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Verse Takeaways
1
A Metaphor for Misery
Commentators agree that the psalmist isn't literally in Meshech (a northern people) or Kedar (an Arabian tribe). Instead, he uses these names as powerful metaphors for the savage, hostile, and uncivilized people surrounding him. As John Calvin notes, these 'barbarians' could even be his own countrymen, making his home feel like a miserable place of exile.
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Book Overview
Psalms
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Commentaries
5
Albert Barnes
On Psalms 120:5
18th Century
Theologian
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 lik…
Charles Ellicott
On Psalms 120:5
19th Century
Bishop
Mesech. —This name is generally identified with Moschi, mentioned by Herodotus (iii. 94), a tribe on the borders of Colch…
John Calvin
On Psalms 120:5
16th Century
Theologian
Alas for me! that I have been a sojourner in Mesech. David complains that he was doomed to linger for a long time among a perverse people,…
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John Gill
On Psalms 120:5
17th Century
Pastor
Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech
Meshech was a son of Japheth (Genesis 10:2), whose posterity are tho…
Matthew Henry
On Psalms 120:5–7
17th Century
Minister
It is very grievous to a good person, to be thrown into and kept in the company of the wicked, from whom they hope to be forever separated. Here yo…