The Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 120:5

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech. This is scarcely to be understood literally. Israel never "sojourned in Mesech," i.e. among the Moschi, who dwelt in Cappadocia, nor dwelt among the tents of Kedar, a people of Northern Arabia.

The writer means that he dwells among hostile and barbarous people, who are to him as Kedar and Mesech. Possibly the Samaritans and Ammonites are intended. That I dwell in the tents of Kedar; rather, among the tents (see the Revised Version).

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