Psalms 52:2

Thy tongue deviseth Cp. Psalms 35:20. Sins of the tongue falsehood, slander, false witness, and the like are frequently denounced in the Psalms and by the Prophets. See Psalms 5:9; Psalms 10:7; Psalms 12:2 ff; Micah 6:12; Jeremiah 9:3; &c.

mischiefs R.V., very wickedness (as in Psalms 5:9); or destruction, perhaps not without a reminiscence of the original meaning of the word, a yawning gulf, for his tongue is ready to swallow up (Psalms 52:4) the righteous. The plur. denotes mischief or destructiveness of every kind.

like a sharp rasor Lit., like a whetted rasor, which cuts you before you are aware, as you handle it incautiously. The tongue and its words are elsewhere compared to swords and spears and arrows (Psalms 55:21; Psalms 57:4; Psalms 59:7; Psalms 64:3; cp. Proverbs 26:18). Comp. Shakespeare, Cymbeline, iii.4,

"Tis slander,

Whose edge is sharper than the sword."

working deceitfully The partic. cannot, unless we assume a laxity of construction, be in agreement with thy tongue; nor can it well be referred to the sharp rasor. It is best to take it as a vocative, O thou worker of deceit. Cp. Psalms 101:7.