Psalms 12:1-6

1 To the Chief Musician. On an eight-stringed harp. A Psalm of David. Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases! For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.

2 They speak idly everyone with his neighbor; With flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, And the tongue that speaks proud things,

4 Who have said, "With our tongue we will prevail; Our lips are our own; Who is lord over us?"

5 "For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, Now I will arise," says the Lord; "I will set him in the safety for which he yearns."

6 The words of the Lord are pure words, Like silver tried in a furnace of earth, Purified seven times.

Psalms 12:1-6 Meaning and Commentary

To the chief Musician upon Sheminith, a Psalm of David. The word "sheminith" is used in the title of Psalm 6:1, and signifies "eighth"; and intends either the eighth note, to which the psalm was sung, or rather the harp of eight chords, to which it was set, as the Targum and Jarchi interpret it. Some Jewish writers {y} understand it of the times of the Messiah; and the Syriac version entitles the psalm, "an accusation of the wicked, and a prophecy concerning the coming of the Messiah:" and the Arabic version says, it is concerning the end of the world, which shall be in the eighth day; and concerning the coming of the Messiah: but Arnobius interprets it of the Lord's day.

{y} Sepher Lekach Shechachah apud Caphtor, fol. 64. 1. & Ceseph Misnah in Maimon. Hilch. Teshuvah, c. 9.

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew sheminith