Verse Lens · Context pointer
Psalms 55:20 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 20. 20He hath put forth his hands against such as be at peace with him: he hath broken his covenant.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
Psalm 55:20: Within “Betrayal inside the city and a burden cast on God: Prayer, burden, and final trust,” the line “He hath put forth his hands against such as be at…” supplies one distinct parallel claim, image, address, or response.
Read It With
- Psalms 55:1–23
- Psalms 55:16–23
Read Psalm 55:20 with 55:16–23 and the whole of Psalm 55. Psalm 55:20 develops the poem's imagery or comparison through “He hath put forth his hands against such as be at peace with him,” whose force comes from the parallel line and whole unit. The lament form, parallel lines, voice, and Book II placement keep the selected line from becoming a contextless slogan.
Why It Needs Context
The line “He hath put forth his hands against such as be at peace…” is a premise, image, address, response, or transition inside Psalms 55:16–23; its parallel neighbors and the movement titled “Betrayal inside the city and a burden cast on God: Prayer, burden, and final trust” must supply the claim before teaching or application.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Psalms 55:16–23 — Betrayal inside the city and a burden cast on God: Prayer, burden, and final trustSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Psalms 55:16–23, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Psalms
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ps.xml, OSIS 55:16–23
Open the fixed Hebrew Psalms file ↗