Shared ground
Psalm 70:3 is a request for reversal against a specific kind of opponent. The text explicitly singles out people who mock—identified by their repeated taunt, “Aha! Aha!”—and asks that they be “turned back,” with “shame” connected to that reversal.
The verse assumes that public ridicule is not morally neutral. Mockery in someone’s distress is treated as a meaningful wrong, not just speech. The prayer asks that the mockers’ confident posture be interrupted and that their attempt to shame the speaker ends in shame for them.
Where interpretation differs
Who “they” are. Some read “they” as the speaker’s concrete personal enemies in a specific conflict. Others read the line more broadly as covering any adversaries who gloat over the downfall of the vulnerable.
How “because of/for their shame” works. Some take it as “let shame be the consequence they receive” (shame as the outcome of God’s reversal). Others take it as “let them be turned back on account of the shame they deserve” (shame as the reason the reversal is fitting).
What “turned back” means. It can be read as physical retreat, a stopped pursuit, or a more general collapse of plans and public standing.
Why the disagreement exists
The verse is short and poetic. It does not spell out the identity of the mockers, and its brief phrasing can link “shame” either to the reason for the request or to the result that follows. Likewise, “turned back” can describe bodily movement or a wider reversal of fortunes.
What this passage clearly contributes
Textually, the verse contributes a clear moral contrast: gloating at another person’s trouble marks a kind of opposition that warrants a reversal. Theologically (as an inference consistent with the text’s direction), it portrays God as the one the speaker appeals to for public vindication when social shaming and taunting speech are being used as weapons. It also shows that the psalms can name mockery explicitly and treat it as a serious form of hostility (cf. Psalm 70:3).
