Psalms 129:1-7

1 "Greatly^[a] have they ¹afflicted me ²from my youth"-- ³let Israel now say--

2 "Greatly have they ⁴afflicted me ⁵from my youth, ⁶yet they have not prevailed against me.

3 ⁷The plowers plowed ⁸upon my back; they made long their furrows."

4 The LORD is righteous; he has cut ⁹the cords of the wicked.

5 May all who hate Zion be ¹⁰put to shame and turned backward!

6 Let them be like ¹¹the grass on the housetops, which ¹²withers before it grows up,

7 with which the reaper does not fill his hand nor the binder of sheaves his arms,

Psalms 129:1-7 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.''

Cross References

• 1. [Exodus 1:14; Judges 3:8, 14; Judges 4:3; Judges 6:2; Judges 10:8]
• 2. Isaiah 47:12; Jeremiah 2:2; Jeremiah 22:21; Hosea 2:15
• 3. Psalms 124:1
• 4. [See ver. 1 above]
• 5. [See ver. 1 above]
• 6. [2 Corinthians 4:8-10]
• 7. Micah 3:12
• 8. [Isaiah 50:6; Isaiah 51:23]
• 9. Psalms 2:3
• 10. See Psalms 35:4
• 11. 2 Kings 19:26; Isaiah 37:27
• 12. Psalms 37:2; Job 8:12

Footnotes

• [a]. Or Often; also verse 2