Psalms 106 · Verse 39

Psalms 106:39

Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions.
Psalms 106:39, King James Version

Psalms 106:39 in other translations

BSBThey defiled themselves by their actions and prostituted themselves by their deeds.
WEBThus they were defiled with their works, and prostituted themselves in their deeds.
ASVThus were they defiled with their works, And played the harlot in their doings.
YLTAnd they are defiled with their works, And commit whoredom in their habitual doings.
DARBYAnd they were defiled with their works, and went a-whoring in their doings.
BBESo they became unclean through their works, going after their evil desires.
WebsterThus were they defiled with their own works, and went astray with their own inventions.

What does Psalms 106:39 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 106:34-39

34-39. They not only failed to expel the heathen, as God commanded--(Ex 23:32, 33), literally, "said (they should)," but conformed to their idolatries [Psa 106:36], and thus became spiritual adulterers (Psa 73:27).

Read the full comment on Psalms 106:34-39 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 39 And went a whoring - By fornication, whoredom, and idolatry, the Scripture often expresses idolatry and idolatrous acts. I have given the reason of this in other places. Besides being false to the true God, to whom they are represented as betrothed and married, (and their acts of idolatry were breaches of this solemn engagement), the worship of idols was frequently accompanied with various acts of impurity. The translation in the Anglo-Saxon is very remarkable: and they fornicated. In Anglo-Saxon, signifies to fire, to ignite; to commit adultery. So is a prostitute, a whore; and is to go a whoring, to fornicate; probably from, or to fire, and to lie, or a glutton, - one who lies with fire, who is ignited by it, who is greedily intent upon the act by which he is inflamed. And do not the words themselves show that in former times whoredom was punished, as it is now, by a disease which produces the sensation of burning in the unhappy prostitutes, whether male or female? And to this meaning the following seems particularly to be applicable.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Psalms 106:34-48

The conduct of the Israelites in Canaan, and God's dealings with them, show that the way of sin is down-hill; omissions make way for commissions: when they neglected to destroy the heathen, they learned their works. One sin led to many more, and brought the judgments of God on them. Their sin was, in part, their own punishment. Sinners often see themselves ruined by those who led them into evil. Satan, who is a…

Read the full comment on Psalms 106:34-48 →

Psalms 106:39 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיִּטְמְא֥וּvai.yit.me.'Uand they became uncleanH2930
בְמַעֲשֵׂיהֶ֑םve.ma.'a.sei.Hemby works theirH4639
וַ֝יִּזְנוּ֗vai.yiZ.nuand they played [the] prostituteH2181
בְּמַֽעַלְלֵיהֶֽם\׃be.Ma.'a.lei.Hemby deeds theirH4611

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Psalms 106:39

  • Ezekiel 20:18

    But I said unto their children in the wilderness, Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols:

  • Numbers 15:39

    And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring:

  • Leviticus 17:7

    And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after whom they have gone a whoring. This shall be a statute for ever unto them throughout their generations.

  • Hosea 9:1

    Rejoice not, O Israel, for joy, as other people: for thou hast gone a whoring from thy God, thou hast loved a reward upon every cornfloor.

  • Isaiah 24:5-6

    The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.

  • Ezekiel 20:30-31

    Wherefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; Are ye polluted after the manner of your fathers? and commit ye whoredom after their abominations? For when ye offer your gifts, when ye make your sons to pass through the fire, ye pollute yourselves with all your idols, even unto this day: and shall I be enquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be enquired of by you.

  • Ezekiel 20:43

    And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed.

  • Revelation 17:1-6

    And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: …

  • Isaiah 59:3

    For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.

  • Exodus 34:16

    And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods.

  • Ezekiel 16:15-63

    But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was. And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places with divers colours, and playedst the harlot thereupon: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so. Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them, And tookest thy broidered garments, and coveredst them: and thou hast set mine oil and mine incense before them. …

  • Jeremiah 3:1-2

    They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the Lord. Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
defiled.
Isa 24:5,6; 59:3; Eze 20:18,30,31,43
went.
Ex 34:16; Le 17:7; 20:5,6; Nu 15:39; Jer 3:1,2,6-9; Eze 16:15-63
Eze 23:3-49; Ho 9:1; Re 17:1-6
their own.
29

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Psalms 106:38

    And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.

  • Psalms 106:39

    Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions.

  • Psalms 106:40

    Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance.

Read all of Psalms 106

Psalms 106:39 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Contamináronse así con sus obras, y fornicaron con sus hechos.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et ils se rendirent impurs par leurs œuvres, et se prostituèrent par leurs pratiques.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und sie verunreinigten sich durch ihre Werke und hurten durch ihre Handlungen.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Et pauci facti sunt et vexati sunt, a tribulatione malorum et dolore.