For they intended evil against you. They plotted evil against you which cannot succeed.
Parallel Translations
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For they intended evil against you. They plotted evil against you which cannot succeed.
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For they intended evil against thee: they imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform.
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(21-12) For they intended evil against thee, they imagined a device, wherewith they shall not prevail.
Cross-references (17)
Passages linked to Psalms 21:11 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 10:2 In arrogance, the wicked hunt down the weak. They are caught in the schemes that they devise.
- Psalms 2:1 Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot a vain thing?
- Psalms 31:13 For I have heard the slander of many, terror on every side, while they conspire together against me, they plot to take away my life.
- Jeremiah 11:18-19 Yahweh gave me knowledge of it, and I knew it. Then you showed me their doings. But I was like a gentle lamb that is led to the slaughter. I didn’t know that they had devised plans against me, saying, “Let’s destroy the tree with its fruit, and let’s cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be no more remembered.”
- Isaiah 7:6-7 “Let’s go up against Judah, and tear it apart, and let’s divide it among ourselves, and set up a king within it, even the son of Tabeel.” This is what the Lord Yahweh says: “It shall not stand, neither shall it happen.”
- Isaiah 8:9-10 Make an uproar, you peoples, and be broken in pieces! Listen, all you from far countries: dress for battle, and be shattered! Dress for battle, and be shattered! Take counsel together, and it will be brought to nothing; speak the word, and it will not stand, for God is with us.”
- Matthew 2:16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked by the wise men, was exceedingly angry, and sent out, and killed all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding countryside, from two years old and under, according to the exact time which he had learned from the wise men.
- Matthew 28:2-6 Behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from the sky, and came and rolled away the stone from the door, and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him, the guards shook, and became like dead men. The angel answered the women, “Don’t be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus, who has been crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, just like he said. Come, see the place where the Lord was lying.
- Acts 4:17-18 But so that this spreads no further among the people, let’s threaten them, that from now on they don’t speak to anyone in this name.” They called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.
- Psalms 35:20 For they don’t speak peace, but they devise deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land.
- Psalms 83:4 “Come,” they say, “let’s destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.”
- Matthew 2:8 He sent them to Bethlehem, and said, “Go and search diligently for the young child. When you have found him, bring me word, so that I also may come and worship him.”
- Matthew 27:63-64 saying, “Sir, we remember what that deceiver said while he was still alive: ‘After three days I will rise again.’ Command therefore that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest perhaps his disciples come at night and steal him away, and tell the people, ‘He is risen from the dead;’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.”
- Ezekiel 11:2 He said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity, and who give wicked counsel in this city;
- Matthew 21:46 When they sought to seize him, they feared the multitudes, because they considered him to be a prophet.
- Matthew 26:4-5 They took counsel together that they might take Jesus by deceit, and kill him. But they said, “Not during the feast, lest a riot occur among the people.”
- Acts 5:27-28 When they had brought them, they set them before the council. The high priest questioned them, saying, “Didn’t we strictly command you not to teach in this name? Behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and intend to bring this man’s blood on us.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (16 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 11. For they have spread out. In this verse…
11. For they have spread out. In this verse David shows that the ungodly had deserved the awful ruin which he predicted would befall them, since they had not only molested mortal man, but had also rushed forth in the fury of their pride to make war against God himself. No man, as has been stated in our exposition of the second psalm, could offer violence to the kingdom of Israel, which was consecrated in the person of David, by the commandment of God, without making foul and impious war against God. Much more when persons directly attack the kingdom of Christ to overthrow it, is the majesty of God violated, since it is the will of God to reign in the world only by the hand of his Son. As the Hebrew word נטה, natah, which we have translated to spread out, also sometimes signifies to turn aside, it may not unsuitably be here rendered either way. According to the first view the meaning is, that the wicked, as if they had spread out their nets, endeavored to subject to themselves the power of God. According to the second the meaning is, that for the purpose of hindering, and as it were swallowing up his power, “Pour icello empescher et comme engloutir.” — Fr.
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 laid as it were their nets to make…
They laid as it were their nets to make God’s power to give place to their wicked enterprises.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 21:11 For they intended evil against thee: they…
Psa 21:11 For they intended evil against thee: they imagined a mischievous device, [which] they are not able [to perform].
Ver. 11. For they intended evil against thee] Because against thy people. He that wrongeth a subject is arraigned for injury done to the king, his crown and dignity. And as a certain gentleman of Normandy was executed for but intending only to kill Francis II, king of France, which he told to a priest, sub sigillo confessionis, not thinking ever to hear further of it again; so here.
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 Against thee, i.e. against God, not directly, but by…
Against thee, i.e. against God, not directly, but by conseqence, because it was against David, whom God had anointed, and against the Lord’s people, whose injuries God takes as done to himself, Zec 2:8.
To perform; such supplements are usual after this verb, as Exo 8:18; Psa 101:5; 139:6; Isa 1:13. Or, for which
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they were unable or insufficient. Or, but they did not prevail, as this verb signifies, Psa 13:4; 129:2. This clause seems to be added to teach us this great and necessary lesson, that men are justly punished by God for their wicked intentions, although they be hindered from the execution of them, contrary to what some Jewish doctors and others have taught.
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 For they intended evil against thee,.... All evil, whether…
For they intended evil against thee,.... All evil, whether in thought or deed, if not immediately and directly, yet is ultimately against the Lord, whose law is transgressed, and who is despised and reflected upon as a lawgiver; all sin is an hostility committed against God, or against Christ, against the Lord and his Anointed, or against his people, who are all one as himself: the intention of evil is evil, and is cognizable by the Lord, and punishable by him:
they imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform; not the death of Christ; that was indeed in itself a mischievous device of theirs, but that they performed, though they had not their end in it; they expected his name would then perish, and they should hear no more of him: but rather it respects his resurrection from the dead, they could not prevent, though they took all imaginable care that them might be no show of it; and when they found he was really raised from the dead, they contrived a wicked scheme to stop the credit of it, but in vain, Mat 27:63; and Jews and Gentiles, and Papists, have formed schemes and done all they can to root the Gospel, cause, and interest of Christ, out of the world, but have not been able to perform it.
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 Thee - Against God, not directly, but by consequence,…
Thee - Against God, not directly, but by consequence, because it was against David, whom God had anointed, and against the Lord's people, whose injuries God takes as done to himself.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 11. For they intended evil] Sinners shall not…
Verse 11. For they intended evil] Sinners shall not be permitted to do all that is in their power against the godly; much less shall they be able to perform all that they wish.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain For they intended evil against thee - literally, “They…
For they intended evil against thee - literally, “They stretched out evil.” The idea seems to be derived from “stretching out” or laying snares, nets, or gins, for the purpose of taking wild beasts. That is, they formed a plan or purpose to bring evil upon God and his cause: as the hunter or fowler forms a purpose or plan to take wild beasts or fowls. It is not merely a purpose in the head, as our word “intended” would seem to imply; it supposes that arrangements had been entered into, or that a scheme had been formed to injure the cause of God - that is, through the person referred to in the psalm. The purposes of wicked men against religion are usually much more than a mere “intention.” The intention is accompanied with a scheme or plan in their own mind by which the act may be accomplished. The evil here referred to was that of resisting or overpowering him who was engaged in the cause of God, or whom God had appointed to administer his laws.
They imagined a mischievous device - They thought, or they purposed. The word rendered “mischievous device” מזמה mezimmâh - means properly “counsel, purpose; then prudence, sagacity;” then, in a bad sense, “machination, device, trick.” Gesenius, Lexicon. Pro 12:2; Pro 14:17; Pro 24:8.
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Which they are not able to perform - literally, “they could not;” that is, they had not the power to accomplish it, or to carry out their purpose. Their purpose was plain; their guilt was therefore clear; but they were prevented from executing their design. Many such designs are kept from being carried into execution for the want of power. If all the devices and the desires of the wicked were accomplished, righteousness would soon cease in the earth, religion and virtue would come to an end, and even God would cease to occupy the throne.
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 This terrible overthrow, reaching to posterity, is due to…
This terrible overthrow, reaching to posterity, is due to their crimes (Exo 20:5-6).
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 11. They intended—Rather, they extended, in a hostile sense,…
11. They intended—Rather, they extended, in a hostile sense, as the word more commonly means. They “extended,” or directed, their evil designs against God. Job_15:15; Jer_21:5. So, also, the second hemistich.
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 11, 12. Though they threaten thee with evil,
11, 12. Though they threaten thee with evil,
Though they devise a mischievous plan, they shall avail naught,
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For thou shalt make them turn their backs,
Aiming with thy bowstrings against their faces.
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 (11) For they.—Better, though they have intended evil against…
(11) For they.—Better, though they have intended evil against thee, have plotted mischief, they have no power at all.
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 For they intended evil against thee. Their destruction is…
For they intended evil against thee. Their destruction is brought upon them by their own selves. They plot against the people of God, and thus provoke God to anger, and cause him to deliver them into their enemy" s hand. It does not matter that they can effect nothing. The "intention" is enough. They imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform. The inability is not so much from a deficiency of strength in themselves, as from the opposition offered to their schemes by God. The best-laid plans and powerless, if God wills to baffle them.
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. 11. For they intended evil against thee. God…
Ver. 11. For they intended evil against thee. God takes notice of intentions. He who would but could not is as guilty as he who did. Christ's church and cause are not only attacked by those who do not understand it, but there are many who have the light and yet hate it. Intentional evil has a virus in it which is not found in sins of ignorance; now as ungodly men with malice aforethought attack the gospel of Christ, their crime is great, and their punishment will be proportionate. The words "against thee" show us that he who intends evil against the poorest believer means ill to the King himself: let persecutors beware.
They imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform. Want of power is the clog on the foot of the haters of the Lord Jesus. They have the wickedness to imagine, and the cunning to devise, and the malice to plot mischief, but blessed be God, they fail in ability; yet they shall be judged as to their hearts, and the will shall be taken for the deed in the great day of account. When we read the boastful threatenings of the enemies of the gospel at the present day, we may close our reading by cheerfully repeating, "which they are not able to perform." The serpent may hiss, but his head is broken; the lion may worry, but he cannot devour: the tempest may thunder, but cannot strike. Old Giant Pope bites his nails at the pilgrims, but he cannot pick their bones as aforetime. Growling forth a hideous "non possumus", the devil and all his allies retire in dismay from the walls of Zion, for the Lord is there.
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Ver. 11. They intended, or warped. Hebrew, have bent or stretched. A similitude taken from weavers, who warp their yarn before they weave: or from archers, who, when they have bent their bow and put in their arrow, do take their aim. John Diodati.
Ver. 11-12. The guilt and punishment of evil intentions.
Psalms 21:12*
Ver. 11-12. The guilt and punishment of evil intentions.
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 For they intended evil against Thee . . .…
Psa_21:11
For they intended evil against Thee . . . which they are not able to perform.
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A memorable instance of intended evil that the wicked were not able to perform
At Rome the news of this great blow (given by the massacre on St. Bartholomews Day) was hailed with extravagant manifestations of joy; the Pope (Gregory XII) and cardinals went in state to return thanks to heaven for this signal mercy, and medals were struck in its honour. Philip II. extolled it as one of the most memorable triumphs of Christianity, compared it to the splendid victory of Lepanto, and boasted that the total ruin of Protestantism was now finally assured. Nevertheless, this great wickedness, like all state crimes, was quite ineffectual for the purpose toward which it was directed. The Huguenots had lost their ablest leaders: they were stunned, confounded, scattered, weakened, but they were by no means wholly crushed. As soon as they recovered from their consternation they once more rushed to arms . . . The persecuted party once more raised their heads, and within a year from the date of the great massacre were in a position to address the king in bolder and more importunate language than at any former period of the contest . . . The full and public exercise of the reformed religion was authorised throughout the kingdom; the parliaments were to consist of an equal number of Protestant and Catholic judges; all sentences passed against the Huguenots were annulled, and the insurgents were pronounced to have acted for the good of the king and kingdom; eight towns were placed in their hands for an unlimited period; and the States-General were to be convoked within six months. Such were the conditions of the Peace of Monsieur, as it was termed, which was signed on the 6th of May 1576--less than four years after that frightful massacre by which it was hoped that the Huguenot faction would be finally extirpated from France. (Students France.)
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Psa_22:1-31
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 they intended
they intended
"they planned." The word "they" refers to the enemies of God and the king.
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evil against you
"to do evil things to you"
they conceived a plot
"they made a plan" or "they created a scheme"
For you will turn them back; you will draw your bow before them
Possible meanings for "you" and "your" are 1) they refer to the king or 2) they refer to God and speak about him as if he were a warrior with a bow and arrows. (See: Metaphor)
you will turn them back
This is a way of saying that God and the king will defeat their enemies in battle. (See: Idiom)
you will draw your bow before them
This implies that he actually shoots his arrows at his enemies. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
translationWords
evil
turn
bow and arrow
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.