Psalm 106:46

Psalm 106:46, in plain English

God gave Israel favor with their captors, so even in exile and bondage, they found mercy and compassion from those who held them.

Why it's here

This is a remarkable detail—even in their punishment, God didn't leave them without grace. During the Babylonian exile, you see this played out when King Nebuchadnezzar eventually treated the Israelite exiles with respect, and later when Cyrus of Persia allowed them to return and rebuild the temple. God works even through foreign rulers to show His people compassion.

Who's speaking

The psalmist marveling at God's ability to work through any circumstance to show mercy.

Where it sits in the story

This anticipates the historical reality of how Israel's exile, while severe, wasn't genocide or complete annihilation. God preserved them, and their captors eventually became instruments of God's continued care—a picture of God's sovereignty working through all circumstances.

The scholarly reading

God moved the very nations holding Israel captive to show them compassion and mercy.

Language and setting

The term "objects of compassion" (לְרַחֲמִים, lerachamim) represents one of Scripture's most striking reversals—the oppressor nation becomes the vehicle through which divine mercy operates. Historically, this describes the actual experience under the Persian Empire, where Cyrus II's policies allowed Jewish exiles to return and rebuild the temple (Ezra 1:1-4). The Hebrew construction emphasizes that this compassion originated not from the nations' inherent virtue but from God's influence upon them (וַיְשִׁימֵם לְרַחֲמִים, vayesimem lerachamim—'He made them' or 'He set them' toward compassion). Philo of Alexandria, the Hellenistic Jewish philosopher, interpreted such texts as evidence that God's providence operated even within pagan political structures, an insight that would profoundly influence Christian theodicy regarding divine action in history.

Voice

The psalmist articulating the experience of divine intervention through unexpected historical channels, likely reflecting on the Persian restoration period.

Significance

This represents the historical and theological movement from exile toward restoration—the axis on which post-exilic Judaism turns. It finds its fulfillment in Ezra 1 and Nehemiah's rebuilding accounts and prefigures the New Testament's conviction that even Gentile rulers serve God's redemptive purposes (Romans 13:1-7, 1 Peter 2:13-17).

44Nevertheless He heard their cry; He took note of their distress.

45And He remembered His covenant with them, and relented by the abundance of His loving devotion.

46He made them objects of compassion to all who held them captive.

47Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from the nations, that we may give thanks to Your holy name, that we may glory in Your praise.

48Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Let all the people say, “Amen!” Hallelujah!

Read all of Psalm 106 — The other side of Psalm 105. Israel's history retold through the lens of rebellion — yet God saved them again and again for His name's sake.