How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? ye shall be slain all of you: as a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence.
Parallel translations
- WEB How long will you assault a man, would all of you throw him down, Like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence?
- BSB How long will you threaten a man? Will all of you throw him down like a leaning wall or a tottering fence?
- NKJV How long will you attack a man? You shall be slain, all of you, Like a leaning wall and a tottering fence.
- NASB ¶How long will you attack a man, That you may murder him, all of you, Like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence?
- NLT So many enemies against one man— all of them trying to kill me. To them I’m just a broken-down wall or a tottering fence.
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 rebukes his attackers who assail him as if he were a leaning wall ready to collapse. It exposes the aggression of those seeking his downfall.
Overview
David challenges his enemies who relentlessly assault him, treating him as something already crumbling. The image of a leaning wall and tottering fence captures their intent to push him to ruin. Yet, secure in God, David is not as fragile as his foes imagine.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Jer 4:14O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?
- Ps 82:2How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.
- Ps 140:2Which imagine mischiefs in their heart; continually are they gathered together for war.
- Isa 30:13–14Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.
- Prov 1:22How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
- Ps 21:11For they intended evil against thee: they imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform.
- Ps 38:12They also that seek after my life lay snares for me: and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long.
- Exod 16:28And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?
- Hos 7:15Though I have bound and strengthened their arms, yet do they imagine mischief against me.
- Ps 4:2O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing? Selah.
- 1 Sam 26:10David said furthermore, As the LORD liveth, the LORD shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish.
- Prov 6:9How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
- Ps 73:18–20Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction.
- Exod 10:3And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let my people go, that they may serve me.
- Matt 17:17Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 62:3 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.