1Muitas vezes me angustiaram desde a minha mocidade, diga agora Israel:
2Muitas vezes me angustiaram desde a minha mocidade, todavia não prevaleceram contra mim.
3Os lavradores araram sobre as minhas costas: compridos fizeram os seus sulcos.
4O Senhor é justo: cortou as cordas dos impios.
5Sejam confundidos, e voltem para traz, todos os que aborrecem a Sião.
6Sejam como a herva dos telhados, que se secca antes que a arranquem.
7Com a qual o segador não enche a sua mão, nem o que ata os feixes enche o seu braço.
8Nem tão pouco os que passam digam: A benção do Senhor seja sobre vós: nós vos abençoamos em nome do Senhor.
📖 Chapter study
Summary
A song recalling the many afflictions Israel has suffered since its youth (Egypt), comparing its enemies to plowmen who plowed its back, yet declaring that they never prevailed and will be like grass without root.
Explanation
This tenth 'Song of Degrees' uses strong agricultural imagery to describe both suffering (a back 'plowed' like a field) and the hope that the enemies' plans will fail, like plants that grow on clay rooftops (common on ancient houses) without deep roots, quickly withering in the sun. The repeated refrain 'many a time have they afflicted me... but they have not prevailed' celebrates the people's historical resilience despite repeated suffering. The application for today is to find strength in remembering that past hardships, however intense, did not have the final word.
Fun facts
- The 'grass upon the housetops' (v.6) refers to plants that sprouted spontaneously on the packed-clay roofs of ancient Near Eastern houses but, lacking deep soil, withered quickly — a common image for something with no real future.
- The image of 'plowing the back' (v.3) vividly describes the whippings and physical suffering inflicted by oppressors, a poetic device common in Hebrew lament literature.