תהלים 35:20

Hebrew Modern Translation

כי לא שלום ידברו ועל רגעי ארץ דברי מרמות יחשבון׃

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Aleppo Codex
לא שלום ידברו ועל רגעי-ארץ דברי מרמות יחשבון

Biblia Hebrica Stuttgartensia (1967/77)
כִּ֤י לֹ֥א שָׁלֹ֗ום יְדַ֫בֵּ֥רוּ וְעַ֥ל רִגְעֵי־אֶ֑רֶץ דִּבְרֵ֥י מִ֝רְמוֹת יַחֲשֹׁבֽוּן ׃

Westminster Leningrad Codex
כִּי לֹא שָׁלוֹם יְדַבֵּרוּ וְעַל רִגְעֵי־אֶרֶץ דִּבְרֵי מִרְמוֹת יַחֲשֹׁבֽוּן ׃

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

For: Psalms 120:5-7

but: Psalms 31:13, Psalms 36:3, Psalms 36:4, Psalms 38:12, Psalms 52:2, Psalms 64:4-6, Psalms 140:2-5, Jeremiah 11:19, Daniel 6:5, Matthew 26:4, Acts 23:15, Acts 25:3

quiet: Matthew 12:19, Matthew 12:24, 1 Peter 2:22, 1 Peter 2:23

Reciprocal: Genesis 9:22 - told Psalms 21:11 - imagined Psalms 109:3 - fought Psalms 120:7 - for peace Proverbs 3:29 - Devise not evil

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For they speak not peace,.... Meaning to himself, or any good man; as Joseph's brethren could not to him, Genesis 37:4; such were the men David had to do with, Psalms 120:6; and such were the enemies of Christ, who could not give him a good word, nor speak one to him,

John 10:20; and such are the enemies of his people, who breathe out nothing but threatenings and slaughter, and not anything that tends to peace, to promote and maintain it. Some versions, as the Septuagint, and they that follow that, render it, "they do speak peace to me"; but then it was in an hypocritical way, as in Psalms 28:3; and as the Jews did to Christ, Matthew 22:16; for it follows:

but they devise deceitful matters against [them that are] quiet in the land; meaning not the wicked, as Kimchi thinks; the rich, who live at ease and in quietness, having as much as heart can wish, "with" whom, as he renders it, David's enemies devised mischief in a deceitful way; but the righteous of the earth, as the Targum; such as David and his men were, who desired to live peaceable and quiet lives under Saul's government; and had no intention to disturb his government, or wrest the crown from him; and as the Messiah, David's son, was, "the humble one in the earth"; as the Arabic version renders it in the singular number; a character that well agrees with Christ, who showed great humility in coming into this world, and during his stay in it; it was a state of humiliation with him, and in which he behaved in the most lowly and humble manner; he was the quiet one in the land; he strove not, nor cried, nor was his voice heard in the street; he was not noisy and clamorous, quarrelsome and litigious; but all the reverse; he bore all insults, reproaches, and sufferings, patiently and quietly: and such are his people, so far as they are influenced by his grace and Spirit; they are quiet and peaceable in kingdoms, cities, and neighbourhoods, and in the churches of God; and yet the wicked are continually plotting against them, and devising things, to their hurt.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For they speak not peace - They seek a quarrel. They are unwilling to be on good terms with others, or to live in peace with them. The idea is that they were “disposed” or “inclined” to quarrel. Thus we speak now of persons who are “quarrelsome.

They devise deceitful matters - literally, “they think of words of deceit.” That is, they set their hearts on misrepresentation, and they study such misrepresentations as occasions for strife with others. They falsely represent my character; they attribute conduct to me of which I am not guilty; they pervert my words; they state that to be true which never occurred, and thus they attempt to justify their own conduct. Almost all the quarrels in the world, whether pertaining to nations, to neighborhoods, to families, or to individuals, are based on some “misrepresentation” of facts, designed or undesigned, and could have been avoided if men had been willing to look at facts as they are, or perfectly understood each other.

Against them that are quiet in the land - That are disposed to be quiet, or that are inclined to live in peace with those around them. The word rendered “quiet” means literally those who are “timid;” then, those who shrink back, and gather together from fear; then, those in general who are disposed to be peaceful and quiet, or who are indisposed to contention and strife. David implicitly asserts himself to be one of that class; a man who preferred peace to war, and who had no disposition to keep up a strife with his neighbors.