They close up their callous hearts. With their mouth they speak proudly.
Parallel Translations
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They close up their callous hearts. With their mouth they speak proudly.
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They are inclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly.
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Their gross heart they have shut tight, with their mouth they speak proudly.
Cross-references (15)
Passages linked to Psalms 17:10 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Samuel 2:3 “Don’t keep talking so exceedingly proudly. Don’t let arrogance come out of your mouth, for Yahweh is a God of knowledge. By him actions are weighed.
- Psalms 31:18 Let the lying lips be mute, which speak against the righteous insolently, with pride and contempt.
- Psalms 123:4 Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scoffing of those who are at ease, with the contempt of the proud.
- Matthew 13:15 for this people’s heart has grown callous, their ears are dull of hearing, they have closed their eyes; or else perhaps they might perceive with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and would turn again; and I would heal them.’
- Revelation 13:5-6 A mouth speaking great things and blasphemy was given to him. Authority to make war for forty-two months was given to him. He opened his mouth for blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his dwelling, those who dwell in heaven.
- Exodus 5:2 Pharaoh said, “Who is Yahweh, that I should listen to his voice to let Israel go? I don’t know Yahweh, and moreover I will not let Israel go.”
- Exodus 15:9 The enemy said, ‘I will pursue. I will overtake. I will divide the plunder. My desire will be satisfied on them. I will draw my sword. My hand will destroy them.’
- Job 15:27 because he has covered his face with his fatness, and gathered fat on his thighs.
- Psalms 73:7-9 Their eyes bulge with fat. Their minds pass the limits of conceit. They scoff and speak with malice. In arrogance, they threaten oppression. They have set their mouth in the heavens. Their tongue walks through the earth.
- Psalms 119:70 Their heart is as callous as the fat, but I delight in your law.
- Isaiah 6:10 Make the heart of this people fat. Make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and turn again, and be healed.”
- Acts 28:27 For this people’s heart has grown callous. Their ears are dull of hearing. Their eyes they have closed. Lest they should see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and would turn again, then I would heal them.’
- 2 Peter 2:18 For, uttering great swelling words of emptiness, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by licentiousness, those who are indeed escaping from those who live in error;
- Deuteronomy 32:15 But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked. You have grown fat. You have grown thick. You have become sleek. Then he abandoned God who made him, and rejected the Rock of his salvation.
- Psalms 12:3-4 May Yahweh cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that boasts, who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail. Our lips are our own. Who is lord over us?”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (16 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 10. They have inclosed themselves in their own fat…
10. They have inclosed themselves in their own fat If the translation which is given by others is considered preferable, They have inclosed their own fat, the meaning will be quite the same. Some Jewish interpreters explain the words thus: that being stuffed with fat, and their throat being, as it were, choked with it, they were unable to speak freely; but this is a very meagre and unsatisfactory exposition. By the word fat, I think, is denoted the pride with which they were filled and swollen, as it were, with fatness. It is a very appropriate and expressive metaphor to represent them as having their hearts choked up with pride, in the manner in which corpulent persons are affected from the fat within them. “Comme les gens replets se trouvent saisis de leur graisse au dedans.” — Fr. “The sacred writers employ this term [fat] to signify a body pampered to excess by luxury and self-indulgence, Psalm 73:7; 119:70; Job 15:27.” - French and Skinner’s Translation of the Book of Psalms. There may no doubt be a reference to the personal appearance and sensual indulgence of David’s enemies. But something more is implied. “We know that, in the figurative language of Scripture fatness denotes pride. This connection of ideas is still maintained in the East, where, when it is intended to indicate a proud man, he is said to be fat, or to look fat, whether really so or not.” — Illustrated Commentary upon the Bible.
Dr Geddes translates the clause, “Their hearts have they hardened.” “Literally,” says he, “they have closed their midriff; — shut out all compassion from their hearts.” The Hebrew word which is rendered fat is explained by Gesenius, when used figuratively, as denoting a fat, that is, an unfeeling heart.
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 They are puffed up with pride, as the stomach…
They are puffed up with pride, as the stomach that is choked with fat.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 17:10 They are inclosed in their own fat:…
Psa 17:10 They are inclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly.
Ver. 10. They are inclosed in their own fat] See Job 15:27, {See Trapp on "Job 15:27"} They abound in all delights, and therefore soare not to speak proudly. They have closed up their eyes in their fulsome fat, ut non videant nec timeant te, saith R. Solomon, that they cau neither see nor fear thee. Adipem suum obesant (Tram.).
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With their mouth they speak proudly] Heb. in pride, that is, Palam et pleats buccis; openly and with full mouth they condemn God and men; they belch out blasphemies, and do what they please.
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 They live in great splendour and prosperity, whilst I…
They live in great splendour and prosperity, whilst I am exercised with many and sore troubles. The like phrase we have Job 15:27; Psa 73:7.
They speak proudly; not only against us, whom they scorn, but even against God himself, whom they despise, boasting of their own power, and what great things they will certainly effect against me.
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 They are enclosed in their own fat,.... Or "their…
They are enclosed in their own fat,.... Or "their fat has enclosed them"; either their eyes, that they can hardly see out of them, or their hearts, so that they are stupid and senseless, and devoid of the fear of God; the phrase is expressive of the multitude of their wealth and increase of power, by which they were swelled with pride and vanity, and neither feared God nor regarded man; so the Targum paraphrases it,
"their riches are multiplied, their fat covers them;''
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see Deu 32:15; some read it, "their fat shuts their mouths", so Aben Ezra and Kimchi; or "with their fat they shut them" (h); but the accent "athnach" will not admit of this reading; the last word belongs to the next clause;
with their mouth they speak proudly; against God and his people, belching out blasphemies against the one, and severe menaces and threatenings against the other.
(h) So De Dieu.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain They - They live in splendour and prosperity.
They - They live in splendour and prosperity.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 10. They are enclosed in their own fat]…
Verse 10. They are enclosed in their own fat] Dr. Kennicott, Bishop Horsley, Houbigant, and others, read the passage thus: עלי חבלמו סגרו alai chablamo sageru, "They have closed their net upon me." This continues the metaphor which was introduced in the preceding verse, and which is continued in the two following: and requires only that עלי ali, "upon me," should began this verse instead of end the preceding; and that חלב cheleb, which signifies fat, should be read חבל chebel, which signifies rope, cable, or net. This important reading requires only the interchange of two letters. The Syriac translates it, shut their mouth: but the above emendation is most likely to be true.
They speak proudly.] Having compassed the mountain on which I had taken refuge, they now exult, being assured that they will soon be in possession of their prey.
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 17:10. They are enclosed in their own fat…
Psa 17:10. They are enclosed in their own fat — They live in great splendour and prosperity, while I am exercised with many sore troubles. A similar phrase occurs Job 15:27; Psa 73:1. Dr. Dodd considers it as “a poetical, or proverbial speech, to signify haughtiness, as caused by wealth or great prosperity; together with that indulgence of the sensual appetites, and disregard to the duties of religion, which are a consequence of such haughtiness.” Jeshurun waxed fat, that is, rich and prosperous; and the consequence was, that he kicked, grew refractory, proud, and insolent, and would not submit to the yoke of God’s law, but lifted up the heel against him. The psalmist adds here, They speak proudly — Boasting of their own power, and of the great things they had done, or would do. “Pride,” says Dr. Horne, “is the child of plenty, begotten by self- indulgence, which hardens the hearts of men against the fear of God and the love of their neighbours; rendering them insensible of the judgments of the former and the miseries of the latter. Let every man take care,” adds he, “that by pampering the flesh, he do not raise up an enemy of this stamp against himself.”
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 They are enclosed in their own fat - The…
They are enclosed in their own fat - The meaning here is, that they were prosperous, and that they were consequently self-confident and proud, and were regardless of others. The phrase occurs several times as descriptive of the wicked in a state of prosperity, and as, therefore, insensible to the rights, the wants, and the sufferings of others. Compare Deu 32:15, “But Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked: thou art waxed fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him,” etc. Job 15:27, “because he covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh collops of fat on his flanks.” Psa 73:7, “their eyes stand out with fatness.” Psa 119:70, “their heart is as fat as grease.”
With their mouth they speak proudly - Haughtily; in an arrogant tone; as a consequence of their prosperity.
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 enclosed . . . fat--are become proud in prosperity,…
enclosed . . . fat--are become proud in prosperity, and insolent to God (Deu 32:15; Psa 73:7).
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 10. From this to Psa_17:14 the character and deadly…
10. From this to Psa_17:14 the character and deadly purposes of the writer’s enemies are described.
Enclosed in their own fat—A phrase to be understood figuratively for haughty, insubordinate, and selfish persons, who have become wanton by prosperity.
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 10. Prosperity has resulted in obtuse self-complacency and contemptuous…
10. Prosperity has resulted in obtuse self-complacency and contemptuous arrogance. Cp. Psa_73:7-8; Job_15:27. The right rendering of 10 a is however probably (cp. R.V. marg.) Their heart (lit. midriff) have they shut up. They have closed it against every influence for good and all sympathy. Cp. 1Jn_3:17. See for this explanation Prof. Robertson Smith’s Religion of the Semites, p. 360.
they speak proudly] Cp. Psa_12:3 ff.; Psa_10:2; Psa_31:18; Psa_73:6.
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10–12. The character of his enemies.
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 (10) They are inclosed . . .—Literally, Their fat…
(10) They are inclosed . . .—Literally, Their fat have they shut up. So LXX. and Vulgate, without indicating the meaning. But the “proudly” of the next clause suggests that “fat” is only a figure for the conceit of prosperity, and as that verb is active, the word mouth should be joined with it as object from the next clause, “In their conceit they shut their mouth; (when they do speak) they speak proudly.
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 They are enclosed in their own fat. (comp. Deu_32:15…
They are enclosed in their own fat. (comp. Deu_32:15 Job_15:27 Psa_119:70) Self-indulgence has hardened their feelings and dulled their souls. An organ enclosed in fat cannot work freely. So their feelings cannot work as nature intended through the coarseness and hardness in which they are, as it were, embedded. With their mouth they speak proudly. (comp. Psa_12:3, 4 86:14)
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. 10. They are inclosed in their own fat.…
Ver. 10. They are inclosed in their own fat. Luxury and gluttony beget vainglorious fatness of heart, which shuts up its gates against all compassionate emotions and reasonable judgments. The old proverb says that full bellies make empty skulls, and it is yet more true that they frequently make empty hearts. The rankest weeds grow out of the fattest soil. Riches and self indulgence are the fuel upon which some sins feed their flames. Pride and fulness of bread were Sodom's twin sins. (Eze 16:49.) Fed hawks forget their masters; and the moon at its fullest is furthest from the sun. Eglon was a notable instance that a well fed corporation is no security to life, when a sharp message comes from God, addressed to the inward vitals of the body.
With their mouth they speak proudly. He who adores himself, will have no heart to adore the Lord. Full of selfish pleasure within his heart, the wicked man fills his mouth with boastful and arrogant expressions. Prosperity and vanity often lodge together. Woe to the fed ox when it bellows at its owner, the poleax is not far off.
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Ver. 10. They are inclosed in their own fat, or their fat has inclosed them; either their eyes, that they can hardly see out of them, or their hearts, so that they are stupid and senseless, and devoid of the fear of God; the phrase is expressive of the multitude of their wealth, and increase of power, by which they were swelled with pride and vanity, and neither feared God nor regarded man; so the Targum paraphrases it, "their riches are multiplied, their fat covers them." John Gill.
Ver. 10. They are inclosed in their own fat. Their worldly prosperity puffeth them up, and makes them insensible and obdurate against all reason and just fear; and the Scripture doth use this term of a fattened heart in this sense, because that the fat of man hath no feeling in it, and those that are very fat are less subject to the passion of fear. John Diodati.
Ver. 10. They are inclosed in their own fat. To say a man is fat, often means he is very proud. Of one who speaks pompously it is said, "What can we do?" tassi kullap inal, that is, "from the fat of his flesh he declares himself." "Oh, the fat of his mouth! how largely he talks!" "Take care, fellow! or I will restrain the fat of thy mouth." J. Roberts, in "Oriental Illustrations, "1844.
None.
Psalms 17:11*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain They are enclosed in their own fat.
Psa_17:10
They are enclosed in their own fat.
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A figure for self-complacency
To be enclosed in ones own fat means, to be wrapped up in pride and self-complacency, the effect upon weak and ignoble minds of worldly prosperity. It is said that the purely fatty part of the human body, having no nerves of sensation, can be cut and pierced without experiencing any feeling of pain. Hence, in Scripture phraseology, to say that ones heart is fat is equivalent to saying that it is hard and insensible, void of moral and sympathetic feeling, and not to be affected by any appeal made to its pity or sense of right. It indicates a haughtiness and insolence of bearing towards others that is hard to be borne by them. Alas! how a little worldly elevation sometimes changes the best character into the worst! How it renders the man proud who before was humble; the heart hard that before was tender! To be delivered from the tender mercies of mindless wealth, of heartless prosperity, is a prayer that others besides David have breathed into the ear of Divine mercy. It was not the poor, but the proud, the prosperous, the high in station and authority, that chased the Son of God to the Cross, and reviled Him there. (David Caldwell, A. M.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.