Psalms 74:7

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

¹A Maskil of Asaph. Why have You rejected us forever, O God? Why does Your anger smolder against the sheep of Your pasture? ²Remember Your congregation, which You purchased long ago and redeemed as the tribe of Your inheritance-Mount Zion where You dwell. ³Turn Your steps to the everlasting ruins, to everything in the sanctuary the enemy has destroyed. ⁴Your foes have roared within Your meeting place; they have unfurled their banners as signs, ⁵like men wielding axes, in a thicket of trees, ⁶and smashing all the carved work with hatchets and picks. ⁷They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground; they have defiled the dwelling place of Your Name.⁸They said in their hearts, "We will crush them completely." They burned down every place where God met us in the land. ⁹There are no signs for us to see. There is no longer any prophet. And none of us knows how long this will last. ¹⁰How long, O God, will the enemy taunt You? Will the foe revile Your name forever?

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

cast fire into thy sanctuary: Heb. sent thy sanctuary into the fire, 2 Kings 25:9, Isaiah 64:11, Matthew 22:7

defiled: Psalms 89:39, Ezekiel 24:21

dwelling: Exodus 20:24, Deuteronomy 12:5, 1 Kings 8:20

Reciprocal: Psalms 79:1 - holy Psalms 83:12 - General Jeremiah 19:13 - defiled Haggai 1:4 - and

Gill's Notes on the Bible

They have cast fire into thy sanctuary,.... Or, "thy sanctuary into the fire" o; which denotes the utter destruction of it by fire, which was done both by the Chaldean and Roman armies; see

2 Kings 25:9,

they have defiled, by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground, or "to the earth they have defiled the habitation of thy name" p; that is, to the last and lowest degree; this Antiochus did when he set up an idol in the temple, and Titus when he laid it level with the ground, not leaving one stone upon another, as our Lord predicted, Matthew 24:1 the aggravation of which was, that it was the place where the Lord had put his name, where his name was called upon, and where was the symbol of his presence.

o באש מקדשך "in ignem sanctuaria tua", Pagninus, Vatablus; so Cocceius, Gejerus, Michaelis. p לארץ חללו משכן שמך "ad terram usque prophanarunt tabernaculum, vel habitationem nominis tui", Musculus, Gejerus, Michaelis; so Cocceius.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

They have cast fire into thy sanctuary - Into the temple to destroy it. Literally, “They have cast thy sanctuary into the fire.” The meaning is, that they had burned it down. This was actually done by the Chaldeans, 2 Kings 25:9; 2 Chronicles 36:19.

They have defiled by casting down the dwelling-place of thy name to the ground - The place where thy name dwelt or was recorded Exodus 20:24; that is, the place where God’s name was known, or where he was worshipped. The literal meaning is, “To the earth they have defiled the dwelling of thy name?” The idea is, that they had defiled or polluted the temple by throwing it to the ground; by making it a heap of ruins; by making it undistinguishable from common earth.