The wicked walk on every side, when what is vile is exalted among the sons of men.
Parallel Translations
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The wicked walk on every side, when what is vile is exalted among the sons of men.
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The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.
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(12-9) The wicked walk on every side, when vileness is exalted among the sons of men.
Cross-references (10)
Passages linked to Psalms 12:8 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 55:10-11 Day and night they prowl around on its walls. Malice and abuse are also within her. Destructive forces are within her. Threats and lies don’t depart from her streets.
- Mark 14:63-65 The high priest tore his clothes, and said, “What further need have we of witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy! What do you think?” They all condemned him to be worthy of death. Some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to beat him with fists, and to tell him, “Prophesy!” The officers struck him with the palms of their hands.
- Proverbs 29:12 If a ruler listens to lies, all of his officials are wicked.
- Hosea 5:11 Ephraim is oppressed, he is crushed in judgment; Because he is intent in his pursuit of idols.
- Judges 9:18-57 and you have risen up against my father’s house today and have slain his sons, seventy persons, on one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his female servant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother); if you then have dealt truly and righteously with Jerubbaal and with his house today, then rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you; but if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the men of Shechem and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem and from the house of Millo and devour Abimelech.” Jotham ran away and fled, and went to Beer and lived there, for fear of Abimelech his brother. Abimelech was prince over Israel three years. Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech, that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and that their blood might be laid on Abimelech their brother who killed them, and on the men of Shechem who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers. The men of Shechem set an ambush for him on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed all who came along that way by them; and Abimelech was told about it. Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brothers and went over to Shechem; and the men of Shechem put their trust in him. They went out into the field, harvested their vineyards, trod the grapes, celebrated, and went into the house of their god and ate and drank, and cursed Abimelech. Gaal the son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Isn’t he the son of Jerubbaal? Isn’t Zebul his officer? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem, but why should we serve him? I wish that this people were under my hand! Then I would remove Abimelech.” He said to Abimelech, “Increase your army and come out!” When Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger burned. He sent messengers to Abimelech craftily, saying, “Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brothers have come to Shechem; and behold, they incite the city against you. Now therefore, go up by night, you and the people who are with you, and lie in wait in the field. It shall be that in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, you shall rise early and rush on the city. Behold, when he and the people who are with him come out against you, then may you do to them as you shall find occasion.” Abimelech rose up, and all the people who were with him, by night, and they laid wait against Shechem in four companies. Gaal the son of Ebed went out, and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city. Abimelech rose up, and the people who were with him, from the ambush. When Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, “Behold, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains.” Zebul said to him, “You see the shadows of the mountains as if they were men.” Gaal spoke again and said, “Behold, people are coming down by the middle of the land, and one company comes by the way of the oak of Meonenim.” Then Zebul said to him, “Now where is your mouth, that you said, ‘Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him?’ Isn’t this the people that you have despised? Please go out now and fight with them.” Gaal went out before the men of Shechem, and fought with Abimelech. Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and many fell wounded, even to the entrance of the gate. Abimelech lived at Arumah; and Zebul drove out Gaal and his brothers, that they should not dwell in Shechem. On the next day, the people went out into the field; and they told Abimelech. He took the people and divided them into three companies, and laid wait in the field; and he looked, and behold, the people came out of the city. So, he rose up against them and struck them. Abimelech and the companies that were with him rushed forward and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city; and the two companies rushed on all who were in the field and struck them. Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city and killed the people in it. He beat down the city and sowed it with salt. When all the men of the tower of Shechem heard of it, they entered into the stronghold of the house of Elberith. Abimelech was told that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together. Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him; and Abimelech took an ax in his hand, and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it up, and laid it on his shoulder. Then he said to the people who were with him, “What you have seen me do, make haste, and do as I have done!” All the people likewise each cut down his bough, followed Abimelech, and put them at the base of the stronghold, and set the stronghold on fire over them, so that all the people of the tower of Shechem died also, about a thousand men and women. Then Abimelech went to Thebez and encamped against Thebez, and took it. But there was a strong tower within the city, and all the men and women of the city fled there, and shut themselves in, and went up to the roof of the tower. Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it, and came near to the door of the tower to burn it with fire. A certain woman cast an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head, and broke his skull. Then he called hastily to the young man, his armor bearer, and said to him, “Draw your sword and kill me, that men not say of me, ‘A woman killed him.’ His young man thrust him through, and he died.” When the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they each departed to his place. Thus God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did to his father in killing his seventy brothers; and God repaid all the wickedness of the men of Shechem on their heads; and the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal came on them.
- Isaiah 32:4-6 The heart of the rash will understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers will be ready to speak plainly. The fool will no longer be called noble, nor the scoundrel be highly respected. For the fool will speak folly, and his heart will work iniquity, to practice profanity, and to utter error against Yahweh, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and to cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.
- Micah 6:16 For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of Ahab’s house. You walk in their counsels, that I may make you a ruin, and her inhabitants a hissing; And you will bear the reproach of my people.”
- Esther 3:6-15 But he scorned the thought of laying hands on Mordecai alone, for they had made known to him Mordecai’s people. Therefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even Mordecai’s people. In the first month, which is the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, and chose the twelfth month, which is the month Adar. Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom, and their laws are different from other people’s. They don’t keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not for the king’s profit to allow them to remain. If it pleases the king, let it be written that they be destroyed; and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who are in charge of the king’s business, to bring it into the king’s treasuries.” The king took his ring from his hand, and gave it to Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews’ enemy. The king said to Haman, “The silver is given to you, the people also, to do with them as it seems good to you.” Then the king’s scribes were called in on the first month, on the thirteenth day of the month; and all that Haman commanded was written to the king’s local governors, and to the governors who were over every province, and to the princes of every people, to every province according to its writing, and to every people in their language. It was written in the name of King Ahasuerus, and it was sealed with the king’s ring. Letters were sent by couriers into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to plunder their possessions. A copy of the letter, that the decree should be given out in every province, was published to all the peoples, that they should be ready against that day. The couriers went out in haste by the king’s commandment, and the decree was given out in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city of Susa was perplexed.
- Job 30:8 They are children of fools, yes, children of wicked men. They were flogged out of the land.
- Daniel 11:21 “In his place a contemptible person will stand up, to whom they had not given the honor of the kingdom; but he will come in time of security, and will obtain the kingdom by flatteries.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 8. The ungodly walk about on every side. The…
8. The ungodly walk about on every side. The Hebrew word סביב, sabib, which we have translated on every side, signifies a circuit, or a going round; and, therefore, some explain it allegorically thus: the ungodly seize upon all the defiles or narrow parts of roads, in order to shut up or besiege the good on all sides; and others expound it even more ingeniously, thus: that they lay snares by indirect means, and by inventions full of art and deception. But I think the simple meaning is, that they possess the whole land, and range about through every part of it; as if the Psalmist had said, Wherever I turn my eyes, I see troops of them on every side. In the next clause he complains that mankind are shamefully and basely oppressed by their tyranny. This is the meaning, provided the clause is read as a distinct one by itself, separate from the preceding, a point about which interpreters differ, although this view seems to come nearer to the mind of the inspired writer. Some render the verse in one continuous sentence, thus: The ungodly fly about every where, when the reproaches among the children of men (that is to say, when the worthless and the refuse of men) are exalted, an exposition which is not unsuitable. It commonly happens, that as diseases flow from the head into the members, so corruptions proceed from princes, and infect the whole people. As, however, the former exposition is more generally received, and the most learned grammarians tell us that the Hebrew word זלות, zuluth, which we have translated reproach, is a noun of the singular number, I have adopted the former exposition, not that I am dissatisfied with the latter, but because we must needs choose the one or the other.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain For they suppress the godly and maintain the wicked.
For they suppress the godly and maintain the wicked.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 12:8 The wicked walk on every side, when…
Psa 12:8 The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.
Ver. 8. The wicked walk on every side] In circuitu, saith the Vulgate; the circular motion is most subtle, the devil walketh the rounds to do mischief; but better render it circumquaque, on every side, to show their numbers and their insolence. All places are full of them, such dust heaps are found in every corner; when as the godly are as the salt of the earth, sprinkled here and there, as salt useth to be, to keep the rest from putrefying.
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When the vilest men are exalted] Heb. Vilities, the abstract for the concrete, quisquiliae, ουτιδανοι. Oft empty vessels swim aloft, rotten posts are gilt with adulterate gold, the worst weeds spring up bravest. Chaff will get to the top of the fan when good grain, as it lieth at the bottom of the heap, so it falls low at the feet of the farmer. The reason why wicked men walk on every side, are so brisk, so busy, and who but they? is given in to be this, because losels and rioters were exalted. See Pro 28:12; Pro 28:18; Pro 29:2. As rheums and catarrhs fall from the head to the lungs, and cause a consumption of the whole body; so it is in the body politic. As a fish putrefies first in the head, and then in all the parts; so here. Some render the text thus, When they (that is, the wicked) are exalted, it is a shame for the sons of men, that other men, who better deserve preferment, are not only slighted, but vilely handled by such worthless ambitionists; who yet the higher they climb, as apes, the more they discover their deformities.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The wicked walk on every side; which phrase may…
The wicked walk on every side; which phrase may note,
1. Their great numbers; they fill all places.
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2. Their freedom and safety; they are not restrained nor punished, but go about boldly and securely whither they please.
3. Their proficiency and success, which is sometimes signified by this verb, as Gen 26:13; 1Sa 2:21; Isa 40:31. They grow worse and worse, and prosper in and by their wickedness.
4. Their incessant and unwearied industry in doing mischief to good men. Compare 1Pe 5:8. And this is very fitly here added, as another argument to prevail with God to arise to help his poor people who are oppressed by wicked men.
The vilest men, Heb. vilenesses, i.e. all manner of wickedness, lying and slandering, profaneness; oppression, cruelty, and the like; or, vile persons, the abstract being put for the concrete, which is frequent, as pride, Psa 36:11, for a proud man, and many such like; both comes to one, vile persons and vile practices were both advanced and encouraged through Saul’s misgovernment, whereby all the foundations were destroyed, as he complained, Psa 11:3. The Hebrew word zolel (whence this zuloth comes) signifies first a glutton or drunkard, as Deu 21:20; Pro 23:21, and thence any vile person, as Jer 15:19; Lam 1:11.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain The wicked walk on every side,.... Of the poor…
The wicked walk on every side,.... Of the poor and needy, of the righteous ones, to watch them, lay snares for them, and hurt them; therefore, Lord, keep and preserve them: the wicked are everywhere in great numbers, the whole world lies in wickedness; and the men of it are like their father the devil, they go about to do all the mischief they can to the saints; wherefore they stand in need continually of divine preservation;
when the vilest men are exalted: either to great dignities and high offices, to be magistrates and rulers; see Pro 29:2; or are highly esteemed and caressed; which shows the sad degeneracy and badness of the times, and the unsafe and dangerous condition the people of God are in, unless kept by him; see Mal 3:15; or else these words may be considered as expressive of the judgment of God upon wicked men, and so confirm what the psalmist had said of God's regard to and preservation of his own people; and the sense be, that the wicked shall walk up and down here and there, as outcasts and vagabonds, in a most desolate, destitute, and miserable condition; and as the latter clause may be rendered, "according to their exaltation shall be the vileness", depression, or humiliation "of the children of men" (r); they shall be brought as low as they have been made high; by how much the more highly they have been exalted, by so much the more deeply they shall be humbled: or else the meaning is, they shall walk about here and there fretting and vexing, when they shall see such who in their opinion are the meanest and basest of men, of low degree, and of a mean extract, exalted to the highest posts of honour and dignity; as David, who was taken from the sheepfold, and placed on the throne of Israel; so Jarchi, who observes that the Haggadah explains it of the Israelites, who will be exalted in time to come.
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(r) "secundum superelevationem, vilitas (erit vel est)", Cocceius.
Next: Psalms Chapter 13
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 8. The wicked walk on every side] The…
Verse 8. The wicked walk on every side] The land is full of them. When the vilest men are exalted; rather, As villany gains ground among the sons of Adam. See the Hebrew. The Vulgate has, "In circuito impii ambulant; secundum altitudinem tuam multiplicasti filios hominum;" which is thus translated and paraphrased in my old MS.: -
Trans. In umgang wiked gos: eftir thy heenes thu has multiplied the sons of man.
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Par. Us thy kepes; bot wiked gas in umgang; that es, in covatyng of erdley gudes, that turned with the whele of seven daies: in the qwilk covatys, thai ryn ay aboute; for that sett nane endyng of thaire syn: and tharfor settes God na terme of thair pyne, but sons of men that lyfs skilwisly and in ryghtwisnes, thu has multiplied, aftir thi heghnes in vertus; aftir the heghnes of thi consayll, thou hast multiplied men bath il and gude; for na man may perfitely witt in erd, qwy God makes so many men, the qwilk he wote well sal be dampned: bot it es the privete of his counsayle, so ryghtwis, that no thyng may be ryghtwiser.
In this we find a number of singular expressions, which, while they elucidate the text, will not be uninteresting to the antiquary. Here, for instance, we see the true etymology of the words righteous and righteousness, i.e., right wise and right wiseness. For we have it above as a noun, rightwisnes: as an adjective, rightwis; and as an adjective in the comparative degree, rightwiser: and we should have had it as an adverb, ryghtwisely, had not the word skilwisly occurred to the author.
Righteousness is right wiseness, or that which is according to true wisdom. A righteous man is one who is right wise; properly instructed in Divine wisdom, and acts according to its dictates; and among them who act rightwisely, there are some who act rightwiser than others; and nothing can be rightwiser than ever to think and act according to the principles of that wisdom which comes from above.
Right, [Anglo-Saxon] rectus, straight, is opposed to wrong, from [A.S.] injury, and that from [A.S.], to twist. As [A.S.] rehtan signifies to direct, so [A.S.] wrangen signifies to twist, or turn out of a straight or direct line. Right is straight, and wrong, crooked. Hence the righteous man is one who goes straight forward, acts and walks by line and rule; and the unrighteous is he who walks in crooked paths, does what is wrong, and is never guided by true wisdom. Such a person is sometimes termed wicked, from the Anglo-Saxon [A.S.], to act by witch-craft, (hence [A.S.] wicca, a witch,) that is to renounce God and righteousness, and to give one's self to the devil, which is the true character of a wicked man. Let him that readeth understand.
The vilest men are exalted] Were we to take this in its obvious sense, it would signify that at that time wickedness was the way to preferment, and that good men were the objects of persecution.
ANALYSIS OF THE TWELFTH PSALM
There are four parts in this Psalm: -
I. A prayer, and the reason of it; Ps 12:1-2.
II. A prophecy of the fall of the wicked Ps 12:3, whose arrogance he describes, Ps 12:4.
III. God's answer to the petition, with a promise full of comfort, Ps 12:5; ratified, Ps 12:6.
IV. A petitory, or affirmative conclusion: Keep them; or a confident affirmation that God will keep them from the contagion of the wicked, Ps 12:7, of which there were too many, Ps 12:8.
I. The prayer, which is very short, for he breaks in upon God with one word, הושעה Hoshiah! Help! Save, Lord! Ps 12:1. For which he gives two reasons:-
1. The scarcity of good men: "For the godly man ceaseth," c. There is neither piety nor fidelity among men.
2. The great abundance of the wicked, the licentious times the perfidiousness, hypocrisy, and dissimulation of the men among whom he lived. "They speak vanity every one with his neighbour," c. Ps 12:2. They take no care to perform what they promise.
II. The prophecy. This shows the end of their dissembling: "The Lord shall cut off all flattering lips;" Ps 12:3. These are described,
1. As proud boasters: "With our tongues will we prevail," c.
2. As persons restrained by no authority: "Who is the Lord over us?" Ps 12:4.
III. God's answer to the petition, Help, Lord! is it so that the wicked are so numerous, so tyrannous, so proud, and so arrogant?
1. "I will arise, saith the Lord."
2. I will not delay: "Now I will arise" Ps 12:5.
3. "I will set him in safety (my followers) from him that puffeth," c.
4. I am moved to it by his sighs and groans: "For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy," c. Ps 12:5.
I. And of this let no man doubt: "The words of the Lord are pure words." There is no more fallacy in the words of God than there is impurity in silver seven times refined Ps 12:6.
IV. A petitory, or affirmative conclusion: Thou shalt keep them, O Lord; or, O keep them! The overflowings of wickedness are great.
1. Keep them. For unless God keep them they will be infected.
2. Keep them from this generation. For they are a generation of vipers.
3. Keep them for ever. For unless thou enable them to persevere, they will fall.
4. And keep them. For the power, pride, and influence of these impious men are very great. 1. "The wicked walk on every side." As wolves they seek whom they may devour. 2. And wickedness is the way to preferment: "The vilest men are exalted;" Ps 12:8.
Thy people call on thee for help; they know thou canst help, and therefore are they confident that thou wilt help, because they know that thou art good.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Psa 12:8. The wicked walk on every side —…
Psa 12:8. The wicked walk on every side — They fill all places, and go about boldly and securely, seeking to deceive, corrupt, and destroy others, being neither afraid nor ashamed to discover themselves; when the vilest of men are exalted — To places of trust and power, who, instead of putting the laws in execution against vice and injustice, and punishing the wicked according to their deserts, patronize and protect them, or give them countenance and support by their own example. The Hebrew, כרם זלות, cherum zulloth, is literally, when vilenesses are exalted, when all manner of wickedness, lying, slandering, profaneness, oppression, cruelty, and the like, instead of being punished and suppressed, are countenanced and encouraged by magistrates and persons of power and influence. Both these interpretations come to one. For when vile persons are exalted, so also are vile practices. Both these, it appears, were advanced and encouraged under Saul’s government, which caused David to complain that the foundations were destroyed, Psa 11:3.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The wicked walk on every side - Everywhere. They…
The wicked walk on every side - Everywhere. They have full license, or seem to be wholly unrestrained.
When the vilest men are exalted - Margin, “The vilest of the sons of men are exalted.” This expression has been very variously translated. Dr. Horsley renders it, “When the scorn of the sons of men is exalted.” De Wette, “They exalt themselves; terror to the sons of men.” Luther, “Where such wicked people rule among the sons of men.” Hengstenberg, “Like exaltation is disgrace to the sons of men.” Prof. Alexander seems inclined to favor this last view. According to this interpretation, the meaning is, that “although the wicked are now in the ascendant, and the righteous are treated with contempt, this disgrace is realy an exaltation, because only ... in man’s judgment, not in God’s, who will abundantly indemnity his people for the dishonor put upon them.” The word rendered in our version “the vilest” - זלות zûllûth - means, according to Gesenius, “trembling, terror.” It occurs nowhere else in the Scriptures. The verb from which it is derived - זלל zâlal - means to shake, to tremble; then (as one shakes out, or casts away worthless things) to be vile, abject, despised, worthless.
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Perhaps, however, the common version expresses the idea more accurately than any of these proposed amendments. I would offer the following as a fair translation of the passage: “The wicked walk on every side; (it is) as the lifting up, or the exaltation of vileness among the sons of men.” That is, the state of things is as if the vilest were exalted, or were honored. It seems to be the very exaltation of wickedness or depravity in the world. A state of things exists in which, from the prevalence of iniquity, the wicked seem to go unrestrained; in which no regard is paid to truth; in which falsehood and flattery abound; and it is as if honor were done to the worst forms of sin, and the most abandoned seem to be the most exalted. This appears to be the reason in the mind of the psalmist why the divine interposition is necessary; with this idea the psalm commences, and with this it appropriately closes. There was a state of widespread depravity and successful iniquity, as if all honor were conferred on wicked and abandoned men, while the virtuous were oppressed and degraded. The psalm expresses “confidence” in God - confidence in his faithful word and promises; but the psalmist sees a state of things wherein it was eminently desirable that God should interpose, for the righteous seemed to have failed out of the earth, and the wicked seemed to be wholly in the ascendancy.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain The wicked roam undisturbed doing evil, when vileness and…
The wicked roam undisturbed doing evil, when vileness and vile men are exalted.
Next: Psalms Chapter 13
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 8. The wicked walk on every side—They walk round…
8. The wicked walk on every side—They walk round and round. The phrase not only intimates numerically their multitude, (Isa_49:18; Isa_60:4,) but also, that they wear an air of wantonness and arrogance, as conscious of holding the sway of public affairs.
When the vilest men are exalted—This gives the cause of the degeneracy of the times. Pro_28:12. Base, low, weak, and worthless men in power will ruin any age. Let Christian voters of this country see to it. The psalmist ends where he begins, with an echo of Psa_12:1-2, but sustained by the wordof Jehovah, who (Psa_12:5) promises deliverance.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 8. Jehovah will preserve the righteous; although when vileness…
8. Jehovah will preserve the righteous; although when vileness is exalted among the sons of men, when worthless or profligate men are raised to positions of authority, the wicked stalk insolently everywhere, unabashed and unrestrained. Cp. Psa_11:1-3. The Psalmist returns to the thought of the prevailing corruption, from which he started.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (8) The wicked.—Gesenius translates this verse, “The wicked walk…
(8) The wicked.—Gesenius translates this verse, “The wicked walk on every side like the rising of a tempest upon the sons of men.” There seems no reason to question his rendering of the word zullûth (Authorised Version, “vilest”), which is peculiar to this passage; but by comparison with Psa_39:6; Psa_58:7, we may render the first clause, the wicked vanish on every side; and a slight change gives for the second clause, at the rising of a tempest on the sons of men.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The wicked walk on every side. This can scarcely…
The wicked walk on every side. This can scarcely have been intended as an independent clause, though grammatically it stands alone. It is best to supply "while" or "though" before "the wicked," as Dr. Kay does, and to translate, Though (or, while) wicked men march to and fro on all sides; i.e. while they have their way, and control all other men"s incomings and out-goings, being free themselves. When the vilest men are exalted; rather, and though villainy (twOLzu) exalteth itself among the sons of men.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 8. Here we return to the fount of…
Ver. 8. Here we return to the fount of bitterness, which first made the psalmist run to the wells of salvation, namely, the prevalence of wickedness. When those in power are vile, their underlings will be no better. As a warm sun brings out noxious flies, so does a sinner in honour foster vice everywhere. Our turf would not so swarm with abominables if those who are styled honourables did not give their countenance to the craft. Would to God that the glory and triumph of our Lord Jesus would encourage us to walk and work on every side; as like acts upon like, since an exalted sinner encourages sinners, our exalted Redeemer must surely excite, cheer, and stimulate his saints. Nerved by a sight of his reigning power we shall meet the evils of the times in the spirit of holy resolution, and shall the more hopefully pray, "Help, Lord."
Ver. 8. When the vilest men are exalted: Hebrew, vilities, outidanoi the abstract for the concrete, quisquilioe, outidanoi. Oft, empty vessels swim aloft, rotten posts are gilt with adulterate gold, the worst weeds spring up bravest. Chaff will get to the top of the fan, when good corn, as it lieth at the bottom of the heap, so it falls low at the feet of the fanner. The reason why wicked men walk on every side, are so brisk, so busy (and who but they?) is given to be this, because losels and rioters were exalted. See Pr 28:12, 18 29:2. As rheums and catarrhs fall from the head to the lungs, and cause a consumption of the whole body, so it is in the body politic. As a fish putrefies first in the head and then in all the parts, so here. Some render the text thus, "When they (that is, the wicked) are exalted, it is a "shame for the sons of men, "that other men who better deserve preferment, are not only slighted, but vilely handled by such worthless ambitionists, who yet the higher they climb, as apes, the more they discover their deformities." John Trapp.
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Ver. 8 Good thus translates this verse:
Should the wicked advance on every side; Should the dregs of the earth be uppermost?
The original is given literally. (twlz) means "foeces, foeculences, dregs." (Mrk) is here an adverb, and imports uppermost, rather than exalted. J. Mason Good, in loc.
Ver. 8. Sin in high places specially infectious. Call to the rich and prominent to remember their responsibility. Thankfulness for honourable rulers. Discrimination to be used in choice of our representatives, or civic magistrates.
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.