off our spiritual tunic that we have received, remove the cloak of iniquity and take up the covering of faith and of patience, with which David covered himself in fasting, so that he would not lose the garment of virtue. Fasting is itself a covering.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
They are corrupt, like the giants, the sinners of the old world, when the earth was filled with violence, Gen. vi. They care not what mischief they do, either for mischief-sake or for their own advantage-sake. They speak wickedly concerning oppression; they oppress, and justify themselves in it.
It is not so much what the dress or apparel is (though we have rules for that, 1 Tim. ii. 9 ) as what principle ties it on and with what spirit it is worn. And, as the pride of sinners appears in their dress, so it does in their talk: They speak loftily (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain, Which was the sin of the devils, and of our first parents, and of Sodom, and is the sin of antichrist; and which, of all sins, is most hateful to God; this arises from, at least is increased by, outward prosperity.
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The prosperous wicked are insolently proud (compare Ps 5:5). They die, as well as live, free from perplexities: pride adorns them, and violence is their clothing; indeed they are inflated with unexpected success.
Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain. They are as great in their own esteem as if they were aldermen of the New Jerusalem; they want no other ornament than their own pomposity. No jeweller could sufficiently adorn them; they wear their own pride as a better ornament than a gold chain. Violence covereth them as a garment. In their boastful arrogance they array themselves; they wear the livery of the devil, and are fond of it. As soon as you see them, you perceive that room must be made for them, for, regardless of the feelings and rights of others, they intend to have their way, and achieve their own ends. They brag and bully, bluster and browbeat, as if they had taken out license to ride roughshod over all mankind.
Pride compasseth them about as a chain - Perhaps there is an allusion here to the office which some of them bore. Chains of gold, and golden rings, were ensigns of magistracy and civil power. As these chains encompassed their necks, or the rings their wrists and fingers, as the signs of the offices in virtue of which they acted; so חמס chamas, violence, oppressive conduct, encompassed them. They made no other use of their great power, than to oppress the poor and the needy; and to drive things to extremities. The Chaldee, instead of a chain, represents this as a crown or diadem, which they had formed out of the plunder of the poor and defenseless.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain - Therefore they are proud, haughty, imperious. They put on the ornaments and trappings of pride; their clothing and their adorning all are indicative of a proud heart. They seem to imagine that they are better than others, and that they are treated in this manner “because” they are better than others. In the original it is a single word which is rendered “compasseth about as a chain.” The word means “to adorn with a necklace or collar;” and the idea is, that pride surrounds them as with a neck-chain, or a collar for the neck. They wear it as an ornament. They make it conspicuous. It is apparent on a haughty neck - in an erect and stiff demeanour. Compare the notes at Isa 3:16: “The daughters of Zion walk with stretched forth necks.” Violence covereth them as a garment - Injustice or cruelty seems to be their very clothing. It is manifest in their whole gait and demeanor that they are men of haughtiness and pride; that they are destitute of tenderness, sympathy, sensibility.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לָ֭כֵן | lakhen | <to> therefore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| עֲנָקַ֣תְמוֹ | ʾanakatmov | [it is] a necklace [for] them | H6059 → | |
| גַאֲוָ֑ה | gaavah | pride | H1346 → | 19 times |
| יַעֲטָף־ | yaatafo- | it covers | H5848 → | 15 times |
| שִׁ֝֗ית | shit | a garment of | H7897 → | |
| חָמָ֥ס | chamas | violence | H2555 → | 60 times |
| לָֽמוֹ׃ | lamo | <to> them |
לָ֭כֵן<to> therefore
lakhenH3651 →771 times
עֲנָקַ֣תְמוֹ[it is] a necklace [for] them
ʾanakatmovH6059 →
גַאֲוָ֑הpride
gaavahH1346 →19 times
יַעֲטָף־it covers
yaatafo-H5848 →15 times
שִׁ֝֗יתa garment of
shitH7897 →
חָמָ֥סviolence
chamasH2555 →60 times
לָֽמוֹ׃<to> them
lamo
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
1 Peter 5:5Young men, in the same way, submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
it leads to
- James 4:6
But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
- Proverbs 3:34
He mocks the mockers, but gives grace to the humble.
- Ephesians 5:21
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
- Romans 12:10
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Outdo yourselves in honoring one another.
- Philippians 2:3
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves.
- James 4:6
Through
Proverbs 1:9For they are a garland of grace on your head and a pendant around your neck.
it leads to
- Proverbs 4:9
She will set a garland of grace on your head; she will present you with a crown of beauty.”
- Daniel 5:29
Then Belshazzar gave the command, and they clothed Daniel in purple, placed a gold chain around his neck, and proclaimed him the third highest ruler in the kingdom.
- Proverbs 4:9
Through
Daniel 4:30the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built by the might of my power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?”
it leads to
- Proverbs 16:18
Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
- Proverbs 16:18
Where this verse is studied
About Psalms
This page draws on 11 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, The Prayer of Job and David 4.4.10-11; Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 73; Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 101:3; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 3; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.