Psalms 109:2

For wicked and deceitful mouths open against me; they speak against me with lying tongues.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — David speaks to God in a psalm of urgent petition, following his initial command for the divine to cease silence. The moment captures the immediate escalation of hostile accusers launching verbal assaults against him.

The words — The verb פָּתָ֑חוּ (paṭaḥu) literally means "they have opened," describing how hostile mouths are actively unleashed. The noun מִ֭רְמָה (mirmah) translates to "deceit," defining the structural character of the speech directed at the speaker.

The thread — This specific pattern of unprovoked verbal aggression appears in Psalms 52:4 and Psalms 120:2, where lying and deceitful tongues function as active threats. The motif is cataloged as a moral abomination in Proverbs 6:17.

Why it lands — The text requires the reader to identify coordinated false speech as a concrete assault rather than a mere difference of opinion. It demands that deceptive words be treated as a direct threat requiring external intervention.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

כִּ֤יkifor פִ֪יfi[the] mouth of רָשָׁ֡עra.Sha'[the] wicked וּֽפִי־u./fi-and/ a mouth of מִ֭רְמָהMir.mahdeceit עָלַ֣י'a.La/ion/ me פָּתָ֑חוּpa.Ta.chuthey have opened דִּבְּר֥וּdi.be.Ruthey have spoken אִ֝תִּ֗י'i.T/iwith/ me לְשׁ֣וֹןle.Shona tongue of שָֽׁקֶר׃Sha.kerfalsehood

King James Version

For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue.

Cross-references

Psalms 52:4 You love every word that devours, O deceitful tongue.
Psalms 120:2 Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips and a deceitful tongue.
Proverbs 6:17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
2 Samuel 17:1 Furthermore, Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me choose twelve thousand men and set out tonight in pursuit of David.
Psalms 31:13 For I hear the slander of many; there is terror on every side. They conspire against me and plot to take my life.
Psalms 31:18 May lying lips be silenced—lips that speak with arrogance against the righteous, full of pride and contempt.
Proverbs 12:19 Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.
Jeremiah 9:5 Each one betrays his friend; no one tells the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they wear themselves out committing iniquity.
Acts 6:13 where they presented false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law.
2 Samuel 15:3 Absalom would say, “Look, your claims are good and right, but the king has no deputy to hear you.”