Psalms 38:12

Psalms 38:12 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)They also that seek after my life lay snares for me: and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long.
• New International Version (NIV)Those who want to kill me set their traps, those who would harm me talk of my ruin; all day long they scheme and lie.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Those who seek my life lay their snares; those who seek my hurt speak of ruin and meditate treachery all day long.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Those also who seek my life lay snares for me; Those who seek my hurt speak of destruction, And plan deception all the day long.

Context of Psalms 38:12

10My heart beats very fast, and my strength is leaving me. Even my eyes can no longer see properly. 11My family and my friends stay away from me, because of my illness. They do not come near to me. My enemies prepare traps, because they want to kill me. They talk about ways to destroy me. They want to hurt me, so they talk about that all through the day. 13But I am like a deaf man who hears nothing. I am like a dumb man who says nothing. 14So I live like a man who cannot hear what people say. I refuse to argue against them.

Psalms 38:12 word by word

וַיְנַקְשׁ֤וּ׀ מְבַקְשֵׁ֬י נַפְשִׁ֗י וְדֹרְשֵׁ֣י רָ֭עָתִי דִּבְּר֣וּ הַוּ֑וֹת וּ֝מִרְמ֗וֹת כָּל־הַיּ֥וֹם יֶהְגּֽוּ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• They also that seekבָּקַשׁbâqash · to seekH1245
• after my lifeנֶ֫פֶשׁnephesh · soul: lifeH5315
• lay snaresנָקַשׁnâqash · to snareH5367
• and they that seekדָּרַשׁdârash · to seekH1875
• my hurtרָעָהra‛ râ‛âh · distress: harmH7451
• speakדָבַרdâbar · to speak: speakH1696
• mischievous thingsהַוָּהhavvâh · desireH1942
• and imagineהָגָהhâgâh · to mutterH1897
• deceitsמִרְמָהmirmâh · deceitH4820
• all the dayיוֹםyôm · dayH3117

Cross-references for Psalms 38:12

• Psalms 10:9Quietly, he hides like a lion among some bushes. He waits there to catch a poor, weak person. Like a hunter, he catches poor people in his net.
• Psalms 64:2When evil men think of ways to hurt me, hide me in a safe place. Those people work together as a group to do wicked things.
• Psalms 119:110Wicked people try to catch me in a trap, but I do not turn away from your teaching.
• Psalms 140:5Proud people have prepared a trap to catch me. They have put their nets across my path. Selah.
• Psalms 141:9They have prepared traps to catch me. Do not let me fall into the traps of those evil people.
• 2 Samuel 17:1Ahithophel said to Absalom, ‘Please let me choose 12,000 men so that I can go and attack David tonight.
• Luke 20:19The teachers of God's Law and the leaders of the priests knew that Jesus had told this story about them. They were the bad farmers in the story. So they wanted to take hold of Jesus immediately. But they did not do it, because they were afraid of the people.
• Psalms 35:20They do not talk in a way that brings peace. Instead, they try to deceive people who want to live quietly.
• Psalms 62:3How long will you all continue to attack me? I am just one man, and you want to kill me! You want to knock me down, like a weak wall or a fence that is falling down.
• 2 Samuel 16:7Shimei said, ‘Go away! Get out of here! You are a murderer, a wicked man!
• Luke 20:21So these people went to Jesus. They said, ‘Teacher, everything that you say and everything that you teach is right. We know that. You teach everyone the same true message about what God wants us to do. You do not say something different to an important person to make him happy.

Commentaries on Psalms 38:12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12They also that seek after my life - They act towards me as huntsmen after their prey; they lay snares to take away my life. Perhaps this means only that they wished for his death, and would have been glad to have had it in their power to end his days. Others spoke all manner of evil of him, and told falsities against him all the day long.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12They also that seek after my life - This was a new aggravation of his affliction, that those who were his enemies now sought to accomplish their purposes against him with better hopes of success, by taking advantage of his sickness. Lay snares for me - On the meaning of this phrase, see the notes at Psalm 9:15. The idea here is that they sought this opportunity of ensnaring or entrapping him so as to ruin him. They took advantage of the fact that he was…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-22Verses 12-22 Wicked men hate goodness, even when they benefit by it. David, in the complaints he makes of his enemies, seems to refer to Christ. But our enemies do us real mischief only when they drive us from God and our duty. The true believer's trouble will be made useful; he will learn to wait for his God, and will not seek relief from the world or himself. The less we notice the unkindness and injuries that are done us, the more we consult the quiet…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 9-12The psalmist wants to reconnect with God but feels distant. He feels lost and alone as his friends leave him.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 11-1211-12. Friends desert, but foes increase in malignity.Read the comment

Topics related to Psalms 38:12

• Afflictions and Adversities
• Character
• Conviction
• Deceit
• Homicide
• Slander

In the dictionaries

• Afar
• Arrow
• Deceit
• Fret
• Plague
• Bring
• Imagine
• Pentateuch
• Psalms, Book of
• Sick; Sickness

Commentaries on Psalms 38

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• The Treasury of David
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings