Psalms / Chapter 79

Psalms 79

13 verses • Westminster Leningrad Codex

Translator's Introduction

What This Chapter Is About

A communal lament over the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. The nations have invaded God's inheritance, defiled the sanctuary, reduced Jerusalem to rubble, and left the bodies of God's servants as food for vultures and wild animals. The blood of the faithful runs like water around Jerusalem with no one to bury the dead. The psalmist pleads for God's compassion, asks how long His jealousy will burn, calls for vengeance on the nations that do not know God, and appeals to God's own reputation among the peoples. The psalm closes with a promise of perpetual praise from the flock of God's pasture.

What Makes This Chapter Remarkable

Psalm 79 is the companion lament to Psalm 74, both attributed to Asaph and both responding to the destruction of the temple. But Psalm 79 focuses on the human cost — bodies, blood, shame — where Psalm 74 focused on the architectural destruction. The most haunting image is verse 3: blood poured out like water around Jerusalem, with no one to bury the dead. The denial of burial was the ultimate disgrace in the ancient world; it meant the person was erased from memory. The psalm's theology is built on the tension between Israel's acknowledged sin (verse 8-9) and God's obligation to His own name (verse 9-10). The argument is: we sinned, but Your reputation is at stake.

Translation Friction

The historical setting is almost certainly the Babylonian destruction of 586 BCE, though some elements could apply to other national catastrophes. The prayer for vengeance (verse 6, 10, 12) sits uncomfortably with later theological sensibilities, but it must be read in context: the psalmist is watching unburied bodies being eaten by animals and asking God to hold the perpetrators accountable. The 'sevenfold' return of reproach (verse 12) uses the language of proportional justice, not excessive revenge.

Connections

Psalm 79:1 is quoted in 1 Maccabees 7:17 in connection with the desecration under Alcimus. Verse 6 is nearly identical to Jeremiah 10:25, suggesting either literary dependence or a shared liturgical tradition. The unburied-bodies motif connects to Jeremiah 7:33 and 16:4. The 'sheep of Your pasture' (verse 13) echoes Psalms 74:1, 78:52, and 95:7. The plea 'do not remember against us former iniquities' (verse 8) anticipates the theology of Isaiah 43:25.

Psalms 79:1

מִזְמ֗וֹר לְאָ֫סָ֥ף אֱ‍ֽלֹהִ֡ים בָּ֤אוּ גוֹיִ֨ם ׀ בְּֽנַחֲלָתֶ֗ךָ טִ֭מְּאוּ אֶת־הֵיכַ֣ל קׇדְשֶׁ֑ךָ שָׂ֖מוּ אֶת־יְרוּשָׁלַ֣͏ִם לְעִיִּֽים׃

A psalm of Asaph. O God, the nations have invaded Your inheritance; they have defiled Your holy temple; they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.

KJV O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem on heaps.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The word iyyim ('ruins, rubble heaps') describes a city so thoroughly destroyed that it has been reduced to piles of stone. The same word appears in Micah 1:6 and Micah 3:12 for cities leveled by divine judgment.
Psalms 79:2

נָתְנ֤וּ אֶת־נִבְלַ֣ת עֲ֭בָדֶיךָ מַאֲכָ֣ל לְעוֹף־הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם בְּשַׂ֥ר חֲ֝סִידֶ֗יךָ לְחַיְתוֹ־אָֽרֶץ׃

They have given the corpses of Your servants as food to the birds of the sky, the flesh of Your faithful ones to the animals of the earth.

KJV The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

חֲסִידִים chasidim
"faithful ones" — devoted ones, the pious, those who practice chesed, the loyal, the godly

The chasidim are those whose lives embody chesed — faithful love, covenant loyalty, active devotion. They are God's most dedicated people, and their desecration makes the psalm's plea all the more urgent.

Translator Notes

  1. The curse of having one's body left unburied for scavengers is one of the Deuteronomic covenant curses (Deuteronomy 28:26). The psalmist is experiencing what Moses warned about — but the victims are the chasidim, the faithful, not the wicked. This is the psalm's anguish: the covenant curses have fallen on the covenant-keepers.
Psalms 79:3

שָׁפְכ֤וּ דָמָ֨ם ׀ כַּמַּ֗יִם סְֽבִיב֣וֹת יְרוּשָׁלָ֑͏ִם וְאֵ֣ין קוֹבֵֽר׃

They poured out their blood like water around Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them.

KJV Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem; and there was none to bury them.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. This verse is quoted in 1 Maccabees 7:17 as a lament for the faithful killed under the Seleucid oppression, showing that the psalm was reused for later national catastrophes. The image of blood as water means it was spilled without value, without care, without consequence for the killers.
Psalms 79:4

הָיִ֣ינוּ חֶ֭רְפָּה לִשְׁכֵנֵ֑ינוּ לַ֥עַג וָ֝קֶ֗לֶס לִסְבִיבוֹתֵֽינוּ׃

We have become a disgrace to our neighbors, an object of mockery and ridicule to those around us.

KJV We are become a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The cherpah ('disgrace, reproach'), la'ag ('mockery, scoffing'), and qeles ('ridicule, derision') describe the social dimension of the catastrophe. The neighbors (shekhenim) — Edom, Ammon, Moab, and others — mock the fallen city. The destruction is not only physical and spiritual but social: Israel has become a laughingstock.
Psalms 79:5

עַד־מָ֣ה יְ֭הוָה תֶּאֱנַ֣ף לָנֶ֑צַח תִּבְעַ֥ר כְּ֝מוֹ־אֵ֗שׁ קִנְאָתֶֽךָ׃

How long, O LORD? Will You be angry forever? Will Your jealousy burn like fire?

KJV How long, LORD? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire?

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The phrase ad mah ('how long?') echoes Psalm 74:10. The qin'ah ('jealousy, zeal') is God's passionate commitment to His own honor — it burns (tiv'ar) like esh ('fire') when that honor is violated. The question implies that God's anger seems directed at His own people rather than at the nations who destroyed them.
Psalms 79:6

שְׁפֹ֤ךְ חֲמָתְךָ֨ ׀ אֶֽל־הַגּוֹיִ֗ם אֲשֶׁ֣ר לֹא־יְדָע֑וּךָ וְעַ֥ל מַ֝מְלָכ֗וֹת אֲשֶׁ֤ר ׀ בְּשִׁמְךָ֬ לֹ֣א קָרָֽאוּ׃

Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not know You, and on the kingdoms that do not call on Your name.

KJV Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Jeremiah 10:25 contains this verse nearly verbatim, suggesting a shared liturgical tradition. The prayer is not for indiscriminate violence but for proportional justice: those who destroyed God's people should face God's wrath.
Psalms 79:7

כִּ֭י אָכַ֣ל אֶֽת־יַעֲקֹ֑ב וְֽאֶת־נָוֵ֥הוּ הֵשַֽׁמּוּ׃

and laid waste his dwelling place. For they have devoured Jacob

KJV For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling place.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The verb akhal ('devoured, consumed') is the language of predation — the nations ate Jacob like an animal consumes prey. The naveh ('dwelling place, pasture, habitation') that has been laid waste (heshamu, 'made desolate') connects to the shepherd imagery — the flock's pasture has been destroyed.
Psalms 79:8

אַֽל־תִּזְכׇּר־לָ֨נוּ ׀ עֲוֺנֹ֣ת רִאשֹׁנִ֗ים מַ֭הֵר יְקַדְּמ֣וּנוּ רַחֲמֶ֑יךָ כִּ֖י דַלּ֣וֹנוּ מְאֹֽד׃

Do not remember against us the iniquities of the past; let Your compassion come quickly to meet us, for we are brought very low.

KJV O remember not against us former iniquities: let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us: for we are brought very low.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The acknowledgment of sin distinguishes this psalm from Psalm 44, which protests innocence. Here the psalmist admits guilt but argues that the punishment exceeds the crime — and that God's compassion should override God's justice.
Psalms 79:9

עׇזְרֵ֤נוּ ׀ אֱלֹ֘הֵ֤י יִשְׁעֵ֗נוּ עַל־דְּבַ֥ר כְּבוֹד־שְׁמֶ֑ךָ וְהַצִּילֵ֥נוּ וְכַפֵּ֥ר עַל־חַ֝טֹּאתֵ֗ינוּ לְמַ֣עַן שְׁמֶֽךָ׃

Help us, O God of our salvation, for the sake of the glory of Your name! Deliver us and atone for our sins for the sake of Your name.

KJV Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name's sake.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

כָּבוֹד kavod
"glory" — glory, weight, honor, splendor, reputation, the manifest presence of God

Here kavod functions as God's public reputation. The 'glory of His name' is what God is known for among the nations. The psalmist argues that this reputation is at stake in Israel's fate.

Translator Notes

  1. The appeal to God's name (shem) as motivation for action is a Moses-style argument (cf. Exodus 32:12, Numbers 14:13-16). If God destroys His people, the nations will mock God's power. God's reputation among the nations depends on Israel's survival.
Psalms 79:10

לָ֤מָּה ׀ יֹאמְר֣וּ הַגּוֹיִם֮ אַיֵּ֢ה אֱ‍ֽלֹהֵ֫יהֶ֥ם יִוָּדַ֣ע בַּגּוֹיִ֣ם לְעֵינֵ֑ינוּ נִ֝קְמַ֗ת דַּֽם־עֲבָדֶ֥יךָ הַשָּׁפֽוּךְ׃

Why should the nations say, 'Where is their God?' Let the avenging of Your servants' spilled blood be known among the nations before our eyes.

KJV Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is their God? let him be known among the heathen in our sight by the revenging of the blood of thy servants which is shed.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The taunt ayyeh Eloheihem ('where is their God?') is the most offensive question possible — it challenges God's existence, His power, or His care. The psalmist wants niqmat dam avadekha ('the vengeance of the blood of Your servants') to be visible le-eineinu ('before our eyes') — not hidden or delayed but publicly, demonstrably enacted.
Psalms 79:11

תָּ֤בוֹא לְפָנֶ֨יךָ ׀ אֶנְקַ֣ת אָסִ֗יר כְּגֹ֥דֶל זְרוֹעֲךָ֑ ה֝וֹתֵ֗ר בְּנֵ֣י תְמוּתָֽה׃

Let the groaning of the prisoner come before You; by the greatness of Your arm preserve those condemned to die.

KJV Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die;

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The enqat asir ('groaning of the prisoner') represents the exiles in Babylon. The phrase benei temutah ('children of death, those condemned to death') describes people already sentenced. The zero'a ('arm') of God — His intervening power — is the only force that can reverse a death sentence.
Psalms 79:12

וְהָ֘שֵׁ֤ב לִשְׁכֵנֵ֣ינוּ שִׁ֭בְעָתַיִם אֶל־חֵיקָ֑ם חֶרְפָּתָ֥ם אֲשֶׁ֤ר ׀ חֵרְפ֖וּךָ אֲדֹנָֽי׃

Return sevenfold to our neighbors, into their laps, the reproach with which they reproached You, O Lord.

KJV And render unto our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The shiv'atayim ('sevenfold') is the language of proportional justice (cf. Genesis 4:15, Proverbs 6:31). The cherpah ('reproach') is returned el cheiqam ('into their bosom/lap') — the pocket formed by the fold of a garment, the place where one receives payment. The neighbors who mocked God's people mocked God Himself; the return will come back to them personally.
Psalms 79:13

וַאֲנַ֤חְנוּ עַמְּךָ֨ ׀ וְצֹ֥אן מַרְעִיתֶ֗ךָ נ֭וֹדֶה לְּךָ֣ לְעוֹלָ֑ם לְדֹ֥ר וָ֝דֹ֗ר נְסַפֵּ֥ר תְּהִלָּתֶֽךָ׃

Then we, Your people, the sheep of Your pasture, will give thanks to You forever; from generation to generation we will recount Your praise.

KJV So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever: we will shew forth thy praise to all generations.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The psalm that began with death and desecration ends with a pledge of eternal gratitude. The pivot from lament to praise is not yet complete — it depends on God's response — but the psalmist makes the promise in advance: if You act, we will never stop thanking You.
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