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Wisdom & Poetry · Old Testament

Psalms 129

Psalm 129: afflicted from youth, plowers on the back, and a wish against Zion's haters

General context

The psalm opens with a line Israel is told it may now say: many a time have they afflicted me from my youth. The line is repeated with an addition, yet they have not prevailed against me. The speaker says the plowers plowed upon his back and made long their furrows. He then declares that the Lord is righteous and has cut asunder the cords of the wicked. The psalm turns to a wish that all who hate Zion be confounded and turned back, and that they be like grass on the housetops that withers before it grows up, grass with which the mower does not fill his hand nor the binder of sheaves his bosom. It ends by saying that those who pass by do not say to them, the blessing of the Lord be upon you, we bless you in the name of the Lord.

Cited passages: Psalms 129:1, Psalms 129:2, Psalms 129:3, Psalms 129:4, Psalms 129:5, Psalms 129:6, Psalms 129:7, Psalms 129:8

Psalms 129 (KJV)

1Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say:

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

3The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows.

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

5Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion.

6Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withereth afore it groweth up:

7Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand; nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom.

8Neither do they which go by say, The blessing of the Lord be upon you: we bless you in the name of the Lord.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

The source prints no heading for this psalm; verse 1 begins with "Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth", so no title, author or occasion is given and none is asserted. The "me" of the psalm is placed in Israel's mouth by the words "may Israel now say", so the youth and the back that is plowed belong to the people speaking as one, and the psalm does not narrate any single event. The afflicters are "they", "the wicked" and "that hate Zion", without names. The plowing on the back is a picture and the text does not say what affliction it stands for. Zion is the one place named. Verse 8 reports a blessing that passers-by do not speak; the text does not say whether the last clause, "we bless you in the name of the Lord", is part of the unspoken greeting or a closing word from the speakers. No Selah occurs.

Cited passages: Psalms 129:1, Psalms 129:3, Psalms 129:4, Psalms 129:5, Psalms 129:8

Literary context

The opening line is said twice, as in Psalm 124, and the second saying adds the outcome, "yet they have not prevailed against me". Verses 1-4 look back, with affliction, plowing and cut cords in the past; verses 5-8 look forward with "Let them" wishes. Farming supplies both halves: plowers and furrows on the speaker's back, then rooftop grass that withers before harvest, a mower with an empty hand and a binder with an empty bosom. The cords of the wicked, cut by the Lord, answer the long furrows of the plowers. The psalm closes not with a curse but with a blessing withheld, the greeting that passers-by do not say, and the last words on the page are the blessing itself, "we bless you in the name of the Lord". The speaker's survival is stated in one clause and never described.

Cited passages: Psalms 129:2, Psalms 124:1, Psalms 129:3, Psalms 129:4, Psalms 129:5, Psalms 129:6, Psalms 129:7, Psalms 129:8

Key moments

  1. Afflicted from youth (Psalms 129:1). Israel is told it may say it has often been afflicted from its youth.
  2. They have not prevailed (Psalms 129:2). The repeated line adds that the afflicters have not prevailed.
  3. Plowers on the back (Psalms 129:3). The speaker says plowers plowed his back and made long furrows.
  4. Cords cut asunder (Psalms 129:4). The Lord is called righteous and said to have cut the cords of the wicked.
  5. Grass on the housetops (Psalms 129:6). The haters of Zion are wished to be like rooftop grass that withers before it grows.
  6. A blessing not spoken (Psalms 129:8). Passers-by do not speak the blessing of the Lord over them.

For reflection

Israel is told to say that it was afflicted from its youth and that the afflicters did not prevail, and the psalm wishes that its enemies be turned back and be like grass no one reaps or blesses. What does it mean for a people to picture its survival as a back that was plowed rather than a battle that was won?

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