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Psalm 55:12
For it was not an enemy who insulted me, then I could have endured it. Neither was it he who hated me who raised himself up against me, then I would have hidden myself from him.
10Day and night they prowl around on its walls. Malice and abuse are also within her.
11Destructive forces are within her. Threats and lies don’t depart from her streets.
12For it was not an enemy who insulted me, then I could have endured it. Neither was it he who hated me who raised himself up against me, then I would have hidden myself from him.
13But it was you, a man like me, my companion, and my familiar friend.
14We took sweet fellowship together. We walked in God’s house with company.
Notice
An insult from a familiar friend cuts into shared trust, and the speaker names why hostility from an enemy would have been easier to bear.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What difference, if any, does the speaker’s distinction between an enemy and a friend make to you?
Write on thisWhat might hiding offer the speaker that his former friendship no longer offers?
Write on thisConnect
Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 41:9Yes, my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who ate bread with me, has lifted up his heel against me.Both psalms describe a familiar friend turning against the speaker, making shared trust part of the pain.
John 13:18I don’t speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel …Both passages describe betrayal within close company; John names shared bread, while Psalm 55’s surrounding lines name shared worship.
Job 19:5If indeed you will magnify yourselves against me, and plead against me my reproach,Both speakers face people who raise themselves against them, adding reproach to their distress.
Matthew 26:21–23As they were eating, he said, “Most certainly I tell you that one of you will betray me.”Jesus names betrayal by someone eating with him, while Psalm 55 identifies hostility from someone who had shared fellowship.
2 Samuel 15:31Someone told David, saying, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” David said, “LORD, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.”Both texts describe opposition directed against David; Samuel names Ahithophel among conspirators, while this psalm leaves the hostile companion unnamed.
Psalm 35:26Let them be disappointed and confounded together who rejoice at my calamity. Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves against me.Both psalms describe people magnifying themselves against the speaker; Psalm 35 adds their delight in his calamity.
Proverbs 11:9With his mouth the godless man destroys his neighbor, but the righteous will be delivered through knowledge.Both passages name harm done through speech: an insult in the psalm and a mouth that destroys a neighbor in Proverbs.
Zechariah 12:7The LORD also will save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of David’s house and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem not be magnified above Judah.The shared thread is limited to elevation over others: personal hostility in the psalm and relative glory among Judah’s people in Zechariah.
1 Samuel 20:5David said to Jonathan, “Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to dine with the king; but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field to …Both texts mention hiding from another person; the psalm imagines concealment, while David proposes hiding in a field.
Psalm 50:19“You give your mouth to evil. Your tongue frames deceit.Both passages concern harmful speech, though Psalm 55 describes receiving insults and Psalm 50 addresses the person speaking evil.
John 18:2–3Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples.Both passages connect betrayal with familiarity: a companion in Psalm 55 and Judas knowing where Jesus met with his disciples.
Psalm 38:16For I said, “Don’t let them gloat over me, or exalt themselves over me when my foot slips.”Both speakers describe others exalting themselves over them; Psalm 38 links that threat to a moment when the speaker slips.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
God’s Word makes room for the pain of broken fellowship. Here, the wound remains open: someone who once shared worship has become a source of harm.
Now put it in your words.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).