Again, they are minished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow.
Again, they are diminished and bowed down Through oppression, trouble, and sorrow.
And they are diminished, and bow down, By restraint, evil, and sorrow.
And they are diminished and brought low, through oppression, adversity, and sorrow:
Psalms — The canon's longest book — 150 Psalms edited into five doxology-bookended books, composed across a millennium, attributed to David, Asaph, Korah's sons, Moses, Solomon, Heman, Ethan, and anonymous voices. A ''Torah of David''; the Bible's longest continuous liturgical-devotional corpus.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread — the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
The verses this one reaches12
After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned and cried out under their burden of slavery, and their cry for deliverance from bondage ascended to God.
In those days the LORD began to reduce the size of Israel. Hazael defeated the Israelites throughout their territory
For the LORD saw that the affliction of the Israelites, both slave and free, was very bitter. There was no one to help Israel,
Whenever the Israelites would plant their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and other people of the east would come up and invade them,
In those days there was no safety for travelers, because the residents of the lands had many conflicts.
The well-fed hire themselves out for food, but the starving hunger no more. The barren woman gives birth to seven, but she who has many sons pines away.
“Do not call me Naomi,” she replied. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has dealt quite bitterly with me.
And Hazael king of Aram oppressed Israel throughout the reign of Jehoahaz.
For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “The Daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is trampled. In just a little while her harvest time will come.”
Have You not placed a hedge on every side around him and his household and all that he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.
And there I will provide for you, because there will be five more years of famine. Otherwise, you and your household and everything you own will come to destitution.’
At the end of seven years, when the woman returned from the land of the Philistines, she went to the king to appeal for her house and her land.
8 more linked verses are grouped by book below ↓
Every other verse the study tradition links to this one, in the Bible’s own order. The first links in each book carry a line of their text; every reference opens its full verse page.
2 Kings2
Isaiah2
Cross-references are drawn from classic Bible study tools and open, shareable Bible data.
Voices5
Again they are minished,.... Or "lessened", in their families, cattle, and substance; either the same persons as before, or others. The Targum paraphrases it, "but when they sin, they are lessened:'' for sin is the cause of it, as follows: and brought low through oppression, affliction and sorrow; either because of their oppression of the poor, the evil they do to them, and the sorrow they bring upon them; or they are brought into a low estate through the tyranny and oppression of others, and by the afflictions and sorrows they are brought into by them.
John Gill· Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)reformed
. 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.
He punishes the wicked by destroying the sources of fertility, or, in mercy, gives fruitfulness to deserts, which become the homes of a busy and successful agricultural population. By a permitted misrule and tyranny, this scene of prosperity is changed to one of adversity.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871reformed
When we are in any of these or the like distresses it will be comfortable to sing this psalm, with application; but, if we be not, others are, and have been, of whose deliverances it becomes us to give God the glory, for we are members one of another. Exhortation to Celebrate God's Praises. 1 O give thanks unto the L ORD , for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710puritan
Note, Worldly wealth is an uncertain thing, and often those that are filled with it, ere they are aware, grow so secure and sensual with it that, ere they are aware, they lose it again.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710puritan
The walk8
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first — the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
2 Kings 14:26For the LORD saw that the affliction of the Israelites, both slave and free, was very bitter. There was no one to help Israel,
leads to
For the LORD will vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants when He sees that their strength is gone and no one remains, slave or free.
Then Jehoahaz sought the favor of the LORD, and the LORD listened to him because He saw the oppression that the king of Aram had inflicted on Israel.
The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the affliction of My people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I am aware of their sufferings.
And now the cry of the Israelites has reached Me, and I have seen how severely the Egyptians are oppressing them.
In all their distress, He too was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them. In His love and compassion He redeemed them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days…
Through
2 Kings 10:32In those days the LORD began to reduce the size of Israel. Hazael defeated the Israelites throughout their territory
leads to
“Why is my lord weeping?” asked Hazael. “Because I know the evil you will do to the Israelites,” Elisha replied. “You will set fire to their fortresses, kill their young men with the sword,…
Then Jehu will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Jehu.
And Hazael king of Aram oppressed Israel throughout the reign of Jehoahaz.
The whole web at once: see the Arc.
