1.
Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say:
Title. A Song of degrees. Same as 120. See App-67 .
2.
Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth: yet they have not prevailed against me.
Many a time. Figure of speech Anaphora ( App-6 ), being repeated from Psalms 129:1 .
Yet = Nevertheless. Hebrew. gam, as in Psalms 119:24 ("also"); Ezekiel 16:28 . Ecclesiastes 6:7 . Not "reduplicated by mistake, and then spelled differently to make sense", as is alleged by modern criticism.
3.
The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows.
The plowers. No Art.
4.
The LORD is righteous: he hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked.
The LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah.
righteous = just: i.e. in His judgments.
cords: i.e. of bondage. Compare Psalms 2:3 .
the wicked = lawless ones. Hebrew. rasha'. App-44 .
5.
Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion.
Zion. See App-68 .
6.
Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withereth afore it groweth up:
as the grass = as grass. The reference in verses: Psalms 129:6 , Psalms 129:7 is not to "Egyptian monuments", but to the reply of Jehovah concerning Sennacherib, which Hezekiah quotes here. Compare 2 Kings 19:25 , 2 Kings 19:26 . Isaiah 37:27 .
groweth up. Either unsheatheth itself into flower, or is plucked up (as Septuagint and Vulgate)
7.
Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand; nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom.
8.
Neither do they which go by say, The blessing of the LORD be upon you: we bless you in the name of the LORD.
name. See note on Psalms 20:1 .