Psalms 102:20

Psa 102:20 To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death;

Ver. 20. To hear the groaning of the prisoner] Those prisoners of hope held so long captive in Babylon, the cruelty whereof is graphically described, Jer 51:34.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

21. (Psa 102:20) To hear the groaning of the prisoner, to loose the sons of mortality. The construction is continued from the foregoing verse, and the design of God's thus looking down is stated. The word translated groaning is almost peculiar to the Psalms of David, and according to its etymology properly denotes suffocation. To loose, literally to open, sometimes applied to the opening of a dress for the purpose of removing it, as in Psa 30:11; then to the loosening of chains, as in Psa 116:16; then to the deliverance of the prisoner himself. Sons of mortality or death, i.e., those doomed to die. See above, on Psa 79:11.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Who now in their banishment could look for nothing but death.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 20. To hear the groaning] By sin, all the inhabitants of the earth are miserable. They have broken the Divine laws, are under the arrest of judgment, and all cast into prison. They have been tried, found guilty, and appointed to die; they groan under their chains, are alarmed at the prospect of death, and implore mercy.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

20. To hear the groaning of the prisoner Here the prophet repeats once more what he had previously touched upon concerning prayer, in order again to stir up the hearts of the godly to engage in that exercise, and that after their deliverance they might know it to have been granted to their faith, because, depending on the divine promises, they had sent up their groanings to heaven. He calls them prisoners; for although they were not bound in fetters, their captivity resembled a most rigorous imprisonment. Yea, he affirms a little after that they were devoted to death, to give them to understand that their life and safety would have been altogether hopeless, had they not been delivered from death by the extraordinary power of God.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(20, 21) Comp. Isa_61:1-2, and generally the whole magnificent cycle of prophetic songs at the close of Isaiah.

Appointed to death.—See margin. LXX. and Vulg., “the sons of the slain.”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20. An echo of the prayer in Psa_79:11. Cp. Isa_42:7; Isa_61:1. Israel in exile is compared to a condemned captive languishing in prison, and doomed to perish if Jehovah does not speedily interpose.

the groaning of the prisoner] R.V. the sighing of the prisoner, as in Psa_79:11.

those that are appointed to death] Lit. the sons of death. Cp. 1Sa_20:31 (marg.). The word for death is a form found only here and in Psa_79:11.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

To declare the name of the Lord in Zion,.... That is, that the prisoners and persons appointed to death, being loosed, might declare, in the church, what great things the Lord has done for them; and so speak well of his wisdom, power, grace, and goodness, in their deliverance; profess his name, and confess him before men, and express a value for his name, and show forth the honour of it, and seek his glory:

and his praise in Jerusalem; the Gospel church state, the same with Zion; when it shall be the praise of the whole earth; then and there will those, that are delivered from the antichristian yoke, praise the Lord, sing the song of Moses and the Lamb, and glorify God for all that he has done for them.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

To hear the groaning of the prisoner - Meaning here, probably, the captives in Babylon; those who were held as prisoners there, and who were subjected to such hardships in their long captivity. See the notes at Psa 79:11.

To loose those that are appointed to death - Margin, as in Hebrew, “the children of death.” Compare the notes at Mat 1:1. This may mean either those who were sentenced to death; those who were sick and ready to die; or those who, in their captivity, were in such a state of privation and suffering that death appeared inevitable. The word rendered “loose” means, properly, to “open,” applied to the mouth, for eating, Eze 3:2; or in song, Psa 78:2; or for speaking, Job 3:1; - or the ear, Isa 50:5; or the hand, Deu 15:8; or the gates of a city, a door, etc., Deu 20:11. Them it means to set free, as by opening the doors of a prison, Isa 14:17; Job 12:14. Here it means to “set free,” to deliver. Compare Isa 61:1.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

To release his poor captives out of Babylon, and, which is more, from the chains and fetters of sin and Satan, and from eternal destruction.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ver. 20. Appointed unto death. Who, in their captivity, are experiencing so much affliction, that it is manifest their cruel enemies are desirous of destroying them utterly; or, at least, of bringing them into such a low and pitiable state, as to blot out their name from among the nations of the earth. William Keatinge Clay.

Psalms 102:21*

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

20. To loose those that are appointed to death—Hebrew, the sons of death. They were rescued from under the “death” sentence. Same as Psa_79:11. So imminent was the danger and opportune the help!

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

To hear the groaning of the prisoner. (see Exo_2:24, "God heard their groaning;" and comp. Exo_3:7 Exo_6:5) To loose those that are appointed to death; literally, the sons of death. (comp. Psa_79:11) Captive Israel regarded its life in Babylon as little better than death. (see Eze_37:11)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

To loose - To release his poor captives out of Babylon, and from the chains of sin and eternal destruction.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

looked...to earth to see the affliction of His people.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.