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John Trapp Complete Commentary

Psalms 120:5

Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, [that] I dwell in the tents of Kedar!

Ver. 5. Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech] That is, in Muscovio, say some; in Hetruria, say others; in Cappadocia rather, Magog's country, Ezekiel 38:2,3; anywhere out of the bosom of the true Church; or (as some sense it) in the Church, but among Israelites worse than any Ishmaelites or Pagans.

That I dwell in the tents of Kedar!] With Kedarens or Saracens, as they were afterwards called. Among these David was in danger ne cum lupis ululando tandem et ipse ex ove lupus evaderet. Guilt or grief a good man is sure to get by being in bad company, which maketh him cry, "Oh that I had the wings of a dove," &c.; or if that "Oh" will not set him at liberty, then he taketh up this, "Woe is me," to express his misery. Pia vero est illa tristitia, et si dici potest beata miseria, vitis alienis tribulari, non implicari; dolere contrahi, amore non attrahi, saith Austin. It is hard and happy not to comply with ill company.

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See also Psalms 120:5 in other biblical comments:

  • Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

    Verse Psalms 120:5. _THAT I SOJOURN IN MESECH_] The _Chaldee_ has it, "Wo is me that I am a stranger with the Asiatics, (אוסאי _useey_,) and that I dwell in the tents of the Arabs." _Calmet_, who und...

  • Albert Barnes' Bible Commentary

    WOE IS ME - My lot is a sad and pitiable one, that I am compelled to live in this manner, and to be exposed thus to malignant reproaches. It is like living in Mesech or in Kedar. THAT I SOJOURN - The...

  • Annotated Bible by A.C. Gaebelein

    PSALM 120-134 The Psalms of Degrees Fifteen brief Psalms follow, called songs of degrees, or, ascents. They were in all probability used by Israel going up to Jerusalem three times a year to celebrat...

  • Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

    CXX. PRAYER AGAINST CALUMNIATORS. Here begin the Psalms of Ascents, _i.e._ Pss. intended to be sung by the pilgrims at the three great feasts on their way up to Jerusalem, which stood on a height. Psa...

  • Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

    MESECH... KEDAR. Used typically of cruel and merciless peoples; as we use the terms Vandals, Goths, Philistines....

  • Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

    THAT I SOJOURN IN MESECH, &C.— _Woe is me that my sojourning is so long protracted, while I dwell in the tents of Kedar!_ Houb. and many other commentators. On the other hand, many learned men suppose...

  • College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

    PSALMS 120 DESCRIPTIVE TITLE Peace _versus_ War. ANALYSIS (See Inserted Headlines.) (Lm.) Song of the Steps. (A GRATEFUL KING'S MEMORIAL.) 1 Unto Jehovah in the distress that befell me I calle...

  • Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

    Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar! WOE IS ME THAT I SOJOURN IN MESECH, THAT I DWELL IN THE TENTS OF KEDAR! "Mesech" - i:e., the Moschi, in the regions of Iberi...

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    A cry for help to Jehovah in the midst of sore distress, evidently by an exile under foreign oppression....

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    MESECH] i.e. the Moschi, a tribe dwelling near the Euxine Sea: cp. Genesis 10:2, also Herodotus 3.94. KEDAR] tribes of N. Arabia famous for their black tents: cp. Song of Solomon 1:5. Here the two nam...

  • EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

    Psalms 107:150 _GORDON CHURCHYARD_ PSALMS FOR CLIMBING; PSALMS 120:134 Jesus said, "We will go up to Jerusalem" (Luke 18:31

  • Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

    MESECH. — This name is generally identified with _Moschi,_ mentioned by Herodotus (iii. 94), a tribe on the borders of Colchis and Armenia. It appears again in the prophet Ezekiel 27:13; Ezekiel 38:3;...

  • ETCBC data on Hebrew bible

    אֹֽויָה ־לִ֭י כִּי ־גַ֣רְתִּי מֶ֑שֶׁךְ שָׁ֝כַ֗נְתִּי...

  • Expositor's Bible Commentary (Nicoll)

    Psalms 120:1 THE collection of pilgrim songs is appropriately introduced by one expressive of the unrest arising from compulsory association with uncongenial and hostile neighbours. The psalmist lamen...

  • Frederick Brotherton Meyer's Commentary

    WHERE TO FIND HELP Psalms 120:1; Psalms 121:1 This is the first of the “Songs of Degrees.” It has been suggested that they were pilgrim-songs to beguile the journeys from all parts of the country to...

  • G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible

    The next fifteen psalms appear to have formed a book of themselves bearing the title, "The Songs of Ascents." That collection is incorporated by the editor at this point not without purpose. The title...

  • Geneva Study Bible Commentary

    Woe is me, that I sojourn in (e) Mesech, [that] I dwell in the tents of (f) Kedar! (e) These were people of Arabia, who came from Japheth, (Genesis 10:2). (f) That is, of the Ishmaelites....

  • George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

    _Hand. Always ready, Psalm xc. 4., and xv. 8. (Haydock)_...

  • Hawker's Poor man's commentary

    Reading these words with reference to Christ, we may well suppose that the exercises of his holy soul from day to day, were great in the society of those with whom he was constrained, as the sinner's...

  • John Calvin's Bible Commentary

    5._Alas for me! that I have been a sojourner in Mesech. _David complains that he was doomed to linger for a long time among a perverse people; his condition resembling that of some wretched individual...

  • John Darby's Synopsis

    We now come, Psalms 120-134, to the songs of degrees, which depict, I doubt not, the outward circumstances of the same period, when Israel is in the land, but the power of Gog not yet destroyed. The f...

  • John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

    WOE IS ME, THAT I SOJOURN IN MESECH,.... Meshech was a son of Japheth, Genesis 10:2; whose posterity are thought by some to be the Muscovites z and Scythians, a barbarous sort of people: Mesech is fre...

  • Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    _Wo is me that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar Mesech_ and _Kedar_ are two sorts of people often mentioned in Scripture, and reckoned among the barbarous nations. But their nam...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    PRAYER FOR DELIVERANCE FROM SLANDER AND DECEIT. A song of degrees, literally, "of ascents," the first of fifteen psalms designated by that name, the reference being either to the fact that these hymns...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    Woe is me that I sojourn in Mesech, a region between the Black and the Caspian Sea, THAT I DWELL IN THE TENTS OF KEDAR, of barbarous Arabia! The point of comparison in both cases is the wild and rude...

  • Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible

    5-7 It is very grievous to a good man, to be cast into, and kept in the company of the wicked, from whom he hopes to be for ever separated. See here the character of a good man; he is for living peace...

  • Matthew Poole's Concise Commentary On The Bible

    MESECH and KEDAR are two sorts of people, oft mentioned in Scripture, and reckoned amongst the heathen and barbarous nations. But their nurses are not here to be understood properly, (for we do not re...

  • Patchworkid's Personal Study Bible Notes

    Psalms 120:5 Woe H190 dwell H1481 (H8804) Meshech H4902 dwell H7931 (H8804) tents H168 Kedar H6938 Wo

  • Summarized Bible Commentary

    CONTENTS: Prayer for deliverance from the mischief designed by false and malicious tongues. CHARACTERS: God, Psalmist. CONCLUSION: It is often the lot of the innocent that there are those who carry...

  • Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    This and the fourteen psalms which follow, are entitled, “Songs of Mahaloth, or degrees.” Kimchi, and some of the rabbins say, they were so called because they were sung on the steps of the second tem...

  • The Biblical Illustrator

    _In my distress I cried unto the Lord, and He heard me._ THE SONGS OF DEGREES How came this and fourteen following psalms to be put together, and to receive their distinctive title? It has been sugge...

  • The Biblical Illustrator

    _Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mosech._ THE SOJOURN IN MESECH Mesech was the son of Japheth, from whom were descended the men who inhabited that most barbarous of all regions, according to the opinion...

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    PSALM PSALM—NOTE ON PSALMS 120:1. Psalms 120:1 is the first of the “Songs of Ascents” ...

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    PSALM—NOTE ON PSALMS 120:5 The psalmist reflects on the larger situation. The people among whom he dwells are Gentiles, who do not know God’s word. The ideal Israelite exile is FOR PEACE, seeking it f...

  • The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary

    THE SONGS OF DEGREES PSALMS 120-134 GENERAL INTRODUCTION The principal hypotheses on which to account for the “Songs of Degrees,” “Songs of Ascents,” “Pilgrim Psalms,” and to each of which great na...

  • The Pulpit Commentaries

    EXPOSITION THE_ _SONGS_ _OF_ _ASCENTS_._ THE next fifteen psalms have a common heading, which is translated "Songs of Degrees," "Songs of Ascents," or "Songs of Steps." They constitute together "a Li...

  • Through The Bible C2000 Serie by Chuck Smith

    This time let's turn in our Bibles to Psalms 120:1-7 to begin our Bible study this evening. Now you'll notice these psalms have a heading. The psalm, "A song of degrees." The word literally is ascents...

  • Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

    1 Samuel 25:1; 2 Peter 2:7; 2 Peter 2:8; Ezekiel 27:13; Genesis 10:2;...

  • Wesley's Explanatory Notes

    Mesech — Mesech and Kedar are two sorts of people often mentioned in scripture, and reckoned amongst the barbarous nations. But their names are here to be understood metaphorically. And so he explains...

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