English Standard Version
Psalms 129:3
3The plowers plowed upon my back; they made long their furrows."
Psalms 129:3 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows.
- New International Version (NIV)Plowmen have plowed my back and made their furrows long.
- New King James Version (NKJV)The plowers plowed on my back; They made their furrows long.”
- New Living Translation (NLT)My back is covered with cuts, as if a farmer had plowed long furrows.
Context of Psalms 129:3
1"Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth"— let Israel now say— 2"Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth, yet they have not prevailed against me. The plowers plowed upon my back; they made long their furrows." 4The Lord is righteous; he has cut the cords of the wicked. 5May all who hate Zion be put to shame and turned backward!
Read all of Psalms 129Psalms 129:3 word by word
עַל־גַּ֭בִּי חָרְשׁ֣וּ חֹרְשִׁ֑ים הֶ֝אֱרִ֗יכוּ לְמַעֲנִיתָֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Psalms 129:3
- Psalms 141:7As when one plows and breaks up the earth, so shall our bones be scattered at the mouth of Sheol.
- Isaiah 51:23and I will put it into the hand of your tormentors, who have said to you, 'Bow down, that we may pass over'; and you have made your back like the ground and like the street for them to pass over."
Commentaries on Psalms 129:3
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3The plowers plowed upon my back - The comparison here is undoubtedly taken from the “plowing” of land, and the idea is that the sufferings which they had endured were such as would be well represented by a plow passing over a field, tearing up the sod; piercing deep; and producing long rows or furrows. The direct allusion would seem to be to stripes inflicted on the back, as if a plow had been made to pass over it; and the meaning is, that they had been…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3-4The LORD is righteous: He rescued Israel from Egypt, from many enemy attacks, and from the Babylonian exile.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 3-43-4. The ploughing is a figure of scourging, which most severe physical infliction aptly represents all kinds.Read the comment
- Rashi on Tanakh · v. 3the plowmen...they lengthened their furrow That is the hill of the plowshare, as (I Sam. 13: 14): “about half a furrow (מענה) [which] a yoke [of oxen plow in] a field.”Read the comment
Topics related to Psalms 129:3
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Psalms 129
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- The Treasury of David
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries