Psalms 139 · Verse 20

Psalms 139:20

For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.
Psalms 139:20, King James Version

Psalms 139:20 in other translations

BSBwho speak of You deceitfully; Your enemies take Your name in vain.
WEBFor they speak against you wickedly. Your enemies take your name in vain.
ASVFor they speak against thee wickedly, And thine enemies take thy name in vain.
YLTWho exchange Thee for wickedness, Lifted up to vanity are Thine enemies.
DARBYFor they speak of thee wickedly, they take thy name in vain, thine enemies.
BBEFor they go against you with evil designs, and your haters make sport of your name.
WebsterFor they speak against thee wickedly, and thy enemies take thy name in vain.

What does Psalms 139:20 mean?

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 20 Thine enemies take thy name in vain - Bishop Horsley translates the whole verse thus: - "They have deserted me who are disobedient to thee; "They who are sworn to a rash purpose - thy refractory adversaries." The original is obscure: but I cannot see these things in it. Some translate the Hebrew thus: "Those who oppose thee iniquitously seize unjustly upon thy cities;" and so almost all the Versions. The words, thus translated, may apply to Sanballat, Tobiah, and the other enemies of the returned Jews, who endeavored to drive them from the land, that they might possess the cities of Judea.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Psalms 139:17-24

God's counsels concerning us and our welfare are deep, such as cannot be known. We cannot think how many mercies we have received from him. It would help to keep us in the fear of the Lord all the day long, if, when we wake in the morning, our first thoughts were of him: and how shall we admire and bless our God for his precious salvation, when we awake in the world of glory! Surely we ought not to use our members…

Read the full comment on Psalms 139:17-24 →

Psalms 139:20 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

אֲשֶׁ֣ר'a.Sher[those] whoH834
יֹ֭אמְרֻךָYo.me.ru.khathey speak of youH559
לִמְזִמָּ֑הlim.zi.Mahto wickednessH4209
נָשֻׂ֖אna.Su'they lift upH5375
לַשָּׁ֣וְאla.Shav'to <the> falsehoodH7723
עָרֶֽיךָ\׃'a.Rei.khaenemies yourH6145

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Psalms 139:20

  • Jude 1:15

    To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

  • Exodus 20:7

    Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

  • Psalms 74:18

    Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O Lord, and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name.

  • Psalms 2:1-3

    Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.

  • Psalms 73:8-9

    They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth.

  • Isaiah 37:23

    Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel.

  • Isaiah 37:28-29

    But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me. Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.

  • Revelation 13:6

    And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

  • Psalms 74:22-23

    Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily. Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult of those that rise up against thee increaseth continually.

  • Job 21:14-15

    Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
for they speak.
73:8,9; 74:18,22,23; Job 21:14,15; Isa 37:23,28,29; Jude 1:15
Re 13:6
thine.
2:1-3; Ex 20:7

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Psalms 139:19

    Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.

  • Psalms 139:20

    For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.

  • Psalms 139:21

    Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?

Read all of Psalms 139

Psalms 139:20 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Porque blasfemias dicen ellos contra ti: tus enemigos toman en vano tu nombre.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Eux qui parlent contre toi astucieusement, qui prennent ton nom en vain, tes ennemis!
German
Elberfelder 1871		Sie, die dich nennen zum Verbrechen, die zu Eitlem schwören, deine Feinde.