Bible Strands
Psalms 140:9
May the heads of those who surround me be covered in the trouble their lips have caused.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist petitions God to halt the wicked's evil plans and prevent their exaltation while facing adversaries who currently surround him.
The words — The Hebrew terms רֹאשׁ (rosh, "head") and יְכַסֵּֽמוֹ (yekhassemu, "may it cover") frame the petition for the surrounding enemies to be engulfed by the very mischief their lips produced.
The thread — This motif of self-inflicted retribution appears in Psalms 7:16 and Psalms 94:23, where wickedness recoils on the perpetrator, while Proverbs 18:7 notes that a fool's own lips become a snare to his soul.
Why it lands — The text demands that readers recognize God's justice in allowing the consequences of spoken evil to return upon the wicked rather than granting their ambitions.
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
As for the head of those that compass me about, let the mischief of their own lips cover them.
Cross-references
- Psalms 7:16 His trouble recoils on himself, and his violence falls on his own head.
- Proverbs 18:7 A fool’s mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul.
- Psalms 94:23 He will bring upon them their own iniquity and destroy them for their wickedness. The LORD our God will destroy them.
- Proverbs 12:13 An evil man is trapped by his rebellious speech, but a righteous man escapes from trouble.
- Esther 7:10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the fury of the king subsided.
- Psalms 64:8 They will be made to stumble, their own tongues turned against them. All who see will shake their heads.
- Proverbs 10:6 Blessings are on the head of the righteous, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
- Proverbs 10:11 The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
- Esther 5:14 His wife Zeresh and all his friends told him, “Have them build a gallows fifty cubits high, and ask the king in the morning to have Mordecai hanged on it. Then go to the banquet with the king and enjoy yourself.” The advice pleased Haman, and he had the gallows constructed.
- Matthew 27:25 All the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!”