Bible Strands
Psalms 129:5
May all who hate Zion be turned back in shame.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses God immediately after declaring His righteousness in 129:4, petitioning against those opposing Zion. The prayer functions as a corporate imprecation following the description of past oppression.
The words — The text hinges on יֵ֭בֹשׁוּ (Ye.vo.shu), meaning “may they be ashamed,” and וְ/יִסֹּ֣גוּ (ve./yi.So.gu), meaning “and may they be turned back.” These verbs frame the desired reversal of the enemies’ advance.
The thread — This plea for reversed shame and retreat appears in Psalms 71:13, where accusers are covered with scorn, and aligns with Isaiah 37:35, where God promises to defend the city. The motif of hostile forces being put to rout recurs in prophetic and psalmic appeals for divine intervention.
Why it lands — The verse demands recognition that opposition to Zion ultimately fails under divine judgment. It calls readers to trust that God’s defense ensures the defeat of those who seek harm.
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
Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion.
Cross-references
- Psalms 71:13 May the accusers of my soul be ashamed and consumed; may those who seek my harm be covered with scorn and disgrace.
- Isaiah 37:35 ‘I will defend this city and save it for My own sake and for the sake of My servant David.’”
- Esther 6:13 Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened. His advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, “Since Mordecai, before whom your downfall has begun, is Jewish, you will not prevail against him—for surely you will fall before him.”
- Psalms 83:4 saying, “Come, let us erase them as a nation; may the name of Israel be remembered no more.”
- Isaiah 10:12 So when the Lord has completed all His work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the fruit of his arrogant heart and the proud look in his eyes.
- Isaiah 37:22 this is the word that the LORD has spoken against him: ‘The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises you and mocks you; the Daughter of Jerusalem shakes her head behind you.
- Zechariah 12:3 On that day, when all the nations of the earth gather against her, I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who would heave it away will be severely injured.
- Esther 9:5 The Jews put all their enemies to the sword, killing and destroying them, and they did as they pleased to those who hated them.
- Psalms 122:6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May those who love you prosper.
- Isaiah 37:28 But I know your sitting down, your going out and coming in, and your raging against Me.