Psalms 129:1-6

1 {A Song of degrees.} Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth -- oh let Israel say --

2 Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth; yet they have not prevailed against me.

3 The ploughers ploughed upon my back; they made long their furrows.

4 Jehovah is righteous: he hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked.

5 Let them be ashamed and turned backward, all that hate Zion;

6 Let them be as the grass upon the house-tops, which withereth before it is plucked up,

Psalms 129:1-6 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 129

\\<>\\. This psalm was written in later times, after many of the distresses of Israel; very probably upon the Jews return from the Babylonish captivity, by Ezra, or some other godly person. Aben Ezra says the psalmist speaks in the language of Israel in captivity; and the same is the sense of Kimchi and Arama. The Syriac inscription is, ``a psalm without a name, concerning the distress of the people; but as to us, it intimates to us the victory and triumph of the worshippers.''