Read
Psalm 129:5
Let them be disappointed and turned backward, all those who hate Zion.
3The plowers plowed on my back. They made their furrows long.
4The LORD is righteous. He has cut apart the cords of the wicked.
5Let them be disappointed and turned backward, all those who hate Zion.
6Let them be as the grass on the housetops, which withers before it grows up,
7with which the reaper doesn’t fill his hand, nor he who binds sheaves, his bosom.
Notice
The plea for Zion’s enemies to be turned backward follows the image of a wounded back, making this prayer for their defeat hard to separate from suffering.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
How does the image of plowing someone’s back shape your reading of this plea against Zion’s enemies?
Write on thisWhat troubles or helps you about a prayer that asks for those who hate Zion to face defeat?
Write on thisConnect
Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 35:4Let those who seek after my soul be disappointed and brought to dishonor. Let those who plot my ruin be turned back and confounded.Both prayers ask that hostile people be disappointed and turned back, naming hatred of Zion and plots against a person’s life.
Jeremiah 30:16Therefore all those who devour you will be devoured. All your adversaries, everyone of them, will go into captivity. Those who plunder you will be plunder. I …Both passages concern a reversal for enemies: the psalm asks for their defeat, while Jeremiah declares that plunderers will become plunder.
Psalm 71:13Let my accusers be disappointed and consumed. Let them be covered with disgrace and scorn who want to harm me.Both prayers ask for enemies to be disappointed, with Psalm 71 adding disgrace and destruction for those seeking harm.
Isaiah 37:35‘For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.’”The psalm seeks the turning back of Zion’s enemies; Isaiah records God’s promise to defend and save the city.
Esther 6:13Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, “If Mordecai, …The psalm asks for Zion’s enemies to fall back; Haman’s advisers predict his fall before Mordecai because of Mordecai’s Jewish descent.
Zechariah 12:3It will happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the peoples. All who burden themselves with it will be severely wounded, and …Both passages concern opposition to Zion or Jerusalem and the defeat or injury of those who come against it.
Psalm 83:4–11“Come,” they say, “let’s destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.”Hatred of Zion in Psalm 129 shares a thread with the enemies’ stated desire to erase Israel’s name in Psalm 83.
Isaiah 10:12Therefore it will happen that when the Lord has performed his whole work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the willful proud heart of …Both passages connect Zion with judgment against enemies, though Isaiah names the Assyrian king and his pride.
Isaiah 37:22this is the word which the LORD has spoken concerning him: The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and ridiculed you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken …Both passages portray resistance to Zion’s enemy: a plea for reversal in the psalm and Zion’s scorn in Isaiah.
Psalm 35:26Let them be disappointed and confounded together who rejoice at my calamity. Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves against me.Both prayers seek disappointment for enemies, whether they hate Zion or rejoice over the speaker’s calamity.
Micah 4:11Now many nations have assembled against you, that say, “Let her be defiled, and let our eye gloat over Zion.”Both passages name hostility toward Zion; Micah describes nations gathering with a desire to see her defiled.
Isaiah 37:28–29But I know your sitting down, your going out, your coming in, and your raging against me.Both passages address hostility: hatred of Zion in the psalm and raging against God in Isaiah.
Where this verse fits
Injustice and anger. sermon or Bible study notes.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
This prayer names hatred without softening it. In the surrounding lines, wounded people appeal to the righteous YHWH; their plea for their enemies’ defeat is brought before him.
Now put it in your words.
Start an entry on Psalm 129:5. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.
Keep goingPsalm 129 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms
Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).