Psalms 81:6

6 "I 1relieved your[a] shoulder of 2the burden; your hands were freed from the basket.

Psalms 81:6 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 81:6

I removed his shoulder from the burden
These are the words of God, declaring how he had delivered the Israelites from the oppression and cruelty of the Egyptians; who made their lives bitter in hard bondage, and obliged them to carry heavy loads of bricks upon their shoulders:

his hands were delivered from the pots,
or "baskets" F3; into which the bricks were put when made, and carried on their shoulders; or from making of pots, as Kimchi, who thinks the Israelites were employed in making pots of clay as well as bricks; see ( Psalms 68:13 ) , the Targum is,

``his hands withdrew themselves from casting clay into the pots:''

the whole is typical of the saints' deliverance by Christ from the bondage of sin, Satan, and the law.


FOOTNOTES:

F3 (dwdm) "a sporta, a cophino", Gejerus, Amama, Michaelis.

Psalms 81:6 In-Context

4 For it is a statute for Israel, a rule of the God of Jacob.
5 He made it a decree in Joseph when he went out over the land of Egypt. I hear a language I had not known:
6 "I relieved your shoulder of the burden; your hands were freed from the basket.
7 In distress you called, and I delivered you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
8 Hear, O my people, while I admonish you! O Israel, if you would but listen to me!

Cross References 2

  • 1. Isaiah 9:4; Isaiah 10:27
  • 2. Exodus 1:11

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Hebrew his; also next line
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.