to scratch · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
plowed
חֹרְשִׁ֑יםcho.re.Shim
H2790
to scratch · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
back
גַּ֭בִּיGa.bi
H1354
the back (as rounded) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
long
הֶ֝אֱרִ֗יכוּhe.'e.Ri.khu
H748
to be (causative · verb, hiphil perfect, 3rd person common plural
furrows
לְמַעֲנִיתָֽםle.ma.'a.no.tam
H4618
a furrow · preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Isaiah 51:23 But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid th…
Psalms 141:7 Our bones are scattered at the grave’s mouth, as when one cutteth and cleaveth wood upon the earth.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 129:1-4
The church of God, in its several ages, is here spoken of, or, rather, here speaks, as one single person, now old and gray-headed, but calling to remembrance the former days, and reflecting upon the times of old. And, upon the review, it is found, 1. That the church has been often greatly distressed by its enemies on earth: Israel may now say, "I am the people that has been oppressed more than any people, that has been as a speckled bird, pecked at by all the birds round about," Jer 12:9. It is true, they brought their troubles upon themselves by their sins; it was for them that God punished them; but it was for the peculiarity of their covenant, and the singularities of their religion, that…
The ploughers ploughed upon my back,.... "Sinners", as the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions, render it; such that plough iniquity, and sow wickedness, Job 4:8; which may be understood of their carrying Israel captive, when they put yokes and bonds upon their necks, as upon oxen when they plough, as Arama interprets it; or it may design the destruction of their high places, signified by the back, such as the temple, the royal palace, and houses of their nobles, burnt with fire; yea, it was predicted that Zion should be ploughed as a field, Micah 3:12; and the Jews say that Turnus Rufus, the Roman general, as they call him, did plough up Jerusalem. The Syriac version is, "they wh…
Psalm 129:1-4
1. They have often afflicted me from my youth, let Israel now say: 2. They have often afflicted me from my youth; but they have not prevailed against me. 3. The ploughers have plouched upon my back, and made long their furrows. [108] 4. But Jellovah who is righteous, hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked.
1. They have often afflicted me from my youth. This Psalm was probably composed at a time when the Church of God, reduced to a state of extreme distress, or dismayed by some great danger, or oppressed with tyranny, was on the verge of total destruction. This conjecture, I conceive, is supported by the adverb of time, now, which appears to me to be emphatic. It is as if th…
The Church Fathers
"Upon my back have sinners built; they have done their iniquity afar off" [Psalm 129:3]. Why have they fought against me? Because "they could not prevail upon me." What is this? They could not build upon me. I consented not with them unto sin. For every wicked man persecutes the good on this account, because the good man consents not with him to evil. Suppose he do some evil, and the Bishop censure him not, the Bishop is a good man: suppose the Bishop censure him, the Bishop is a bad man. Suppose he carry off anything, let the man robbed be silent, he is a good man: let him only speak and rebuke, even though he does not reclaim his goods, he is everything bad. He is bad then who blames the robber, and he is good who robs!...Heed not that such an one speaks to you: it is a wicked man through whom It speaks to you; but the word of God, that speaks to you, is not wicked. Accuse God: accuse Him, if you can.
They prolonged their iniquity. What did he mean by "They prolonged their iniquity"? If I sin, and after my sin I do penance, my iniquity is short, not long. But if I sin, as often as I sin, so often does the cord of my sins grow longer. Whence it is also said in another place: "The cords of sinners have surrounded me." See what he says: The cords of sinners have surrounded me. And in another place it is written: "Each one is bound fast by the cords of his own sins." See what he says: Each one is bound fast by the cords of his own sins. These cords of sins cannot be woven unless I have had many sins. If I commit one sin, it is not so much a cord as it is, so to speak, a single thread. But if it is a single thread, it is quickly broken, and cannot hold and bind. But if there are many sins, and they have prolonged their iniquities, out of many sins, as out of many threads, a cord is made, and it binds, and is not quickly broken. Why have I said all this? Because we read in this little verse, They prolonged their iniquity.
Upon my back the sinners built. Carefully observe what the Scripture says. The holy man is an athlete, and "he is not crowned unless he has competed lawfully." For you know that there are many kinds of athletes: for there are some athletes, but others are like all-in wrestlers (pammacharii), some contend at the discus, and others are runners, that is, those who run in the stadium. Indeed, the Apostle too says that he runs, so that he may reach the crown. And what does he say in another place? "Forgetting the things that are behind, I stretch myself forward to the things that are before." See, therefore, what the Scripture says. Upon my back the sinners were building. Thus I always ran, and ran so hard, that my adversary might never get ahead of me, but might always be found behind my back. He never came before my eyes, for he could not bear the light of my eyes; but he always pursued that part which is blind, which has no eyes. Upon my back the sinners were building. Whenever anyone disparages his brother, that man is building behind the back. Upon my back the sinners were building: but I did not see their snares. They were building behind my back: and I with my eyes was gazing on paradise. They were contriving snares against me, and I was longing to see the crown.
Dictionary and topics
Enemy · The wickedness of David’s — The wickedness of David’s
Ploughing · Performed: In long and straight furrows — Performed: In long and straight furrows
Plow · .Of afflictions — .Of afflictions
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Elsewhere it is said that the enemies have driven over Israel (Psa 66:12), or have gone over its back (Isa 51:23); here the customary figurative language חרשׁ און in Job 4:8 (cf. Hos 10:13) is extended to another figure of hostile dealing: without compassion and without consideration they ill-treated the stretched-forth back of the people who were held in subjection, as though it were arable land, and, without restraining their ferocity and setting a limit to their spoiling of the enslaved people and country, they drew their furrow-strip (מעניתם, according to the Ker מענותם) long. But מענה does not signify (as Keil on Sa1 14:14 is of opinion, although explaining the passage more correctly th…
the Lord is good: He rescued Israel from Egypt, from many enemy attacks, and from the Babylonian exile.
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 129:3
The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows.
The plowers plowed up on my back. The scourgers tore the flesh as ploughmen furrow a field. The people were maltreated like a criminal given over to the lictors with their cruel whips; the back of the nation was scored and furrowed by oppression. It is a grand piece of imagery condensed into few words. A writer says the metaphor is muddled, but he is mistaken: there are several figures, like wheel within wheel, but there is no confusion. The afflicted nation was, as it were, lashed by her adversaries so cruelly that each blow left a long red mark, or perhaps a bleeding wound, upon her back and shoulders, comparable to a furrow w…
