Psalms 107 · Verse 39

Psalms 107:39

Again, they are minished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow.
Psalms 107:39, King James Version

Psalms 107:39 in other translations

BSBWhen they are decreased and humbled by oppression, evil, and sorrow,
WEBAgain, they are diminished and bowed down through oppression, trouble, and sorrow.
ASVAgain, they are diminished and bowed down Through oppression, trouble, and sorrow.
YLTAnd they are diminished, and bow down, By restraint, evil, and sorrow.
DARBYAnd they are diminished and brought low, through oppression, adversity, and sorrow:
BBEAnd when they are made low, and crushed by trouble and sorrow,
WebsterAgain, they are diminished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow.

What does Psalms 107:39 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 107:33-41

33-41. He turneth rivers into a wilderness, &c.--God's providence is illustriously displayed in His influence on two great elements of human prosperity, the earth's productiveness and the powers of government. He punishes the wicked by destroying the sources of fertility, or, in mercy, gives fruitfulness to deserts, which become the homes of a busy and successful agricultural population. By a permitted misrule and…

Read the full comment on Psalms 107:33-41 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 39 Again, they are minished - Sometimes by war, or pestilence, or famine. How minished and brought low was the country already spoken of, by the long and destructive war which began in 1775, and was not ended till 1783! And what desolations, minishings, and ruin have been brought on the fertile empires of Europe by the war which commenced in 1792, and did not end till 1814! And how many millions of lives have been sacrificed in it, and souls sent unprepared into the eternal world! When God makes inquisition for blood, on whose heads will he find the blood of these slaughtered millions? Alas! O, alas!

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Psalms 107:33-43

What surprising changes are often made in the affairs of men! Let the present desolate state of Judea, and of other countries, explain this. If we look abroad in the world, we see many greatly increase, whose beginning was small. We see many who have thus suddenly risen, as suddenly brought to nothing. Worldly wealth is uncertain; often those who are filled with it, ere they are aware, lose it again. God has many…

Read the full comment on Psalms 107:33-43 →

Psalms 107:39 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.

וַיִּמְעֲט֥וּvai.yim.'a.Tuand they became fewH4591
וַיָּשֹׁ֑חוּvai.ya.Sho.chuand they were bowed downH7817
מֵעֹ֖צֶרme.'O.tzerfrom [the] pressure ofH6115
רָעָ֣הra.'AhcalamityH7451
וְיָגֽוֹן\׃ve.ya.Gonand sorrowH3015

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

Cross references for Psalms 107:39

  • Exodus 2:23-24

    And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.

  • 2 Kings 10:32

    In those days the Lord began to cut Israel short: and Hazael smote them in all the coasts of Israel;

  • 2 Chronicles 15:5-6

    And in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries. And nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city: for God did vex them with all adversity.

  • 2 Kings 14:26

    For the Lord saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter: for there was not any shut up, nor any left, nor any helper for Israel.

  • Judges 6:3-6

    And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them; And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass. For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it. And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the Lord.

  • 2 Kings 13:22

    But Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz.

  • 2 Kings 4:8

    And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread.

  • Job 1:10-17

    Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord. And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house: …

  • 2 Kings 13:7

    Neither did he leave of the people to Jehoahaz but fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen; for the king of Syria had destroyed them, and had made them like the dust by threshing.

  • Ruth 1:20-21

    And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?

  • 1 Samuel 2:5-7

    They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the barren hath born seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble. The Lord killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.

  • Exodus 1:13-14

    And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour: And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Again.The incidents detailed in these verses, which frequently occur, and mark the superintendence of a benign Providence, and the hand of a just God, appear to be brought forward to illustrate the return of the Israelites from captivity, and the punishment of their oppressors the Babylonians. Wherefore, at last, as in a common chorus, they conclude with exhorting each other to a serious consideration of these things, and to make a proper return to the Almighty.
they are.
30:6,7; Ge 45:11; Ru 1:20,21; 1Sa 2:5-7; 2Ki 4:8; 8:3; Job 1:10-17
oppression.
Ex 1:13,14; 2:23,24; Jud 6:3-6; 2Ki 10:32; 13:7,22; 14:26
2Ch 15:5,6; Jer 51:33,34

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

Context

  • Psalms 107:38

    He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly; and suffereth not their cattle to decrease.

  • Psalms 107:39

    Again, they are minished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow.

  • Psalms 107:40

    He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way.

Read all of Psalms 107

Psalms 107:39 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y luego son menoscabados y abatidos á causa de tiranía, de males y congojas.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et ils diminuent, et sont accablés par l’oppression, le malheur, et le chagrin.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und sie vermindern sich und werden gebeugt durch Bedrückung, Unglück und Jammer.