Don’t deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen up against me, such as breathe out cruelty.
Parallel Translations
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Don’t deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen up against me, such as breathe out cruelty.
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Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.
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Deliver me not over unto the will of mine adversaries; for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out violence.
Cross-references (16)
Passages linked to Psalms 27:12 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 31:8 You have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy. You have set my feet in a large place.
- Matthew 26:59-60 Now the chief priests, the elders, and the whole council sought false testimony against Jesus, that they might put him to death; and they found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at last two false witnesses came forward,
- Psalms 41:11 By this I know that you delight in me, because my enemy doesn’t triumph over me.
- Psalms 35:11 Unrighteous witnesses rise up. They ask me about things that I don’t know about.
- Acts 6:11-13 Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes, and came against him and seized him, then brought him in to the council, and set up false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking blasphemous words against this holy place and the law.
- Psalms 35:25 Don’t let them say in their heart, “Aha! That’s the way we want it!” Don’t let them say, “We have swallowed him up!”
- Acts 9:1 But Saul, still breathing threats and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest
- Exodus 20:16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
- 1 Samuel 22:9-10 Then Doeg the Edomite, who stood by the servants of Saul, answered and said, “I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. He inquired of Yahweh for him, gave him food, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”
- 1 Samuel 26:19 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!’
- 2 Samuel 16:7-8 Shimei said when he cursed, “Be gone, be gone, you man of blood, and wicked fellow! Yahweh has returned on you all the blood of Saul’s house, in whose place you have reigned! Yahweh has delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom your son! Behold, you are caught by your own mischief, because you are a man of blood!”
- Psalms 38:16 For I said, “Don’t let them gloat over me, or exalt themselves over me when my foot slips.”
- Psalms 41:2 Yahweh will preserve him, and keep him alive. He shall be blessed on the earth, and he will not surrender him to the will of his enemies.
- Psalms 140:8 Yahweh, don’t grant the desires of the wicked. Don’t let their evil plans succeed, or they will become proud.
- Acts 26:11 Punishing them often in all the synagogues, I tried to make them blaspheme. Being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.
- Psalms 25:19 Consider my enemies, for they are many. They hate me with cruel hatred.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 12. Give me not up to the desire of…
12. Give me not up to the desire of mine oppressors. The Hebrew noun נפש, nephesh, signifies lust, will, or desire; and the language of David implies, Deliver me not up to the pleasure or lust of mine enemies, and thus he intimates, that they greedily gaped for his destruction. God delivers his people in two ways; either by appeasing the cruelty of the wicked, and rendering them meek; or, if he permit them to burn with fury, by restraining their power and violence, so that they desire and endeavor in vain to do mischief. The Psalmist afterwards adds, that he is persecuted both with slanders and false accusations, and also by open violence; for when he says, that they bring forth violence, Hammond renders the words “breathers or speakers of injury or rapine; חמס, signifying injury or rapine, and פוח, speak.” Ainsworth reads, “He that breatheth or puffeth out violent wrong.
“De glaives et autre tels efforts.” — Fr. “From the sword and other such weapons.”
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 But either pacify their wrath, or bridle their rage.
But either pacify their wrath, or bridle their rage.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 27:12 Deliver me not over unto the will…
Psa 27:12 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.
Ver. 12. Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies] Heb. unto the soul; for the wicked are carried on against the godly, with all their soul, as it were.
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For false witnesses] Such as whereof Saul’s court was full, viz. his Aiones et Negones, who fed his humour by traducing and denigrating innocent David.
And such as breathe out cruelty] As Saul breathed out threatening against the disciples, Act 9:1; so did David’s spit fires.
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 will, or lust, or desire, Heb. soul; which…
The will, or lust, or desire, Heb. soul; which is so taken, Psa 41:2; 78:18; Eze 16:27.
Such as breathe out cruelty; he presseth his request upon the quality of his enemies, who were both false and cruel, and in both respects hateful to God and men.
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 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine…
Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies,.... It is a dreadful thing for a man to be given up to his own heart's lusts, and to be delivered up into the hands of Satan; who would fain have even the people of God themselves in his hands, that he might distress them at pleasure, if not destroy them; and also to be suffered to fall into the hands of wicked men, whose tender mercies are cruel;
for false witnesses are risen up against me; laying to his charge, that he sought to take away from Saul his crown and kingdom, and even his life, Sa1 24:9;
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and such as breathe out cruelty; as Doeg the Edomite, whose tongue was as a sharp razor, and by whose hands four score and five priests were slain, on account of David's being supplied with bread by Ahimelech; the word is in the singular number; see Psa 52:1; compare with this clause Act 9:1; and Horace's phrase, "Spirabat amores" (l).
(l) Carmin. l. 4. Ode. 13. v. 19.
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 12. Deliver me not over unto the will…
Verse 12. Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies] To their soul benephesh; their whole soul thirsts for my destruction. Let them not be gratified. They have suborned witnesses against me, but they are false witnesses: unmask their wickedness, and confound their counsels.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Deliver me not over unto the will of mine…
Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies - Let them not accomplish their desires in regard to me; let them not be able to carry out their purposes. The word here rendered “will” means properly “soul,” but it is used here evidently to denote “wish” or “desire.” Compare Psa 35:25.
For false witnesses are risen up against me - People who would lay false charges against him, or who would wrongfully accuse him. They charged him with crimes which he never committed, and they persecuted him as if he were guilty of what they alleged against him.
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And such as breathe out cruelty - That is, they meditate violence or cruel treatment. They are intent on this; they pant for it. Saul of Tarsus thus “breathed out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord.” See the notes at Act 9:1.
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 will--literally, "soul," "desire" (Psa 35:25).
will--literally, "soul," "desire" (Psa 35:25).
enemies--literally, "oppressors." Falsehood aids cruelty against him.
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breathe out--as being filled with it (Act 9:1).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 12. enemies] R.V., adversaries, as in Psa_27:2.
12. enemies] R.V., adversaries, as in Psa_27:2.
false witnesses] Slanderous calumniators are meant, rather than actual witnesses in court. Cp. Psa_35:11; Pro_6:19.
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such as breathe out cruelty] Bent on injuring him by their talk. For the phrase cp. Act_9:1.
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 (12) By slightly changing a letter, we avoid the…
(12) By slightly changing a letter, we avoid the awkward ellipse in Psa_27:13, and get
“Such as breathe out cruelty against me,
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So that I did not believe to see,” &c
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 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine…
Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies; literally, the soul of mine enemies; i.e. their desire, (see Psa_35:25 Psa_41:2) which was no doubt to capture him, and. bring him a prisoner to Jerusalem. For false witnesses are risen up against me. The party which attached itself to Absalom accused David of cruelty to the house of Saul, (2Sa_16:8) and probably of other crimes and misdemeanours. Absalom himself accused him of a failure in his kingly duties. (2Sa_15:8) And such as breathe out cruelty; or, violence. To "breathe out" violence, threats, slaughter, malice, etc., is a common metaphor in many languages. (Act_9:1; Aristoph., "Eq.," 1. 437; Her, "Od.," 4. 13, 1. 19, etc.)
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. 12. Deliver me not over unto the will…
Ver. 12. Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies; or I should be like a victim cast to the lions, to be rent in pieces and utterly devoured. God be thanked that our foes cannot have their way with us, or Smithfield would soon be on a blaze again. For false witnesses are risen up against me. Slander is an old fashioned weapon out of the armoury of hell, and is still in plentiful use; and no matter how holy a man may be, there will be some who will defame him. "Give a dog an ill name, and hang him; "but glory be to God, the Lord's people are not dogs, and their ill names do not injure them. And such as breathe out cruelty. It is their vital breath to hate the good; they cannot speak without cursing them; such was Paul before conversion. They who breathe out cruelty may well expect to be sent to breathe their native air in hell; let persecutors beware!
None.
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None.
Psalms 27:13*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.