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Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

Psalms 55:12

Verse Psalms 55:12. It was not an enemy] It is likely that in all these three verses Ahithophel is meant, who, it appears, had been at the bottom of the conspiracy from the beginning; and probably was the first mover of the vain mind of Absalom to do what he did.

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See also Psalms 55:12 in other biblical comments:

  • Albert Barnes' Bible Commentary

    FOR IT WAS NOT AN ENEMY THAT REPROACHED ME - The word “reproached” here refers to slander; calumny; abuse. It is not necessarily implied that it was in his presence, but he was apprized of it. When he...

  • Annotated Bible by A.C. Gaebelein

    Psalms 55 In the Throes of the Great Tribulation _ 1. Prayer for help (Psalms 55:1)_ 2. Longings to escape (Psalms 55:4) 3. The great tribulation ...

  • Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

    LV. A PRAYER FOR DELIVERANCE FROM TREACHEROUS FOES. Psalms 55:1. The Psalmist tells God of his disquiet and terror. His desire to flee from Jerusalem to the wilderness. Psalms 55:12. A description of...

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    The plaintive pleading of the opening verses suddenly gives way to a fierce outburst of indignation....

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    Foremost among the Psalmist's enemies is one who had formerly been one of his most intimate and trusted friends. He interrupts the denunciation, which he resumes at Psalms 55:15, to relate what is the...

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    Render: For it is not an enemy that reproacheth me, then I could bear it: Neither is it one that hated me that hath magnified himself against me, then I would hide myself from him: But it is thou,...

  • Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

    FOR IT WAS NOT AN ENEMY, &C.— Among other persons who joined in this conspiracy against David, there was one from whom he expected a quite different conduct, and whose infidelity and treachery were ag...

  • College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

    PSALMS 55 DESCRIPTIVE TITLE A Bitter Complaint of the Treachery of an Intimate Friend. ANALYSIS (Of the Psalm as Reconstructed.) Stanza I., Psalms 55:1-7, Invocation of God under great Nervous Exc...

  • Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

    _FOR IT WAS NOT AN ENEMY THAT REPROACHED ME; THEN I COULD HAVE BORNE IT: NEITHER WAS IT HE THAT HATED ME THAT DID MAGNIFY HIMSELF AGAINST ME; THEN I WOULD HAVE HID MYSELF FROM HIM:_ For. In proof of...

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    The author of this Ps. can hardly be David, for he speaks as a citizen of a distracted city rather than as its king, and the friend of whom he complains is his equal and not his subject. There is real...

  • EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

    PSALMS 42:72 _GORDON CHURCHYARD_ Words in boxes are from the Bible. Words marked with a *star are described in the word list at the end. The translated Bible text has yet to go through Advanced Che...

  • Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

    FOR. — The ellipse must be supplied from Psalms 55:9, _I invoke destruction for,_ &c THEN I COULD... — Better, _then_ (or _else_)_ I might bear it. _...

  • ETCBC data on Hebrew bible

    _[Psalms 55:13]_ כִּ֤י לֹֽא ־אֹויֵ֥ב יְחָֽרְפֵ֗נִי וְ...

  • Expositor's Bible Commentary (Nicoll)

    Psalms 55:1 THE situation of the psalmist has a general correspondence with that of David in the period of Absalom's rebellion, and the identification of the traitorous friend with Ahithophel is natur...

  • Frederick Brotherton Meyer's Commentary

    FRIENDS MAY FORSAKE, BUT GOD ABIDETH Psalms 55:12 The streets and open spaces of the city were filled with conspirators. Violence, strife, deceit, and oppression trampled the virtuous and helpless un...

  • G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible

    This is the outcry of a man of faith in sore peril. The emotional nature is moved to its very center, and tides of deep feeling surge through his soul. He has been cruelly betrayed by his familiar fri...

  • Geneva Study Bible Commentary

    For [it was] not an (i) enemy [that] reproached me; then I could have borne [it]: neither [was it] he that hated me [that] did magnify [himself] against me; then I would have hid myself from him: (i)...

  • George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

    _To thee. Literally, "thy vows." (Haydock) --- Houbigant chooses rather to follow the Syriac, "with thee, O God, are my vows:" which is clearer, though our version may be well explained, "I will perfo...

  • Hawker's Poor man's commentary

    We must of necessity drop David's history in these verses, to attend to an infinitely greater; for surely what is here said by the Spirit of Christ, which was in the holy men of old, is said in prophe...

  • John Calvin's Bible Commentary

    12_Of a truth, it was not an enemy that cast reproach upon me _He informs us of one circumstance which added bitterness to the injuries under which he suffered, that they came from the hands not only...

  • John Darby's Synopsis

    Psalms 55 is a distressing picture of wickedness in Jerusalem. The speaker is outside, but has experienced this wickedness in the treachery of his dearest friends. His resource is in God: Jehovah will...

  • John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

    FOR [IT WAS] NOT AN ENEMY [THAT] REPROACHED ME,.... An open and avowed one; a Moabite or a Philistine; such an one as Goliath, who cursed him by his gods; but one of his own country, city, court, and...

  • John Trapp Complete Commentary

    For [it was] not an enemy [that] reproached me; then I could have borne [it]: neither [was it] he that hated me [that] did magnify [himself] against me; then I would have hid myself from him: Ver. 12...

  • Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    _It was not an enemy_ Not an open and professed enemy, or, not an old and inveterate enemy, (as appears from the following description to be his meaning,) _that reproached me_ That misrepresented me,...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    A COMPLAINT OF FALSE FRIENDS. To the chief musician on Neginoth, to be rendered with the accompaniment of stringed instruments in public worship, Maschil, a psalm of David....

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    For it was not an enemy that reproached me, since in the case of an open adversary the situation would not have been so serious; THEN I COULD HAVE BORNE IT, for one expects no other treatment from an...

  • Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible

    9-15 No wickedness so distresses the believer, as that which he witnesses in those who profess to be of the church of God. Let us not be surprised at the corruptions and disorders of the church on ea...

  • Matthew Poole's Concise Commentary On The Bible

    NOT AN ENEMY; either, 1. Not an open and professed enemy; or rather, 2. Not an old and inveterate enemy, as may be gathered from the following description. I COULD HAVE BORNE IT with more patience,...

  • Patchworkid's Personal Study Bible Notes

    Psalms 55:12 enemy H341 (H8802) reproaches H2778 (H8762) bear H5375 (H8799) hates H8130 (H8764) exalted...

  • Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

    HE BEWAILS THE FACT THAT HE HAS BEEN BETRAYED BY A COMRADE-IN-ARMS (PSALMS 55:12). The description of the city has prepared the way for the story of his own betrayal. What hurt him most was that he ha...

  • Spurgeon's Bible Commentary

    To the chief Musician on Neginoth, Maschil, A Psalm of David. It needed the chief musician to sing such a Psalm as this; it is so full of sorrow, and yet so full of confidence in God. It is a Psalm up...

  • Summarized Bible Commentary

    CONTENTS: Complaint concerning false friends. CHARACTERS: God, David. CONCLUSION: The best salve for every sore is prayer. One of the greatest griefs is to find ourselves deceived in some who have m...

  • Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    Psalms 55:6. _Oh that I had wings like a dove,_ to outfly the hawks which seek my life. The Latin reads, Who will give me wings like a dove? But the English is preferable, as uttering the heart before...

  • The Biblical Illustrator

    _Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not Thyself from my supplication._ THE COMPASSIONABLE, THE COMMENDABLE, AND THE CENSURABLE IN LIFE I. The compassionable. David appears here an object for pit...

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    PSALM PSALM—NOTE ON PSALMS 55:1. Like many other individual laments, this psalm prays for God’s help against dangerous enemies. There is a unique twist here. The danger comes from betrayal by a close...

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    PSALM—NOTE ON PSALMS 55:12 It is not a nameless ENEMY who is seeking to harm the faithful singer, but MY COMPANION, MY FAMILIAR FRIEND. Compare...

  • The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary

    INTRODUCTION _Superscription_.—“_To the Chief Musician on Neginoth_.” See introduction to Psalms 54 “_Maschil_,” an instruction. Hengstenberg: “The Psalmist wishes to show how, in such a situation of...

  • The Pulpit Commentaries

    EXPOSITION THIS psalm has been assigned to Jeremiah by Hitzig, and by others to an unknown writer of the seventh century B.C. But no solid grounds have been shown for setting aside the traditionary ev...

  • Through The Bible C2000 Serie by Chuck Smith

    Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication. Attend unto me, and hear me: I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise; Because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppre...

  • Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

    Isaiah 10:15; John 13:18; John 18:2; John 18:3; Matthew 26:21;...

  • Wesley's Explanatory Notes

    Hated — With a manifest or old hatred....

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