Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 120:5

"Woe is me, that I sojourn in Meshech, That I dwell among the tents of Kedar!" — Psalms 120:5 (ASV)

Woe is me - My lot is sad and pitiable, that I am forced to live in this way and to be exposed like this to malicious accusations. It is like living in Mesech or in Kedar.

That I sojourn - The word used here does not mean a permanent home. Instead, it usually refers to a temporary lodging, such as when one is a traveler, a pilgrim, or a stranger, and must spend a night in an unfamiliar land on his way to his destination.

The trouble or discomfort referred to here is not what would result from having his home there, or living there permanently. Rather, it stems from feeling that he was a stranger and would be exposed to all the evils and inconveniences a stranger faces among such people. A man who lived in a place permanently might be subject to fewer inconveniences than if he were merely a temporary lodger among strangers.

In Mesech - The Septuagint and Vulgate render this, “that my sojourning is protracted.” The Hebrew word - משׁך meshek - properly means “drawing,” as of seed “scattered regularly along the furrows” (Psalms 126:6); and then possession (Job 28:18).

The people of Meshech, or the Moschi, were a barbarous race inhabiting the Moschian regions between Iberia, Armenia, and Colchis. Meshech was a son of Japheth (Genesis 10:2; 1 Chronicles 1:5). The name is commonly connected with “Tubal,” (Ezekiel 27:13): “Tubal and Meshech they were thy merchants.” (Ezekiel 39:1): “I am against ... the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.” Herodotus (iii. 94; vii. 78) connects them with the Tibarenes.

The idea here is that they were a barbarous, savage, uncivilized people. They lived outside of Palestine, beyond what were regarded as the borders of civilization. The word seems to have had a meaning similar to the names Goths, Vandals, Turks, Tartars, Cossacks in later times.

It is not known that they were particularly remarkable for slander or calumny; but the meaning is that they were barbarous and savage. To dwell among slanderers and revilers seemed to the psalmist to be like dwelling among a people who were strangers to all the rules and principles of civilized society.

That I dwell in the tents of Kedar - The word Kedar properly means dark skin, a dark-skinned man. Kedar was a son of Ishmael (Genesis 25:13), and therefore the name was given to an Arabian tribe descended from him (Isaiah 42:11; Isaiah 60:7; Jeremiah 49:28). The idea here also is that to dwell among slanderers was like dwelling among barbarians and savages.