Psalms 129 Footnotes

129:6 The roofs of houses in antiquity were often made of branches packed with mud, layer upon layer. In the spring, as people rolled the roof flat and packed more mud on new branches to repair it from winter damage, grass would immediately grow on the roof. But as soon as the summer heat bore down, with no rain forthcoming, the grass died as quickly as it sprang up. The psalmist uses this image to voice his hope that the wicked would be quickly removed.