Again, they are diminished and bowed down through oppression, trouble, and sorrow.
Parallel Translations
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Again, they are diminished and bowed down through oppression, trouble, and sorrow.
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Again, they are minished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow.
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Again, they are minished and dwindle away through oppression of evil and sorrow.
Cross-references (16)
Passages linked to Psalms 107:39 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Exodus 2:23-24 In the course of those many days, the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
- 2 Kings 10:32 In those days Yahweh began to cut away parts of Israel; and Hazael struck them in all the borders of Israel;
- Judges 6:3-6 So it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites, the Amalekites, and the children of the east came up against them. They encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, until you come to Gaza. They left no sustenance in Israel, and no sheep, ox, or donkey. For they came up with their livestock and their tents. They came in as locusts for multitude. Both they and their camels were without number; and they came into the land to destroy it. Israel was brought very low because of Midian; and the children of Israel cried to Yahweh.
- 2 Kings 14:26 For Yahweh saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter; for all, slave and free, and there was no helper for Israel.
- 2 Chronicles 15:5-6 In those times there was no peace to him who went out, nor to him who came in; but great troubles were on all the inhabitants of the lands. They were broken in pieces, nation against nation, and city against city; for God troubled them with all adversity.
- Genesis 45:11 There I will provide for you; for there are yet five years of famine; lest you come to poverty, you, and your household, and all that you have.” ’
- Exodus 1:13-14 The Egyptians ruthlessly made the children of Israel serve, and they made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and in brick, and in all kinds of service in the field, all their service, in which they ruthlessly made them serve.
- Ruth 1:20-21 She said to them, “Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and Yahweh has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since Yahweh has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?”
- 1 Samuel 2:5-7 Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread. Those who were hungry are satisfied. Yes, the barren has borne seven. She who has many children languishes. “Yahweh kills and makes alive. He brings down to Sheol and brings up. Yahweh makes poor and makes rich. He brings low, he also lifts up.
- 2 Kings 4:8 One day Elisha went to Shunem, where there was a prominent woman; and she persuaded him to eat bread. So it was, that as often as he passed by, he turned in there to eat bread.
- 2 Kings 8:3 At the end of seven years, the woman returned from the land of the Philistines. Then she went out to beg the king for her house and for her land.
- 2 Kings 13:7 For he didn’t leave to Jehoahaz of the people any more than fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen; for the king of Syria destroyed them, and made them like the dust in threshing.
- 2 Kings 13:22 Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz.
- Job 1:10-17 Haven’t you made a hedge around him, and around his house, and around all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But stretch out your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will renounce you to your face.” Yahweh said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power. Only on himself don’t stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of Yahweh. It fell on a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, that there came a messenger to Job, and said, “The oxen were plowing, and the donkeys feeding beside them, and the Sabeans attacked, and took them away. Yes, they have killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was still speaking, there also came another, and said, “The fire of God has fallen from the sky, and has burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was still speaking, there came also another, and said, “The Chaldeans made three bands, and swept down on the camels, and have taken them away, yes, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you.”
- Psalms 30:6-7 As for me, I said in my prosperity, “I shall never be moved.” You, Yahweh, when you favored me, made my mountain stand strong; but when you hid your face, I was troubled.
- Jeremiah 51:33-34 For Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel says: “The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time when it is trodden. Yet a little while, and the time of harvest comes for her.” “Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me. He has crushed me. He has made me an empty vessel. He has, like a monster, swallowed me up. He has filled his mouth with my delicacies. He has cast me out.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (16 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 39. Afterwards they are lessened Ere I enter upon…
39. Afterwards they are lessened Ere I enter upon the consideration of the truths contained in this verse, I must make some brief verbal observations. Some make the word עוצר, otser, to signify tyranny, and certainly עצר, atsar, does signify to bear rule. But since it is used metaphorically for anguish, it appears to me that this is the meaning which is most accordant with the tenor of the passage. The last two words of the verse may be read as in the nominative case, as I have rendered them, or in the genitive, the anguish of misery and sorrow This lection appears to me preferable, through the anguish of misery, and through sorrow.
We come now to notice shortly the main things in the passage. And as we had formerly a description of the changes which these districts underwent in relation to the nature of the soil, so now we are informed that mankind do not for ever continue in the same condition; because they both decrease in number, and lose their place and property by being reduced by wars or by civil commotions, or by other casualties. Therefore, whether they are wasted by the pestilence, or are defeated in battle, or are cut off by intestine broils, it is manifest that both their rank and condition undergo alteration. And what is the occasion of this change, but that God withdraws his grace, which hitherto formed the hidden spring from which all their prosperity issued? And as there are a thousand casualties by which cities may be ruined, the prophet brings forward one species of change of all others the most palpable and remarkable. And since God’s hand is not observed in that which relates to persons living in comparative obscurity, he brings into view princes themselves, whose name and fame will not permit any memorable event which befalls them to remain in obscurity. For it seems that the world is made on their account. When God, therefore, hurls them from their lofty estate, then men, aroused as it were from their slumber, are prepared to regard his judgments. Here, too, the mode of address which is employed must be attended to; in saying, that God poured contempt upon princes, it is as if it was his pleasure, so long as they retained their dignity, that honor and respect should be paid to them. The words of Daniel are well known,
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“O king, God hath put the fear of thee in the very fowls of the heaven and the beasts of the earth,” (Daniel 2:8)
And assuredly, though princes may clothe themselves with power, yet that inward honor and majesty which God has conferred upon them, is a greater safeguard than any human arm. Nor even would a single village hold out for the space of three days, did not God, by his invisible and invincible agency, put a restraint upon the hearts of men. Hence, whenever God renders princes contemptible, their magnificent power must of necessity be subverted. This is a fact corroborated by history, that mighty potentates, who have been the terror and dread of the whole world, when once denuded of their dignity and power, have become the sport even of their own dependants. And inasmuch as such a striking revolution as this should be regarded as a wonderful display of God’s power, yet such is the obtuseness of our minds, that we will not acknowledge his overruling providence. As a contrast to these reverses, the prophet afterwards shows, that the poor and ignoble are exalted, and their houses increased, and that those who were held in no estimation, suddenly increase in wealth and power. In these things men would assuredly recognize the providence of God, were it not that the perversity of their minds rendered them insensate.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain As God by his providence doth exalt men, so…
As God by his providence doth exalt men, so doth he also humble them by afflictions to know themselves.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 107:39 Again, they are minished and brought low…
Psa 107:39 Again, they are minished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow.
Ver. 39. Again, they are minished] Minorati sunt. This also is of the Lord, who hath treasuries of plagues, and cannot be exhausted.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain They, these poor men, who, when they are exalted…
They, these poor men, who, when they are exalted and blessed by God, kick at him, and grow insolent and secure, as the returner of men is,
are minished and brought low; are by God’s just judgment diminished in their numbers and in their blessings.
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Through oppression, affliction, and sorrow; or, through wicked oppression, (by the tyranny of others, whom God sends to spoil them of their abused riches,) and by other griefs or grievous calamities which God inflicts.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain The righteous shall see it, and rejoice,.... Shall see…
The righteous shall see it, and rejoice,.... Shall see the increase and prosperity of the saints, the glory of the church in the latter day, and rejoice at it; the judgments of God upon the wicked, upon antichristian princes and states, and rejoice on that account; see Rev 18:20 and the several deliverances of persons in distress before mentioned, and rejoice with them that rejoice; which is what good men ought to do, Rom 12:15.
And all iniquity shall stop her mouth; men of iniquity, very bad men, the man of sin and his followers, and all profane and atheistical persons, who will be silenced and have nothing to say against the providence of God; will be confounded, and through shame lay their hand on their mouths and be struck with admiration at the wonderful things done by the Lord for his people; nor will they have anything to say against their own condemnation.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain They - These men, who when they are exalted…
They - These men, who when they are exalted by God, grow insolent and secure. Low - By God's just judgment.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 39. Again, they are minished] Sometimes by war,…
Verse 39. Again, they are minished] Sometimes by war, or pestilence, or famine. How minished and brought low was the country already spoken of, by the long and destructive war which began in 1775, and was not ended till 1783! And what desolations, minishings, and ruin have been brought on the fertile empires of Europe by the war which commenced in 1792, and did not end till 1814! And how many millions of lives have been sacrificed in it, and souls sent unprepared into the eternal world! When God makes inquisition for blood, on whose heads will he find the blood of these slaughtered millions? Alas! O, alas!
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Psa 107:39. Again they are minished — When they…
Psa 107:39. Again they are minished — When they prove ungrateful to him who had enriched and exalted them, and grow proud, insolent, and secure, as the manner of men is, he quite alters the course of his providence toward them. They suddenly sink, as they suddenly rose, and end their days in as mean a condition as they began them; and brought low through oppression, &c. — He lays them low by tyrannical oppressors, into whose hands he delivers them, by dearth, and other calamities, which make them pine away in grief and sorrow. Thus it often happens with families and individuals as well as with nations: descendants lose as fast as their progenitors gained, and scatter what the others had heaped together. For worldly wealth, honour, power, and glory are uncertain things, and it often happens that those who think themselves most secure in the possession of them, are, by unexpected and even extraordinary events, stripped of them all, and reduced to the lowest state of poverty and degradation.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Again, they are minished ... - literally, “And they…
Again, they are minished ... - literally, “And they are made to decrease.” That is - all is in the hand of God. He rules and directs all things. If there is prosperity, it comes from him; if there are reverses, they occur under his hand. People are not always prosperous. There are changes, misfortunes, disappointments, sorrows. God so deals with the race as in the bests manner to secure the recognition of himself: not always sending prosperity, lest people should regard it as a thing of course, and forget that it comes from him; and not making the course of life uniformly that of disappointment and sorrow, lest they should feel that there is no God presiding over human affairs. He visits now with prosperity, and now with adversity; now with success, and now with reverses, showing that his agency is constant, and that people are wholly dependent on him. In existing circumstances - since man is what he is - it is better that there should be alternations, reverses, and changes, than that there should be a uniform course.
Through oppression - Anything that “presses” or “straitens.”
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Affliction - Evil; here, in the sense of calamity.
And sorrow - Anguish, pain: of body or mind.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 39. Again, they are minished—The abruptness of the transition…
39. Again, they are minished—The abruptness of the transition obscures the sense; but it seems more natural to understand the subject of the verb to be the same as in Psa_107:38, and to translate: Yet they became few and bowed down; a sudden return to the condition of Israel as given in Psa_107:3-6
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 39. And when they were diminished and brought low,
39. And when they were diminished and brought low,
Through oppression, evil, and sorrow,
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39–42. Though trouble may come, Jehovah scatters their oppressors and defends them, to the joy of the righteous and the chagrin of the wicked.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Again. There is no "again" in the original, but…
Again. There is no "again" in the original, but merely the usual yaw conjunctive. Still, in the thought, there is no doubt an abrupt transition. The writer turns to the darker side of the picture. They are minished and brought low. God shows his providence, not merely in blessing, but also in chastising. Even the very nation which has been the most highly favored may, by misconduct, fall under his displeasure and suffer at his hands. Their population is diminished; they arc "bowed down" (Revised Version), or "brought low." Calamities of various kinds befall them. Sometimes their decline is brought about through oppression, which may be either the cruel rule of a native monarch, such as Saul, or the still heavier yoke of a foreign power, like Egypt or Babylon. Sometimes it comes from such an affliction as bad harvests, plagues of locusts, or pestilence. Sometimes it is brought about by sorrow the death of a good ruler in the flower of his age, the extinction of a royal stock, the destruction of a nation"s best and bravest on battle-fields, and the like. But in all calamities alike it is God"s hand that deals the blow.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 39. Again they are minished and brought low…
Ver. 39. Again they are minished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow. As they change in character, so do their circumstances alter. Under the old dispensation, this was very clearly to be observed; Israel's ups and downs were the direct consequences of her sins and repentance. Trials are of various kinds; here we have three words for affliction, and there are numbers more: God has many rods and we have many smarts; and all because we have many sins. Nations and churches soon diminish in number when they are diminished in grace. If we are low in love to God, it is small wonder that he brings us low in other respects. God can reverse the order of our prosperity, and give us a diminuendo where we had a crescendo; therefore let us walk before him with great tenderness of spirit, conscious of our dependence upon his smile.
Ver. 39-41. The scene again is reversed. There is a change again from freedom to oppression; from plenty to want; from honour to contempt. Then a revival again as suddenly appears. The poor and afflicted are lifted up, and the bereaved have "families like a flock." Such are the changeful scenes through which the people of God are led; and such the experience by which they are made meet for the pure, perfect, and perpetual joys of heaven. G.R.
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Psalms 107:40*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The final paragraph refers to such as are suffering…
The final paragraph refers to such as are suffering under misrule and tyranny.
v. 39. Again, they are minished, their prosperity being reduced by adverse circumstances, and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow, brought upon them on account of the jealousy of those in power.
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v. 40. He poureth contempt upon princes and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way, in pitiful exile.
v. 41. Yet setteth He the poor on high from affliction, far from the reach of suffering, and maketh him families like a flock, this feature occurring time and again as an outstanding characteristic of God’s blessing.
v. 42. The righteous, those who are upright in heart, shall see it and rejoice; and, on the other hand, all iniquity shall stop her mouth, the arrogant for once being obliged to maintain silence at this evidence of God’s favor.
v. 43. Whoso is wise and will observe these things, he who will take note of these facts, profit by the example of others, even they shall understand the loving kindness of the Lord, they will keep His merciful dealings in mind always. It is a lesson which cannot be learned too well or repeated too often, a lesson which all true Christians hold before their eyes every day, lest they forget their debt to the Lord and become lax in His service.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 The word "They" refers to the people who were…
They
The word "They" refers to the people who were hungry that Yahweh had settled in the land. This sentence describes how they were before Yahweh settled them in the land.
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They were diminished and brought low
This can be stated in active form. AT: "Their leaders diminished their number and brought them low" (See: Active or Passive)
were diminished
"became fewer in number"
brought low
This means to be humiliated. AT: "humiliated" (See: Idiom)
pours contempt on
Here David speaks of Yahweh showing contempt for the leaders as if contempt were a liquid he poured out on them. AT: "shows contempt for" (See: Metaphor)
the leaders
"the nobles." This refers to the leaders who oppressed the people. AT: "the leaders who oppressed them" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
where there are no roads
"where people never go"
translationWords
suffer
contempt
desert
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 107:39 People often become impoverished when their rulers practice…
107:39 People often become impoverished when their rulers practice oppression.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.