What Does Psalm 31:18 Mean in the King James?
Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.
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
Proud contempt cannot turn falsehood into truth; its proper end is silence.
THE MEANING
When contemptuous words are aimed at what is right, their force does not make the accusation true. The verse sees the lie beneath the pride and names silence as its end.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that an accusation becomes true when spoken with enough confidence or contempt, or that being targeted by slander proves the target is unrighteous.
THE ROOT
שָׁקֶר
shaqer
GROWS FROM
שקר
שקר (sh-q-r): falsehood; to lie or deal falsely.
The word translated “lying” belongs to the שקר (sh-q-r) family of falsehood and false dealing. The verse exposes how contempt tries to dress falsehood in authority, while the root shows that the speech remains deception beneath its proud sound.
ALSO GROWS
shaqar: To lie or deal falsely.
שָׁקַר
This verb shows that the lips are doing more than making an error: they are dealing falsely against the righteous.
sheqarim: Lies or falsehoods.
שְׁקָרִים
The plural form makes clear that falsehood can take many words, while the verse gathers them under one root and names their end as silence.
צַדִּיק
tsaddiq
GROWS FROM
צדק
צדק (ts-d-q): be right, act justly; alignment.
The word rendered “righteous” belongs to a family concerned with what is right and with alignment. That makes the attack directional: false speech tries to discredit the one aligned with what is right, while the verse exposes the false footing of the attack itself.
ALSO GROWS
tsedeq: Justice, rightness.
צֶדֶק
This branch links the righteous person with what is right, clarifying what the lying lips are speaking against.
tsedaqah: Righteousness or justice.
צְדָקָה
This related form shows that the word family reaches beyond a label for a person to the condition and practice of what is right.
THE PATTERN
Proud false speech can rise against what is right, but it does not hold the final word.
The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things:No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:THE THREAD
Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me:The Hebrew word שֶׁקֶר (sheqer, falsehood) belongs to the same root as “lying” in Psalm 31:18. Proverbs asks for falsehood to be removed from the speaker’s own mouth; the psalm asks for falsehood aimed at the righteous to be silenced.
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