Psalms 129:4
in Psalms 129The LORD is righteous; He has cut me from the cords of the wicked.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Jehovah is righteous: He hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked.
KJV
The Lord is righteous: he hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked.
⋯
This verse in Psalms 129
Commentary
12 notes on this verseThe Lord is righteous. Whatever men may be, Jehovah remains just, and will therefore keep covenant with his people and deal out justice to their oppressors. Here is the hinge of the condition: this makes the turning point of Israel's distress. The Lord bears with the long furrows of the wicked, but he will surely make them cease from their ploughing before he has done with them. He hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked.
This site's exposition
The plowmen plowed over my back
on Psalms 129:3-4
The back is treated as a field. One Hebrew root gives both the plowmen and their plowing, and the word for a furrow stands only twice in the Hebrew Bible. Verse 4 answers the long furrows with a righteous LORD who chopped off the cords of the wicked.
This site's exposition
The LORD is righteous
Spurgeon called the LORD is righteous the hinge of Israel's distress. He set the cut cords beside Psalm 124:7, where the net is torn and Israel escapes like a bird. Henry read the LORD as righteous both in keeping Israel as He promised and in repaying those who persecuted it.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"The righteous Lord shall hew the necks of the sinners" [Psalm 129:4]....Which of us does not fix his eyes upon the earth, like the Publican, and say, "Lord, be merciful unto me a sinner"? [Luke 18:13] If therefore all are sinners, and none is found without sin; all must fear the sword that hangs above their neck, because "the righteous Lord shall hew the necks of the sinners." I do not imagine, my brethren, of all sinners; but in the member which He strikes, He marks what sinners He strikes. For it is not said, The righteous Lord will hew the hands of the sinners; or their feet; but because proud sinners were meant to be understood, and all proud men carry lofty necks, and not only do evil deeds, but even refuse to acknowledge them to be such, and when they are rebuked, justify themselves:. ..as it is written in Job (he was speaking of an ungodly sinner), "he runs against God, even upon his neck, upon the thick bosses of his bucklers;" [Job 15:26] so he here names the neck, because it is thus you exalt yourself, and dost not fix your eyes upon the ground, and beat your breast. You should cry unto Him, as it is cried in another Psalm, "I said, Lord, be merciful unto me, for I have sinned against You." Since thou dost not choose to say this, but justifiest your deeds against the Word of God; what follows in Scripture comes upon you: the righteous Lord shall hew the necks of sinners.
The just Lord has cut the necks of sinners. See what he says. He did not say, "he has cut down sinners": but if he had said this, no one could be saved, for we are all sinners. But what does he say? The just Lord has cut the necks of sinners: those who are both sinners and proud; since "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Therefore he cuts the necks of sinners.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Righteous - Faithful or merciful. The cords - Wherewith the plow was drawn.
33 . [2.] The Lord is righteous in not suffering Israel to be ruined; for he has promised to preserve it a people to himself, and he will be as good as his word. He is righteous in reckoning with their persecutors, and rendering to them a recompence, 2 Thess. i.
The Lord is righteous,....
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
the cords--that is, which fasten the plough to the ox; and cutting denotes God's arresting the persecution; The ill-rooted roof grass, which withers before it grows up and procures for those gathering it no harvest blessing (Ru 2:4), sets forth the utter uselessness and the rejection of the wicked.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The Lord is righteous. Whatever men may be, Jehovah remains just, and will therefore keep covenant with his people and deal out justice to their oppressors. Here is the hinge of the condition: this makes the turning point of Israel's distress. The Lord bears with the long furrows of the wicked, but he will surely make them cease from their ploughing before he has done with them. He hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked. The rope which binds the oxen to the plough is cut; the cord which bound the victim is broken; the bond which held the enemies in cruel unity has snapped. As in Ps 124:7 we read, "the snare is broken; we are escaped", so here the breaking of the enemies' instrument of oppression is Israel's release. Sooner or later a righteous God will interpose, and when he does so, his action will be most effectual; he does not unfasten, but cuts asunder, the harness which the ungodly use in their labour of hate. Never has God used a nation to chastise his Israel without destroying that nation when the chastisement has come to a close: he hates those who hurt his people even though lie permits their hate to triumph for a while for his own purpose. If any man would have his harness cut, let him begin to plough one of the Lord's fields with the plough of persecution. The shortest way to ruin is to meddle with a saint: the divine warning is, "He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye."
The Lord - hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked - The words have been applied to the sufferings of Christ; but I know not on what authority. No such scourging could take place in his case, as would justify the expression: - “The ploughers made long furrows there, Till all his body was one wound.” It is not likely that he received more than thirty-nine stripes. The last line is an unwarranted assertion.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The Lord is righteous - Righteous in permitting this; righteous in what he has done, and will do, in the treatment of those who inflict such wrongs. We may now safely commit our cause to him in view of what he has done in the past. He was not indifferent then to our sufferings, or deaf to the eries of his people; he interposed and punished the oppressors of his people, and we may trust him still. He hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked - By which they bound us. He did this in our “youth;” when we were oppressed and beaten in Egypt. Then he interposed, and set us free.
The words behind it
5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יְהוָ֥ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| צַדִּ֑יק | tzadik | [is] righteous | H6662 → | 206 times |
| קִ֝צֵּ֗ץ | kitzetz | he has cut off | H7112 → | |
| עֲב֣וֹת | avot | [the] rope of | H5688 → | 24 times |
| רְשָׁעִֽים׃ | reshaim | wicked [people] | H7563 → | 263 times |
יְהוָ֥הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
צַדִּ֑יק[is] righteous
tzadikH6662 →206 times
קִ֝צֵּ֗ץhe has cut off
kitzetzH7112 →
עֲב֣וֹת[the] rope of
avotH5688 →24 times
רְשָׁעִֽים׃wicked [people]
reshaimH7563 →263 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
Lamentations 3:22Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail.
it leads to
- Psalms 86:15
But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness.
- Luke 1:50
His mercy extends to those who fear Him, from generation to generation.
- Nehemiah 9:31
But in Your great compassion, You did not put an end to them; nor did You forsake them, for You are a gracious and compassionate God.
- Micah 7:18–19
Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance—who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion?
- Malachi 3:6
“Because I, the LORD, do not change, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed.
- Psalms 86:15
Through
Psalms 119:137Righteous are You, O LORD, and upright are Your judgments.
it leads to
- Ezra 9:15
O LORD, God of Israel, You are righteous! For we remain this day as a remnant. Here we are before You in our guilt, though because of it no one can stand before You.”
- Jeremiah 12:1
Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live…
- Ezra 9:15
Through
Daniel 9:7To You, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but this day we are covered with shame—the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, and all Israel near and far, in all the countries to which You…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 4:27
Then the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you.
- Deuteronomy 4:27
About Psalms
This page draws on 12 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); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 129; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 7; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Homily 43, on Psalm 128; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.