to point (transitive or intransitive) · verb, qal passive participle, masculine plural absolute
arrows
חִצֵּ֣יchi.Tzei
H2671
properly · noun, common masculine plural construct
mighty
גִבּ֣וֹרgi.Bor
H1368
powerful · noun, common masculine singular absolute
coals
גַּחֲלֵ֥יga.cha.Lei
H1513
an ember · noun, common masculine plural construct
juniper
רְתָמִֽיםre.ta.Mim
H7574
the Spanish broom (from its pole-like stems) · noun, common masculine plural 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
James 3:5-8 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
Proverbs 19:9 A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish.
Psalms 45:5 Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies; whereby the people fall under thee.
Proverbs 12:22 Lying lips are abomination to the LORD: but they that deal truly are his delight.
Proverbs 16:27 An ungodly man diggeth up evil: and in his lips there is as a burning fire.
Proverbs 19:5 A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not escape.
Deuteronomy 32:23-24 I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them.
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…
Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper. Some think these words describe lying lips, and a false tongue; which are like arrows, sharp ones, sent out from a bow drawn with a mighty hand, which come with great force, suddenly and swiftly, and do much mischief; see Psalm 11:2; and to "coals of juniper", very distressing and tormenting; the tongue being a fire, set on fire of hell, and sets on fire the course of nature; and throws out devouring words, which consume like fire, James 3:6. But rather the punishment of an evil tongue from the Lord is intended, whose sore judgments are often compared to arrows, Deuteronomy 32:23; because they come from above, and bring swift and sudden dest…
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
The sharp arrows of the mighty one, with the coals that lay waste. The arrows of the mighty one. This man now answers the Lord as to what he asks. Because the Lord had said, What shall be given to you, or what shall be added to you? now this man says what he asks. O Lord, this I ask: the sharp arrows of the mighty one, with the coals that lay waste. See what he says. The poison of my tongue and my slander nothing can cast out, except your arrows, which make a desolation of my tongue. My tongue swells, it has poison within: unless it is pricked and struck by your arrows, the poison does not come out. We ought to give an example. If ever there is a wound in the body, and in the wound itself the flesh is already putrid, and there is a canker, and there is pus within: unless it is opened, the pus does not come out. And if the pus has come out, unless there is a cautery, the pus is born again. See then what he says. Because my tongue swells, and has pus, and has poison, first wound it with your arrows, so that the pus may be able to come out: then apply your coals and fire, so that whatever is evil may burn away, and make it a desert. See then what he says, The sharp arrows of the mighty one, with the coals that lay waste. Would that this coal that lays waste were given to us. Would that we too might say: 'Was not our heart burning within us on the way, when he opened to us the Scriptures?' Isaiah says to Babylon: 'You have coals of fire, you shall sit upon them, these shall be for you a help.' And the apostles, before they received the Holy Spirit, still had in their tongue certain human swellings: therefore the Holy Spirit descended in the form of fire, and sat as it were as fire upon their tongues, so that whatever of pus they had, the Holy Spirit might boil away. Let us give another example too. Isaiah, when he had seen the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, what does he say? 'Woe is me, wretched that I am, for I am pricked with compunction, because I have unclean lips, and I sit in the midst of a people that has unclean lips.' See what he says, Woe is me, wretched, because I have unclean lips. And afterward what does he say? Because he had unclean lips, therefore one of the seraphim is sent, and takes a coal of fire from the altar, and touches his lips and his tongue, and purges it. And what does he say? 'Behold, this has touched your lips, and…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Arms, Armor — The subject naturally divides itself into— I. Offensive weapons: Arms. II. Defensive weapons: Armor. I. Offensive weapons.—
Bow — The bow was in use in early times both in war and in the chase (Gen. 21:20; 27:3; 48:22). The tribe of Benjamin were famous for the use of the bow (1 Chr. 8:40; 12:2; 2 Chr. 14:8; 17:17); so also…
Coal — It is by no means certain that the Hebrews were acquainted with mineral coal, although it is found in Syria. Their common fuel was dried dung of animals and wood charcoal. Two different words are…
Dart — An instrument of war; a light spear. “Fiery darts” (Eph. 6:16) are so called in allusion to the habit of discharging darts from the bow while they are on fire or armed with some combustible material.…
Juniper — (Heb. rothem), called by the Arabs retem, and known as Spanish broom; ranked under the genus genista. It is a desert shrub, and abounds in many parts of Palestine. In the account of his journey from…
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…
Arrow · FIGURATIVE — FIGURATIVE
Arrows · Sharp — Sharp
Falsehood · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
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 120:4
Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.
Sharp arrows of the mighty. Swift, sure, and sharp shall be the judgment. Their words were as arrows, and so shall their punishment be. God will see to it that their punishment shall be comparable to an arrow keen in itself, and driven home with all the force with which a mighty man shoots it from his bow of steel, —"sharp arrows of the mighty". Nor shall one form of judgment suffice to avenge this complicated sin. The slanderer shall feel woes comparable to coals of juniper, which are quick in flaming, fierce in blazing, and long in burning. He shall feel sharp arrows and sharper fires. Awful doom! All liars shall have their portion in the…
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).
