Psalms 69:25

Let their habitation be desolate - Margin, “their palace.” The Hebrew word means properly a wall; then, a fortress or castle; and then it means also a nomadic encampment, a rustic village, a farm-hamlet. The word conveys the idea of an “enclosure,” with special reference to an encampment, or a collection of tents. The Septuagint renders it here ἔπαυλις epaulis, meaning a place to pass the night in, especially for flocks and herds. The Hebrew word - טירה ṭı̂yrâh - is rendered “castles” in Genesis 25:16; Num 31:10; 1 Chronicles 6:54; “palaces” in Song of Solomon 8:9; Ezekiel 25:4; “rows” in Ezekiel 46:23; and “habitation” in this place. It does not occur elsewhere. Here it means their “home,” - their place of abode, - but with no particular reference to the “kind” of home, whether a palace, a castle, or an encampment. The idea is, that the place which they had occupied, or where they had dwelt, would be made vacant. They would be removed, and the place would be solitary and forsaken. It is equivalent to a prayer that they might be destroyed.

And let none dwell in their tents - Margin, as in Hebrew, “let there not be a dweller.” That is, Let their tents where they had dwelt be wholly forsaken. This passage is quoted in Acts 1:20, as applicable to Judas. See the notes at that passage.