Bible Strands
Psalms 139:21
Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD, and detest those who rise against You?
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses Yahweh directly, concluding a meditation on divine omniscience and intimate knowledge. The moment follows a description of enemies who speak deceitfully and take God's name in vain.
The words — מְשַׂנְאֶיךָ (me.san.'Ei.kha) translates to "those who hate you," and אֶתְקוֹטֵט (et.ko.tet) means "I loathe" or "I detest." These verbs frame the speaker's emotional and spiritual response to opposition against God.
The thread — This stance toward divine opposition appears in Psalms 119:158, where the speaker loathes the faithless for abandoning God's word, and in Psalms 31:6, which contrasts hating worthless idols with trusting in the LORD. Revelation 2:2 similarly commends a community that refuses to tolerate evil.
Why it lands — The text demands a clear alignment of the believer's affections with God's character, rejecting any neutral or compromising stance toward those who actively oppose divine authority. It requires the reader to examine whether their spiritual loathing matches the severity of the offense against God.
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
Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?
Cross-references
- Psalms 119:158 I look on the faithless with loathing because they do not keep Your word.
- Psalms 31:6 I hate those who cling to worthless idols, but in the LORD I trust.
- Revelation 2:2 I know your deeds, your labor, and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate those who are evil, and you have tested and exposed as liars those who falsely claim to be apostles.
- 2 Chronicles 19:2 Jehu son of Hanani the seer went out to confront him and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD? Because of this, the wrath of the LORD is upon you.
- Psalms 26:5 I hate the mob of evildoers, and refuse to sit with the wicked.
- Revelation 2:6 But you have this to your credit: You hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
- Psalms 15:4 who despises the vile but honors those who fear the LORD, who does not revise a costly oath,
- Psalms 119:136 My eyes shed streams of tears because Your law is not obeyed.
- Jeremiah 13:17 But if you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears, because the LORD’s flock has been taken captive.
- Mark 3:5 Jesus looked around at them with anger and sorrow at their hardness of heart. Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and it was restored.