What Does Psalm 139:20 Mean in the King James?
For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Read as nature, God’s name is more than a sound: the verse exposes speech that invokes God while carrying a hostile design toward emptiness.
THE MEANING
You encounter speech that speaks against God while carrying his name toward what is hollow. The verse holds the hostility and the empty invocation together; using God’s name does not turn hostile speech into truth.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It dissolves the belief that invoking God makes speech righteous: a mouth can carry God’s name while serving a hostile scheme.
THE ROOT
לִמְזִמָּה
limzimmah
GROWS FROM
זמם
zamam
to devise, plan, or plot
“Wickedly” can sound like a general moral label; this word points to speech aimed at a scheme. The hostility is deliberate, carried by what they say.
ALSO GROWS
mezimmah: design, plan, or scheme
מְזִמָּה
This branch makes the speech sound directed toward an intention, not like a stray offense.
zimmah: scheme or corrupt plan
זִמָּה
It shows words being recruited into a plot against God.
לַשָּׁוְא
lashav
GROWS FROM
שוא
shav
emptiness, falsehood, or unreality
“In vain” can suggest only casual misuse; this word also carries the sense of emptiness and falsehood. The line depicts God’s name being lifted into what is hollow, without that invocation making the hostile speech true.
ALSO GROWS
lashav: for emptiness, in vain
לַשָּׁוְא
This is the form used in the verse: the name is carried toward what has no truth or substance.
ed shav: false witness
עֵד שָׁוְא
The same word describes false testimony, linking vain invocation with speech that distorts truth.
THE PATTERN
Invoking God’s name does not make empty or hostile speech truthful.
Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.THE THREAD
Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.The same Hebrew word שָׁוְא (shav, emptiness or falsehood) stands behind “in vain” in both verses. Exodus names the taking of God’s name into emptiness; this psalm shows that empty invocation in hostile speech.
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