Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 120:3
What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?
3, 4. What should he give thee, and what should he add to thee, thou deceitful tongue? Arrows of a warrior sharpened, with glowing coals of broom. The tongue, or rather its owner, is addressed. God is the subject of the verbs, and the form of expression is suggested by the familiar formula, “So God do to thee and more also” (1Sa 3:17), lit. “So shall God do to thee and so shall he add.” Psa 120:4 is the answer to the question. The just retribution which is to overtake the deceitful man is described in terms suggested by his offence (cp. Psa 7:12 ff.). He has shot his arrows of slander or false accusation at the innocent, but a mightier than he, even God Himself, will pierce him with the arrows of His judgement: he has kindled the fire of strife by his falsehoods, but the lightnings of Divine wrath will consume him. For the comparison of the evil tongue to a bow which shoots arrows of falsehood see Jer 9:3; Pro 26:18 f.; cp. too Jer 9:8, “Their tongue is a murderous arrow”: its power of mischief is described as fire in Pro 16:27 (cp. Jas 3:6). Glowing coals are a metaphor for Divine judgements in Psa 140:10.
This is the simplest and most natural explanation. Several other explanations have however been proposed, e.g. (1) “What profit will thy false tongue bring thee, O slanderer? It is as sharp arrows” &c., but this seems to lack point. (2) Others suppose that God is addressed and that the tongue is the subject of the sentence: “What profit can the deceitful tongue bring to Thee?” a sarcastic question, like that in Job 10:3 ff. Can it be that Jehovah tolerates the deceitful man, because thereby He gains some advantage? Psa 120:4 will then be an equally sarcastic answer. The gain that accrues from his existence is mischief and strife. But apart from grammatical difficulties, such an idea is unsuited to the context.
coals of juniper ] Heb. rthem, broom, from which the Arabs still manufacture charcoal of the finest quality, which makes the hottest fire and retains heat for the longest time.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
What shall be given unto thee? – Margin, What shall the deceitful tongue give unto thee; or, what shall it profit thee? Luther, What can the false tongue do? Others render this, How will God punish thee? Others, What will he (God) give to thee? That is, What recompence can you expect from God for these malignant calumnies? A literal translation of this verse would be, What shall the tongue of deceit give to thee, and what shall it add to thee? – referring to the offender himself. The essential idea is, What will be the result of such conduct? What must be expected to follow from it? That is, either
(a) from the unprofitableness of such a course; or
(b) from the natural consequences to ones reputation and happiness; or
(c) from the judgment of God.
The answer to these questions is found in Psa 120:4.
Or what shall be done unto thee? – Margin, as in Hebrew, added. What must be the consequence of this? what will follow?
Thou false tongue – This may be either an address to the tongue itself, or, as above, the word tongue may be used as the nominative to the verbs in the sentence. The sense is not materially affected either way.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 3. What shall be given unto thee?] Thou art worthy of the heaviest punishments.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
What shall be given unto thee, whosoever thou art who art guilty of these practices? He applies himself severally to the consciences of every one of them. Or he designs Doeg or some other person in Sauls court eminent for this wickedness. The sense may be this, It is true, thou dost me some mischief; but what benefit dost thou get by it, if all thy accounts be cast up? For although thou mayst thereby obtain some favour and advantage from Saul, yet thou wilt assuredly bring upon thyself the curse and vengeance of God; and then thou wilt be no gainer by the bargain. And to do mischief to another without benefit to thyself, is an inhuman and diabolical wickedness.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
What shall be given unto thee?…. Or, “what shall [it] give unto thee?” s That is, what shall the deceitful tongue give unto thee, O my soul? or to thee, to anyone that hears and reads this psalm? It is capable of giving thee a deal of trouble, of doing thee a deal of mischief; and of injuring thy character, and hurting thy peace and comfort, if permitted;
or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue? or, “what shall the false tongue add unto thee?” t it shall increase thy sorrows and distress: or rather, what gain, profit, and advantage, shall the deceitful tongue get to itself by its lies and deceit? none at all; it may do harm to others, but gets no good to itself; see Isa 28:15; Or, “what shall he (God) give unto thee?” u or, “what shall he add unto thee, thou false tongue?” so Jarchi. What punishment will not he inflict upon thee, who hates lying lips? what plagues will not he add unto thee, who knows all the deceit that is in thee, and spoken by thee? The answer is as follows:
s “quid dabit tibi”, Pagninus, Montanus, Musculus, Gejerus; so Junius Tremellius, Piscator. t “et quid addet tibi”, Montanus, Castalio so Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius. u “Quid inferat tibi (Deus) aut quem rem adhibeat tibi, O lingua dolosa?” Tigurine version.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
3. What shall the tongue of deceit give thee? (50) The Prophet aggravates the malice of his enemies by asserting that they were so wickedly inclined as to be driven to evil speaking when they saw no prospect of deriving any advantage from such a course of conduct. He however seems to express more than this, — he seems farther to intimate, that after they have poured forth all the venom of their calumnies, their attempts will nevertheless be vain and ineffectual. As God is the maintainer of the innocence of his servants, David, inspired with hope from this truth, rises up against them with heroic courage, as if about to triumph over the whole crowd of his calumniators, (51) reproaching them for doing nothing else than betraying an impotent passion for evil speaking, which God at length would cause to recoil upon their own heads. It is a consideration well fitted to assuage the grief of all the godly, when their good name is unrighteously wounded by calumniators, that such malicious characters will gain nothing thereby in the end, because God will disappoint their expectation.
(50) The Psalmist here addresses himself in particular to his traducers.
(51) “ Comme s’il avoit desia le triomphe contre toute la bande de scs ennemis.” — Fr. “As if he had already triumphed over the whole host of his enemies.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(3) What shall . . .?Literally, What will he give to thee, and what will he add to thee, deceitful tongue? where it is better, as in the Authorised Version, to take the subject as indefinite, and so render by the passive. Thus we get in substance the following question: What more can be added to thee (i.e., in the way of epithet), besides lying and false, thou deceitful tongue? the answer is given by suggesting the usual metaphors of malicious speech, the warriors sharpened arrows (Jer. 9:8; Psa. 57:4); fire (Jas. 3:6). Only here both images are elaborated. For the Hebrew word give with the sense of comparison, see 1Sa. 1:16, Count (Heb., give) not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial. Gesenius compares the use of the Greek , instead of . So, too, the word add has a similar sense (1Ki. 10:7; see margin).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
3. What shall be given thee It is more natural and consistent to take this grammatically obscure verse as an address to the tongue of guile: “What shall be given thee?” or rather, “What shall he [God] give to thee?” that is, as a punishment. The question is put sarcastically, and the anticipated answer is brought out in the next verse.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 120:3 What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?
Ver. 3. What shall be given unto thee? &c. ] That is (as Austin senseth it), what remedy is there for thee? q.d. None at all. Contra sycophantarum morsum non est remedium, saith Seneca. But others better, what gain gettest thou what profit makest thou of thy lying and slandering? Hurt thou mayest another, but not help thyself. Thou art not like the maid whom Avicen speaketh of, who feeding herself with poison, was herself healthy, yet infected others with her venomous breath; but rather like the traitor of whom Augustus said, I like the treason, but hate the traitor. The slander is oft applauded when the slanderer is abhorred.
Or what shall be done unto thee, &c.
Thou false tongue?
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
done = heaped upon: i.e. added to. Compare 1Sa 3:17; 1Sa 20:13, &c.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
What shall: etc. or, What shall the deceitful tongue give unto thee, or, What shall it profit thee, Job 27:8, Mat 16:26, Rom 6:21
done: Heb. added
Reciprocal: Gen 31:1 – Jacob Gen 39:14 – an Hebrew Exo 23:1 – shalt not Jdg 9:20 – let fire come out Neh 6:10 – Let us meet Job 15:5 – thou choosest Psa 18:13 – coals Psa 59:12 – For the Psa 109:2 – with Pro 6:17 – lying Pro 10:31 – the froward Pro 19:5 – false Pro 25:18 – General Isa 3:11 – given him Jer 9:8 – tongue Jer 23:36 – for every
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
120:3 What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou {c} false tongue?
(c) He assured himself that God would turn their craft to their own destruction.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
2. God’s destruction of liars 120:3-4
The writer asked the liar what would befall him and then answered his own question. God would destroy him as a warrior who shot arrows at an enemy or as a fire devoured a dry broom tree.