Supplanted

[CyrilSebastian]

In Psalm 40, Verse 10 states:

For even the man of peace, in whom I trusted,      
 who ate my bread, hath greatly supplanted me.     

  Please explain how the man of peace supplanted.

 

[DarkLight]

Looking through a couple of different translations, it seems like “man of peace” is often translated “close friend” or something similar. In any case it seems to be a complaint of betrayal and suffering, the psalmist complaining that even those he thought could be trusted to be at peace with him had turned on him.

 

[TimothyH]

It’s about King David’s friend and counselor Ahithophel, who joined David’s son Absalom in a conspiracy to kill David and take the throne.

David loved his son Absalom so much that he fled into the desert rather than kill him, and Absolom entered Jerusalem with much pomp and declared himself king. Absalom and Ahithophel pursued David but Absalom was killed in the battle…

And the king was deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept; and as he went, he said, “O my son Ab’salom, my son, my son Ab’salom! Would I had died instead of you, O Ab’salom, my son, my son!” (2 Samuel 18:33)

Upon hearing the news that Absolom was dead, Ahithophel hung himself. Ahithophel was a wise counselor and close friend of King David until he turned and betrayed the King. The whole story is told in 2 Samuel 14 to 17.

quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/r/rsv/rsv-idx?type=DIV2&byte=1304801

-Tim-