The Meaning of Psalms 80:6 Explained

Psalms 80:6

KJV: Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbours: and our enemies laugh among themselves.

YLT: Thou makest us a strife to our neighbours, And our enemies mock at it.

Darby: Thou hast made us a strife unto our neighbours, and our enemies mock among themselves.

ASV: Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbors; And our enemies laugh among themselves.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Thou makest  us a strife  unto our neighbours:  and our enemies  laugh  among themselves. 

What does Psalms 80:6 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalms 80:1-7 - "turn Us Again, O God"
The ten tribes were in captivity, and the hearts of their brethren, still living at Jerusalem under the reign of David's line, seem to have turned with great longing toward them. This psalm is full of intercession on their behalf. Three times, at the turning-points of the psalm, the refrain is repeated that God would turn them again and cause them to be saved, Psalms 80:3; Psalms 80:7; Psalms 80:19. Note the ascending climax: God; God of Hosts; Jehovah, God of Hosts.
In Jacob's blessing of Joseph, God is appealed to as Shepherd, Genesis 48:15; Genesis 49:24. To sit enthroned above the cherubim is an emblem of omnipotence. Notice how the gentleness of the Shepherd blends with His almightiness. In the Wilderness march the three great tribes of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh immediately followed the Ark, which was borne by the priests. This ancient litany surely befits the present condition of the Church, when she is rent by internal divisions, or infected with a spirit of skepticism and unable to exorcise the demons that possess society. Let us plead with God to enlighten us by His face and quicken us by His Spirit.' God must defend His cause, else there is no help for it. [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 80

1  The psalmist in his prayer complains of the miseries of the church
8  God's former favors are turned into judgments
14  He prays for deliverance

What do the individual words in Psalms 80:6 mean?

You have made us a strife to our neighbors and our enemies laugh among themselves
תְּשִׂימֵ֣נוּ מָ֭דוֹן לִשְׁכֵנֵ֑ינוּ וְ֝אֹיְבֵ֗ינוּ יִלְעֲגוּ־ לָֽמוֹ

תְּשִׂימֵ֣נוּ  You  have  made  us 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, second person masculine singular, first person common plural
Root: שׂוּמָה 
Sense: to put, place, set, appoint, make.
מָ֭דוֹן  a  strife 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: מָדֹון  
Sense: strife, contention.
לִשְׁכֵנֵ֑ינוּ  to  our  neighbors 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine plural construct, first person common plural
Root: שָׁכֵן  
Sense: inhabitant, neighbour.
וְ֝אֹיְבֵ֗ינוּ  and  our  enemies 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine plural construct, first person common plural
Root: אֹיֵב  
Sense: (Qal) enemy.
יִלְעֲגוּ־  laugh 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: לָעַג  
Sense: to mock, deride, ridicule.
לָֽמוֹ  among  themselves 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine plural