תהלים, פרק קכ״ט, פסוק ג׳

A vivid and harsh picture of suffering, oppression, and deep humiliation emerges when a persecuted nation is compared to a field being brutally plowed. The primary approach among commentators is to view this imagery as a metaphor for a heavy yoke, continuous enslavement, and profound disgrace. The Israelites are trampled under the feet of their enemies, humiliated as if their very bodies are laid flat like level ground [אבן עזרא, מאירי]. The physical back of the victim becomes the soil itself [מצודת ציון, מלבי״ם]. Because the Israelites lack the protection of a fortified city, they are exposed like an open field without natural barriers, allowing the enemy to plow through them without hindrance [מלבי״ם], almost as if the oppressors are cutting directly into their flesh [ביאור שטיינזלץ].

The imagery of the furrow, the long trench cut into the earth [רש״י, רד״ק, מצודת ציון], highlights the grueling duration and intensity of this pain. Usually, oxen pulling a plow are allowed a brief moment of rest when they reach the edge of a field. By lengthening the furrow, the oppressors extend the burden indefinitely, refusing to grant the Israelites even a single moment of relief from their hard labor [רד״ק, מאירי, מצודת דוד]. Ultimately, God will remove this suffering from their shoulders and break the power of the enemy, ensuring they can no longer continue their abuse [אבן עזרא].

Alongside this metaphorical explanation, a Midrashic tradition connects the plowing imagery directly to the historical period of slavery in Egypt. According to this view, Hebrew women would secretly give birth to their children out in the fields. When the Egyptians arrived to murder the newborns, a miracle occurred, and the earth swallowed the infants to hide them. In a ruthless attempt to kill them anyway, the Egyptians brought oxen to plow directly over the ground where the children were concealed [תורה תמימה, אלשיך]. The oppressors did not stop at a single pass. They returned and plowed the exact same spot a second time, digging deeper into the soil to ensure the blades would strike the buried babies. They also extended their furrows, fearing the infants might be hiding further down the line. Despite these cruel efforts, God protected the children underground, miraculously providing them with food, until they finally sprouted and emerged from the earth like growing grass [תורה תמימה, אלשיך].