Bible Strands
Psalms 35:12
They repay me evil for good, to the bereavement of my soul.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist speaks to God during a period of legal persecution, immediately after describing hostile witnesses who fabricate charges he cannot answer. This follows his prior intercession for those same enemies while they were ill.
The words — The Hebrew verb יְשַׁלְּמוּ (yešalləmû, “they repay”) takes תַּחַת (taḥat, “in place of”) to show that רָעָה (ra‘â, “harm”) is given instead of טוֹבָה (ṭôḇâ, “good”).
The thread — The text records this exact pattern in Psalms 38:20 as a straightforward claim about enemies, while Jeremiah 18:20 frames the same dynamic as a rhetorical question and notes a dug pit. John 10:32 also surfaces the theme by highlighting the contradiction between demonstrated good works and violent retaliation.
Why it lands — The passage states a factual inversion of justice before drawing its implication, requiring the reader to confront how faithful action is systematically met with litigation and spiritual depletion rather than reciprocity.
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
They rewarded me evil for good to the spoiling of my soul.
Cross-references
- John 10:32 But Jesus responded, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone Me?”
- Jeremiah 18:20 Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit for me. Remember how I stood before You to speak good on their behalf, to turn Your wrath from them.
- Psalms 38:20 Those who repay my good with evil attack me for pursuing the good.
- Proverbs 17:13 If anyone returns evil for good, evil will never leave his house.
- Luke 23:21 but they kept shouting, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”
- Psalms 109:3 They surround me with hateful words and attack me without cause.
- 1 Samuel 20:31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Now send for him and bring him to me, for he must surely die!”
- 1 Samuel 19:4 Then Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul and said to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David; he has not sinned against you. In fact, his actions have been highly beneficial to you.
- 1 Samuel 19:15 But Saul sent the messengers back to see David and told them, “Bring him up to me in his bed so I can kill him.”
- 1 Samuel 22:13 And Saul asked him, “Why have you and the son of Jesse conspired against me? You gave him bread and a sword and inquired of God for him so that he could rise up against me to lie in wait, as he is doing today.”