John Gill Commentary Psalms 129:6

"Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, Which withereth before it groweth up;" — Psalms 129:6 (ASV)

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 ^F2; and Menochius says ^F3 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 ^F4 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 their houses as built of stone, high and large, and covered with rafters of fir and bark of birch; upon which is laid grass earth, cut out of the fields foursquare, and sowed with barley or oats, so that their roofs look like green meadows; and that what is sown, and the grass that grows thereon, might not wither before plucked up, they very constantly and diligently water it; but in the eastern countries, which are hot, and have but little rain, grass could not retain its verdure long, as follows;

which withereth before it grows up; to any height, the usual height of grass: or, "before it is plucked up", as the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions; and so Jarchi. And this was their usual way of gathering in their corn; and which continues to this day, as Mr. Maundrell ^F5 affirms, who was an eyewitness to it in many places; where they plucked it up by handfuls from the roots, leaving the most fruitful fields as naked as if nothing had grown on them; and this they did for the sake of the straw, which was generally very short, and necessary for the sustenance of cattle; to which he thinks there is here a manifest allusion; but not corn, but grass, is here spoken of.

The Targum is,

``before it flourisheth, an east wind comes, blows upon it, and it is withered;'' and to the same purpose the Syriac version, ``which when the wind comes upon it, it fades and withers.'' This expresses the high and elevated state and condition of wicked men, the pride and haughtiness of their hearts; yet their weakness and frailty, and the danger they are exposed unto, through the wrath and vengeance of God upon them; when they consume and wither away like grass on the housetops, and never come to the happiness they are hoping and wishing for; see (Isaiah 37:27) .

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FOOTNOTES:

• F2: See Shaw's Travels, p. 210, 211.
• F3: De Republica Heb. l. 7. c. 5. p. 666.
• F4: De Ritu Gent. Septent. l. 9. c. 12.
• F5: Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 144. Ed. 7.