Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 120:3

"What shall be given unto thee, and what shall be done more unto thee, Thou deceitful tongue?" — Psalms 120:3 (ASV)

What shall be given to you? — Margin, “What shall the deceitful tongue give to you;” or, “what shall it profit you?” Luther, “What can the false tongue do?” Others render this, “How will God punish you?” Others, “What will He (God) give to you?” That is, what recompense can you expect from God for these malicious slanders?

A literal translation of this verse would be, “What shall the tongue of deceit give to you, and what shall it add to you?” — referring to the offender himself. The essential idea is, what will be the result of such conduct? What must be expected to follow from it? That is, either:

• from the unprofitability of such a course; or
• from the natural consequences to one’s reputation and happiness; or
• from the judgment of God.

The answer to these questions is found in Psalms 120:4.

Or what shall be done to you? — Margin, as in Hebrew, “added.” What must be the consequence of this? What will follow?

You false tongue — This may be either an address to the tongue itself, or, as above, the word “tongue” may be used as the nominative to the verbs in the sentence. The sense is not materially affected either way.