Psalms 79:11Let the sighing of the prisoner come before you. According to the greatness of your power, preserve those who are sentenced to death.
The setting
Jerusalem, Israel, ~586 BC. Hebrew survivors are chained, awaiting execution or slavery. Their groans rise to heaven...
The emotion here: witnessing friends face death while pleading for divine intervention
The original word
anāqāh (אֲנָקָה) — deep groaning from physical pain and emotional anguish
Why it matters
Babylonians typically executed surviving nobles and priests after conquering a city
Read with care
What most readers miss in Psalms 79:11
The 'sighing' is literally the death rattle of the condemned
Common misconceptionPeople read this as metaphorical 'prison' of sin, but it's literal—people chained and condemned to execution. The psalmist is begging God to save actual prisoners facing death.
The thread continues
Verses that echo Psalms 79:11
Bible Genome reading
Psalms 79:11 — Bible Genome reading
Emotional genome
Psalms 79:11 comes from the book of Psalms, written during the United Kingdom period. These words are attributed to Asaph. The dominant emotion in this verse is seeking, with a comfort power of 60% and a tone that is urgent. It belongs to the psalm genre of biblical literature. Key themes include imprisonment, death sentence, divine power, deliverance. Notable phrases: sighing of the prisoner; sentenced to death; greatness of your power. This verse is a prayer.
Emotionally similar
Verses that meet the same seeking
“Pray without ceasing.”
— 1 Thessalonians 5:17
“But let justice roll on like rivers, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
— Amos 5:24
“Be it far from you to do things like that, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be like the wicked. May that …”
— Genesis 18:25
“Call to me, and I will answer you, and will show you great things, and difficult, which you don't know.”
— Jeremiah 33:3
“Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evi…”
— Luke 11:4
Your reflection
What does Psalms 79:11 mean to you, today?
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