Psalm 106 29

Psalm 106:29 kjv

Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions: and the plague brake in upon them.

Psalm 106:29 nkjv

Thus they provoked Him to anger with their deeds, And the plague broke out among them.

Psalm 106:29 niv

they aroused the LORD's anger by their wicked deeds, and a plague broke out among them.

Psalm 106:29 esv

they provoked the LORD to anger with their deeds, and a plague broke out among them.

Psalm 106:29 nlt

They angered the LORD with all these things,
so a plague broke out among them.

Psalm 106 verses

Psalm 106 29 Meaning

Psalm 106:29 details Israel's severe transgression at Baal Peor, explicitly stating that their actions deeply angered God. The direct consequence of their "inventions"—their sinful practices of idolatry and immorality—was the outbreak of a divinely sent plague among them, causing significant fatalities. This verse underscores God's holiness and His swift, righteous judgment against deliberate covenant breaking and spiritual infidelity.

Psalm 106 29 Context

Psalm 106 is a confessional psalm, recalling Israel's history of rebellion and God's persistent faithfulness. Verse 29 is part of a longer lament recounting specific instances where Israel rebelled against God during their wilderness wanderings and beyond. The immediate preceding verse, Psalm 106:28, explicitly describes the sin: "They yoked themselves to Baal of Peor, and ate sacrifices offered to the dead." This refers to the historical event recorded in Numbers 25, where the Israelites engaged in sexual immorality with Moabite and Midianite women and worshipped their gods, specifically Baal of Peor. This act was a profound betrayal of the covenant and a direct violation of the first two commandments, which forbade having other gods and idolatry. The psalm emphasizes Israel's consistent forgetfulness of God's wonders and their tendency to provoke Him, despite His long-suffering nature. The narrative sequence demonstrates that sin has immediate and severe consequences, leading directly to divine judgment.

Psalm 106 29 Word analysis

• Thus: Connects this verse as the direct result or consequence of the actions described in verse 28. It highlights the cause-and-effect relationship between Israel's sin and God's immediate response.
• they: Refers to the Israelites, specifically those who participated in the Baal Peor incident (Numbers 25).
• provoked Him: The Hebrew verb for "provoked" is ka'as (כָּעַס), meaning to vex, irritate, make angry. When applied to God, it signifies a profound disrespect and contempt for His holiness, covenant, and authority. It implies a deliberate and defiant act that rouses divine indignation. It is not merely annoyance but righteous wrath.
• to anger: This phrase intensifies the act of "provoking," emphasizing that their actions truly stirred up God's holy wrath. God's anger here is a manifestation of His righteous nature in response to sin, not an uncontrolled emotion.
• with their inventions: The Hebrew term here is b'ma'alelehem (בְּמַעֲלְלֵיהֶם). Ma'alalim (מַעֲלָלִים) refers to deeds, acts, or practices, often used in a negative sense, denoting wicked deeds, ill practices, or contrivances. In this context, it specifically refers to their idolatrous and immoral acts devised by human rebellion, like yoking themselves to Baal Peor and participating in ritual prostitution and sacrifices to false gods. It highlights the self-initiated nature of their sin, implying that these were not accidental missteps but deliberate deviations from God's commands, possibly involving cunning or deceptive practices in their pagan worship.
• and the plague: The Hebrew word for "plague" is magefah (מַגֵּפָה). This term is frequently used in the Old Testament for a divinely sent epidemic or pestilence, signifying God's direct judgment or affliction. It is not a natural disaster but a supernatural intervention.
• broke out: The Hebrew verb for "broke out" is parats (פָּרַץ), meaning to break forth, burst out, or spread rapidly. It conveys the idea of an unleashed force, emphasizing the suddenness, intensity, and uncontrollable nature of the divine judgment once it began. It vividly describes the swift and widespread devastation.
• among them: Indicates that the plague afflicted the Israelites directly, specifically those involved in the sin or among the larger community as a consequence of their corporate sin.

Psalm 106 29 Bonus section

The Hebrew word ma'alalim (rendered "inventions") carries a strong sense of misdoing or wicked practice. It appears elsewhere, such as in Psalm 14:1 ("They have done abominable deeds" where "deeds" is ma'alalim) or Hosea 9:15 ("Because of the evil of their deeds"). This further underscores that their "inventions" were not harmless deviations but offensive acts, carefully chosen in rebellion against God. The association of "eating sacrifices offered to the dead" (v.28) and the subsequent plague in v.29 highlights the abhorrence of necromancy and demon worship in God's eyes, an act of spiritual prostitution where Israel gave its loyalty and worship to dead idols instead of the living God. The judgment through plague reflects a recurring pattern in the Bible where divine justice against corporate sin manifests in widespread pestilence (e.g., Exod 9, 1 Chr 21). This specific instance became a paradigmatic example cited later by New Testament writers like Paul (1 Cor 10:8) to warn believers against similar temptations of immorality and idolatry.

Psalm 106 29 Commentary

Psalm 106:29 serves as a stark reminder of the direct and severe consequences of provoking a holy God through deliberate disobedience, particularly idolatry and spiritual impurity. The use of "provoked Him to anger with their inventions" signifies not merely accidental transgression but a calculated rejection of God's exclusive claim on their worship. Their "inventions" were their self-devised practices contrary to God's revealed will, highlighting the human propensity to depart from divine truth for corrupt alternatives. The phrase emphasizes the deliberate and even imaginative nature of their sin, demonstrating a creative defiance against God's law. This was spiritual adultery, an intimate betrayal of their covenant with YHWH, depicted as a "yoking" to a foreign deity. The swift outbreak of the magefah (plague) vividly demonstrates that God's justice is neither slow nor indifferent to sin. It signifies immediate, supernatural intervention, designed both as punishment and as a stark warning. This historical event at Baal Peor, involving 24,000 deaths (Num 25:9), underscores the holiness and righteousness of God, affirming that while He is patient, He is also absolutely just in responding to blatant rebellion. The incident highlights the peril of spiritual compromise and the dire consequences of neglecting God's warnings about idol worship and immorality, a lesson that resonated through Israel's history and finds echoes in New Testament admonitions against similar sins.