Yes, my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who ate bread with me, has lifted up his heel against me.
Parallel Translations
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Yes, my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who ate bread with me, has lifted up his heel against me.
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Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.
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(41-10) Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.
Cross-references (12)
Passages linked to Psalms 41:9 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- John 13:18 I don’t speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen. But that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me.’
- Psalms 55:12-14 For it was not an enemy who insulted me, then I could have endured it. Neither was it he who hated me who raised himself up against me, then I would have hidden myself from him. But it was you, a man like me, my companion, and my familiar friend. We took sweet fellowship together. We walked in God’s house with company.
- Matthew 26:23 He answered, “He who dipped his hand with me in the dish will betray me.
- Psalms 55:20-22 He raises his hands against his friends. He has violated his covenant. His mouth was smooth as butter, but his heart was war. His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords. Cast your burden on Yahweh and he will sustain you. He will never allow the righteous to be moved.
- John 13:26-27 Jesus therefore answered, “It is he to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. After the piece of bread, then Satan entered into him. Then Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.”
- Job 19:19 All my familiar friends abhor me. They whom I loved have turned against me.
- Jeremiah 20:10 For I have heard the defaming of many, “Terror on every side! Denounce, and we will denounce him!” say all my familiar friends, those who watch for my fall. “Perhaps he will be persuaded, and we will prevail against him, and we will take our revenge on him.”
- 2 Samuel 15:12 Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, from his city, even from Giloh, while he was offering the sacrifices. The conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom.
- Obadiah 1:7 All the men of your alliance have brought you on your way, even to the border. The men who were at peace with you have deceived you, and prevailed against you. Friends who eat your bread lay a snare under you. There is no understanding in him.”
- Micah 7:5 Don’t trust in a neighbor. Don’t put confidence in a friend. With the woman lying in your embrace, be careful of the words of your mouth!
- Job 19:13 “He has put my brothers far from me. My acquaintances are wholly estranged from me.
- 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.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (17 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 9. Even the man of my peace. As the…
9. Even the man of my peace. As the very height of all his miseries, David here declares that he had found the same treachery in some one, or, indeed, in many of his greatest friends. For the change of number is very frequent in the Hebrew language, so that he may speak of several individuals as if they were only one person. Thus the meaning would be: Not only the common people, or strangers of whom I had no knowledge or acquaintance, but my greatest friends, nay, even those with whom I was most intimate, and those of my own household, whom I admitted to eat and drink with me at my table, vaunt themselves reproachfully against me. Among the Hebrews, the expression, men of peace, denotes their kinsfolk and connections; but it was a much closer alliance, and one which ought to have secured a stricter observance of the laws of friendship, to eat the bread of David in company with himself: for it is as if he had employed the appellation, My companion. If, however, any would rather understand it of some particular traitor than of several persons, I have no objection to it. To lift up the heel is, in my opinion, to be understood metaphorically, and signifies to rise up disdainfully against a man who is afflicted and cast down. Others explain the expression by to lay wait secretly; but the former interpretation is more appropriate, That the wicked, seeing that David was placed in embarrassed circumstances, or already prostrated in the dust, took occasion from this to assail him indirectly indeed, but, nevertheless, always with insolence; a thing which usually happens among people of a wicked and servile disposition. Christ, in quoting this passage, (John 13:18,) applies it to the person of Judas. And certainly we ought to understand that, although David speaks of himself in this psalm, yet he speaks not as a common and private person, but as one who represented the person of Christ, inasmuch as he was, as it were, the example after which the whole Church should be conformed — a point well entitled to our attention, in order that each of us may prepare himself for the same condition. It was necessary that what was begun in David should be fully accomplished in Christ; and, therefore, it must of necessity come to pass, that the same thing should be fulfilled in each of his members, namely, that they should not only suffer from external violence and force, but also from internal foes, ever ready to betray them, even as Paul declares that the Church shall be assailed, not only by “fightings without,” but also by “fears within,” (2 Corinthians 7:5.)
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 Hebrew, the man of my peace.
Hebrew, the man of my peace.
As David felt this falsehood, and as it was chiefly accomplished in Christ, John 13:18, so shall his members continually prove the same.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 41:9 Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom…
Psa 41:9 Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up [his] heel against me.
Ver. 9. Yea, mine own familiar friend] Heb. the man of my peace. This was a great cut to David, τιγαρ μειζον ελκος η φιλος αδικων, saith Sophocles. What greater wound can there be than a treacherous friend? such as was Ahithophel to David, Judas to our Saviour, Brutus to Julius Caesar (who was slain in the Senate house with three and twenty wounds, given for most part by them whose lives he had preserved), Magnentius to Constans, the emperor, who had formerly saved his life from the soldiers’ fury; Michael Balbus to the Emperor Leo Armenius, whom he slew the same night that he had pardoned and released him. This evil dealing made Socrates cry out, φιλοι ουδεις φιλος, Friends, there is hardly a friend to be found; and Queen Elizabeth complain, that in trust she had found treason; and King Antigonus pray to God to preserve him from his friends; and King Alphonsus to complain of the ingratitude of his favourites.
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In whom I trusted] So did not our Saviour in Judas, for he knew him better than so, and therefore this clause is left out, Joh 13:18, where he applieth this saying to himself. Jerome and some others apply the whole psalm to Christ, and for that end they render these words actively, Cui credidi, to whom I intrusted or committed my ministry.
Who did eat of my bread] My fellow commoner, with whom I had eaten little less than a bushel of salt. A man’s enemies are many times those of his own house, the birds of his own bosom. Judas dipped in the same dish with Jesus, betrayed him with a kiss. Caveatur osculum Iscarioticum. Beware the kisses of Judas.
Hath lift up his heel against me] Heb. Hath magnified the heel, or the foot sole, sc. to supplant me, or to trample upon me, or to spurn against me. Metaphora ab equis calcitronibus, saith Vatablus, a metaphor from unruly and refractory horses. See Jdg 15:8. It importeth contempt, despite, and cruelty.
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 Mine own familiar friend; he means either Ahithophel, or…
Mine own familiar friend; he means either Ahithophel, or some other perfidious counsellor or courtier, who was a type of Judas, to whom therefore it is applied, Joh 13:18, as David was a type of Christ in being thus betrayed. So these words were literally fulfilled in David, and yet the Holy Ghost, which dictated them, looked further in them, even to Christ and Judas, in whom they received a further and fuller accomplishment.
Hath lifted up his heel; a phrase implying injury, joined with insolency and contempt; taken from an unruly horse, which kicks at him that owns and feeds him.
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 Yea, mine own familiar friend,.... Or, "the man of…
Yea, mine own familiar friend,.... Or, "the man of my peace" (z); who did live peaceably with him, and ought always to have done so; whom he treated as his friend, as the rest of the apostles; calling him to that high office, and ordaining him to it, and qualifying him for it; and whom he called by the name of friend, when he came to betray him; Judas is meant;
in whom I trusted; with the bag and the money in it, both for the sustenance of his own family, the apostles, and for the relief of the poor, Joh 12:6;
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which did eat of my bread; of his bread in common with the rest of the apostles; and who was eating with him when he gave the sign who should betray him; and who seems to have eaten of the bread in the Lord's supper: even this same person
hath lifted up his heel against me; by supplanting him, dealing hypocritically with him, and betraying him into the hands of his enemies: the metaphor is either taken from an unruly horse throwing his rider, and then ungenerously spurning at him, and trampling on him; or from wrestlers, who seek to supplant and trip up each other's heels; which shows the ingratitude, baseness, and treachery of Judas; see Joh 13:18.
(z) "vir pacis meae", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Cocceius, Gejerus, Michaelis.
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 Yea - These words were literally fulfilled in David,…
Yea - These words were literally fulfilled in David, and yet the Holy Ghost looked farther in them, even to Christ and Judas, in whom they received a fuller accomplishment. Lift up - A phrase implying injury, joined with insolency and contempt; taken from an unruly horse, which kicks at him that owns and feeds him.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 9. Mine own familiar friend] This is either…
Verse 9. Mine own familiar friend] This is either a direct prophecy of the treachery of Judas, or it is a fact in David's distresses which our Lord found so similar to the falsity of his treacherous disciple, that he applies it to him, Joh 13:18. What we translate mine own familiar friend, איש שלומי ish shelomi, is the man of my peace. The man who, with the שלום לך shalom lecha, peace be to thee! kissed me; and thus gave the agreed-on signal to my murderers that I was the person whom they should seize, hold fast, and carry away.
Did eat of my bread] Was an inmate in my house. Applied by our Lord to Judas, when eating with him out of the same dish. See Joh 13:18; Joh 13:26. Possibly it may refer to Ahithophel, his counsellor, the man of his peace, his prime minister; who, we know, was the strength of Absalom's conspiracy.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Yea, mine own familiar friend - Margin, as in…
Yea, mine own familiar friend - Margin, as in Hebrew: “the man of my peace.” The man with whom I was at peace; who had no cause of alienation from me; with whom I was associated in the most peaceful and friendly relations.
In whom I trusted - He whom I made my confidential friend, and on whom I supposed I could rely in the time of trouble.
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Which did eat of my bread - This may either denote one who was supported by him as one of his family, or else one who partook of his hospitality. In the former case, if that is the meaning, he bad a right to expect that, as a matter of gratitude, such an one would stand by him, and not be found among his enemies. In the latter case, if that is the meaning, he had a right to expect that one who had shared his hospitality would not be found among his foes.
Hath lifted up his heel against me - Margin, as in Hebrew: “magnified.” So the Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate. Lather renders this, “hath trodden me under his feet.” The figure here is taken from a horse that turns and kicks him that had fed him. This passage is applied Joh 13:18 to Judas, with the statement, in regard to him, that what he had done was done “that the Scripture might be fulfilled:” see the notes at that passage. It is not necessary to suppose that the Saviour meant to say that the passage in the psalm had original and exclusive reference to Judas; the phrase employed by the Saviour, “that the Scripture might be fulfilled,” may have been used by him in that large sense in which these words are often used as denoting, either:
(a) that the language found in the Scriptures, and applicable originally to another case, “would properly express the idea,” or describe the fact; or
(b) that the case referred to was one of a class; or that, as it was accomplished in the case of David, so in a similar sense it was accomplished in the case of the Saviour.
In other words, Judas was regarded as belonging to the same class as the individual to whom the psalm refers. He was one to whom the language of the psalm was applicable; and the Saviour endured the same kind of suffering which the person did who is referred to in the psalm. Thus the language of the Scriptures, applicable to all such cases, received a complete fulfillment in Him. It is remarkable that, in the reference to Judas, the Saviour quotes only a part of the verse: “He that eateth bread with me.” He omits, apparently from design, the former part of the verse in the psalm, “mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted,” as if he would not even seem to convey the idea that he ever regarded Judas as his intimate friend, or as if he had ever really “trusted” him. He conveys the idea that Judas had partaken largely of his favors, but not that He himself was ever really a stranger to the baseness of his heart, Joh 6:64, Joh 6:70.
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 mine . . . friend--literally, "the man of my…
mine . . . friend--literally, "the man of my peace."
eat . . . bread--who depended on me or was well treated by me.
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hath lifted up heel--in scornful violence. As David and his fortunes typified Christ and His (compare Introduction), so these words expressed the treatment he received, and also that of his Son and Lord; hence, though not distinctly prophetical, our Saviour (Joh 13:18) applies them to Judas, "that the Scripture may be fulfilled." This last phrase has a wide use in the New Testament, and is not restricted to denote special prophecies.
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 9. Yea—גם, (gam,) here takes the sense of also,…
9. Yea—גם, (gam,) here takes the sense of also, moreover, even, as giving an accession to what had already been said. Not only had enemies conspired against him, but even his own familiar friend—Hebrew, A man of my peace, my trusted counsellor.
Which did eat of my bread—My table companion. A designation of familiar confidence. See a further description, Psa_55:13-14.
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Hath lifted up his heel—Hebrew, hath magnified his heel, a proverbial phrase for a formidable and treacherous conspiracy. On “heel,” see note on Psa_49:5, where the same word occurs. The reference is to Ahithophel, 2Sa_16:23. Our Lord quotes this passage as prophetic of Judas Iscariot, Joh_13:18, where in Psa_41:9 he interprets, “lifted up his heel,” by “one of you shall betray me.” See the introductory note of this psalm.
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 9. mine own familiar friend] Lit. the man of…
9. mine own familiar friend] Lit. the man of my peace. Cp. Psa_7:4; Jer_20:10; Jer_38:22; Oba_1:7; and the similar complaints of ingratitude in Psa_35:12 ff., Psa_55:12 ff. (where the Heb. for familiar friend is quite different).
which did eat of my bread] Bound to me by the tie of hospitality; and, if the speaker is David, by the honour of entertainment at the royal table. Cp. 2Sa_9:10 ff.; 1Ki_18:19; 2Ki_25:29.
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hath lift up his heel against me] Lit. made great the heel: spurned me with brutal violence, exerted himself to trip me up and throw me down. Cp. Psa_55:12; Jer_9:4.
The words ‘he that eateth my bread lifted up his heel against me’ are quoted by Christ in Joh_13:18 as fulfilled by the treachery of Judas.
The words of the Psalm are not a direct prediction, but the treachery and the fate of Ahithophel foreshadowed the treachery and the fate of Judas. What saints of old time had suffered by the desertion of friends must be suffered with an aggravated bitterness by the Son of Man. Their experience must be fulfilled in His. Cp. Joh_17:12; Act_1:16. See Introd. p. lxxix.
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 (9) Hath lifted up his heel.—See margin. The meaning…
(9) Hath lifted up his heel.—See margin. The meaning is, possibly, kicked violently at me. But Böttcher’s conjecture is valuable, “has magnified his fraud against me,” which is supported by the LXX. and Vulg., “has magnified his supplanting of me.” (For the quotation of this verse in Joh_13:18, see New Testament Commentary.) The rights of Oriental hospitality must be remembered, to bring out all the blackness of the treachery here described. The expressive Hebrew idiom, “man of my peace,” is retained in the margin. Possibly (see Note, Oba_1:7) the second clause recalls another idiom, “man of my bread.”
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 Yea, mine own familiar friend (literally, the man of…
Yea, mine own familiar friend (literally, the man of my peace), in whom I trusted. Here Ahithophel is almost certainly intended. He is called "the man of my peace," since he was one of David"s official counsellors, (2Sa_15:12) and consequently on the most friendly terms with him. (comp. Psa_55:13, Psa_55:14) Which did eat of my bread. At Oriental courts, the king"s counsellors, together with many other members of the court, habitually" eat at the king"s table". (comp. 2Sa_9:7-13 1Ki_4:23, 27 18:19 Neh_5:17 Est_1:10, 11 3:15, etc.) Hath lifted up his heel against me. (For Ahithophel"s defection from David, and share in Absalom"s conspiracy, see 2Sa_15:12, 31 16:15-23 17:1-23) His conduct is here compared to that of a vicious horse, which kicks his own master. (For the relation of type and antitype between Ahithophel and Judas, see Joh_15:18)
Here is an instance of Very special treachery, which would be regarded as black indeed in the light of Oriental hospitality. Yet he who was in all points tempted like as we are, endured treachery viler still. To this reference is made in Joh_13:18. The note of Bishop Perowne hereon is so truly helpful, that we quote it in full below) C.
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. 9. Yea. Here is the climax of the…
Ver. 9. Yea. Here is the climax of the sufferer's woe, and he places before it the emphatic affirmation, as if he thought that such villainy would scarcely be believed. Mine own familiar friend. "The man of my peace, "so runs the original, with whom I had no differences, with whom I was in league, who had aforetime ministered to my peace and comfort. This was Ahithophel to David, and Iscariot with our Lord. Judas was an apostle, admitted to the privacy of the Great Teacher, hearing his secret thoughts, and, as it were, allowed to read his very heart. "Et tu Brute?" said the expiring Caesar. The kiss of the traitor wounded our Lord's heart as much as the nail wounded his hand. In whom I trusted. Judas was the treasurer of the apostolic college. Where we place great confidence an unkind act is the more severely felt. Which did eat of my bread. Not only as a guest but as a dependant, a pensioner at my board. Judas dipped in the same dish with his Lord, and hence the more accursed was his treachery in his selling his Master for a slave's price. Hath lifted up his heel against me. Not merely turned his back on me, but left me with a heavy kick such as a vicious horse might give. Hard is it to be spurned in our need by those who formerly fed at our table. It is noteworthy that the Redeemer applied only the last words of this verse to Judas, perhaps because, knowing his duplicity, he had never made a familiar friend of him in the fullest sense, and had not placed implicit trust in him. Infernal malice so planned it that every circumstance in Jesus' death should add wormwood to it; and the betrayal was one of the bitterest drops of gall. We are indeed, wretched when our quondam friend becomes our relentless foe, when confidence is betrayed, when all the rites of hospitality are perverted, and ingratitude is the only return for kindness; yet in so deplorable a case we may cast ourselves upon the faithfulness of God, who, having, delivered our Covenant Head, is in verity engaged to be the very present help of all for whom that covenant was made.
Ver. 9. Yea, mine own familiar friend, etc. The sufferings of the church, like those of her Redeemer, generally begin at home: her open enemies can do her no harm, until her pretended friends have delivered her into their hands; and, unnatural as it may seem, they who have waxed fat upon her bounty, are sometimes the first to lift the heel against her. George Horne.
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Ver. 9. Mine own familiar friend. He who, on visiting me, continually saluted me with the kiss of love and veneration, and the usual address: peace be to thee. Hermann Venema.
Ver. 9. Which did eat of my beard. If the same sentiment prevailed among the Hebrews, which prevails at the present day among the Bedouin Arabs, of sacred regard to the person and property of one with whom they have eaten bread and salt, the language is very forcible. Hath lifted up his heel: a metaphor drawn from the horse, which attacks with its heel. This language may well have been used by our Saviour, in Joh 13:18, in the way of rhetorical illustration or emphasis. George R. Noyes, D.D.
Ver. 9. Hath lifted up his heel against me. In this phrase he seems to allude to a beast's kicking at his master by whom he is fed, or the custom of men's spurning at or trampling upon those that are cast down on the ground, in a way of despite and contempt. Arthur Jackson.
Ver. 9. Hath lifted up his heel against me; i.e., hath spurned me, hath kicked at me, as a vicious beast of burden does; hath insulted me in my misery. Daniel Cresswell.
Ver. 9. The treachery of Judas.
Psalms 41:10*
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 Yea, mine own familiar friend in whom I trusted,…
Psa_41:9
Yea, mine own familiar friend in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.
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The evil of Christs friends lifting up their heel against Him
The psalmist doth in the text show the cope-stone laid on the maltreatment with which he met in the world by his particular friends turning abusive to him. They who did this were his intimates, his confidants, in whom he trusted; and his dependents, also, for they did eat of his bread. He describes their treatment under the metaphor of a horse that kicks against the man that lays meat before him. Confidence in an unfaithful man in the time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint. Now, it is evident that what the text speaks of was a typical event. Hence, consider it as it relates to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, all bread that we eat is the Lords bread: it is He who supplies us with all the necessaries and conveniences of life. But there is a sacred and sacramental bread which we eat at the Lords table for the nourishment of our souls. This is peculiarly His bread.
I. It is a grievous thing that they who eat of the Lords common dread should lift up their heel against him.
1. But they thus lift up their heel when--
(1) They do not serve Him by whom they are maintained. If we live by Him we should surely live for Him.
(2) When their lusts are fed and fattened by Gods good benefits bestowed on them, so that instead of being led to repentance thereby, they are led farther away from God (Jeshurun and Eze_16:49-50). And
(3) when the good things God gives are wasted on our lusts to satisfy their cravings.
(4) When in any manner of way they live to the dishonour of God (Rom_2:3-6).
2. Now, the causes of such evil conduct are--
(1) The corruption of mans nature, which tends to make an ill use of everything.
(2) Our forgetting our dependence upon God.
3. The evil of this practice.
(1) It is monstrous ingratitude. Of. Isaiah.
(2) It has dismal effects, provoking God to take away His bread from men. Therefore let us be humbled on account of this sin, and resolve to reform and amend our ways.
II. It is a very grievous thing that they who eat of the Lords sacramental bread should lift up their heel against him. Note--
1. How His professed friends may do this.
(1) By unsteadiness in their walk. We are bidden walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise.
(2) By returning to their openly profane courses (2Pe_2:20-22).
(3) By carnality and worldliness in the ordinary frame of their hearts.
(4) By formality and listlessness in the duties of religion.
(5) By secret dalliance with some bosom idol, to the slighting of Christ.
(6) By neglecting opportunities of communion with God, as Sabbaths and public ordinances.
(7) By the heart losing the esteem it once had for Christ.
(8) By wearying of converse with God.
(9) By habitual neglect of the duties of practical godliness (Gal_2:20). As the life of faith; the acknowledging of God in all our ways; self-examination; mourning for our own sins, and the sins of the land; commending Christ and religion to others who are strangers to Him. (T. Boston, D. D.)
The treachery of Ahithophel
at once occurs to mind. No doubt many treacherous friends have wounded many trustful hearts, but the correspondence of Davids history with this detail is not to be got rid of by the observation that treachery is common. Still less is it sufficient to quote Oba_1:7, where substantially the same language is employed in reference to the enemies of Edom, as supporting the national reference of the present passage. No one denies that false allies may be described by such a figure, or that nations may be personified; but is there any event in the post-exilic history which shows Israel deceived and spurned by trusted allies? The Davidic authorship and the personal reference of the psalm are separable. But if the latter is adopted, it will be hard to find any circumstances answering so fully to the details of the psalm as the Absalomic rebellion and Abithophels treason. Our Lords quotation of part of verse 9, with the significant omission of in whom I trusted, does not imply the Messianic character of the psalm, but is an instance of an event, and a saying which were not meant as prophetic, finding fuller realization in the life of the perfect type of suffering godliness than in the original sufferer. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Faithless friendship
Sophocles says that, a faithless friend is the sorest bile that can be touched. Methinks as Jonathan laid aside his bow and arrows approaching to embrace David, so the name of friend should disarm the heart of man, that no instrument of malice should be left to give offence. It is like Gods rainbow in the clouds, a sure token of reconcilement, and preservation: it is the uniting of more souls in one, like the rod of Moses, and the rod of the Egyptians, which were united into one rod (Exo_7:1-25.); that as Joseph said of Pharaohs dreams, the dreams are two, hut the interpretation is but one; so among friends the hearts are two, yet there is but one joy, one desire, and but one affection between them both. O what an accursed crime it is to cancel such a bond, much more to falsify and corrupt it! more unnatural than to divide one living child into two dead parts like the uncompassionate harlot. St. Basil did so cleave to the familiarity of holy Nazianzen, whom he called his necessary friend, that he thought not his knowledge solid, or his study profitable, or the daylight to be clear without him. Xenophon was so inflamed with the love of Proxenus, dear to him as his own soul, that he changed his bookish life, and entered into a dangerous war, as he confesseth, that he might follow him as the shadow did the body. Perfect lawgivers, says Aristotle, have had more careful regard to settle friendship in their polities, than to settle justice; for there is a recompense and satisfaction for any fault that infringeth justice, but it is past our value and exceeds all estimation how to salve up an injury which abuseth friendship: besides, there is prevention in all points of justice that an innocent may sustain no hurt, but the wounds of a false friend, how is it possible to avoid them? such an Ahithophel is like hot iron taken out of the fire which neither glows nor shines, but burns more violently than the flame that threatens. We have a test to try gold, says Euripides, a touchstone to betray deceit in counterfeit metals; but to know the mischief of a dissemblers heart, theres no mark or character to discern it. Moreover, every man hath a share in his whole friend, in all his estate and faculties, but every single man hath but his part in that commonwealth whereof he is a citizen: then reason within yourselves, can he that wrongs a friend, who is all and every whit his own, be true to that kingdom wherein he hath but a share and moiety? As the poet warned the sparrow not to build a nest in Medaeas statue, for she spared not to kill her own young ones, and could the little birds, who were but inmates, expect succour from her? So believe him not that he will be just to others, who was unjust to his other self: let him be rooted out, let him be cut off like unprofitable ivy that undermines the building upon which it creeps. (Bishop Hacker.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain Yea, mine own familiar friend
Yea, mine own familiar friend
Psalms 41. is the Psalm of the betrayal of the Son of man, as Jesus Himself taught. Joh 13:18; Joh 13:19. See Psalms 45, next in order of the Messianic Psalms.
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trusted (See Scofield "Psa 2:12").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 41:9 the one who shared my food: Eating together…
41:9 the one who shared my food: Eating together was a sign of unity (Acts 2:42). Refusing to eat with someone indicated hostility (1 Cor 5:11). Jesus experienced the same kind of betrayal (John 13:1, 18).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.