Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 129:6

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 129:6. As the grass upon the housetops — As in the east the roofs of the houses were flat, seeds of various kinds falling upon them would naturally vegetate, though in an imperfect way; and, because of the want of proper nourishment, would necessarily dry and wither away. If grass, the mower cannot make hay of it; if corn, the reaper cannot make a sheaf of it. Let the Babylonians be like such herbage-good for nothing, and come to nothing.

Withereth afore it groweth up — Before שלק shalak, it is unsheathed; i.e., before it ears, or comes to seed.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalm 129-131 Preparing for worship

Thinking back on the sorrows of Israel’s history, the travellers recall that ever since the days of the nation’s ‘youth’ in Egypt, Israel has had suffering. The backs of the people had been whipped when they were slaves, but God cut the cords that bound them in slavery and set them free (129:1-4). Now again they are troubled by those who hate them. They pray that God will turn back their enemies and make them as useless as stalks of grass that wither and die in the sun (5-7). Left without friends, their enemies will have no one to help them (8).
A sense of their own sinfulness overcomes the travellers as they approach the temple. They know that they need forgiveness, for no person in a sinful condition can stand before the holy God in his temple (130:1-4). They wait for the assurance of God’s forgiveness with the same longing as watch men on night duty wait for the light of dawn (5-6). But all the time they have a quiet confidence that God, in his love, will forgive them (7-8).
Realizing that they are forgiven, the grateful worshippers are now ready to enter God’s temple in holy worship. The importance of the occasion fills them with such a sense of awe that they are genuinely humbled before God. They confess that they cannot understand all about God and his ways, though at the same time they rest in the knowledge of his nearness and comfort (131:1-3).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

ZION'S ENEMIES SHALL PERISH

"Let them be put to shame and turned backward, All they that hate Zion. Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, Which withereth before it groweth up; Wherewith the reaper filleth not his hand, Nor he that bindeth sheaves, his bosom. Neither do they that go by say, The blessing of Jehovah be upon you; We bless you in the name of Jehovah."

This part of the psalm is an imprecation upon Israel's enemies. It is a prayer that they will be frustrated and turned back from their evil purpose, and that they may be like the grass growing on a rooftop.

The latter figure is taken from the custom in the Mid-East of covering the roof of buildings with a thin layer of earth. This is done because of the insulation provided from the severe heat of that area. Of course, when a shower came, the grass at once sprang up; but, due to the shallow soil and the hot sun, it quickly withered without producing anything of value.

"All they that hate Zion" As Kidner noted, If Zion were merely the capital of fleshly Israel, such an imprecation as this would appear as, "Mere petulance and bluster."Derek Kidner, op. cit., p. 445.

However, the Zion of the Psalter is something of exceedingly great importance. "It is the city of our God" (Psalms 48:1); "The mount for God's abode" (Psalms 68:16); and the destined mother-city of the world (Psalms 87). It is a type of the New Jerusalem that cometh down from God out of heaven; and even all the Gentiles must confess that, "All our springs are in Zion" (Psalms 87:7).

"In this light, it is appropriate therefore that, laying all metaphors aside, they that hate Zion are not only choosing the way of hate, which is soul-destroying; but they are setting themselves against God, which is suicide."Ibid.

"As grass upon the housetops" This is a prayer for the enemies to be as certain of withering death as the dried up grass that sprouts on the roof after a shower of rain. The reaper will not cut it, and the `binder of sheaves' will not carry an armful of the hay to his gamer. This stands for total worthlessness.

"Neither do they that go by say, The blessing of Jehovah be upon you; or we bless you in the name of Jehovah" Such expressions as these were the customary greetings of the Jews who might pass by where an abundant harvest was being gathered. This "crop" of rooftop grass was so utterly worthless that, as Yates said, "It was not even worth the customary greeting of those passing by."Wycliffe Old Testament Commentary, Old Testament, p. 544.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Let them be as the grass upon the housetops - The housetops, or roofs of houses, covered with sand or earth, in which seeds of grass may germinate and begin to grow, but where, as there is no depth of earth, and as the heat of the sun there would be intense, it would soon wither away. See the notes at Isaiah 37:27.

Which withereth afore it groweth up - This, even if it has any meaning, is not the meaning of the original. The idea in the Hebrew is - and it is so rendered in the Septuagint, the Latin Vulgate, and by Luther - “which before (one) pulls it, withers.” Grass would wither or dry up, of course, if it were pulled up or cut down, but the grass here spoken of withers even before this is done. It has no depth of earth to sustain it; having sprouted, and begun to grow, it soon dies - a perfect image of feebleness and desolation; of hopes begun only to be disappointed. “This morning” (says Dr. Thomson, “Land and the Book,” vol. ii., p. 574) “I saw a striking illustration of this most expressive figure. To obtain a good view of the Tyropean, my guide took me to the top of a house on the brow of Zion, and the grass which had grown over the roof during the rainy season was now entirely withered and perfectly dry.”

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 129:1-8

Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say: Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth: yet they have not prevailed against me ( Psalms 129:1-2 ).

So here is Israel, and look how many times they are being afflicted. Even still 2,700-800 years later after this psalm was written, still Israel being afflicted. Yet, hey, they have not prevailed against her. She's still there. She's still a nation. She still stands up to the world.

The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows. But the LORD is righteous: he hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked. Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion. Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withers before it grows up: Wherewith the mower cannot fill his hand; nor he that bindeth the sheaves of his bosom ( Psalms 129:3-7 ).

Now on the roof, of course, dust will blow up on the roof and sometimes grass seed, and you'll have little sprouts of grass, but never enough to harvest. So let them be like the grass that just grows up on the roof.

Neither do they which go by say, The blessing of the LORD be upon you: we bless you in the name of the LORD ( Psalms 129:8 ).

This is in the negative sense. But putting it in a positive sense, how glorious it would be to go by your neighbor and say, "I bless you in the name of the Lord. Blessings be upon thee. I bless you in the name of the Lord." I think it's another good phrase to pick up on. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 129

God had delivered Israel from her enemies. The psalmist praised Him for doing so, and then asked Him to continue doing so, in this psalm of communal confidence.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

2. A petition for future deliverance 129:5-8

The psalmist encouraged the Israelite pilgrims to pray for continuing deliverance. The mention of Zion, the pilgrim’s destination, recalled the place where God dwelt, the most important place in Israel. Those who hated Zion would be hating and setting themselves against Yahweh. Grass and weed seeds often blew onto the flat roofs of the Israelites’ houses, but they did not flourish long because they had little soil in which to root. In Israel it was customary to greet someone by wishing God’s blessing on him or her (cf. Ruth 2:4). However, the psalmist prayed that Israel’s enemies would receive no such greeting.

God’s people should carefully thank Him for past deliverances, but should also continue to pray for His safekeeping in the future, since their enemies will continue to oppose and oppress them.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Let them be as the grass [upon] the housetops,.... The tops of the houses in Judea were flat, and so grass grew upon them, being covered with plaster of terrace; though it was but small and weak, and being on high was exposed to the scorching sun, and soon withered b; and Menochius says c he saw such roofs in the island of Corsica, flat, and having earth upon them, smoothed and pressed, on which grass grew of its own accord; but being burnt up in summertime by the sun, soon withered, as here said. But what Olaus Magnus d relates is somewhat extraordinary; that, in the northern Gothic countries, they feed their cattle on the tops of houses, especially in a time of siege; he describes their houses as built of stone, high and large, and covered with rafters of fir and bark of birch; upon which is laid grass earth, cut out of the fields foursquare, and sowed with barley or oats, so that their roofs look like green meadows; and that what is sown, and the grass that grows thereon, might not wither before plucked up, they very constantly and diligently water it; but in the eastern countries, which are hot, and have but little rain, grass could not retain its verdure long, as follows;

which withereth afore it groweth up; to any height, the usual height of grass: or, "before it is plucked up", as the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions; and so Jarchi. And this was their usual way of gathering in their corn; and which continues to this day, as Mr. Maundrell e affirms, who was an eyewitness to it in many places; where they plucked it up by handfuls from the roots, leaving the most fruitful fields as naked as if nothing had grown on them; and this they did for the sake of the straw, which was generally very short, and necessary for the sustenance of cattle; to which he thinks there is here a manifest allusion; but not corn, but grass, is here spoken of. The Targum is,

"before it flourisheth, an east wind cometh, blows upon it, and it is withered;''

and to the same purpose the Syriac version,

"which when the wind comes upon it, it fades and withers.''

This expresses the high and elevated state and condition of wicked men, the pride and haughtiness of their hearts; yet their weakness and frailty, and the danger they are exposed unto, through the wrath and vengeance of God upon them; when they consume and wither away like grass on the housetops, and never come to the happiness they are hoping and wishing for; see Isaiah 37:27.

b See Shaw's Travels, p. 210, 211. c De Republica Heb. l. 7. c. 5. p. 666. d De Ritu Gent. Septent. l. 9. c. 12. e Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 144. Ed. 7.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      5 Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion.   6 Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withereth afore it groweth up:   7 Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand; nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom.   8 Neither do they which go by say, The blessing of the LORD be upon you: we bless you in the name of the LORD.

      The psalmist, having triumphed in the defeat of the many designs that had been laid as deep as hell to ruin the church, here concludes his psalm as Deborah did her song, So let all thy enemies perish, O Lord!Judges 5:31.

      I. There are many that hate Zion, that hate Zion's God, his worship, and his worshippers, that have an antipathy to religion and religious people, that seek the ruin of both, and do what they can that God may not have a church in the world.

      II. We ought to pray that all their attempts against the church may be frustrated, that in them they may be confounded and turned back with shame, as those that have not been able to bring to pass their enterprise and expectation: Let them all be confounded is as much as, They shall be all confounded. The confusion imprecated and predicted is illustrated by a similitude; while God's people shall flourish as the loaded palm-tree, or the green and fruitful olive, their enemies shall wither as the grass upon the house-top. As men they are not to be feared, for they shall be made as grass, Isaiah 51:12. But as they are enemies to Zion they are so certainly marked for ruin that they may be looked upon with as much contempt as the grass on the house-tops, which is little, and short, and sour, and good for nothing. 1. It perishes quickly: It withers before it grows up to any maturity, having no root; and the higher its place is, which perhaps is its pride, the more it is exposed to the scorching heat of the sun, and consequently the sooner does it wither. It withers before it is plucked up, so some read it. The enemies of God's church wither of themselves, and stay not till they are rooted out by the judgments of God. 2. It is of no use to any body; nor are they any thing but the unprofitable burdens of the earth, nor will their attempts against Zion ever ripen or come to any head, nor, whatever they promise themselves, will they get any more by them than the husbandman does by the grass on his house-top. Their harvest will be a heap in the day of grief,Isaiah 17:11.

      III. No wise man will pray God to bless the mowers or reapers, Psalms 129:8; Psalms 129:8. Observe, 1. It has been an ancient and laudable custom not only to salute and wish a good day to strangers and travellers, but particularly to pray for the prosperity of harvest-labourers. Thus Boas prayed for his reapers. Ruth 2:4, The Lord be with you. We must thus acknowledge God's providence, testify our good-will to our neighbours, and commend their industry, and it will be accepted of God as a pious ejaculation if it come from a devout and upright heart. 2. Religious expressions, being sacred things, must never be made use of in light and ludicrous actions. Mowing the grass on the house-top would be a jest, and therefore those that have a reverence for the name of God will not prostitute to it the usual forms of salutation, which savoured of devotion; for holy things must not be jested with. 3. It is a dangerous thing to let the church's enemies have our good wishes in their designs against the church. If we wish them God speed, we are partakers of their evil deeds,2 John 1:11. When it is said, None will bless them, and show them respect, more is implied, namely, that all wise and good people will cry out shame on them, and beg of God to defeat them; and woe to those that have the prayers of the saints against them. I cursed his habitation,Job 5:3.