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<a href="/commentaries/calvin/psalms/107.htm" title="Calvin's Commentaries">Calvin</a> • <a href="/commentaries/cambridge/psalms/107.htm" title="Cambridge Bible">Cambridge</a> • <a href="/commentaries/clarke/psalms/107.htm" title="Clarke's Commentary">Clarke</a> • <a href="/commentaries/darby/psalms/107.htm" title="Darby's Bible Synopsis">Darby</a> • <a href="/commentaries/ellicott/psalms/107.htm" title="Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers">Ellicott</a> • <a href="/commentaries/expositors/psalms/107.htm" title="Expositor's Bible">Expositor's</a> • <a href="/commentaries/edt/psalms/107.htm" title="Expositor's Dictionary">Exp Dct</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gaebelein/psalms/107.htm" title="Gaebelein's Annotated Bible">Gaebelein</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gsb/psalms/107.htm" title="Geneva Study Bible">GSB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gill/psalms/107.htm" title="Gill's Bible Exposition">Gill</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gray/psalms/107.htm" title="Gray's Concise">Gray</a> • <a href="/commentaries/guzik/psalms/107.htm" title="Guzik Bible Commentary">Guzik</a> • <a href="/commentaries/haydock/psalms/107.htm" title="Haydock Catholic Bible Commentary">Haydock</a> • <a href="/commentaries/hastings/psalms/106-15.htm" title="Hastings Great Texts">Hastings</a> • <a href="/commentaries/homiletics/psalms/107.htm" title="Pulpit Homiletics">Homiletics</a> • <a href="/commentaries/jfb/psalms/107.htm" title="Jamieson-Fausset-Brown">JFB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/kad/psalms/107.htm" title="Keil and Delitzsch OT">KD</a> • <a href="/commentaries/kelly/psalms/107.htm" title="Kelly Commentary">Kelly</a> • <a href="/commentaries/king-en/psalms/107.htm" title="Kingcomments Bible Studies">King</a> • <a href="/commentaries/lange/psalms/107.htm" title="Lange Commentary">Lange</a> • <a href="/commentaries/maclaren/psalms/107.htm" title="MacLaren Expositions">MacLaren</a> • <a href="/commentaries/mhc/psalms/107.htm" title="Matthew Henry Concise">MHC</a> • <a href="/commentaries/mhcw/psalms/107.htm" title="Matthew Henry Full">MHCW</a> • <a href="/commentaries/parker/psalms/107.htm" title="The People's Bible by Joseph Parker">Parker</a> • <a href="/commentaries/poole/psalms/107.htm" title="Matthew Poole">Poole</a> • <a href="/commentaries/pulpit/psalms/107.htm" title="Pulpit Commentary">Pulpit</a> • <a href="/commentaries/sermon/psalms/107.htm" title="Sermon Bible">Sermon</a> • <a href="/commentaries/sco/psalms/107.htm" title="Scofield Reference Notes">SCO</a> • <a href="/commentaries/ttb/psalms/107.htm" title="Through The Bible">TTB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/tod/psalms/107.htm" title="Treasury of David">TOD</a> • <a href="/commentaries/wes/psalms/107.htm" title="Wesley's Notes">WES</a> • <a href="#tsk" title="Treasury of Scripture Knowledge">TSK</a></div><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="comtype">EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)</div><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/ellicott/psalms/107.htm">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</a></div>(34) <span class= "bld">Barrenness.</span>—Better, <span class= "ital">a salt marsh, </span>as in LXX. and Vulg. (See <a href="/job/39-6.htm" title="Whose house I have made the wilderness, and the barren land his dwellings.">Job 39:6</a>.)<p><a name="mhc" id="mhc"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/mhc/psalms/107.htm">Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary</a></div>107:33-43 What surprising changes are often made in the affairs of men! Let the present desolate state of Judea, and of other countries, explain this. If we look abroad in the world, we see many greatly increase, whose beginning was small. We see many who have thus suddenly risen, as suddenly brought to nothing. Worldly wealth is uncertain; often those who are filled with it, ere they are aware, lose it again. God has many ways of making men poor. The righteous shall rejoice. It shall fully convince all those who deny the Divine Providence. When sinners see how justly God takes away the gifts they have abused, they will not have a word to say. It is of great use to us to be fully assured of God's goodness, and duly affected with it. It is our wisdom to mind our duty, and to refer our comfort to him. A truly wise person will treasure in his heart this delightful psalm. From it, he will fully understand the weakness and wretchedness of man, and the power and loving-kindness of God, not for our merit, but for his mercy's sake.<a name="bar" id="bar"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/barnes/psalms/107.htm">Barnes' Notes on the Bible</a></div>A fruitful land - Hebrew, A land of fruit. That is, a land that would produce abundance. The word "fruit" here is not used in the limited sense in which we now employ it, but means any productions of the earth.<p>Into barrenness - Margin, as in Hebrew, "saltness." The word is used to denote a barren soil, because where salt "abounds" the soil "is" barren. Thus it is around the Dead Sea. Compare <a href="/job/39-6.htm">Job 39:6</a>; <a href="/jeremiah/17-6.htm">Jeremiah 17:6</a>. See also Virg. Geor. II. 238, "Salsa ... tellus - frugibus infelix;" Pliny, Hist. Nat. 31. 7; Bochart, Hieroz. t. i., p. 872.<p>For the wickedness of them that dwell therein - As he overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah; probably alluding to that. <a name="jfb" id="jfb"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/jfb/psalms/107.htm">Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary</a></div>33-41. He turneth rivers into a wilderness, &c.—God's providence is illustriously displayed in His influence on two great elements of human prosperity, the earth's productiveness and the powers of government. He punishes the wicked by destroying the sources of fertility, or, in mercy, gives fruitfulness to deserts, which become the homes of a busy and successful agricultural population. By a permitted misrule and tyranny, this scene of prosperity is changed to one of adversity. He rules rulers, setting up one and putting down another.<div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/poole/psalms/107.htm">Matthew Poole's Commentary</a></div> <span class="bld">Into barrenness, </span> Heb. <span class="ital">into saltness</span>, which procures barrenness. See <span class="bld"><a href="/deuteronomy/29-23.htm" title="And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor bears, nor any grass grows therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:">Deu 29:23</a> <a href="/judges/9-45.htm" title="And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and slew the people that was therein, and beat down the city, and sowed it with salt.">Judges 9:45</a></span>. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">For the wickedness of them that dwell therein; </span> he doth not inflict these judgments by choice, or without cause, but for the punishment of sin in some, and the prevention of it in others. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="gil" id="gil"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/gill/psalms/107.htm">Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible</a></div>A fruitful land into barrenness,.... Or, "into saltness" (t); as Sodom and the land adjacent became a salt sea; and the land of Canaan was threatened to become brimstone, salt and burning, like Sodom; in which nothing was sown, and which bore no grass; see <a href="/genesis/14-3.htm">Genesis 14:3</a> and so the Targum, <p>"the land of Israel, which brought forth fruit, he hath destroyed, as Sodom was overthrown.'' <p>For the wickedness of them that dwell therein; this was the cause of the overthrow of Sodom, and of the destruction of that fine country, as also of Canaan afterwards; see <a href="/genesis/13-13.htm">Genesis 13:13</a>. The very Heathens had a notion that barrenness and unfruitfulness in countries were owing to the sins of men; hence the sterility and famine at Mycenas were attributed to the wickedness of Atreus (u). This may figuratively be understood of the present state and condition of the Jews; who were once a people well watered with the word and ordinances, and had the first preaching of the Gospel among them; but, rejecting and despising it, are now become like a desert, barren and unfruitful in the knowledge of divine things: and it might be illustrated by the case of several Christian churches; the seven churches of Asia, and others, once as well watered gardens, but now are no more; and the places where they stood are destitute of spiritual knowledge, and the means of it. <p>(t) "in salsuginem", Pagninus, Montanus, Musculus, Vatablus, Piscator, Gejerus, Michaelis; so Junius & Tremellius; "in salsam", Cocceius. (u) Hygin. Fab. 88. <a name="gsb" id="gsb"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/gsb/psalms/107.htm">Geneva Study Bible</a></div><span class="cverse2">A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein.</span></div></div><div id="centbox"><div class="padcent"><div class="comtype">EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)</div><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/cambridge/psalms/107.htm">Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges</a></div><span class="bld">34</span>. <span class="ital">barrenness</span>] A salt desert (<a href="/jeremiah/17-6.htm" title="For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good comes; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.">Jeremiah 17:6</a>) like Sodom and Gomorrha, <a href="/deuteronomy/29-23.htm" title="And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor bears, nor any grass grows therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:">Deuteronomy 29:23</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="pul" id="pul"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/pulpit/psalms/107.htm">Pulpit Commentary</a></div><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 34.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">A fruitful land into barrenness</span>; literally, into <span class="accented">saltness</span>. The judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah is probably in the writer's mind. <span class="cmt_word">For the wickedness of them that dwell therein</span>. God does not capriciously withdraw his blessings from a land. If he turns a fruitful land into a barren one, we may be sure that the inhabitants have provoked him by their sins. Psalm 107:34<a name="kad" id="kad"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/kad/psalms/107.htm">Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament</a></div>Since in <a href="/psalms/107-36.htm">Psalm 107:36</a> the historical narration is still continued, a meaning relating to the contemporaneous past is also retrospectively given to the two correlative ישׂם. It now goes on to tell what those who have now returned have observed and experienced in their own case. <a href="/psalms/107-33.htm">Psalm 107:33</a> sounds like <a href="/isaiah/50-2.htm">Isaiah 50:2</a>; <a href="/psalms/107-33.htm">Psalm 107:33</a> like <a href="/isaiah/35-7.htm">Isaiah 35:7</a>; and <a href="/psalms/107-35.htm">Psalm 107:35</a> takes its rise from <a href="/isaiah/41-18.htm">Isaiah 41:18</a>. The juxtaposition of מוצאי and צמּאון, since <a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/8-15.htm">Deuteronomy 8:15</a>, belongs to the favourite antithetical alliterations, e.g., <a href="/isaiah/61-3.htm">Isaiah 61:3</a>. מלחה, that which is salty (lxx cf. Sir. 39:23: ἅλμη), is, as in <a href="http://biblehub.com/job/39-6.htm">Job 39:6</a>, the name for the uncultivated, barren steppe. A land that has been laid waste for the punishment of its inhabitants has very often been changed into flourishing fruitful fields under the hands of a poor and grateful generation; and very often a land that has hitherto lain uncultivated and to all appearance absolutely unprofitable has developed an unexpected fertility. The exiles to whom Jeremiah writes, <a href="/psalms/29-5.htm">Psalm 29:5</a> : Build ye houses and settle down, and plant gardens and eat their fruit, may frequently have experienced this divine blessing. Their industry and their knowledge also did their part, but looked at in a right light, it was not their own work but God's work that their settlement prospered, and that they continually spread themselves wider and possessed a not small, i.e., (cf. <a href="/2_kings/4-3.htm">2 Kings 4:3</a>) a very large, stock of cattle. <div class="vheading2">Links</div><a href="/interlinear/psalms/107-34.htm">Psalm 107:34 Interlinear</a><br /><a href="/texts/psalms/107-34.htm">Psalm 107:34 Parallel Texts</a><br /><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/niv/psalms/107-34.htm">Psalm 107:34 NIV</a><br /><a href="/nlt/psalms/107-34.htm">Psalm 107:34 NLT</a><br /><a href="/esv/psalms/107-34.htm">Psalm 107:34 ESV</a><br /><a href="/nasb/psalms/107-34.htm">Psalm 107:34 NASB</a><br /><a href="/kjv/psalms/107-34.htm">Psalm 107:34 KJV</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="http://bibleapps.com/psalms/107-34.htm">Psalm 107:34 Bible Apps</a><br /><a href="/psalms/107-34.htm">Psalm 107:34 Parallel</a><br /><a href="http://bibliaparalela.com/psalms/107-34.htm">Psalm 107:34 Biblia Paralela</a><br /><a href="http://holybible.com.cn/psalms/107-34.htm">Psalm 107:34 Chinese Bible</a><br /><a href="http://saintebible.com/psalms/107-34.htm">Psalm 107:34 French Bible</a><br /><a href="http://bibeltext.com/psalms/107-34.htm">Psalm 107:34 German Bible</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/">Bible Hub</a><br /></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="mdd"><div align="center"><div class="bot2"><table align="center" width="100%"><tr><td align="center"><div align="center"> <script id="3d27ed63fc4348d5b062c4527ae09445"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=51ce25d5-1a8c-424a-8695-4bd48c750f35&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script> <script id="b817b7107f1d4a7997da1b3c33457e03"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=cb0edd8b-b416-47eb-8c6d-3cc96561f7e8&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-2'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-0' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-3'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-1' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div align="center" id='div-gpt-ad-1531425649696-0'> </div><br /><br /> <script type="text/javascript"> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script><br /><br /> </div> <div id="left"><a href="../psalms/107-33.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Psalm 107:33"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Psalm 107:33" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../psalms/107-35.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Psalm 107:35"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Psalm 107:35" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div> <div id="bot"><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhnew2.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></td></tr></table></div></body></html>