New International Version
Psalms 139:20
20They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name.
Psalms 139:20 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.
- English Standard Version (ESV)They speak against you with malicious intent; your enemies take your name in vain.
- New King James Version (NKJV)For they speak against You wickedly; Your enemies take Your name in vain.
- New Living Translation (NLT)They blaspheme you; your enemies misuse your name.
Context of Psalms 139:20
18Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with you. 19If only you, God, would slay the wicked! Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty! They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. 21Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord, and abhor those who are in rebellion against you? 22I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.
Read all of Psalms 139Psalms 139:20 word by word
אֲשֶׁ֣ר יֹ֭אמְרֻךָ לִמְזִמָּ֑ה נָשֻׂ֖א לַשָּׁ֣וְא עָרֶֽיךָ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Psalms 139:20
- Psalms 73:8They scoff, and speak with malice; with arrogance they threaten oppression.
- Psalms 74:18Remember how the enemy has mocked you, Lord, how foolish people have reviled your name.
- Job 21:14Yet they say to God, ‘Leave us alone! We have no desire to know your ways.
- Isaiah 37:23Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!
- Jude 1:15to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”
- Revelation 13:6It opened its mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven.
- Psalms 2:1Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?
- Exodus 20:7“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
Commentaries on Psalms 139:20
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20For they speak against thee wickedly - This is one form or manifestation of their character as wicked people, that they speak maliciously against God. The psalmist, therefore, desired to have nothing to do with them. It is always a sufficient reason for avoiding the society, the friendship, and the fellowship of others, when they profane, blaspheme, or calumniate the name of God. From such men we should at once withdraw. Piety shrinks from the society of…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 17-24Verses 17-24 God's counsels concerning us and our welfare are deep, such as cannot be known. We cannot think how many mercies we have received from him. It would help to keep us in the fear of the Lord all the day long, if, when we wake in the morning, our first thoughts were of him: and how shall we admire and bless our God for his precious salvation, when we awake in the world of glory! Surely we ought not to use our members and senses, which are so…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 19-24The psalmist’s sense of awe leads him to consider the wicked and to reflect on himself. The Lord, as the examiner of all people, judges the wicked for their destructive acts and speech. So, the psalmist prays that he will not be among them.Read the comment
- Rashi on Tanakh · v. 20Who mention You with wicked thought They mention Your name regarding all the thoughts of their evil and call their deities with Your name.Read the comment
Topics related to Psalms 139:20
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Psalms 139
- 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
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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