Let them be disappointed and confounded together who seek after my soul to destroy it. Let them be turned backward and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt.
Parallel Translations
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Let them be disappointed and confounded together who seek after my soul to destroy it. Let them be turned backward and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt.
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Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil.
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(40-15) Let them be ashamed and abashed together that seek after my soul to sweep it away; let them be turned backward and brought to confusion that delight in my hurt.
Cross-references (12)
Passages linked to Psalms 40:14 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 35:4 Let those who seek after my soul be disappointed and brought to dishonor. Let those who plot my ruin be turned back and confounded.
- Psalms 35:26 Let them be disappointed and confounded together who rejoice at my calamity. Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves against me.
- Psalms 71:13 Let my accusers be disappointed and consumed. Let them be covered with disgrace and scorn who want to harm me.
- Isaiah 45:24 They will say of me, ‘There is righteousness and strength only in Yahweh.’ ” Even to him will men come. All those who raged against him will be disappointed.
- John 18:6 When therefore he said to them, “I am he,” they went backward, and fell to the ground.
- Psalms 9:3 When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish in your presence.
- Psalms 31:17-18 Let me not be disappointed, Yahweh, for I have called on you. Let the wicked be disappointed. Let them be silent in Sheol. Let the lying lips be mute, which speak against the righteous insolently, with pride and contempt.
- Psalms 70:2-3 Let them be disappointed and confounded who seek my soul. Let those who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace. Let them be turned because of their shame who say, “Aha! Aha!”
- Isaiah 41:11 Behold, all those who are incensed against you will be disappointed and confounded. Those who strive with you will be like nothing, and shall perish.
- Matthew 21:38-41 But the farmers, when they saw the son, said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and seize his inheritance.’ So they took him, and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. When therefore the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?” They told him, “He will miserably destroy those miserable men, and will lease out the vineyard to other farmers, who will give him the fruit in its season.”
- Acts 9:4-6 He fell on the earth, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” He said, “Who are you, Lord?” The Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise up and enter into the city, then you will be told what you must do.”
- Acts 12:23-24 Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he didn’t give God the glory. Then he was eaten by worms and died. But the word of God grew and multiplied.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain He desireth that God’s mercy may contend for him…
He desireth that God’s mercy may contend for him against the rage of his enemies.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 40:14 Let them be ashamed and confounded together…
Psa 40:14 Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil.
Ver. 14. Let them be ashamed and confounded together, &c.] These and the like imprecations must be looked upon as prophecies. Besides, David looked upon them not as his enemies only, but God’s as well; and such also as were desperate and irrecoverable. So Paul prayed against the coppersmith, the Church against Julian, &c.
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Let them be driven backward, &c.] A Christian may without sin be sensible of indignities; only it must be the mourning of doves, and not the roaring of bears.
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 Let them be ashamed, for the disappointment of their…
Let them be ashamed, for the disappointment of their hopes and designs.
My soul, i.e. my life, as Exo 4:9; 1Sa 20:1.
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 Let them be ashamed and confounded together,.... As they…
Let them be ashamed and confounded together,.... As they will be at the last day, when they shall see him whom they have pierced come in the clouds of heaven, in his own and his Father's glory, and in the glory of the holy angels;
that seek after my soul to destroy it; that is, his life, as did Herod in his infancy, and the Scribes and Pharisees, chief priests and elders of the people of the Jews, frequently, and at last accomplished what they sought after;
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let them be driven backward; as those were who came with Judas into the garden to apprehend him, Joh 18:6;
and put to shame that wish me evil: as did the Jews, who sought all opportunities to ensnare him, and that they might have to accuse him to the Roman governor; and who earnestly desired his crucifixion, and vehemently wished his death; see Psa 41:5.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Let them be ashamed and confounded together - See…
Let them be ashamed and confounded together - See at Psa 35:4, note; Psa 35:26, note. This may be understood here rather as a confident expectation than a wish or desire. It implies the certainty that they would thus be ashamed and confounded; that is, that they would not be successful, or would be foiled in their purposes. But understood as a wish or prayer, it could not be improper. There is no sin in the wish that the wicked may not be successful in their plans, and may not be suffered to injure us. As the language of the Messiah it was in every way an appropriate prayer that the purposes of those who would defeat his design in coming into the world might be foiled - for on the execution of that design depended the salvation of a lost race.
That seek after my soul to destroy it - That seek after my life; that would destroy me. That is, they seek to kill me; they would take my life before the full time is come. As understood of the Messiah, this would refer to the times when his life was in danger, as it often was, before the full period had arrived for him to die: Joh 7:6; Mat 26:18. The purpose of his enemies was to take his life; to prevent the spread of his doctrines; to cheek him in his work. The taking of his life at any time before the full period had arrived, or in any other way than that in which he had purposed to lay it down, would have been a defeat of his work, since in the plan of salvation it was contemplated that he should die at a certain time, and in a certain manner - that he should die at the time which had been predicted by the prophets, and in such a mode as to make an atonement for sin. All this would have been defeated if, before that time came, he had been put to death by stoning, or in any of the numerous ways in which his life was threatened.
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Let them be driven backward, and put to shame, that wish me evil - Turned backward, as they are who are unsuccessful, or are defeated. Compare Joh 18:6.
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 language is not necessarily imprecatory, but rather a…
The language is not necessarily imprecatory, but rather a confident expectation (Psa 5:11), though the former sense is not inconsistent with Christ's prayer for the forgiveness of His murderers, inasmuch as their confusion and shame might be the very means to prepare them for humbly seeking forgiveness (compare Act 2:37).
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 14. My soul— “Soul” is here taken in the…
14. My soul— “Soul” is here taken in the sense of life.
Wish me evil— Will or purpose “evil” to me. It is translated desire, Psa_70:2, and sometimes delight, but generally signifies either will, or that disposition of mind which induces will or choice.
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 14. The whole verse is a repetition, with variations,…
14. The whole verse is a repetition, with variations, of Psa_35:4; Psa_35:26 (cp. Psa_38:12); and v. 5-17 recall v. 21, 25, 27, 10 of the same Psalm. Together and to destroy it are omitted in Psa_70:2.
let them be driven backward &c.] Render, as in Psalms 35;
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Let them be turned back and brought to dishonour
That delight in my hurt.
Contrast Psa_35:27 with the last line.
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.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek…
Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward, and put to shame, that wish me evil. The remainder of the psalm from this point is detached later on in the Psalter, and becomes a separate psalm the seventieth. Whether the detachment was the work of David or another, is uncertain. The differences between the two versions are slight. (see the comment on Ps 70) The present verse repeats almost exactly Psa_35:4, Psa_35:26. It is again repeated, with slight variations, in Psa_71:13.
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. 14. Let them be ashamed and confounded together…
Ver. 14. Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it. Whether we read this as a prayer or a prophecy it matters not, for the powers of sin, and death, and hell, may well be ashamed as they see the result of their malice for ever turned against themselves. It is to the infinite confusion of Satan that his attempts to destroy the Saviour destroyed himself; the diabolical conclave who plotted in council are now all alike put to shame, for the Lord Jesus has met them at all points, and turned all their wisdom into foolishness. Let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil. It is even so; the hosts of darkness are utterly put to the rout, and made a theme for holy derision for ever and ever. How did they gloat over the thought of crushing the seed of the woman! but the Crucified has conquered, the Nazarene has laughed them to scorn, the dying Son of Man has become the death of death and hell's destruction. For ever blessed be his name.
Ver. 14. Let them be ashamed and confounded, etc. Even this prayer carried benevolence in its bosom. It sought from the divine Father, such a manifestation of what was glorious and like God as might unnerve each rebel arm, and overawe each rebel heart in the traitor's company. If each arm were for a little unnerved, if each heart were for a little unmanned, there might be time for the better principles of their nature to rise and put an arrest upon the prosecution of their wicked design. Such being the benevolent aim of the prayer, we need not wonder that it issued from the same heart that by and by exclaimed, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do; "neither need we marvel that it was answered to the very letter, and that as soon as he said to the traitor band, "I am he, " they went backward and fell to the ground. James Frame.
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Ver. 14. Honi soit mal y pense; or, the reward of malignity.
Psalms 40:15*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Let them ... who pursue my life to take…
Let them ... who pursue my life to take it away
This can be reordered and stated in active form. AT: "Please make those who are trying to kill me become shamed and disappointed" (See: Active or Passive)
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who pursue my life to take it away
Here "pursue my life" means they desire to kill the writer. The writer is represented by his "life." AT: "who are trying to kill me" (See: Metaphor)
Let them ... who delight in hurting me
This can be reordered and stated in active form. AT: "Please stop those who delight in hurting me and dishonor them" (See: Active or Passive)
turned back
To be stopped or thwarted is spoken of as being turned back from their attack. AT: "stopped" (See: Metaphor)
Let them ... who say to me, "Aha, aha!"
"Let those who say to me, 'Aha, aha!' be shocked because of their shame"
Let them be shocked because of their shame
"I hope that they will be shocked when you shame them"
those who say to me, "Aha, aha!"
"Aha, aha!" is something people say when they are ridiculing someone. If your language has something that people say when ridiculing someone, it can be used here. This can also be translated with a verb like "ridicule."
translationWords
shame
life
dishonor
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.