Psalms 107:34
in Psalms 107and fruitful land into fields of salt, because of the wickedness of its dwellers.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
A fruitful land into a salt desert, For the wickedness of them that dwell therein.
KJV
A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein.
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This verse in Psalms 107
Commentary
11 notes on this verseA fruitful land into barrenness,.... Or, "into saltness" (t); as Sodom and the land adjacent became a salt sea; and the land of Canaan was threatened to become brimstone, salt and burning, like Sodom; in which nothing was sown, and which bore no grass; see Gen 14:3 and so the Targum, "the land of Israel, which brought forth fruit, he hath destroyed, as Sodom was overthrown.'' For the wickedness of them that dwell therein; this was the cause of the overthrow of Sodom, and of the destruction of that fine country, as also of Canaan afterwards; see Gen 13:
This site's exposition
He turns rivers into deserts
on Psalms 107:33-38
He turns rivers into deserts and fruitful land into fields of salt, and verse 34 gives the reason, the wickedness of the people. Verse 35 turns it the other way, with pools of water where the desert was, and the hungry settle there. He blesses them, and they multiply.
This site's exposition
fruitful land into fields of salt
Fields of salt recall the land of Sodom. Deuteronomy 29:23 warns of a land burned with sulfur and salt like Sodom and Gomorrah. Genesis 13:10 says that land had once been well watered, like the garden of the LORD.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"A fruitful land to be saltpools" [Psalm 107:34]. You seek there the faith of Christ, you find not: you seek a prophet, you find not: you seek a sacrifice, you find not: you seek a temple, you find none. Wherefore this? "From the wickedness of them that dwell therein." Behold how He resists the proud: hear how He gives grace to the humble.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
For - He doth not inflict these judgments without cause, but for the punishment of sin in some, and the prevention of it in others.
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.
Many a fruitful land is turned into saltness, not so much from natural causes as from the just judgment of God, who thus punished the wickedness of those that dwell therein; as the vale of Sodom became a salt sea. Note, If the land be bad, it is because the inhabitants are so.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A fruitful land into barrenness. This has been done in many instances, and notably in the case of the psalmist's own country, which was once the glory of all lands and is now almost a desert. For the wickedness of them that dwell therein. Sin is at the bottom of sorrow. It first made the ground sterile in father Adam's day, and it continues to have a blighting effect upon all that it touches.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
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.
A fruitful land into barrenness. This has been done in many instances, and notably in the case of the psalmist's own country, which was once the glory of all lands and is now almost a desert. For the wickedness of them that dwell therein. Sin is at the bottom of sorrow. It first made the ground sterile in father Adam's day, and it continues to have a blighting effect upon all that it touches. If we have not the salt of holiness we shall soon receive the salt of barrenness, for the text in the Hebrew is—"a fruitful land into saltness." If we will not yield the Lord a harvest of obedience he may forbid the soil to yield us a harvest of bread, and what then? If we turn good into evil can we wonder if the Lord pays us in kind, and returns our baseness into our own bosoms? Many a barren church owes its present sad estate to its inconsistent behaviour, and many a barren Christian has come into this mournful condition by a careless, unsanctified walk before the Lord. Let not saints who are now useful run the risk of enduring the loss of their mercies, but let them be watchful that all things may go well with them.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
A fruitful land - Hebrew, A land of fruit. That is, a land that would produce abundance. The word “fruit” here is not used in the limited sense in which we now employ it, but means any productions of the earth. Into barrenness - Margin, as in Hebrew, “saltness.” The word is used to denote a barren soil, because where salt “abounds” the soil “is” barren. Thus it is around the Dead Sea. Compare Job 39:6; Jer 17:6. See also Virg. Geor. II. 238, “Salsa ... tellus - frugibus infelix;” Pliny, Hist. Nat. 31. 7; Bochart, Hieroz. t. i., p. 872. For the wickedness of them that dwell therein - As he overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah; probably alluding to that.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֶ֣רֶץ | ʾeretz | a land of | H776 → | 2504 times |
| פְּ֭רִי | peri | fruit | H6529 → | 119 times |
| לִמְלֵחָ֑ה | limlechah | into saltiness | H4420 → | |
| מֵ֝רָעַ֗ת | meraat | from [the] evil of | H7451 → | 662 times |
| יֹ֣שְׁבֵי | yoshevei | [those who] dwell | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| בָֽהּ׃ | vah | in it |
אֶ֣רֶץa land of
ʾeretzH776 →2504 times
פְּ֭רִיfruit
periH6529 →119 times
לִמְלֵחָ֑הinto saltiness
limlechahH4420 →
מֵ֝רָעַ֗תfrom [the] evil of
meraatH7451 →662 times
יֹ֣שְׁבֵי[those who] dwell
yosheveiH3427 →1079 times
בָֽהּ׃in it
vah
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 13:10And Lot looked out and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan, all the way to Zoar, was well watered like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. (This was…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 34:3
the Negev, and the region from the Valley of Jericho (the City of Palms) all the way to Zoar.
- Isaiah 51:3
For the LORD will comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness…
- Genesis 2:8–10
And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, where He placed the man He had formed.
- Deuteronomy 34:3
Through
Genesis 13:13But the men of Sodom were wicked, sinning greatly against the LORD.
it leads to
- 2 Peter 2:10
Such punishment is specially reserved for those who indulge the corrupt desires of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and self-willed, they are unafraid to slander glorious beings.
- 2 Peter 2:10
Through
Ezekiel 47:11But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 29:23
All its soil will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unsown and unproductive, with no plant growing on it, just like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the…
- Deuteronomy 29:23
Through
Genesis 14:3The latter five came as allies to the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea).
it leads to
- Numbers 34:12
Then the border will go down along the Jordan and end at the Salt Sea. This will be your land, defined by its borders on all sides.”
- Joshua 3:16
the flowing water stood still. It backed up as far upstream as Adam, a city in the area of Zarethan, while the water flowing toward the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was…
- Deuteronomy 3:17
The Jordan River in the Arabah bordered it from Chinnereth to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) with the slopes of Pisgah to the east.
- Numbers 34:12
Where this verse is studied
About Psalms
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 107; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 5; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.