I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them as my enemies.
Parallel translations
- WEB I hate them with perfect hatred. They have become my enemies.
- KJV I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.
- NKJV I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies.
- NASB I hate them with the utmost hatred; They have become my enemies.
- NLT Yes, I hate them with total hatred, for your enemies are my enemies.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
David declares he hates God's enemies with 'perfect hatred,' counting them his own foes. It is a wholehearted identification with God's holy opposition to evil.
Overview
'Perfect hatred' means complete, undivided opposition to those set against God, not malice mixed with sin. David makes God's enemies his enemies, a posture of total allegiance. Christians read such verses in light of Christ, hating sin and evil while loving sinners and praying for their conversion (Luke 23:34).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
- Ps 101:3–8I will set no worthless thing before my eyes. I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me.
- Luke 14:26“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 139:22 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.