to give · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
done
יֹּסִ֥יףyo.Sif
H3254
to add or augment (often adverbial · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
false
רְמִיָּֽהre.mi.Yah
H7423
remissness · noun, common feminine singular absolute
tongue
לָשׁ֥וֹןla.Shon
H3956
the tongue (of man or animals) · noun, common both genders singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Job 27:8 For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul?
Matthew 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Romans 6:21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 120:1-4
Here is, I. Deliverance from a false tongue obtained by prayer. David records his own experience of this.
1. He was brought into distress, into great distress, by lying lips and a deceitful tongue. There were those that sought his ruin, and had almost effected it, by lying. (1.) By telling lies to him. They flattered him with professions and protestations of friendships, and promises of kindness and service to him, that they might the more securely and without suspicion carry on their designs against him, and might have an opportunity, by betraying his counsels, to do him a mischief. They smiled in his face and kissed him, even when they were aiming to smite him under the fifth rib. The most…
What shall be given unto thee?.... Or, "what shall it give unto thee?" (s) That is, what shall the deceitful tongue give unto thee, O my soul? or to thee, to anyone that hears and reads this psalm? It is capable of giving thee a deal of trouble, of doing thee a deal of mischief; and of injuring thy character, and hurting thy peace and comfort, if permitted;
or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue? or, "what shall the false tongue add unto thee?" (t) it shall increase thy sorrows and distress: or rather, what gain, profit, and advantage, shall the deceitful tongue get to itself by its lies and deceit? none at all; it may do harm to others, but gets no good to itself; see Isaiah 28…
Psalm 120:1-4
1. I cried [46] to Jehovah in my distress, and he answered me. 2. O Jehovah! deliver my soul from the lips [47] of falsehood, and from the tongue of deceit. [48] 3. What shall the tongue of deceit [49] give thee, and what shall avail thee? 4. The arrows of a strong man sharpened, with coals of junipers.
1. I cried to Jehovah in my distress. The name of the author of the Psalm is not expressed, but the style of it throughout presents David to our view. Although, therefore, I cannot positively affirm, yet I am rather inclined to think that it was composed by him. Nor will it be improper, in my judgment, to explain it as if his name had been mentioned in the inscription. This, t…
The Church Fathers
And your Lord says unto you, "What shall be given you, or what shall be set before you, against the deceitful tongue?" [Psalm 120:3]. What shall be given you, that is, as a weapon to oppose to the deceitful tongue, to guard yourself against the deceitful tongue? "Or what shall be set before you?" He asks to try you: for He will answer His own question. For He answers following up his own inquiry, "even sharp arrows of the Mighty One, with coals that desolate, or that lay waste" [Psalm 120:4]. They that desolate, or that lay waste (for it is variously written in different copies), are the same, because by laying waste, as you may observe, they easily lead unto desolation. What are these coals? First, beloved brethren, understand what are arrows. The "sharp arrows of the Mighty One," are the words of God...What then are the "coals that lay waste?" It is not enough to plead with words against a deceitful tongue and unrighteous lips: it is not enough to plead with words; we must plead with examples also...The word coals, then, is used to express the examples of many sinners converted to the Lord. Thou hear men wonder, and say, I knew that man, how addicted he was to drinking, what a villain, what a lover of the circus, or of the amphitheatre, what a cheat: now how he serves God, how innocent he has become! Wonder not; he is a live coal. You rejoice that he is alive, whom you were mourning as dead. But when you praise the living, if you know how to praise, apply him to the dead, that he may be inflamed; whosoever is still slow to follow God, apply to him the coal which was extinguished, and have the arrow of God's word, and the coal that lays waste, that you may meet the deceitful tongue and the lying lips.
What shall be given to you, or what shall be added to you, to a deceitful tongue? The Holy Spirit answers the prophet, who says, O Lord, deliver my soul from unjust lips and from a deceitful tongue: What shall be given to you, or what shall be added to you, to a deceitful tongue? He answers him and says: You who say, O Lord, deliver my soul from unjust lips and from a deceitful tongue, what do you want given to you? And after it has been given to you, what do you want in turn added to you to a deceitful tongue? See what he says. He did not say, against a deceitful tongue: but, to a deceitful tongue. If he had said, against a deceitful tongue, he would have seemed to speak about an adversary. See what the sacred meaning is: the prophet — or rather the holy man established on the first step — I speak rather simply for the sake of the simpler ones — what does he say? O Lord, deliver my soul from unjust lips and from a deceitful tongue: for example, from my adversary who slanders me. But the Lord answers something else, and what does he say? He did not say, what shall be given to you or what shall be added to you against a deceitful tongue? that is, he did not say, what do you desire to be done against your adversary? But what did he say? What shall be given to you, or what shall be added to you, to a deceitful tongue? He did not say, against the tongue: but, to the tongue. See what he says, to a deceitful tongue: to your own tongue, not your adversary's. For if your adversary slanders you, it does no harm: you kill yourself, if you slander others. For example, if a brother slanders me, what harm has it done me? if he says I am a murderer, if he says I am an adulterer, if a criminal, if a liar, what harm has it done me? For it is one of two things: either he speaks the truth, or he lies. If he speaks the truth, that which he said does not harm me; but the fact that I truly did it. But if he lies, his lie does not harm me, but it kills the soul of the one speaking. We are unhappy, we are wretched. When we have someone as an enemy, while we suppose we are acting against him, we are acting against ourselves. We slander him, we go about here and there, we tell everyone about him: do we suppose we harm him? We do not harm him, but we kill our own souls, because we lie. 'For the mouth that lies kills the soul.' What shall be given to you, or what shall be added to…
Dictionary and topics
Passover — The name given to the chief of the three great historical annual festivals of the Jews. It was kept in remembrance of the Lord’s passing over the houses of the Israelites (Ex. 12:13) when the first…
Psalms — The psalms are the production of various authors. “Only a portion of the Book of Psalms claims David as its author. Other inspired poets in successive generations added now one now another…
Psalms, Book Of — The present Hebrew name of the book is Tehill’im, “Praises;” but in the actual superscriptions of the psalms the word Tehillah is applied only to one, (Psalms 145:1) ... which is indeed emphatically…
Falsehood · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Lying · Punishment for — Punishment for
Speaking · EVIL — EVIL
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
According to the pointing ויּענני, the poet appears to base his present petition, which from Psa 120:2 onwards is the substance of the whole Psalm, upon the fact of a previous answering of his prayers. For the petition in Psa 120:2 manifestly arises out of his deplorable situation, which is described in Psa 120:5. Nevertheless there are also other instances in which ויענני might have been expected, where the pointing is ויּענני (Psa 3:5; Jon 2:3), so that consequently ויּענני may, without any prejudice to the pointing, be taken as a believing expression of the result (cf. the future of the consequence in Job 9:16) of the present cry for help. צרתה, according to the original signification, is…
The psalmist dialogues with the liars who surround him. He feels reassured that the Lord will judge them. • The Divine Warrior (see 7:12-13; 11:4-6) will throw sharp arrows and glowing coals on the liars.
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 120:3
What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?
What shall be given unto thee? What is the expected guerdon of slander? It ought to be something great to make it worth while to work in so foul an atmosphere and to ruin one's soul. Could a thousand worlds be bribe enough for such villainous deeds? The liar shall have no welcome recompense: he shall meet with his deserts; but what shall they be? What punishment can equal his crime? The Psalmist seems lost to suggest a fitting punishment. It is the worst of offences—this detraction, calumny, and slander. Judgment sharp and crushing would be measured out to it if men were visited for their transgressions. But…
