Psalm 64: Arrows of Words

"Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer: preserve my life from fear of the enemy. Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity: who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words: that they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not."

"They encourage themselves in an evil matter: they commune of laying snares privily; they say, Who shall see them? They search out iniquities… But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded. So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves… And all men shall fear, and shall declare the work of God; for they shall wisely consider of his doing."

Measure for measure

The poem turns on repeated words. The plotters "shoot" "suddenly" (v. 4); God "shall shoot" "suddenly" (v. 7), using the same Hebrew words (yarah, pit'om). Their tongue becomes the thing that trips them (v. 8). The punishment mirrors the crime; this is the poem's argument, not a report of an event.

Words as weapons

Slander and false accusation could cost a person their livelihood or life in a small community with courts at the gate. The Lachish letters (pictured, early 6th century BC) show officers anxious about reports that "weaken the hands" of the people: words had military and legal consequences.

Heading and versions

"To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David." Greek and Latin number it 63. The library's Vulgate keeps the mirroring: "Subito sagittabunt eum" (v. 4) and "sagittae parvulorum" (v. 7, "arrows of little ones," an interpretation of the Hebrew).