Psalms 129:6

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

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
grass	כַּחֲצִ֣יר ka.cha.Tzir	H2682	grass · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
housetops	גַּגּ֑וֹת ga.Got	H1406	a roof · noun, common feminine plural absolute
withereth	יָבֵֽשׁ ya.Vesh	H3001	to be ashamed · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
afore	שֶׁקַּדְמַ֖ת she.kad.Mat	H6927	priority (in time) · relative particle + noun, common feminine singular construct
up	שָׁלַ֣ף sha.Laf	H8025	to pull out · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular

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

Psalms 37:2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.
2 Kings 19:26 Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded; they were as the grass of the field, and as the green he…
Psalms 92:7 When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever:
Isaiah 37:27 Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded: they were as the grass of the field, and as the green he…
Jeremiah 17:5-6 Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.
Matthew 13:6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 129:5–end

The psalmist, having triumphed in the defeat of the many designs that had been laid as deep as hell to ruin the church, here concludes his psalm as Deborah did her song, So let all thy enemies perish, O Lord! Jdg 5:31. I. There are many that hate Zion, that hate Zion's God, his worship, and his worshippers, that have an antipathy to religion and religious people, that seek the ruin of both, and do what they can that God may not have a church in the world. II. We ought to pray that all their attempts against the church may be frustrated, that in them they may be confounded and turned back with shame, as those that have not been able to bring to pass their enterprise and expectation: Let them…

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John Gill on Psalms 129:6

Let them be as the grass upon the housetops,.... The tops of the houses in Judea were flat, and so grass grew upon them, being covered with plaster of terrace; though it was but small and weak, and being on high was exposed to the scorching sun, and soon withered (b); and Menochius says (c) he saw such roofs in the island of Corsica, flat, and having earth upon them, smoothed and pressed, on which grass grew of its own accord; but being burnt up in summertime by the sun, soon withered, as here said. But what Olaus Magnus (d) relates is somewhat extraordinary; that, in the northern Gothic countries, they feed their cattle on the tops of houses, especially in a time of siege; he describes thei…

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John Calvin on Psalms 129:5–end

Psalm 129:5-8 5. All who hate Zion shall be confounded, and turned backward. 6. They shall be as the grass [111] of the housetops', which is withered before it comes forth: 7. With which the mower hath not filled his hand, nor the gleaner his bosom. [112] 8. Neither have they who pass by said, The blessing of Jehovah be upon you: we bless you in the name of Jehovah. [113] 5. All who hate Zion shall be confounded, and tutored backward. Whether we take this as a prayer or a promise, the Prophet has a respect to the time to come. Since all the verbs are in the future tense, it is certainly a very appropriate interpretation to understand him as deriving from times past instruction as to what i…

The Church Fathers

"Let them be like the grass on buildings, which dries up before it is plucked up." Abandoned buildings usually produce frail grass on their peaks. Before it can be gathered, it dries up and goes to ruin because it never flourished with a solid root. Stubborn sinners are most aptly linked to such grass because they often go to ruin here before they can be removed from this light; they are born on the peaks of arrogance where they do not stand on any solid foundation. If they had sprouted in the valley of tears, they would have brought their fruit to maturity with the help of the Lord.
— Cassiodorus, EXPOSITIONS OF THE PSALMS 128:6

But what says he of them? The next words are, "Let them be even as the grass of the house tops: that withers before it be plucked up" [Psalm 129:6]. The grass of the house tops is that which grows on house tops, on a tiled roof: it is seen on high, and has not a root. How much better would it be if it grew lower, and how much more joyfully would it bloom? As it is, it rises higher to a quicker withering. It has not yet been plucked up, yet has it withered: not yet have they received sentence from the judgment of God, and already they have not the sap of bloom. Observe their works, and see that they have withered.
— Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 129

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Grass — (1.) Heb. hatsir, ripe grass fit for mowing (1 Kings 18:5; Job 40:15; Ps. 104:14). As the herbage rapidly fades under the scorching sun, it is used as an image of the brevity of human life (Isa.…
House — Till their sojourn in Egypt the Hebrews dwelt in tents. They then for the first time inhabited cities (Gen. 47:3; Ex. 12:7; Heb. 11:9). From the earliest times the Assyrians and the Canaanites were…
Grass · On roofs of houses — On roofs of houses
Houses · The flat roofs of: Often covered with week grass — The flat roofs of: Often covered with week grass

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).

Psalms 129:6

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 129:5–end

John Gill on Psalms 129:6

John Calvin on Psalms 129:5–end

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Psalms 129:6

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 129:5–end

John Gill on Psalms 129:6

John Calvin on Psalms 129:5–end

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Psalms 129:6–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Psalms 129:6-8

Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 129:6