Psalms 107:4
in Psalms 107Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no path to a city in which to dwell.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They wandered in the wilderness in a desert way; They found no city of habitation.
KJV
They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in.
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This verse in Psalms 107
Commentary
11 notes on this verseThey wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way,.... Not the people of Israel, as the Targum. These seem not to be particularly intended, whatever allusion there may be to their passage through the wilderness to Canaan's land; but rather, in general, travellers through waste places, especially the wild deserts of Arabia; where the wind blowing the sand, covers the roads with it, so that frequently travellers lose their way, and wander about, till directed to it by one providence or another.
This site's exposition
wandered in desert wastelands
on Psalms 107:4-9
The first of four rescues is wanderers in desert wastelands with no road to a city and no food or water. Each one turns on the same cry to the LORD in their trouble, and here He led them on a straight path. He fills the hungry with good things.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
"They wandered in the wilderness, in a dry place, they found not the way of a city to dwell in" [Psalm 107:4]. We have heard a wretched wandering; what of want? "Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them" [Psalm 107:5]. But wherefore did it faint? For what good? For God is not cruel, but He makes Himself known, in that it is expedient for us, that He be entreated by us fainting, and that aiding us He be loved.
Again, prophetic language attests that the conversion of those in error is the work of God. For "they went astray in the wilderness in a thirsty land," says the Psalmist, and he adds, "So He led them forth by the right way, that they might go to the city where they dwelt:" and, "when the Lord turned again the captivity of Sion." In like manner also the comfort of the afflicted is ascribed to God, Paul thus speaking, "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who comforteth us in all our tribulation." Again, the Psalmist says, speaking in the person of God "Thou calledst upon Me in trouble and I delivered thee." And the setting upright of those who stumble is innumerable times ascribed by Scripture to the power of the Lord: "Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall, but the Lord was my help," and "Though he fall, he shall not be cast away, for the Lord upholdeth him with His hand," and "The Lord helpeth them that are fallen." And to the loving-kindness of God confessedly belongs the recovery of the distressed, if Eunomius means the same thing of which we learn in prophecy, as the Scripture says, "Thou laidest trouble upon our loins; Thou sufferedst men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, and Thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place."
Many other monks coming from Phbow by boat reached the island, and we were three hundred in number. About the eighth hour of the twenty-sixth of the month of Athyr, Theodore called all of us and gathered us near himself, and he told Theodore the …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
They wandered in the wilderness, where there was no trodden path, no company, but a solitary way, no lodging, no conveniences, no accommodations, no inhabited city where they might have quarters or refreshment.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
They wandered in the wilderness. They wandered, for the track was lost, no vestige of a road remained; worse still, they wandered in a wilderness, where all around was burning sand. They were lost in the worst possible place, even as the sinner is who is lost in sin; they wandered up and down in vain searches and researches as a sinner does when he is awakened and sees his lost estate; but it ended in nothing, for they still continued in the wilderness, though they had hoped to escape from it. In a solitary way.
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
A graphic picture is given of the sufferings of those who from distant lands returned to Jerusalem; or, city of habitation--may mean the land of Palestine.
They wandered in the wilderness. They wandered, for the track was lost, no vestige of a road remained; worse still, they wandered in a wilderness, where all around was burning sand. They were lost in the worst possible place, even as the sinner is who is lost in sin; they wandered up and down in vain searches and researches as a sinner does when he is awakened and sees his lost estate; but it ended in nothing, for they still continued in the wilderness, though they had hoped to escape from it. In a solitary way. No dwelling of man was near, and no other company of travellers passed within hail. Solitude is a great intensifier of misery. The loneliness of a desert has a most depressing influence upon the man who is lost in the boundless waste. The traveller's way in the wilderness is a waste way, and when he leaves even that poor, barren trail, to get utterly beyond the path of man, he is in a wretched plight indeed. A soul without sympathy is on the borders of hell: a solitary way is the way of despair. They found no city to dwell in. How could they? There was none. Israel in the wilderness abode under canvas, and enjoyed none of the comforts of settled life; wanderers in the Sahara find no town or village. Men when under distress of soul find nothing to rest upon, no comfort and no peace; their efforts after salvation are many, weary, and disappointing, and the dread solitude of their hearts fills them with dire distress.
They wandered in the wilderness - Here begins the Finest comparison: the Israelites in captivity are compared to a traveler in a dreary, uninhabited, and barren desert, spent with hunger and thirst, as well as by the fatigues of the journey, Psa 107:5.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
They wandered in the wilderness - On their return from Babylon; or, when God was conducting them again to their own land. The word “wilderness” in the Scriptures means a desolate, barren, uninhabited region, usually destitute of trees, of springs, and of water-courses. It does not denote, as it does with us, a region of extensive “forests.” Compare the notes at Mat 4:1. In a solitary way - Rather, in a “waste” way; a land that was desolate and uncultivated. They found no city to dwell in - In their journeyings. This was true of the region between Babylon and Palestine; a wide, barren, desolate waste.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| תָּע֣וּ | tau | they wandered about | H8582 → | 50 times |
| בַ֭מִּדְבָּר | vamidbor | in the wilderness | H4057 → | 270 times |
| בִּישִׁימ֣וֹן | bishimon | in a desolate place of | H3452 → | 13 times |
| דָּ֑רֶךְ | darekh | a way | H1870 → | 707 times |
| עִ֥יר | ʾir | a city of | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| מ֝וֹשָׁ֗ב | moshav | dwelling | H4186 → | 44 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| מָצָֽאוּ׃ | matzau | they found | H4672 → | 455 times |
תָּע֣וּthey wandered about
tauH8582 →50 times
בַ֭מִּדְבָּרin the wilderness
vamidborH4057 →270 times
בִּישִׁימ֣וֹןin a desolate place of
bishimonH3452 →13 times
דָּ֑רֶךְa way
darekhH1870 →707 times
עִ֥ירa city of
ʾirH5892 →1090 times
מ֝וֹשָׁ֗בdwelling
moshavH4186 →44 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
מָצָֽאוּ׃they found
matzauH4672 →455 times
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
Ezekiel 34:12As a shepherd looks for his scattered sheep when he is among the flock, so I will look for My flock. I will rescue them from all the places to which they were scattered…
it leads to
- Isaiah 40:11
He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart. He gently leads the nursing ewes.
- John 10:11–12
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
- Luke 19:10
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
- Isaiah 40:11
Through
Deuteronomy 32:10He found him in a desert land, in a barren, howling wilderness; He surrounded him, He instructed him, He guarded him as the apple of His eye.
it leads to
- Zechariah 2:8
For this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “After His Glory has sent Me against the nations that have plundered you—for whoever touches you touches the apple of His eye—
- Hosea 13:5
I knew you in the wilderness, in the land of drought.
- Psalms 17:8
Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings
- Deuteronomy 8:15–16
He led you through the vast and terrifying wilderness with its venomous snakes and scorpions, a thirsty and waterless land. He brought you water from the rock of flint.
- Zechariah 2:8
Through
Psalms 107:40He pours out contempt on the nobles and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.
it leads to
- Job 12:24
He deprives the earth’s leaders of reason and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.
- Job 12:24
Where this verse is studied
About Psalms
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ammon of Hadrianopolis, LETTER OF BISHOP AMMON 28; Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 107; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 5; Gregory of Nyssa, AGAINST EUNOMIUS 2:15; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.