Day and night they prowl around on its walls. Malice and abuse are also within her.
Parallel Translations
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Day and night they prowl around on its walls. Malice and abuse are also within her.
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Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof: mischief also and sorrow are in the midst of it.
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(55-11) Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof; iniquity also and mischief are in the midst of it.
Cross-references (13)
Passages linked to Psalms 55:10 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 59:14-15 At evening let them return. Let them howl like a dog, and go around the city. They shall wander up and down for food, and wait all night if they aren’t satisfied.
- Isaiah 59:6-15 Their webs won’t become garments. They won’t cover themselves with their works. Their works are works of iniquity, and acts of violence are in their hands. Their feet run to evil, and they hurry to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity. Desolation and destruction are in their paths. They don’t know the way of peace; and there is no justice in their ways. They have made crooked paths for themselves; whoever goes in them doesn’t know peace. Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness doesn’t overtake us. We look for light, but see darkness; for brightness, but we walk in obscurity. We grope for the wall like the blind. Yes, we grope as those who have no eyes. We stumble at noon as if it were twilight. Among those who are strong, we are like dead men. We all roar like bears and moan bitterly like doves. We look for justice, but there is none, for salvation, but it is far off from us. For our transgressions are multiplied before you, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and as for our iniquities, we know them: transgressing and denying Yahweh, and turning away from following our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. Justice is turned away backward, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has fallen in the street, and uprightness can’t enter. Yes, truth is lacking; and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. Yahweh saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice.
- John 18:28 They led Jesus therefore from Caiaphas into the Praetorium. It was early, and they themselves didn’t enter into the Praetorium, that they might not be defiled, but might eat the Passover.
- Psalms 59:6 They return at evening, howling like dogs, and prowl around the city.
- Ezekiel 9:4 Yahweh said to him, “Go through the middle of the city, through the middle of Jerusalem, and set a mark on the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry over all the abominations that are done within it.”
- Acts 9:24 but their plot became known to Saul. They watched the gates both day and night that they might kill him,
- 1 Samuel 19:11 Saul sent messengers to David’s house, to watch him, and to kill him in the morning. Michal, David’s wife, told him, saying, “If you don’t save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.”
- 2 Samuel 16:21-22 Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Go in to your father’s concubines that he has left to keep the house. Then all Israel will hear that you are abhorred by your father. Then the hands of all who are with you will be strong.” So they spread a tent for Absalom on the top of the house, and Absalom went in to his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.
- 2 Samuel 17:1-2 Moreover Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me now choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David tonight. I will come on him while he is weary and exhausted, and will make him afraid. All the people who are with him will flee. I will strike the king only,
- Hosea 7:6 For they have prepared their heart like an oven, while they lie in wait. Their baker sleeps all the night. In the morning it burns as a flaming fire.
- Micah 2:1-2 Woe to those who devise iniquity and work evil on their beds! When the morning is light, they practice it, because it is in the power of their hand. They covet fields, and seize them; and houses, and take them away: and they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.
- Zephaniah 3:1-3 Woe to her who is rebellious and polluted, the oppressing city! She didn’t obey the voice. She didn’t receive correction. She didn’t trust in Yahweh. She didn’t draw near to her God. Her princes within her are roaring lions. Her judges are evening wolves. They leave nothing until the next day.
- John 18:3 Judas then, having taken a detachment of soldiers and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain All laws and good orders are broken, and only…
All laws and good orders are broken, and only vice and dissolation reigneth under Saul.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 55:10 Day and night they go about it…
Psa 55:10 Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof: mischief also and sorrow [are] in the midst of it.
Ver. 10. Day and night they go about it, upon the walls thereof] The ruffian soldiers do, as in garrisons is usual; or violence and strife do; so that in no place are good men in safety from rapines and robberies.
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Mischief also and sorrow are in the midst of it] What work may be thought to be made the common soldiers, among the women especially, when Absalom openly defileth his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel! 2Sa 16:22. When Tilly took Magdeburg in the late German wars, besides many other outrages, the ladies, gentlewomen, and others, like beasts and dogs, they yoked and coupled together, leading them into the woods to ravish them. Such as resisted they stripped naked, whipped them, cropped their ears, and so sent them home again.
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, i.e. the violence and strife last mentioned, Psa…
They, i.e. the violence and strife last mentioned, Psa 55:9, go about it; do encompass it, and are as it were the garrison by which they design to defend it.
Upon the walls thereof; in the more outward parts, as also in the very midst of it, as it follows. So that all parts were horribly corrupted.
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 Wickedness is in the midst thereof,.... All manner of…
Wickedness is in the midst thereof,.... All manner of wickedness; abominable wickedness; wickedness as arrived to its highest pitch, and as having filled up its measure; see Eze 9:4;
deceit and guile depart not from her streets; where truth was fallen, and equity could not enter, Isa 59:14; for these are contrary the one to the other, and are incompatible; where the one prevails, the other must give way. This whole account shows the aboundings of sin in Jerusalem at this time, and that it was openly and publicly committed, and contains so many reasons of the imprecations in Psa 55:9.
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 - Violence and strife. Go about - Do…
They - Violence and strife. Go about - Do encompass it, as it were a garrison. Walls - In the outward parts, as also in the very midst of it. So that all parts were horribly corrupted.
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. Day and night they go about] This…
Verse 10. Day and night they go about] This and the following verse show the state of Jerusalem at this time. Indeed, they exhibit a fair view of the state of any city in the beginning of an insurrection. The leaders are plotting continually; going about to strengthen their party, and to sow new dissensions by misrepresentation, hypocrisy, calumny, and lies.
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 55:10-11. Day and night they — That is,…
Psa 55:10-11. Day and night they — That is, the violence and strife, last mentioned; go about — Do encompass it, as it were a garrison. Upon the walls thereof — In the outward parts, as also in the very midst of it — So that all parts were horribly corrupted. Deceit and guile depart not from her streets — The places of buying and selling, and of public commerce. So their sins were both universal and impudent.
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 Day and night they go about it, upon the…
Day and night they go about it, upon the walls thereof - That is, continually. The word “they” in this place probably refers to the violence and strife mentioned in the preceding verse. They are here personified, and they seem to surround the city; to be everywhere moving, even on the very walls. They are like a besieging army. Inside and outside; in the midst of the city and on the walls, there was nothing but violence and strife - conspiracy, rebellion, and crime.
Mischief also and sorrow are in the midst of it - Crime abounded, and the result was anguish or sorrow. This language would well describe the scenes when Absalom rebelled; when the city was filled with conspirators and rebels; and when crime and anguish seemed to prevail in every part of it.
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 which is described in detail (compare Psa 7:14-16).
which is described in detail (compare Psa 7:14-16).
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. They go about it upon the walls—That is,…
10. They go about it upon the walls—That is, the conspirators, or their spies, mentioned Psa_55:3. A strict watch was kept against the friends and emissaries of David, but little attention was given to the public order and peace.
Sorrow—Rather, iniquity, wrong doing, as the word more commonly denotes, (Psa_55:10-11,) describe the misrule of the city during the whirl of revolution. In the midst contrasts with “upon the walls” of the city. Sharp espionage and confusion were everywhere.
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. they go about it upon the walls thereof]…
10. they go about it upon the walls thereof] A metaphor from watchmen going their rounds on the city walls. But who are meant by they? Perhaps the party hostile to the Psalmist, who are ever patrolling the city, on the alert for mischief. Cp. Isa_29:20. But perhaps rather Violence and Strife personified. These he implies with a bitter irony are the watchmen who are now in charge of order and safety in the city. This explanation agrees well with the following lines:
Iniquity also and Mischief are in the midst of it,
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Destruction is in the midst thereof:
Oppression and Deceit depart not from her streets.
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 go.—It is quite in keeping with the…
(10) They go.—It is quite in keeping with the Hebrew style to suppose mischief and strife personified here as the ancient versions do, and not only occupying the city as inhabitants, but prowling about its walls. So in the next verse corruption (see Psa_5:9, Note), deceit, and guile are personified. Comp. Virgil’s
“ubique
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Luctus, ubique Pavor, et plurima mortis imago.”
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 Day and night they go about it upon the…
Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof. "It is not a siege or blockade that is described; and the persons spoken of are not foreign, but native enemies. These are compared to watchmen on the walls; only, instead of keeping watch against the enemy, they "watch for iniquity" "(Cheyne). Mischief also and sorrow are in the midst of it; rather, iniquity also and trouble. Compare the "violence and strife" of ver. 9. Society is disorganized. It is not only that wickedness prevails, but throughout the city there is violence and contention.
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. Day and night they go about it…
Ver. 10. Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof. The city, the holy city had become a den of wickedness; conspirators met in the dark, and talked in little knots in the streets even in broad daylight. Meanwhile the country was being roused to revolt, and the traitors without threatened to environ the city, and act in concert with the rebels within. No doubt there was a smothered fire of insurrection which Absalom kindled and fanned, which David perceived with alarm some time before he left Jerusalem; and when he quitted the city it broke out into an open flame.
Mischief also and sorrow are in the midst of it. Unhappy capital to be thus beset by foes, left by her monarch, and filled with all those elements of turbulence which breed evil and trouble. Unhappy king to be thus compelled to see the mischief which he could not avert laying waste the city which he loved so well. There was another King whose many tears watered the rebellious city, and who said, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!"
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Ver. 10. Mischief also and sorrow are in the midst of it. The city, as Abenezra observes, was like a circle; violence and strife were as a line round about it, and mischief and sorrow the centre of it; and these two commonly go together: where mischief is, sorrow soon follows. John Gill.
Ver. 10. (first clause). The activity of evil.
Ver. 10. (second clause). The diabolical twins, or cause and effect.
Psalms 55:11*
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 they go about on its walls
they go about on its walls
"violence and strife go about on her walls." (See: Psalms 55:9) Violence and strife are spoken of as if they were people. This can be expressed by telling about the people who cause violence and strife. AT: "people walk about on the city's walls, being violent and fighting" (See: Personification)
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on its walls
"along the tops of the city walls." Cities had thick walls around them to protect them from enemies. People could walk along the tops of the walls to see if any enemies were coming to the city.
iniquity and mischief are in the middle of it
Iniquity and mischief are spoken of as if they were people. This can be expressed by telling about the people who do iniquity and mischief. AT: "people do iniquity and cause mischief in the middle of the city" or "people do sinful things and cause trouble in it" (See: Personification)
mischief
trouble
Wickedness is in the middle of it
Wickedness is spoken of as if it were a person. This can be expressed by telling about the people who do wicked things. AT: "People do wicked things in the middle of the city" or "people destroy things in the city" (See: Personification)
oppression and deceit do not leave its streets
Oppression and deceit are spoken of as if they were people. This can be expressed by telling about the people who oppress and deceive others. AT: "People oppress and deceive others in the city streets, and they do not leave" or "People are always oppressing and deceiving others in the city streets" (See: Personification)
its streets
This may refer to the marketplaces in the city.
translationWords
iniquity
evil
oppress
deceive
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.