Psaume 79:2

2 Elles ont livré les cadavres de tes serviteurs En pâture aux oiseaux du ciel, La chair de tes fidèles aux bêtes de la terre;

Psaume 79:2 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 79:2

The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto
the fowls of the heaven
For such there were, both at the time of the Babylonish captivity, and in the times of Antiochus, who were good men, and served the Lord, and yet suffered in the common calamity. Nicanor, a general of Demetrius, in the time of the Maccabees, seems to have been guilty of such a fact as this, since, when he was slain, his tongue was given in pieces to the fowls, and the reward of his madness was hung up before the temple, as in the Apocrypha:

``And when he had cut out the tongue of that ungodly Nicanor, he commanded that they should give it by pieces unto the fowls, and hang up the reward of his madness before the temple.'' (2 Maccabees 15:33)

the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth;
this clause and the following verse are applied to a case in the times of the Maccabees, when sixty men of the Assideans were slain, religious, devout, and holy men, so called from the very word here translated "saints";

``Now the Assideans were the first among the children of Israel that sought peace of them:'' (1 Maccabees 7:13)

``The flesh of thy saints have they cast out, and their blood have they shed round about Jerusalem, and there was none to bury them.'' (1 Maccabees 7:17)

Psaume 79:2 In-Context

1 Psaume d'Asaph. O Dieu! les nations ont envahi ton héritage, Elles ont profané ton saint temple, Elles ont fait de Jérusalem un monceau de pierres.

2 Elles ont livré les cadavres de tes serviteurs En pâture aux oiseaux du ciel, La chair de tes fidèles aux bêtes de la terre;

3 Elles ont versé leur sang comme de l'eau Tout autour de Jérusalem, Et il n'y a eu personne pour les enterrer.

4 Nous sommes devenus un objet d'opprobre pour nos voisins, De moquerie et de risée pour ceux qui nous entourent.

5 Jusques à quand, Eternel! t'irriteras-tu sans cesse, Et ta colère s'embrasera-t-elle comme le feu?