They are inclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly.
Parallel translations
- WEB They close up their callous hearts. With their mouth they speak proudly.
- BSB They have closed their callous hearts; their mouths speak with arrogance.
- 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 2:3Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.
- Ps 31:18Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.
- Ps 123:4Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud.
- Rev 13:5–6And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
- Matt 13:15For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
- Exod 5:2And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.
- Ps 73:7–9Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish.
- 2 Pet 2:18For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.
- Ps 119:70Their heart is as fat as grease; but I delight in thy law.
- Job 15:27Because he covereth his face with his fatness, and maketh collops of fat on his flanks.
- Acts 28:27For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
- Exod 15:9The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.
- Isa 6:10Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
- Ps 12:3–4The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things:
- Deut 32:15But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed 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.