He hath put forth his hands against such as be at peace with him: he hath broken his covenant.
Parallel translations
- WEB He raises his hands against his friends. He has violated his covenant.
- BSB My companion attacks his friends; he violates 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 89:34My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
- Acts 12:1Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church.
- Ps 7:4If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me; (yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy:)
- Ps 109:5And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.
- Ps 120:6–7My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace.
- Ps 89:28My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him.
- Eccl 8:2I counsel thee to keep the king’s commandment, and that in regard of the oath of God.
- Ps 89:38But thou hast cast off and abhorred, thou hast been wroth with thine anointed.
- 1 Sam 22:17And the king said unto the footmen that stood about him, Turn, and slay the priests of the LORD: because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled, and did not shew it to me. But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the LORD.
- Ezek 17:16–19As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely in the place where the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.
- 1 Sam 24:10Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that the LORD had delivered thee to day into mine hand in the cave: and some bade me kill thee: but mine eye spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth mine hand against my lord; for he is the LORD’s anointed.
- 2 Sam 14:32–33And Absalom answered Joab, Behold, I sent unto thee, saying, Come hither, that I may send thee to the king, to say, Wherefore am I come from Geshur? it had been good for me to have been there still: now therefore let me see the king’s face; and if there be any iniquity in me, let him kill me.
- 2 Sam 15:10–12But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, As soon as ye hear the sound of the trumpet, then ye shall say, Absalom reigneth in Hebron.
- 2 Sam 2:4And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, saying, That the men of Jabeshgilead were they that buried Saul.
- 2 Sam 5:3So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and king David made a league with them in Hebron before the LORD: and they anointed David king over Israel.
- 2 Sam 18:12And the man said unto Joab, Though I should receive a thousand shekels of silver in mine hand, yet would I not put forth mine hand against the king’s son: for in our hearing the king charged thee and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Beware that none touch the young man Absalom.
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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
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