Bible Strands
Psalms 120:7
I am in favor of peace; but when I speak, they want war.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist declares his personal commitment to peace while dwelling among a community that actively opposes it.
The words — שָׁלוֹם (shalom) denotes peace, and מִלְחָמָה (milchamah) denotes war. The Hebrew syntax places the psalmist’s declaration of שָׁלוֹם in direct contrast to the group’s response of מִלְחָמָה when he speaks.
The thread — Matthew 5:9 identifies peacemakers as sons of God. Psalms 109:4 records love met with accusation, and Psalms 34:14 issues a command to seek and pursue peace.
Why it lands — The text states a conflict between a speaker’s peaceable intent and a surrounding group’s warlike reaction. It requires the reader to acknowledge hostile environments without softening the reality of the opposition.
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
King James Version
I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.
Cross-references
- Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
- Psalms 109:4 In return for my love they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer.
- Psalms 34:14 Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.
- Hebrews 12:14 Pursue peace with everyone, as well as holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.
- Psalms 35:20 For they do not speak peace, but they devise deceitful schemes against those who live quietly in the land.
- Romans 12:18 If it is possible on your part, live at peace with everyone.
- Ephesians 2:14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has torn down the dividing wall of hostility
- 1 Samuel 24:9 and said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Look, David intends to harm you’?
- 1 Samuel 26:2 So Saul, accompanied by three thousand chosen men of Israel, went down to the Wilderness of Ziph to search for David there.
- 2 Samuel 20:19 I am among the peaceable and faithful in Israel, but you are trying to destroy a city that is a mother in Israel. Why would you swallow up the LORD’s inheritance?”