Bible Strands
Psalms 129:3
The plowmen plowed over my back; they made their furrows long.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The psalmist speaks to the assembly, recounting persistent persecution from youth that failed to destroy him. This verse captures the specific moment of that oppression, describing how enemies repeatedly forced him to bear their heavy burdens.
The words — The Hebrew חֹרְשִׁים (chōrəšîm) means plowmen, paired with חָרְשׁוּ (chārəšû) for they have plowed, depicting forced labor. The phrase הֶאֱרִיכוּ (heʾērîkû) literally renders they have made long, emphasizing the drawn-out duration of the suffering.
The thread — This agricultural metaphor for oppression echoes Isaiah 51:23, where tormentors command the afflicted to lie down so they may walk over them. It also parallels Psalms 141:7, which compares scattered bones to soil broken up by a plow.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that prolonged human hostility does not override divine justice. Readers are called to trust that God’s righteous intervention will sever the bonds of persecution just as He did for the psalmist.
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
The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 51:23 I will place it in the hands of your tormentors, who told you: ‘Lie down, so we can walk over you,’ so that you made your back like the ground, like a street to be traversed.”
- Psalms 141:7 As when one plows and breaks up the soil, so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of Sheol.