Bible Strands
Psalms 79:7
for they have devoured Jacob and devastated his homeland.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses God directly, recounting how invading armies destroyed the sanctuary and the people. This declaration occurs within a communal lament, positioned between a petition for wrath against unrepentant nations and a plea for mercy toward the humbled remnant.
The words — The Hebrew verb אָכַל ('a.Khal) literally means "consumed" or "devoured," and נָוֵהוּ (na.Ve./hu) translates to "its habitation" or homeland. These terms describe the physical destruction inflicted upon Jacob and his territory by foreign forces.
The thread — The image of nations devouring Jacob appears in Jeremiah 51:34, where Nebuchadnezzar is described as consuming Israel. The pattern of hostile powers amplifying divine judgment is noted in Zechariah 1:15, which records that comfortable nations added to the calamity God had already initiated.
Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to acknowledge that violence against God’s people is recorded and subject to divine assessment. It directs attention to the immediate context of pleading for justice before requesting mercy, rather than offering comfort for the perpetrators.
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
For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling place.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 51:34 “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured me; he has crushed me. He has set me aside like an empty vessel; he has swallowed me like a monster; he filled his belly with my delicacies and vomited me out.
- Zechariah 1:15 but I am fiercely angry with the nations that are at ease. For I was a little angry, but they have added to the calamity.’
- Isaiah 24:1 Behold, the LORD lays waste the earth and leaves it in ruins. He will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants—
- Isaiah 64:10 Your holy cities have become a wilderness. Zion has become a wasteland and Jerusalem a desolation.
- Jeremiah 50:7 All who found them devoured them, and their enemies said, ‘We are not guilty, for they have sinned against the LORD, their true pasture, the LORD, the hope of their fathers.’
- 2 Chronicles 36:21 So the land enjoyed its Sabbath rest all the days of the desolation, until seventy years were completed, in fulfillment of the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah.
- Psalms 80:13 The boar from the forest ravages it, and the creatures of the field feed upon it.
- Isaiah 9:12 Aram from the east and Philistia from the west have devoured Israel with open mouths. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.