Psalm 64:8
 Psalm 64:8 
New International Version (©2011)
He will turn their own tongues against them and bring them to ruin; all who see them will shake their heads in scorn.

New Living Translation (©2007)
Their own tongues will ruin them, and all who see them will shake their heads in scorn.

English Standard Version (©2001)
They are brought to ruin, with their own tongues turned against them; all who see them will wag their heads.

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
So they will make him stumble; Their own tongue is against them; All who see them will shake the head.

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves: all that see them shall flee away.

Holman Christian Standard Bible (©2009)
They will be made to stumble; their own tongues work against them. All who see them will shake their heads.

International Standard Version (©2012)
They tripped over their own tongues, and everyone who was watching ran away.

NET Bible (©2006)
Their slander will bring about their demise. All who see them will shudder,

Aramaic Bible in Plain English (©2010)
Their tongues will become diseased and all who see them will be afraid.

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
They will trip over their own tongues. Everyone who sees them will shake his head.

King James 2000 Bible (©2003)
So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves: all that see them shall flee away.

American King James Version
So they shall make their own tongue to fall on themselves: all that see them shall flee away.

American Standard Version
So they shall be made to stumble, their own tongue being against them: All that see them shall wag the head.

Douay-Rheims Bible
and their tongues against them are made weak. All that saw them were troubled;

Darby Bible Translation
By their own tongue they are made to fall over one another: all that see them shall flee away.

English Revised Version
So they shall be made to stumble, their own tongue being against them: all that see them shall wag the head.

Webster's Bible Translation
So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves: all that see them shall flee away.

World English Bible
Their own tongues shall ruin them. All who see them will shake their heads.

Young's Literal Translation
And they cause him to stumble, Against them is their own tongue, Every looker on them fleeth away.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

64:7-10 When God brings upon men the mischiefs they have desired on others, it is weight enough to sink a man to the lowest hell. Those who love cursing, it shall come upon them. Those who behold this shall understand, and observe God's hand in all; unless we do so, we are not likely to profit by the dispensations of Providence. The righteous shall be glad in the Lord; not glad of the misery and ruin of their fellow-creatures, but glad that God is glorified, and his word fulfilled, and the cause of injured innocence pleaded effectually. They rejoice not in men, nor in themselves, nor in any creature, or creature enjoyments, nor in their wisdom, strength, riches, or righteousness; but in Christ, in whom all the seed of Israel are justified and glory, and in what he is to them, and has done for them.


Pulpit Commentary

Verse 8. - So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves; rather, so shall they be made to stumble; their own tongue shall be against them. The tongue, which they "whetted like a sword," shall be the principal means of bringing them into trouble (see 2 Samuel 17:1-23). All that see them shall flee away; rather, shall wag the head (Cheyne, Revised Version) in derision.


Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

So shall they make their own tongue to fall upon themselves,.... The evil things they have wished for, threatened unto, and imprecated on others, shall come upon themselves; the curses they have cursed others with shall come upon themselves; the pit they have dug for others, they fall into. So Haman, to whom some apply the psalm, was hanged on the gallows he made for Mordecai; and the accusers of Daniel, to whom others apply it, were cast into the same den of lions they procured for him; and Babylon, who has been drunk with the blood of the saints, shall have blood given her to drink.

all that see them shall flee away; not being able to help them, nor to bear the horrible sight, and fearing the same judgments should fall on themselves; see Numbers 16:34. Or, "they shall move themselves" (d); shake their heads in a way of derision, as Jarchi interprets it; or skip for joy, as the word is rendered in Jeremiah 48:27; and then it must be understood of the righteous; who, seeing the vengeance on the wicked, rejoice, as in Psalm 52:6; though, as they are afterwards particularly mentioned, others seem to be designed. The word is used for lamenting and bemoaning one's self, in Jeremiah 31:18; and so may be applied to the friends of the wicked lamenting and bemoaning their ruin, and their being bereaved of them, Revelation 18:9.

(d) "amovebunt se", Montanus; "commovebuntur", Vatablus.


Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

8. their … tongue to fall, &c.—that is, the consequences of their slanders, &c. (compare Ps 10:2; 31:16).

all that see … away—Their partners in evil shall be terrified.


Psalm 64:8 Parallel Commentaries

Psalm 64:8 NIV
Psalm 64:8 NLT
Psalm 64:8 ESV
Psalm 64:8 NASB
Psalm 64:8 KJV

Bible Hub: Online Parallel Bible


Hear My Voice in My Complaint
7But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded. 8So they shall make their own tongue to fall on themselves: all that see them shall flee away. 9And all men shall fear, and shall declare the work of God; for they shall wisely consider of his doing.

Psalm 9:3 My enemies turn back; they stumble and perish before you.
Psalm 22:7 All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads.
Psalm 44:14 You have made us a byword among the nations; the peoples shake their heads at us.
Proverbs 12:13 Evildoers are trapped by their sinful talk, and so the innocent escape trouble.
Proverbs 18:7 The mouths of fools are their undoing, and their lips are a snare to their very lives.
Jeremiah 18:16 Their land will be an object of horror and of lasting scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and will shake their heads.
Jeremiah 48:27 Was not Israel the object of your ridicule? Was she caught among thieves, that you shake your head in scorn whenever you speak of her?
Lamentations 2:15 All who pass your way clap their hands at you; they scoff and shake their heads at Daughter Jerusalem: "Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth?"