My companion attacks his friends; he violates his covenant.
Parallel translations
- WEB He raises his hands against his friends. He has violated his covenant.
- KJV He hath put forth his hands against such as be at peace with him: he hath broken his covenant.
- NKJV He has put forth his hands against those who were at peace with him; He has broken his covenant.
- NASB He has put forth his hands against those who were at peace with him; He has violated his covenant.
- NLT As for my companion, he betrayed his friends; he broke his promises.
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
The betrayer turned on his friends and broke his covenant. It exposes the treachery of the false companion.
Overview
David returns to the betrayer, charging him with attacking those at peace with him and violating his solemn bonds. Covenant-breaking is a grave sin against both God and neighbor. The verse highlights the seriousness of broken faith and the contrast with God's unbreakable covenant love.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Ps 89:34I will not violate My covenant or alter the utterance of My lips.
- Acts 12:1About that time, King Herod reached out to harm some who belonged to the church.
- Ps 7:4if I have rewarded my ally with evil, if I have plundered my foe without cause,
- Ps 109:5They repay me evil for good, and hatred for my love.
- Ps 120:6–7Too long have I dwelt among those who hate peace.
- Ps 89:28I will forever preserve My loving devotion for him, and My covenant with him will stand fast.
- Eccl 8:2Keep the king’s command, I say, because of your oath before God.
- Ps 89:38Now, however, You have spurned and rejected him; You are enraged by Your anointed one.
- 1 Sam 22:17Then the king ordered the guards at his side, “Turn and kill the priests of the LORD, because they too sided with David. For they knew he was fleeing, but they did not tell me.” But the king’s servants would not lift a hand to strike the priests of the LORD.
- Ezek 17:16–19‘As surely as I live,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘he will die in Babylon, in the land of the king who enthroned him, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke.
- 1 Sam 24:10Behold, this day you have seen with your own eyes that the LORD delivered you into my hand in the cave. I was told to kill you, but I spared you and said, ‘I will not lift my hand against my lord, since he is the LORD’s anointed.’
- 2 Sam 14:32–33“Look,” said Absalom, “I sent for you and said, ‘Come here. I want to send you to the king to ask: Why have I come back from Geshur? It would be better for me if I were still there.’ So now, let me see the king’s face, and if there is iniquity in me, let him kill me.”
- 2 Sam 15:10–12Then Absalom sent spies throughout the tribes of Israel with this message: “When you hear the sound of the horn, you are to say, ‘Absalom reigns in Hebron!’”
- 2 Sam 2:4Then the men of Judah came to Hebron, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, “It was the men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul.”
- 2 Sam 5:3So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, where King David made with them a covenant before the LORD. And they anointed him king over Israel.
- 2 Sam 18:12The man replied, “Even if a thousand shekels of silver were weighed out into my hands, I would not raise my hand against the son of the king. For we heard the king command you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.’
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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 55:20 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.