Bible Strands
Psalms 38:19
Many are my enemies without cause, and many hate me without reason.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist speaks to God immediately after confessing his own iniquity, shifting from internal guilt to describing the external persecution he faces. The words — The Hebrew שָֽׁקֶר (Sha.ker) literally means falsehood, and חַיִּ֣ים (chai.Yim) means life, forming the structural basis for the claim that the speaker's opponents act without legitimate ground. The thread — This pattern of groundless opposition appears in Psalms 35:19, where the psalmist again pleads against enemies acting without cause, and resurfaces in John 15:18 and Matthew 10:22 as a defining characteristic of the world's reaction to the faithful. Why it lands — The text demands recognition that persecution often operates independently of the victim's moral record, requiring the reader to distinguish between divine correction and unjust human hostility.
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
But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong: and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied.
Cross-references
- Psalms 35:19 Let not my enemies gloat over me without cause, nor those who hate me without reason wink in malice.
- John 15:18 If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first.
- Matthew 10:22 You will be hated by everyone because of My name, but the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.
- Psalms 69:4 Those who hate me without cause outnumber the hairs of my head; many are those who would destroy me—my enemies for no reason. Though I did not steal, I must repay.
- Psalms 3:1 A Psalm of David, when he fled from his son Absalom. O LORD, how my foes have increased! How many rise up against me!
- Psalms 18:17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from foes too mighty for me.
- Psalms 25:19 Consider my enemies, for they are many, and they hate me with vicious hatred.
- Psalms 56:1 For the choirmaster. To the tune of “A Dove on Distant Oaks.” A Miktam of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath. Be merciful to me, O God, for men are hounding me; all day they press their attack.
- Psalms 59:1 For the choirmaster. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A Miktam of David, when Saul sent men to watch David’s house in order to kill him. Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; protect me from those who rise against me.
- Acts 4:25 You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of Your servant, our father David: ‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?