Psalms 12:2

2 Everyone lies to their neighbor; they flatter with their lips but harbor deception in their hearts.

Psalms 12:2 in Other Translations

KJV
2 They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.
ESV
2 Everyone utters lies to his neighbor; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
NLT
2 Neighbors lie to each other, speaking with flattering lips and deceitful hearts.
MSG
2 Everyone talks in lie language; Lies slide off their oily lips. They doubletalk with forked tongues.
CSB
2 They lie to one another; they speak with flattering lips and deceptive hearts.

Psalms 12:2 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 12:2

They speak vanity everyone with his neighbour
That which is false and a lie, either doctrinal or practical; what was not according to the word of God, and was vain and empty, frothy, filthy, and corrupt; and which no godly and faithful man would do. And this being done in common, by the generality of men, one with another, shows the degeneracy of the age, and supports the complaint before made. They speak even

[with] flattering lips;
as Cain did to Abel, Joab to Amasa, the Herodians to Christ, Judas to his Master, false teachers to those that are simple, hypocrites to God himself, when they draw nigh to him only with their lips, and all formal professors to the churches of Christ, when they profess themselves to be what they are not. And this is a further proof of the justness of the above complaint;

[and] with a double heart do they speak:
or "with an heart and an heart" F4; such are double minded men, who say one thing, and mean another; their words are not to be depended upon; there is no faithfulness in them. The Chinese F5 reckon a man of "two hearts", as they call him, a very wicked man, and none more remote from honesty.


FOOTNOTES:

F4 (blw blb) "in corde & corde", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Gejerus.
F5 Martin. Sinic. Hist. p. 144. a heart having (dicomuyon nohma) , a double meaning, as Pittacus says, Laert. in Vit. Pittac. l. 1. p. 53.

Psalms 12:2 In-Context

1 Help, LORD, for no one is faithful anymore; those who are loyal have vanished from the human race.
2 Everyone lies to their neighbor; they flatter with their lips but harbor deception in their hearts.
3 May the LORD silence all flattering lips and every boastful tongue—
4 those who say, “By our tongues we will prevail; our own lips will defend us—who is lord over us?”
5 “Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the LORD. “I will protect them from those who malign them.”

Cross References 2

  • 1. Psalms 5:6; Psalms 34:13; Psalms 141:3; Proverbs 6:19; Proverbs 12:17; Proverbs 13:3; Isaiah 32:7
  • 2. Psalms 10:7; Psalms 41:6; Psalms 55:21; S Psalms 5:9; Romans 16:18
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