Bible Strands
Psalms 106:42
Their enemies oppressed them and subdued them under their hand.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses the assembled community, recounting the historical moment after God surrendered Israel to foreign nations as a consequence of their repeated rebellion.
The words — The Hebrew וַיִּלְחָצוּם (va.yilchatzum) means "and they oppressed them," paired with וַיִּכָּנְעוּ (va.yikkanu), "and they were humbled," to denote complete subjugation.
The thread — This cycle of foreign domination recurs in Judges 4:3 under Jabin’s iron chariots and Judges 10:12 during the campaigns of the Sidonians, Amalekites, and Maonites.
Why it lands — The passage requires readers to acknowledge that divine rescue loses its effect when the people persist in rebellion, demanding a clear-eyed assessment of how personal complicity sustains prolonged distress.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand.
Cross-references
- Judges 4:3 Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD, because Jabin had nine hundred chariots of iron, and he had harshly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years.
- Judges 10:12 Sidonians, Amalekites, and Maonites oppressed you and you cried out to Me, did I not save you from their hands?