Psalms 120:5
Woe to me that I dwell in Meshech, that I live among the tents of Kedar!
BSB
ASV
Woe is me, that I sojourn in Meshech, That I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
KJV
Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!
Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech,.... Meshech was a son of Japheth, Gen 10:2; whose posterity are thought by some to be the Muscovites (z) and Scythians, a barbarous sort of people: Mesech is frequently mentioned with Tubal and his brother, and with Gog and Magog, Eze 38:2; the Targum here calls them Asiatics.
Mesech - Mesech and Kedar are two sorts of people often mentioned in scripture, and reckoned amongst the barbarous nations. But their names are here to be understood metaphorically.
1834–1892
MESECH was the son of Japheth, from whom, according to history, were descended the men who inhabited that most barbarous of all regions, according to the opinion of the ancients, the northern parts of Muscovy or Moscow and Russia. The inhabitants of the tents of Kedar were the descendants of one of the sons of Abraham who had taken to nomadic habits and were continually wandering about over the deserts. They were thought to have and doubtless were, guilty of plundering travelers and were by no means the most respectable of mankind.
1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
A residence in these remote lands pictures his miserable condition. While those who surrounded him were maliciously hostile, he was disposed to peace. This Psalm may well begin such a series as this, as a contrast to the promised joys of God's worship.
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 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
Ezekiel 27:13Javan, Tubal, and Meshech were your merchants. They exchanged slaves and bronze utensils for your merchandise.
leads to
I will establish a sign among them, and I will send survivors from among them to the nations—to Tarshish, Put, and the archers of Lud; to Tubal, Javan, and the islands far away who…
Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.
Through
Genesis 10:2The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.
leads to
“Son of man, set your face against Gog of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. Prophesy against him
Through
Song of Solomon 1:5I am dark, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
leads to
But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
O my dove in the clefts of the rock, in the crevices of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your countenance is…
His mouth is most sweet; he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.
God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you, if you find my beloved, tell him I am sick with love.
