Psalms 143 · Verse 2

Psalms 143:2

And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.
Psalms 143:2, King James Version

Psalms 143:2 in other translations

BSBDo not bring Your servant into judgment, for no one alive is righteous before You.
WEBDon’t enter into judgment with your servant, for in your sight no man living is righteous.
ASVAnd enter not into judgment with thy servant; For in thy sight no man living is righteous.
YLTAnd enter not into judgment with Thy servant, For no one living is justified before Thee.
DARBYAnd enter not into judgment with thy servant; for in thy sight no man living shall be justified.
BBELet not your servant come before you to be judged; for no man living is upright in your eyes.
WebsterAnd enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.

What does Psalms 143:2 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
2. enter ... judgment--deal not in strict justice. shall no ... justified--or, "is no man justified," or "innocent" (Job 14:3; Ro 3:20).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 2 Enter not into judgment - אל תבוא al tabo. Do not come into court, either as a Witness against me, or as a Judge, else I am ruined; for thou hast seen all my ways that they are evil, and thy justice requires thee to punish me. Nor can any soul that has ever lived be justified in the sight of thy justice and righteousness. Had I my desert from thee, I should have worse than even my unnatural son intends me. O what a relief is Jesus crucified to a soul in such circumstances!

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Psalms 143:1-6

We have no righteousness of our own to plead, therefore must plead God's righteousness, and the word of promise which he has freely given us, and caused us to hope in. David, before he prays for the removal of his trouble, prays for the pardon of his sin, and depends upon mercy alone for it. He bemoans the weight upon his mind from outward troubles. But he looks back, and remembers God's former appearance for his…

Read the full comment on Psalms 143:1-6 →

Psalms 143:2 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.

וְאַל\־ve.'al-and may notH408
תָּב֣וֹאta.Vo'you goH935
בְ֭מִשְׁפָּטVe.mish.potin judgmentH4941
אֶת\־'et-withH854
עַבְדֶּ֑ךָ'av.De.khaservant yourH5650
כִּ֤יkiforH3588
לֹֽא\־lo'-notH3808
יִצְדַּ֖קyitz.Dakhe is righteousH6663
לְפָנֶ֣יךָle.fa.Nei.kha<to> before youH6440
כָל\־khol-anyH3605
חָֽי\׃Chailiving [person]H2416

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

Cross references for Psalms 143:2

  • Ecclesiastes 7:20

    For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.

  • Romans 3:20

    Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

  • Job 25:4

    How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman?

  • Psalms 130:3

    If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?

  • 1 John 1:10

    If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

  • Job 15:14

    What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?

  • Galatians 2:16

    Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

  • Job 14:3

    And dost thou open thine eyes upon such an one, and bringest me into judgment with thee?

  • Job 4:17

    Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?

  • 1 Kings 8:46

    If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near;

  • Exodus 34:7

    Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

  • Job 9:2-3

    I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God? If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
enter not.
130:3; Job 14:3
in thy sight.
Ex 34:7; Job 4:17; 9:2,3; 15:14; 25:4; Ec 7:20; Ro 3:20; Ga 2:16
1Jo 1:10

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

Context

  • Psalms 143:1

    A Psalm of David. Hear my prayer, O Lord, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness.

  • Psalms 143:2

    And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.

  • Psalms 143:3

    For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead.

Read all of Psalms 143

Psalms 143:2 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Y no entres en juicio con tu siervo; porque no se justificará delante de ti ningún viviente.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Et n’entre pas en jugement avec ton serviteur, car devant toi nul homme vivant ne sera justifié.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Und gehe nicht ins Gericht mit deinem Knechte! denn vor dir ist kein Lebendiger gerecht.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Misericordia mea et refugium meum; susceptor meus et liberator meus; protector meus, et in ipso speravi, qui subdit populum meum sub me.