They shout, “Aha! Aha! With our own eyes we saw him do it!”
Parallel translations
- WEB Yes, they opened their mouth wide against me. They said, “Aha! Aha! Our eye has seen it!”
- KJV Yea, they opened their mouth wide against me, and said, Aha, aha, our eye hath seen it.
- BSB They gape at me and say, “Aha, aha! Our eyes have seen!”
- NKJV They also opened their mouth wide against me, And said, “Aha, aha! Our eyes have seen it.”
- NASB They opened their mouth wide against me; They said, “Aha, aha! Our eyes have seen it!”
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 mock him openly, gloating that they have caught him in some fault. It shows how slander delights in another's downfall.
Overview
In this lament David describes foes who 'open their mouth wide' with cries of 'Aha!', claiming their own eyes have witnessed his ruin. Their malice is gleeful and public, a picture of the hostility the righteous face. Christ Himself endured such taunts at the cross (Matthew 27:39-43), the innocent Sufferer surrounded by mockers, so David's experience foreshadows his greater Son.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Ps 22:13They open their mouths wide against me, lions tearing prey and roaring.
- Ps 40:15Let them be desolate by reason of their shame that tell me, “Aha! Aha!”
- Luke 11:53–54As he said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be terribly angry, and to draw many things out of him;
- Ps 70:3Let them be turned because of their shame Who say, “Aha! Aha!”
- Ps 54:7For he has delivered me out of all trouble. My eye has seen triumph over my enemies.
- Isa 9:12The Syrians in front, and the Philistines behind; and they will devour Israel with open mouth. For all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 35:21 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.