New King James Version
Psalms 140:9
9“As for the head of those who surround me, Let the evil of their lips cover them;
Psalms 140:9 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)As for the head of those that compass me about, let the mischief of their own lips cover them.
- New International Version (NIV)Those who surround me proudly rear their heads; may the mischief of their lips engulf them.
- English Standard Version (ESV)As for the head of those who surround me, let the mischief of their lips overwhelm them!
- New Living Translation (NLT)Let my enemies be destroyed by the very evil they have planned for me.
Context of Psalms 140:9
7O God the Lord, the strength of my salvation, You have covered my head in the day of battle. 8Do not grant, O Lord, the desires of the wicked; Do not further his wicked scheme, Lest they be exalted. Selah “As for the head of those who surround me, Let the evil of their lips cover them; 10Let burning coals fall upon them; Let them be cast into the fire, Into deep pits, that they rise not up again. 11Let not a slanderer be established in the earth; Let evil hunt the violent man to overthrow him.”
Read all of Psalms 140Psalms 140:9 word by word
רֹ֥אשׁ מְסִבָּ֑י עֲמַ֖ל שְׂפָתֵ֣ימוֹ יְכַסֵּֽמוֹ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Psalms 140:9
- Psalms 7:16His trouble shall return upon his own head, And his violent dealing shall come down on his own crown.
- Psalms 64:8So He will make them stumble over their own tongue; All who see them shall flee away.
- Psalms 94:23He has brought on them their own iniquity, And shall cut them off in their own wickedness; The Lord our God shall cut them off.
- Esther 5:14Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Let a gallows be made, fifty cubits high, and in the morning suggest to the king that Mordecai be hanged on it; then go merrily with the king to the banquet.” And the thing pleased Haman; so he had the gallows made.
- Esther 7:10So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath subsided.
- Proverbs 10:6Blessings are on the head of the righteous, But violence covers the mouth of the wicked.
- Proverbs 12:13The wicked is ensnared by the transgression of his lips, But the righteous will come through trouble.
- Proverbs 18:7A fool’s mouth is his destruction, And his lips are the snare of his soul.
- Matthew 27:25And all the people answered and said, “His blood be on us and on our children.”
Commentaries on Psalms 140:9
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 9As for the head of those that compass me about - Luther renders this, “The calamity which my enemies design against me must fall upon their own heads.” The passage stands in contrast with Psalm 140:7: “Thou hast covered my head,” etc. As for his own head, it had been protected in the day of battle. In reference now to the heads of his enemies - of those that compassed him about - he prays that what they had designed for “his” head might come by a just…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 8-13Verses 8-13 Believers may pray that God would not grant the desires of the wicked, nor further their evil devices. False accusers will bring mischief upon themselves, even the burning coals of Divine vengeance. And surely the righteous shall dwell in God's presence, and give him thanks for evermore. This is true thanksgiving, even thanks-living: this use we should make of all our deliverances, we should serve God the more closely and cheerfully. Those…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 9-11The psalmist prays for God’s judgment on the wicked.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 99. Contrasts his head covered by God (Psa 140:7) with theirs, or (as "head" may be used for "persons") with them, covered with the results of their wicked deeds (Psa 7:16).Read the comment
- Rashi on Tanakh · v. 9the desires of the wicked The wicked Esau.Read the comment
Topics related to Psalms 140:9
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Psalms 140
- 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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries