properly · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
shame
וְיִכָּלְמוּ֮ve.yi.kal.Mu
H3637
properly · conjunction + verb, niphal, 3rd person masculine plural
seek
מְבַקְשֵׁ֪יme.vak.Shei
H1245
to search out (by any method · verb, piel active participle, masculine plural construct
soul
נַ֫פְשִׁ֥יnaf.Shi
H5315
properly · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix
turned
יִסֹּ֣גוּyi.So.gu
H5472
properly · verb, niphal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
back
אָח֣וֹר'a.Chor
H268
the hinder part · noun, common masculine singular absolute
confusion
וְיַחְפְּר֑וּve.yach.pe.Ru
H2659
to blush · conjunction + verb, qal, 3rd person masculine plural
devise
חֹ֝שְׁבֵ֗יcho.she.Vei
H2803
properly · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct
hurt
רָעָתִֽיra.'a.Ti
H7451
bad or (as noun) evil (natural or moral) · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix
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
Psalms 70:2-3 Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul: let them be turned backward, and put to confusion, that desire my hurt.
Psalms 35:26 Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion together that rejoice at mine hurt: let them be clothed with shame and dishonour that magnify t…
Jeremiah 46:5 Wherefore have I seen them dismayed and turned away back? and their mighty ones are beaten down, and are fled apace, and look not back: for…
Psalms 38:12 They 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 lo…
Psalms 31:17-18 Let me not be ashamed, O LORD; for I have called upon thee: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave.
Psalms 129:5 Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion.
Psalms 40:14-15 Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me…
Psalms 71:24 My tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long: for they are confounded, for they are brought unto shame, that seek my hurt…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 35:1-10
In these verses we have,
I. David's representation of his case to God, setting forth the restless rage and malice of his persecutors. He was God's servant, expressly appointed by him to be what he was, followed his guidance, and aimed at his glory in the way of duty, had lived (as St. Paul speaks) in all good conscience before God unto this day; and yet there were those that strove with him, that did their utmost to oppose his advancement, and made all the interest they could against him; they fought against him (Psa 35:1), not only undermined him closely and secretly, but openly avowed their opposition to him and set themselves to do him all the mischief they could. They persecuted him with…
(Compare Psa 9:17).
devise my hurt--purpose for evil to me.
John Gill on Psalms 35:4
Let them be confounded, and put to shame, that seek after my soul,.... This petition, and what follows, which seem to be by way of imprecation, are to be considered as prophecies of what would be, and as expressions of faith that so it should be; and are not to be drawn into examples, and to be imitated by private persons; nor are they contrary to those evangelical rules, which require men to love their enemies, and pray for them; to give place to wrath, and not meditate vengeance, nor take it: and so it was with David's enemies. Saul, who hunted after his soul or life, to take it away, was filled with shame and confusion, when David, having cut off the skirt of his garment, held it up to hi…
Psalm 35:4-7
4. Let those who seek my soul be confounded and put to shame; and let those who devise my hurt be turned back, and brought to confusion. 5. Let them be as chaff before the wind, and let the angel of Jehovah thrust [or impel] them. [705] 6. Let their way be darkness and slipperiness, and let the angel of Jehovah pursue them. 7. For they have hid for me without cause their net in a pit, without cause they have digged a pit [706] for my soul.
4. Let those who seek my soul be confounded. David now calls upon God to take vengeance upon his enemies; and he asks not only that he would disappoint and destroy their designs, but also that he would recompense them according to their dese…
The Church Fathers
And what follows? "Let them be confounded and put to shame, that seek after my soul" (ver. 4): for to this end they seek after it, to destroy it. For I would that they would seek it for good! for in another Psalm he blameth this in men, that there was none who would seek after his soul: "Refuge failed me: there was none that would seek after my soul." Who is this that saith, "There was none that would seek after my soul"? Is it haply He, of whom so long before it was predicted, "They pierced My Hands and My Feet, they numbered all My Bones, they stared and looked upon Me, they have parted My Garments among them, and cast lots for My Vesture"? Now all these things were done before their eyes, and there was none who would seek after His Soul. ...Many have been confounded to their health: many, put to shame, have passed over from the persecution of Christ to the society of His members with devoted piety; and this would not have been, had they not been confounded and put to shame. Therefore he wished well to them. ...Let them not go before, but follow; let them not give counsel, but take it. For Peter would go before the Lord, when the Lord spake of His future Passion: he would to Him as it were give counsel for His health. The sick man to the Saviour give counsel for His health! And what said he to the Lord, affirming that His future Passion? "Be it far from Thee, Lord. Be gracious to Thyself. This shall not be to Thee." He would go before that the Lord might follow; and what said He? "Get thee behind Me, Satan." By going before thou art Satan, by following thou wilt be a disciple. The same then is said to these also, "Let them be turned back and brought to confusion that think evil against me." For when they have begun to follow after, now they will not think evil against me, but desire my good.
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
Enemy · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
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).
Throughout the next two strophes follow terrible imprecations. According to Frst and others the relation of בּושׁ and חפר is like that of erblassen, to turn pale (cf. Isa 29:22 with Psa 34:6), and errצthen, to turn red, to blush. בושׁ has, however, no connection with בוץ, nor has חפר, Arab. chfr, chmr, any connection with Arab. hmr, to be red; but, according to its radical notion, בּושׁ means disturbari (vid., Ps 6:11), and חפר, obtegere, abscondere (vid., Psa 34:6). יסּגוּ, properly "let them be made to fall back" (cf. e.g., Isa 42:17). On the figure on Psa 35:5 cf. Psa 83:14. The clauses respecting the Angel of Jahve, Psa 35:5 and Psa 35:6, are circumstantial clauses, viz., clauses definin…
The psalmist longs for the Lord’s salvation. The language seems vindictive, but it arises from a desire for justice and for the Lord to care for the needy and oppressed.
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 35:4
Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt.
"Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul." There is nothing malicious here, the slandered man simply craves for justice, and the petition is natural and justifiable. Guided by God's good spirit the Psalmist foretells the everlasting confusion of all the haters of the righteous. Shameful disappointment shall be the portion of the enemies of the gospel, nor would the most tender-hearted Christian have it otherwise: viewing sinners as men, we love them and seek their good, but regarding them as enemies of God, we cannot think of them wit…
