What Does Psalm 38:20 Mean?
Those who repay evil for good are my adversaries, because I pursue the good.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is.THE KEY
The Hebrew root behind “repay” also names wholeness: these adversaries return evil for good while the speaker keeps pursuing good.
THE MEANING
You can pursue what is good and still receive evil in return. The verse holds that painful mismatch plainly, without letting another person’s response define the good you pursue.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that receiving evil in return proves that pursuing good was a mistake.
THE ROOT
מְשַׁלְּמֵי
meshalləmei
GROWS FROM
שׁלם
sh-l-m
To be complete or whole; to make good or repay.
“repay evil for good” in this verse is meshalləmei. English “render” makes the act sound generic, but meshalləmei comes from the root also heard in shalom, wholeness. The verse places a corrupted repayment beside the speaker’s pursuit of good.
ALSO GROWS
shalom: Wholeness, peace
שָׁלוֹם
The same root names both wholeness and repayment, giving the evil-for-good exchange a deeper relational weight.
shillem: To repay or recompense
שִׁלֵּם
This is the verb family present in “render”: the adversaries make a return, but its content is evil for good.
רָדְפִי
radəfi
GROWS FROM
רדף
radaph
To pursue or chase.
“pursue the good” in this verse is radəfi. The Hebrew describes pursuit, not passive following. The same verb can describe goodness pursuing a person, so this verse’s active chase after good has a striking counterpart elsewhere.
ALSO GROWS
yirdəfuni: They pursue me; it will pursue me
יִרְדְּפוּנִי
Psalm 23:6 uses this same verb for goodness and mercy following the speaker.
rodef: A pursuer
רֹדֵף
This form makes the root’s force plain: the speaker is actively pursuing good.
יִשְׂטְנוּנִי
yisṭənuni
GROWS FROM
שׂטן
ś-ṭ-n
To oppose or accuse.
“adversaries” in this verse is yisṭənuni. The Hebrew uses a verb: they oppose or accuse the speaker. The cause clause gives the stated reason for that opposition, his pursuit of good.
ALSO GROWS
satan: An adversary or accuser
שָׂטָן
The noun names the adversarial role carried by the verb in this verse.
sitnah: Hostility or accusation
שִׂטְנָה
This related form shows the root’s connection to opposition expressed as accusation.
THE PATTERN
The treatment a person receives does not have to determine whether they continue to pursue good.
They repay me evil for good, to the bereaving of my living soul.Whoever repays evil for good, evil does not step away from his house.Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.THE THREAD
Surely goodness and faithful love pursue me all the days of my life, and I settle in the house of the LORD for the length of days.The verb translated “follow” here and in Psalm 23:6 is radaph: to pursue or chase. Here the speaker pursues good while adversaries oppose him; there, goodness and faithful love pursue the speaker.
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