those who devise mischief in their hearts. They continually gather themselves together for war.
Parallel Translations
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those who devise mischief in their hearts. They continually gather themselves together for war.
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Which imagine mischiefs in their heart; continually are they gathered together for war.
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(140-3) Who devise evil things in their heart; every day do they stir up wars.
Cross-references (15)
Passages linked to Psalms 140:2 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 36:4 He plots iniquity on his bed. He sets himself in a way that is not good. He doesn’t abhor evil.
- Psalms 56:6 They conspire and lurk, watching my steps. They are eager to take my life.
- Psalms 64:5-6 They encourage themselves in evil plans. They talk about laying snares secretly. They say, “Who will see them?” They plot injustice, saying, “We have made a perfect plan!” Surely man’s mind and heart are cunning.
- Psalms 120:7 I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war.
- Proverbs 12:20 Deceit is in the heart of those who plot evil, but joy comes to the promoters of peace.
- Hosea 7:6 For they have prepared their heart like an oven, while they lie in wait. Their baker sleeps all the night. In the morning it burns as a flaming fire.
- Micah 2:1-3 Woe to those who devise iniquity and work evil on their beds! When the morning is light, they practice it, because it is in the power of their hand. They covet fields, and seize them; and houses, and take them away: and they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage. Therefore Yahweh says: “Behold, I am planning against these people a disaster, from which you will not remove your necks, neither will you walk haughtily; for it is an evil time.
- Nahum 1:11 There is one gone out of you, who devises evil against Yahweh, who counsels wickedness.
- 1 Samuel 23:19-24 Then the Ziphites came up to Saul to Gibeah, saying, “Doesn’t David hide himself with us in the strongholds in the woods, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of the desert? Now therefore, O king, come down. According to all the desire of your soul to come down; and our part will be to deliver him up into the king’s hand.” Saul said, “You are blessed by Yahweh; for you have had compassion on me. Please go make yet more sure, and know and see his place where his haunt is, and who has seen him there; for I have been told that he is very cunning. See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hides himself, and come again to me with certainty, and I will go with you. It shall happen, if he is in the land, that I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.” They arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: but David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah on the south of the desert.
- 1 Samuel 24:11-12 Moreover, my father, behold, yes, see the skirt of your robe in my hand; for in that I cut off the skirt of your robe, and didn’t kill you, know and see that there is neither evil nor disobedience in my hand, and I have not sinned against you, though you hunt for my life to take it. May Yahweh judge between me and you, and may Yahweh avenge me of you; but my hand will not be on you.
- 1 Samuel 26:1-25 The Ziphites came to Saul to Gibeah, saying, “Doesn’t David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before the desert?” Then Saul arose, and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph. Saul encamped in the hill of Hachilah, which is before the desert, by the way. But David stayed in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness. David therefore sent out spies, and understood that Saul had certainly come. Then David arose, and came to the place where Saul had encamped; and David saw the place where Saul lay, with Abner the son of Ner, the captain of his army. Saul lay within the place of the wagons, and the people were encamped around him. Then David answered and said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother of Joab, saying, “Who will go down with me to Saul to the camp?” Abishai said, “I will go down with you.” So David and Abishai came to the people by night: and, behold, Saul lay sleeping within the place of the wagons, with his spear stuck in the ground at his head; and Abner and the people lay around him. Then Abishai said to David, “God has delivered up your enemy into your hand today. Now therefore please let me strike him with the spear to the earth at one stroke, and I will not strike him the second time.” David said to Abishai, “Don’t destroy him; for who can stretch out his hand against Yahweh’s anointed, and be guiltless?” David said, “As Yahweh lives, Yahweh will strike him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall go down into battle and perish. Yahweh forbid that I should stretch out my hand against Yahweh’s anointed; but now please take the spear that is at his head, and the jar of water, and let’s go.” So David took the spear and the jar of water from Saul’s head; and they went away: and no man saw it, or knew it, nor did any awake; for they were all asleep, because a deep sleep from Yahweh had fallen on them. Then David went over to the other side, and stood on the top of the mountain afar off; a great space being between them; and David cried to the people, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, “Don’t you answer, Abner?” Then Abner answered, “Who are you who cries to the king?” David said to Abner, “Aren’t you a man? Who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not kept watch over your lord, the king? For one of the people came in to destroy the king your lord. This thing isn’t good that you have done. As Yahweh lives, you are worthy to die, because you have not kept watch over your lord, Yahweh’s anointed. Now see where the king’s spear is, and the jar of water that was at his head.” Saul knew David’s voice, and said, “Is this your voice, my son David?” David said, “It is my voice, my lord, O king.” He said, “Why does my lord pursue his servant? For what have I done? What evil is in my hand? Now therefore, please let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If it is so that Yahweh has stirred you up against me, let him accept an offering. But if it is the children of men, they are cursed before Yahweh; for they have driven me out today that I shouldn’t cling to Yahweh’s inheritance, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods!’ Now therefore, don’t let my blood fall to the earth away from the presence of Yahweh; for the king of Israel has come out to seek a flea, as when one hunts a partridge in the mountains.” Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Return, my son David; for I will no more do you harm, because my life was precious in your eyes today. Behold, I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly.” David answered, “Behold the spear, O king! Then let one of the young men come over and get it. Yahweh will render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness; because Yahweh delivered you into my hand today, and I wouldn’t stretch out my hand against Yahweh’s anointed. Behold, as your life was respected today in my eyes, so let my life be respected in Yahweh’s eyes, and let him deliver me out of all oppression.” Then Saul said to David, “You are blessed, my son David. You will both do mightily, and will surely prevail.” So David went his way, and Saul returned to his place.
- Psalms 2:1-2 Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth take a stand, and the rulers take counsel together, against Yahweh, and against his Anointed, saying,
- Psalms 21:11 For they intended evil against you. They plotted evil against you which cannot succeed.
- Psalms 38:12 They also who seek after my life lay snares. Those who seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and meditate deceits all day long.
- Psalms 62:3 How long will you assault a man? Would all of you throw him down, like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence?
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 2. Who imagine mischief’s in their heart. Here he…
2. Who imagine mischief’s in their heart. Here he charges them with inward malignity of heart. And it is plain that the reference is not to one man merely, for he passes to the plural number (in a manner sufficiently common,) reverting from the head to all his associates and copartners in guilt. Indeed what was formerly said in the singular number may be taken indefinitely, as grammarians say. In general he repeats what I have noticed already, that the hostility to which he was subjected arose from no cause of his. From this we learn that the more wickedly our enemies assail us, and the more of treachery and clandestine acts they manifest, the nearer is the promised aid of the Holy Spirit, who himself dictated this form of prayer by the mouth of David. The second clause may be rendered in three ways. Literally it reads, who gather wars, and so some understand it. But it, is well known that the prepositions are often omitted in the Hebrew, and no doubt he means that they stirred up general enmity by their false information’s being as the trumpet which sounds to battle. Some render the verb — to conspire, or plot together, but this is a farfetched and meager sense. He intimates afterwards in what manner they stirred up unjust war by the wicked calumnies which they spread, as they could not crush a good and innocent person by violence, otherwise than by first overwhelming him with calumny.
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 That is, by their false cavillations and lies they…
That is, by their false cavillations and lies they kindle the hatred of the wicked against me.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 140:2 Which imagine mischiefs in [their] heart; continually…
Psa 140:2 Which imagine mischiefs in [their] heart; continually are they gathered together [for] war.
Ver. 2. Which imagine mischief in their heart] Where the devil worketh night and day as a mintman; as a smith in his forge; or an artificer in his shop. A godly man is said to have right thoughts, Pro 12:5, and that his desires are only good, Pro 11:23. An evil man is called a man of wicked devices, Pro 12:2; Pro 14:17, being ingeniose nequam, wittily wicked, as it was once said of Gaius Curio, the Roman lawyer.
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They are gathered together for war] Heb. they gather wars, as serpents gather poison to vomit out at others. Coacervant praelia, q.d. sunt tanquam tubae belli.
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 To execute those bloody enterprises which they had devised…
To execute those bloody enterprises which they had devised in the first clause of this verse.
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 Which imagine mischiefs in their heart,.... This shows that…
Which imagine mischiefs in their heart,.... This shows that not a single person barely is meant but more, as Saul's courtiers; who were secretly and continually meditating mischief against David, traducing him to Saul, and devising things to take away his life. Such were the Jews to Christ, who were always plotting to entangle him, or contriving to kill him; and so wicked men are ever devising mischief against the quiet in the land, which is very abominable to God; and rightly observed here, to prevail upon the Lord to preserve from them, Psa 2:1;
continually are they gathered together for war; so Saul gathered together three thousand men, and went in pursuit of David, as an enemy, to take him. So Herod and Pontius Pilate joined together, though before enemies, in the prosecution of Christ; and Jews and Gentiles gathered together against him: so the saints, being in a warfare state, have their enemies, who often combine against them, and attack them, and will not suffer them to be at rest and peace; as sin, Satan, the world, and false teachers; see Psa 120:7.
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 2. They gathered together] He and his courtiers…
Verse 2. They gathered together] He and his courtiers form plots and cabals against my life.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Which imagine mischiefs in their heart - Here the…
Which imagine mischiefs in their heart - Here the language is changed to the plural number in the Hebrew, implying that while there was one man who was eminent in his wickedness and his wrong-doing, there were many others associated with him, acting under his direction. The word “mischiefs” in the Hebrew means “evils; wickednesses.” It was not a single purpose; the plan embraced many forms of evil - doing him wrong in every way possible.
Continually are they gathered together for war - They are organized for this purpose; they are constantly prepared for it. The word rendered “gathered together” properly means to sojourn, to dwell for a time; and it has been proposed by some to render this, “All the day they dwell with wars;” that is, they are constantly involved in them. But the word may mean also “to gather together,” as in Psa 56:6.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 2. Mischiefs in their heart—Here is the seat and…
2. Mischiefs in their heart—Here is the seat and fountain of all deeds of wrong and violence. Mat_15:18-19. Satan’s workshop and council chamber are in the hearts “of the children of disobedience.” Eph_2:2.
Continually are they gathered together for war—Literally, Every day they gather war, or, All the day they are assembled to excite war. The latter is the probable sense, judging from the use of the word gather, in Psa_56:6; Psa_59:4; Isa_54:15. This also forms a fit parallel to their devising “mischiefs in their heart,” in the previous member. The Septuagint reads, “All the day they prepared war.” The version of the “Common Prayer Book” reads, “They stir up strife all the day long.”
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 2. Who have devised evils in their heart] Secretly…
2. Who have devised evils in their heart] Secretly and deliberately.
continually &c.] Every day do they stir up strife: lit. wars. They are perpetually trying to pick a quarrel with me.
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 (2) Imagine . . .—Or, contrive, plot.
(2) Imagine . . .—Or, contrive, plot.
Gathered together.—This translation follows the analogy of Psa_56:6. Others render, “dwell with wars.” But it is preferable to derive from a root meaning to incite: “They are continually stirring up wars.” It is the situation described in Psa_120:7 and frequently; Israel would be at peace, but within and without are those ever trying to involve her in troubles.
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 Which imagine mischiefs in their heart. (comp. Psa_28:3 Psa_36:4…
Which imagine mischiefs in their heart. (comp. Psa_28:3 Psa_36:4 Psa_62:3) Continually are they gathered together for war; rather, continually do they stir up wars. (comp. Psa_68:30 Psa_120:7)
HOMILIES BY R. TUCK Ver. 2. The mischiefs of evil-disposed men.
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"Mischiefs" is a very suggestive and comprehensive term. It is frequently used in the Psalms in the singular form, and always suggests scheming, underhanded plotting, to do some evil. In the plural form there are only two passages in the Scriptures, besides our text, in which the word is employed: Deu_32:23, "I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them;" Psa_52:2, "Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.
I REGARD MISCHIEFS AS MALICIOUS INTENTION. "The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth;" "How long will ye imagine mischief against a man?" It is the characteristic of the evil-hearted, evil-disposed man, that he "deviseth mischiefs upon his bed." It is his pleasure to plan an injury; he delights in making misery, and ruining reputations. Any man may do a mischief on impulse or by accident. The evil man cherishes malicious intentions.
II REGARD MISCHIEFS AS INJURIOUS SPEECH. "They have sharpened their tongue like a serpent." There is speech that cuts and wounds by its bitterness; that injures by its untruthfulness; that destroys reputations by its slanderings. There is no surer sign of the evil heart than the evident pleasure felt in saying mischievous things.
III REGARD MISCHIEFS AS VIOLENT ACTS. (Vers. 4, 5) It is the peculiarity of evil-disposed men that cherished evil thoughts inspire evil deeds. The good man checks unkind and evil thoughts, lest they should get expression in acts. But the evil man nourishes them, enjoys them, puts himself into their power, and is by them urged on to violent and injurious deeds. Cherish malicious thought, and you put yourself into its power; and it may lead you on to shameful deeds. But the mischiefs of evil men never transcend the Divine limitations. God has his hand on them, and we may be absolutely assured that he says," Hitherto shalt thou come, and no farther; here shall thy proud waves be stayed." And we may even see deeper into the heart of Divine dealing, and say that the mischiefs of evil men become ministries of the Divine purpose of grace concerning God"s people. R.T.
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. 2. Which imagine mischiefs in their heart. They…
Ver. 2. Which imagine mischiefs in their heart. They cannot be happy unless they are plotting and planning, conspiring and contriving. They seem to have but one heart, for they are completely agreed in their malice; and with all their heart and soul they pursue their victim. One piece of mischief is not enough for them; they work in the plural, and prepare many arrows for their bow. What they cannot actually do they nevertheless like to think over, and to rehearse on the stage of their cruel fancy. It is an awful thing to have such a heart disease as this. When the imagination gloats over doing harm to others, it is a sure sign that the entire nature is far gone in wickedness. Continually are they gathered together for war. They are a committee of opposition in permanent session: they never adjourn, but perpetually consider the all absorbing question of how to do the most harm to the man of God. They are a standing army always ready for the fray: they not only go to the wars, but dwell in them. Though they are the worst of company, yet they put up with one another, and are continually in each other's society, confederate for fight. David's enemies were as violent as they were evil, as crafty as they were violent, and as persistent as they were crafty. It is hard dealing with persons who are only in their element when they are at daggers drawn with you. Such a case calls for prayer, and prayer calls on God.
Ver. 2. Continually are they gathered together for war. Literally, this clause reads, who gather wars, and so some understand it. But it is well known that the prepositions are often omitted in the Hebrew, and no doubt he means that they stirred up general enmity by their false information which acted as a trumpet sounding to battle. John Calvin.
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Ver. 2-3. The wicked assault the righteous with three weapons: with the heart, by conspiracy; with the tongue, by lying; and with the hand, by violence. John Lorinus, 1569-1634.
Psalms 140:3*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.