They have closed their callous hearts; their mouths speak with arrogance.
Parallel translations
- WEB They close up their callous hearts. With their mouth they speak proudly.
- KJV They are inclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly.
- NKJV They have closed up their fat hearts; With their mouths they speak proudly.
- NASB They have closed their unfeeling hearts, With their mouths they speak proudly.
- NLT They are without pity. Listen to their boasting!
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's enemies are hardened in heart and arrogant in speech. It matters because it exposes the pride and callousness that mark those who oppose God's people.
Overview
David describes his foes as having closed, callous hearts and mouths that speak with arrogance. Hardness toward God and pride in speech go together in the wicked. Scripture consistently warns that such hardening invites judgment, while God gives grace to the humble.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- 1 Sam 2:3Do not boast so proudly, or let arrogance come from your mouth, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by Him actions are weighed.
- Ps 31:18May lying lips be silenced—lips that speak with arrogance against the righteous, full of pride and contempt.
- Ps 123:4We have endured much scorn from the arrogant, much contempt from the proud.
- Rev 13:5–6The beast was given a mouth to speak arrogant and blasphemous words, and authority to act for 42 months.
- Matt 13:15For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.’
- Exod 5:2But Pharaoh replied, “Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go.”
- Ps 73:7–9From their prosperity proceeds iniquity; the imaginations of their hearts run wild.
- 2 Pet 2:18With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error.
- Ps 119:70Their hearts are hard and callous, but I delight in Your law.
- Job 15:27Though his face is covered with fat and his waistline bulges with flesh,
- Acts 28:27For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.’
- Exod 15:9The enemy declared, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword; my hand will destroy them.’
- Isa 6:10Make the hearts of this people calloused; deafen their ears and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
- Ps 12:3–4May the LORD cut off all flattering lips and every boastful tongue.
- Deut 32:15But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.
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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 17:10 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.