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Psalm 120:4-6
New Catholic Bible
Psalm 120:4-6
New Catholic Bible
4 He has prepared a warrior’s sharp arrows
and red-hot coals[a] of the broom tree.
5 Why have I been doomed as an exile in Meshech
and forced to dwell among the tents of Kedar?[b]
6 Far too long have I lived
among people who despise peace.[c]
Footnotes
- Psalm 120:4 Sharp arrows . . . red-hot coals: the evil tongue is like a sharp arrow (see Pss 57:4; 64:3; Prov 25:18; Jer 9:8) and a scorching fire (see Prov 16:27; Jas 3:6); but the enemies of the psalmist will be destroyed by the far more potent shafts of God’s arrows of truth (see Ps 64:8) and coals of judgment (see Ps 140:11). Broom tree: apparently its roots burn well and yield coal that produces intense heat.
- Psalm 120:5 Meshech . . . Kedar: Meshech is located to the far north in Asia Minor by the Black Sea (see Gen 10:2; Ezek 38:2). Kedar stands for the Arab tribesmen of the south in the Arabian Desert (see Isa 21:16f; Jer 2:10; 49:28; Ezek 27:21). The psalmist feels that he is dwelling among a barbarian and ungodly people.
- Psalm 120:6 The psalmist reminds the Lord that he has been mired for too long among people who despise peace and make war on him (see v. 4: “arrows” and “red-hot coals”). These adversaries have no use for godly persons like himself, so they harass and slander them and make their life unbearable. The psalmist can no longer put up with this unrelenting oppression.
