Psalms 74:20

the covenant With the patriarchs, Genesis 9:9 ff; Genesis 17:2 ff.; with the nation at the Exodus, Exodus 24:8; with David, Psalms 89:3; Psalms 89:39.

the dark places of the earth The heathen lands where Israel was in exile. We might also render, the dark places of the land, i.e. the caves and hiding-places where the persecuted Israelites took refuge, and where they were tracked out and butchered (1Ma 1:53; 1Ma 2:27 ff.).

are full of the habitations of cruelty R.V. violence. If the text is right, the sense seems to be -places where violence makes its home." But the expression is a strange one, and the emendation are full of insolence and violence, adopted by many commentators, which requires a very slight change in the consonants of the text, is plausible. Cp. Psalms 73:6; Genesis 6:11; Genesis 6:13.