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Psalm 73:8
They scoff and speak with malice. In arrogance, they threaten oppression.
6Therefore pride is like a chain around their neck. Violence covers them like a garment.
7Their eyes bulge with fat. Their minds pass the limits of conceit.
8They scoff and speak with malice. In arrogance, they threaten oppression.
9They have set their mouth in the heavens. Their tongue walks through the earth.
10Therefore their people return to them, and they drink up waters of abundance.
Notice
Scoffing becomes more frightening when it carries a threat, and this verse names the arrogance behind speech that promises to crush others.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
How does the word “oppression” change the weight of the scoffing described here?
Write on thisWhat words in this verse help you name harmful speech you have witnessed?
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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
Jude 1:16These are murmurers and complainers, walking after their lusts—and their mouth speaks proud things—showing respect of persons to gain advantage.Both passages connect proud speech with wrongdoing toward others, whether threatening oppression or showing favor to gain an advantage.
Psalm 17:10They close up their callous hearts. With their mouth they speak proudly.Both describe arrogant speech, with Psalm 17 naming callous hearts and Psalm 73 naming malice and threats.
Psalm 10:2In arrogance, the wicked hunt down the weak. They are caught in the schemes that they devise.Arrogance marks the oppressors in both passages: they threaten oppression in Psalm 73 and hunt down the weak in Psalm 10.
Psalm 94:3LORD, how long will the wicked, how long will the wicked triumph?Both confront the conduct of the wicked: Psalm 73 describes their threats, while Psalm 94 asks how long their triumph will last.
Psalm 10:7His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and oppression. Under his tongue is mischief and iniquity.Both connect speech with oppression, describing mouths whose words carry malice and harm.
Proverbs 30:13–14There is a generation, oh how lofty are their eyes! Their eyelids are lifted up.Pride is the shared thread, expressed through lofty eyes in Proverbs and arrogant threats in the psalm.
2 Peter 2:10but chiefly those who walk after the flesh in the lust of defilement and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of …Both describe brazen, harmful speech, though Peter names contempt for authority while the psalm names threats of oppression.
2 Peter 2:18For, uttering great swelling words of emptiness, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by licentiousness, those who are indeed escaping from those who live in …Both describe inflated speech used to harm others, through threats in the psalm and enticement in Peter.
Jeremiah 7:9–11Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods that you have not known,Both passages name wrongdoing, though Jeremiah lists acts of sin rather than describing arrogant threats.
Daniel 4:30The king spoke and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built for the royal dwelling place by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?”Arrogance shapes speech in both passages, though the king boasts of his greatness rather than threatening oppression.
2 Kings 18:27But Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my master sent me to your master and to you, to speak these words? Hasn’t he sent me to the men who sit on the wall, to eat …Both portray threatening speech, with Rabshakeh using the prospect of extreme deprivation to intimidate those listening.
Ezra 4:2they came near to Zerubbabel, and to the heads of fathers’ households, and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we seek your God as you do; and we have …Both report speech, but Ezra's supplied words contain a request to build together rather than an explicit threat.
Where this verse fits
Injustice and anger. work conflict. leadership weight.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
Threatening words deserve to be taken seriously. God's Word names the malice in this speech without admiring the speaker's confidence: arrogance remains arrogance, even when it commands attention.
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).