5 I will silence whoever secretly slanders his neighbor. I won't tolerate one who is haughty and conceited.
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
Whoso slandereth his neighbor [1] in secret, him will I destroy. In this verse he speaks more distinctly of the duty of a king who is armed with the sword, for the purpose of restraining evil-doers. Detraction, pride, and vices of every description, are justly offensive to all good men; but all men have not the power or right to cut off the proud or detractors, because they are not invested with public authority, and consequently have their hands bound. It is of importance to attend to this distinction, that the children of God may keep themselves within the bounds of moderation, and that none may pass beyond the province of his own calling. It is certain, that so long as David lived merely in the rank of a private member of society, he never dared to attempt any such thing. But after being placed on the royal throne, he received a sword from the hand of God, which he employed in punishing evil deeds. He particularises certain kinds of wickedness, that under one species, by the figure synecdoche, he might intimate his determination to punish all sorts of wickedness. To detract from the reputation of another privily, and by stealth, is a plague exceedingly destructive. It is as if a man killed a fellow-creature from a place of ambush; or rather a calumniator, like one who administers poison to his unsuspecting victim, destroys men unawares. It is a sign of a perverse and treacherous disposition to wound the good name of another, when he has no opportunity of defending himself. This vice, which is too prevalent every where, while yet it ought not to be tolerated among men, David undertakes to punish. He next characterises the proud by two forms of expression. He describes them as those whose eyes are lofty, not that all who are proud look with a lofty countenance, but because they commonly betray the superciliousness of their proud hearts by the loftiness of their countenance. He farther describes them as wide [2] of heart, because those who aspire after great things must necessarily be puffed up and swollen. They are never satisfied unless they swallow up the whole world. From this we learn that good order cannot exist, unless princes are sedulously on the watch to repress pride, which necessarily draws after it and engenders outrage and cruelty, contemptuous language, rapine, and all kinds of ill treatment. Thus it would come to pass, that the simple and the peaceable would be at the mercy of the more powerful, did not the authority of princes interfere to curb the audacity of the latter. As it is the will of God that good and faithful kings should hold pride in detestation, this vice is unquestionably the object of his own hatred. What he therefore requires from his children is gentleness and meekness, for he is the declared enemy of all who strive to elevate themselves above their condition.
1 - The reading of the Chaldee is striking, "He who speaks with a triple tongue," "i e.," says Bythner, "an informer, calumniator, detractor, who injures three souls, his own, his hearers, and the calumniated; he inflicts a deep wound on his own conscience, puts a lie into the mouth of his hearer, and injures the subject of his slander; according to which, Herodotus has said, Diabole esti deinotaton en tho duo men eisin hoi adikeontes heis de ho adikeomenos. Calumny is most iniquitous, in which there are two injuring and one injured.'" The word mlvsny, meloshni rendered slandereth, is from the noun lsvn, lashon, the tongue In Psalm 140:12, it is said, "Let not 'ys lsvn, ish lashon, a man of tongue, (i e., a slanderer,) be established in the earth."
2 - The Hebrew noun rchv, rechab, for wide or large, is derived from rchv, rachab, dilatus est "Applied to the heart or soul, it denotes largeness of desires. -- So Proverbs 28:25, He that is rchv nphs, large in soul;' where the LXX. fitly render rchv, by aplestos, insatiable,' applying it either to wealth or honor, the insatiable desire of either of which (as there follows) stirs up strife.' And so here they have rendered it again aplesto kardia, he that cannot be filled in the heart,' i e., the covetous or ambitious man. The Syriac reads, wide or broad; so the Jewish Arab, Him that is high of eyes, and wide of heart, I can have no patience with those two.'" -- Hammond
Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour - literally, "One who speaks concerning his neighbor in secret." If a man has any good to say of another, he will be likely to say it openly; if he has any evil to say, it will be likely to be said in secret. Hence, to speak in secret of anyone comes to mean the same thing as to slander him.
Him will I cut off - That is, I will cut him off from me; I will not employ him. He would not have one in his house, or in his service, who did injustice to the character of others; who stabbed their reputation in the dark. This was alike indicative of the personal character of the author of the psalm, and of his purpose as the head of a family. It is hardly necessary to say that no one should employ another who is in the habit of slandering his neighbor.
Him that hath an high look - That is proud - as a proud man commonly carries his head high.
And a proud heart - The Hebrew word here rendered "proud" commonly means wide, broad, large, as of the sea, or of an extended country, Job 11:9; Exodus 3:8. It is applied also to the law of God as comprehensive, and without limit, Psalm 119:96. Then it comes to mean swelled up - made large - inflated Proverbs 28:25; and hence, proud and arrogant.
Will not I suffer - I will not tolerate such a person near me. No one can have peace in his house who has such a class of servants or domestics; no one should countenance such persons. Humility is the very foundation of all virtue.
Whoso privily slandereth his neighbor - All flatterers and time-servers, and those who by insinuations and false accusations endeavor to supplant the upright, that they may obtain their offices for themselves or their dependants, will I consider as enemies to the state, I will abominate, and expel them from my court.
The Chaldee gives a remarkable meaning to the Hebrew, מלשני בסתר רעהו melasheni bassether reehu, which we translate, Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, and which it renders thus, דמשתעי לישן תליתי על חבריה demishtaey lishan telitai al chabreyah: "He who speaks with the triple tongue against his neighbor." That is, the tongue by which he slays three persons, viz.,
1. The man whom he slanders;
2. Him to whom he communicates the slander; and,
3. Himself, the slanderer.
Every slanderer has his triple tongue, and by every slander inflicts those three deadly wounds. Such a person deserves to be cut off. On this subject St. Jerome speaks nearly in the same way: Ille qui detrahit, et se, et illum qui audit, demergit; "He who slanders ruins both himself and him who hears him;" he might have added, and him who is slandered, for this is often the case; the innocent are ruined by detraction.
A high look and a proud heart - One who is seeking preferment; who sticks at nothing to gain it; and one who behaves himself haughtily and insolently in his office.
Will not I suffer - לא אוכל lo uchal, I cannot away with. These persons especially will I drive from my presence, and from all state employments.
Whoso privily (d) slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off: him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer.
(d) In promising to punish these vices, which are most pernicious in them that are about Kings, he declares that he will punish all.
Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off,.... That raises and spreads a false report of him; that insinuates evil things of him; that brings false charges and accusations against him, in a private manner, when he has no opportunity to defend himself: such an one David threatens to cut off from his presence, as Kimchi interprets it; from all communion and conversation with him; and yet he listened to the slanders of Ziba against Mephibosheth: but Christ, who knows the hearts and the secret actions of men, will reject and cut off all persons of such a character: the Targum is,
"he that speaketh with a triple tongue against his neighbour, him will I destroy, and he shall be smitten with the leprosy:''
a slandering tongue is called a triple tongue with the Jews (m), because, as they say, it kills three persons; him that carries the slander, him that receives it, and him of whom it is related; see the Apocrypha:
"Whoso hearkeneth unto it shall never find rest, and never dwell quietly.'' (Sirach 28:16)
him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer; or, "I cannot" (n); that is, cannot bear him in my presence and company; cannot look upon him with any pleasure and delight: the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and the Oriental versions, render it, "with him I will not eat": have no familiarity or acquaintance with him; see 1-Corinthians 5:11, such who looked above others, and with contempt upon them, whose hearts were large, as the word (o) signifies, were ambitious and insatiable, and never had enough of riches and honour; such were very contrary to David's character, and could never be agreeable to him, Psalm 121:1, as the proud and haughty Pharisees were not to Christ, Luke 18:9, and the man of sin that exalts himself above all that is called God, that little horn, whose look is more stout than his fellows, 2-Thessalonians 2:4.
(m) T. Bab. Erahin, fol. 15. 2. Vide Targum Jonah. in Deut. 27. 4. (n) "non potero", Pagninus, Montanus, Gejerus; "ferre", Musculus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Michaelis. (o) "vastum corde", Montanus; "latum corde", Vatablus, Cocceius, Gejerus, Michaelis.
The slanderers and haughty persons, so mischievous in society, I will disown; but--
*More commentary available at chapter level.