because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked. For they bring suffering on me. In anger they hold a grudge against me.
Parallel Translations
-
because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked. For they bring suffering on me. In anger they hold a grudge against me.
-
Because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked: for they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me.
-
(55-4) Because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked; for they cast mischief upon me, and in anger they persecute me.
Cross-references (12)
Passages linked to Psalms 55:3 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 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 35:11 Unrighteous witnesses rise up. They ask me about things that I don’t know about.
- Psalms 27:12 Don’t deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen up against me, such as breathe out cruelty.
- 2 Samuel 15:3 Absalom said to him, “Behold, your matters are good and right; but there is no man deputized by the king to hear you.”
- 2 Samuel 19:19 He said to the king, “Don’t let my lord impute iniquity to me, or remember that which your servant did perversely the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, that the king should take it to his heart.
- Psalms 12:5 “Because of the oppression of the weak and because of the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says Yahweh; “I will set him in safety from those who malign him.”
- Psalms 17:9 from the wicked who oppress me, my deadly enemies, who surround me.
- Psalms 54:3 For strangers have risen up against me. Violent men have sought after my soul. They haven’t set God before them.
- Psalms 71:11 saying, “God has forsaken him. Pursue and take him, for no one will rescue him.”
- Psalms 73:8 They scoff and speak with malice. In arrogance, they threaten oppression.
- Lamentations 3:34-36 To crush under foot all the prisoners of the earth, to turn away the right of a man before the face of the Most High, to subvert a man in his cause, the Lord doesn’t approve.
- Matthew 26:59 Now the chief priests, the elders, and the whole council sought false testimony against Jesus, that they might put him to death;
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain For the threatnings of Saul and his adherents.
For the threatnings of Saul and his adherents.
They have defamed me as a wicked person, or they have imagined my destruction.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 55:3 Because of the voice of the enemy,…
Psa 55:3 Because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked: for they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me.
Ver. 3. Because of the voice of the enemy] He may very well intend Shimei’s bitter revilings, 2Sa 16:5, &c.
Read full note →
For they cast iniquity upon me] They tumble it on me, as men do stones or anything else upon their besiegers, to endamage them; so did these, sin, shame, anything, upon innocent David, to make him odious.
And in wrath they hate me] Heb. they Satanically hate me.
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 voice of the enemy, i.e. their clamours, and…
The voice of the enemy, i.e. their clamours, and threats, and slanders, and insolent boastings; all which are hateful to thee, as well as injurious to me.
They cast iniquity upon me: the sense is, either,
Read full note →
1. They make me the great object of their wicked, and injurious, and mischievous practices; or,
2. They lay many crimes to my charge falsely, as if by my wickedness I was the cause of all my calamities.
They hate me; their anger and rage against me is no sudden and transitory passion, but is boiled up into malice and hatred.
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 Because of the voice of the enemy,.... Of Absalom,…
Because of the voice of the enemy,.... Of Absalom, as Arama; or of Ahithophel, who gave out he would smite the king only, Sa2 17:2; and so of any spiritual enemy, as sin, Satan, and the world, when they threaten dominion and tyranny; and of the Scribes and Pharisees reproaching Christ, as being a Samaritan, and having a devil, and doing his miracles by his assistance; menacing, insulting, and triumphing over him, when on the cross;
because of the oppression of the wicked; of Absalom or Ahithophel, as Arama; who conspired against David, and obliged him to quit his palace, and the city of Jerusalem; and is applicable to the troubles which surround the people of God, from every quarter, by wicked men, and to our Lord's being enclosed by them at the time of his Crucifixion, Psa 22:12;
Read full note →
for they cast iniquity upon me; laid things to his charge he knew not: so wicked men falsely accuse the good conversation of the saints; and so the Jews imputed crimes to Christ he was innocent of; as immorality, sedition, blasphemy, &c.
and in wrath they hate me; as they do all the people of God, because chosen and called, and separated from them: and so they did Christ, and with a mortal hatred, though without a cause.
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 Voice - Their clamours and threats, and slanders. Cast…
Voice - Their clamours and threats, and slanders. Cast - They lay many crimes to my charge.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 3. They cast iniquity upon me] To give…
Verse 3. They cast iniquity upon me] To give a colourable pretense to their rebellion, they charge me with horrible crimes; as if they had said: Down with such a wretch; he is not fit to reign. Clamour against the person of the sovereign is always the watch-word of insurrection, in reference to rebellion.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Because of the voice of the enemy - He…
Because of the voice of the enemy - He now states the cause of his troubles. He had been, and was, unjustly treated by others. The particular idea in the word “voice” here is, that he was suffering from slanderous reproaches; from assaults which had been made on his character. He was charged with evil conduct, and the charge was made in such a manner that he could not meet it. The result was, that a series of calamities had come upon him which was quite overwhelming.
Because of the oppression of the wicked - The word here rendered “oppression” occurs nowhere else. The verb from which it is derived occurs twice, Amo 2:13 : “Behold, I am “pressed” under you as a cart is “pressed” that is full of sheaves.” The idea is that of crushing by a heavy weight; and hence, of crushing by affliction. The “wicked” alluded to here, if the supposition referred to in the Introduction about the occasion of the psalm is correct, were Absalom and those who were associated with him in the rebellion, particularly Ahithophel, who had showed himself false to David, and had united with his enemies in their purpose to drive him from his throne.
Read full note →
For they cast iniquity upon me - That is, they charge me with sin; they attempt to justify themselves in their treatment of me by accusing me of wrong-doing, or by endeavoring to satisfy themselves that I deserve to be treated in this manner. If this refers to the time of the rebellion of Absalom, the allusion would be to the charges, brought by him against his father, of severity and injustice in his administration, 2Sa 15:2-6.
And in wrath they hate me - In their indignation, in their excitement, they are full of hatred against me. This was manifested by driving him froth his throne and his home.
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 oppression--literally, "persecution."
oppression--literally, "persecution."
they . . . iniquity--literally, "they make evil doings slide upon me."
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 3. They cast iniquity upon me—The figure is borrowed…
3. They cast iniquity upon me—The figure is borrowed from setting in motion, or casting down from a height, weighty stones, or other instruments of death, upon an enemy, as Psa_140:10. They had hurled iniquity upon him by false accusations, threats, and dark conspiracies. See 2Sa_15:7-8; 2Sa_19:19
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 3. the voice of the enemy] Insulting, calumniating, threatening.
3. the voice of the enemy] Insulting, calumniating, threatening.
oppression] A peculiar word, found here only, meaning that his enemies hem him in or crush him down. Cp. the cognate verb in Amo_2:13.
Read full note →
3 b–5. He describes the nature of the persecution from which he is suffering, and its effect upon his spirits.
3 b. they cast iniquity upon me] Not, they charge me with crimes of which I am innocent: but, they hurl or roll mischief down upon me, a metaphor from the practice of rolling stones down upon an enemy. Cp. Psa_140:10 (of hot coals), and similar phrases in Psa_21:11; 2Sa_15:14.
and in wrath &c.] And in anger are they hostile unto me: (R.V. persecute me).
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 (3) Oppressor.—This meaning of a rare word is secured…
(3) Oppressor.—This meaning of a rare word is secured from Amo_2:13.
Cast iniquity.—Better, roll mischief. The figure seems to be drawn from the practice of rolling stones down on an enemy from a height. In Psa_140:10 the same verb is used of rolling burning coals on a foe.
Read full note →
Hate me.—Better, persecute me.
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 Because of the voles of the enemy, because of…
Because of the voles of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked. Professor Cheyne says that by "the wicked" heathen men are primarily intended. But vr the word used is" the wicked man," in the simplest and widest sense. (see Psa_1:1, Psa_1:4, Psa_1:5, 6 7:9 9:16, etc.) For they cast iniquity upon me; or, "hurl wickedness at me" (Cheyne). And in wrath they hats me; rather, they persecute me (Hengstenberg, Kay, Cheyne, Revised Version).
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. 3. Because of the voice of the enemy.…
Ver. 3. Because of the voice of the enemy. The enemy was vocal and voluble enough, and found a voice where his godly victim had nothing better than a "noise." Slander is seldom short of expression, it prates and prattles evermore. Neither David, nor our Lord, nor any of the saints were allowed to escape the attacks of venomous tongues, and this evil was in every case the cause of acute anguish.
Because of the oppression of the wicked: the unjust pressed and oppressed the righteous; like an intolerable burden they crushed them down, and brought them to their knees before the Lord. This is a thrice told story, and to the end of time it will be true; he that is born after the flesh will persecute him that is born after the Spirit. The great seed of the woman suffered from a bruised heel.
Read full note →
For they cast iniquity upon me, they black me with their soot bags, throw the dust of their lying over me, cast the vitriol of their calumny over me. They endeavour to trip me up, and if I do not fall they say I do.
And in wrath they hate me. With a hearty ill will they detested the holy man. It was no sleeping animosity, but a moral rancour which reigned in their bosoms. The reader needs not that we show how applicable this is to our Lord.
Ver. 3. Because of the voice of the enemy, there is their railing; because of the oppression of the wicked, there is their violent robbing him of his estate; they cast iniquity upon me, there are their slanderous traducings of him, and charging him with faults falsely; in wrath they hate me, there is their cruel seeking to kill. David Dickson.
Ver. 3. For they cast iniquity upon me. They tumble it on me, as men do stones or anything else upon their besiegers, to endamage them; so did these sin, shame, anything, upon innocent David, to make him odious. John Trapp.
None.
Psalms 55:4*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.