Psalms 109:14

KJV

Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the LORD; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.

KJV (with Strong's)

Let the iniquity {H5771} of his fathers {H1} be remembered {H2142} with the LORD {H3068}; and let not the sin {H2403} of his mother {H517} be blotted out {H4229}.

Complete Jewish Bible

May the wrongs of his ancestors be remembered by ADONAI, and may the sin of his mother not be erased;

Berean Standard Bible

May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, and the sin of his mother never be blotted out.

American Standard Version

Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with Jehovah; And let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.

Commentary

### SUMMARY
Psalms 109:14 is a potent imprecatory plea within a psalm of lament, where the psalmist, deeply distressed by malicious adversaries, calls upon God to remember and hold accountable the iniquity of his enemy's ancestors. This verse expresses an intense desire for divine justice, asking that the accumulated generational sin of the foe not be forgotten or forgiven by the Lord, but rather brought to bear in their judgment, reflecting a raw cry for retribution in the face of profound betrayal and injustice.

### CONTEXT
* **Literary Context:** Psalm 109 stands as one of the most intense imprecatory psalms, alongside others like [Psalm 35](/psalms/35 "Psalm 35 - A Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies") and [Psalm 69](/psalms/69 "Psalm 69 - A Cry of Distress and a Plea for Deliverance"). The psalm begins with a desperate cry for God's intervention (verses 1-5), detailing the psalmist's suffering at the hands of slanderous and deceitful enemies who return evil for good. The core of the psalm (verses 6-19) then shifts into a series of vivid curses and petitions for divine judgment against a specific adversary, often referred to as "the wicked" or "my accuser." This section is characterized by a profound sense of injustice and a fervent appeal for God to act as the ultimate righteous judge. The psalmist is not merely expressing personal vengeance but appealing to God's covenantal justice, trusting that the Lord will vindicate the innocent and punish the wicked. The psalm concludes with a renewed expression of trust in God's deliverance and praise for His faithfulness (verses 20-31), demonstrating that even in the darkest moments of human anguish and the most severe imprecations, the psalmist's ultimate hope rests in the Lord.
* **Historical & Cultural Context:** The ancient Near Eastern world, including ancient Israel, understood sin and its consequences not solely in individualistic terms but also within a framework of corporate and generational responsibility. While later biblical texts like [Ezekiel 18](/ezekiel/18 "Ezekiel 18 - Individual Responsibility") emphasize individual accountability, the concept that the iniquity of fathers could affect future generations was present, particularly in covenant curses and blessings (e.g., [Exodus 20:5](/exodus/20-5 "Exodus 20:5 - Consequences of Idolatry")). This perspective does not imply that God punishes innocent descendants for their ancestors' sins, but rather that the patterns of sin, the consequences of unrighteous actions, and the societal structures shaped by such iniquity could indeed ripple through generations. The psalmist's plea in [Psalms 109:14](/psalms/109-14 "Psalms 109:14 - A Plea for Generational Accountability") reflects this cultural understanding, appealing for a comprehensive judgment that considers the full scope of the enemy's unrighteousness, including their ancestral lineage. Furthermore, imprecatory psalms often functioned as legal appeals, bringing a case before the divine Judge when human justice systems failed, underscoring the belief that God alone could deliver perfect justice.
* **Key Themes:** The verse significantly contributes to several overarching themes within Psalm 109 and the broader Psalter. Firstly, it powerfully articulates the theme of **Divine Justice and Retribution**. The psalmist's fervent appeal for God to "remember" the iniquity of the enemy's lineage underscores a deep-seated conviction that God is a righteous judge who sees all wrongdoing and will ultimately bring about a just reckoning. This is not a call for human vengeance but a desperate cry for God's intervention to uphold cosmic order. Secondly, the verse highlights the complex theme of **Generational Consequences of Sin**. By invoking "the iniquity of his fathers" and "the sin of his mother," the psalmist taps into the ancient understanding that patterns of sin and their resultant curses could extend beyond the individual, impacting their descendants. While balanced by later prophetic emphasis on individual responsibility (e.g., [Jeremiah 31:29-30](/jeremiah/31-29 "Jeremiah 31:29-30 - Individual Accountability in the New Covenant")), this plea reflects a desire for the full weight of the enemy's unrighteous heritage to be considered in their judgment. Lastly, [Psalms 109:14](/psalms/109-14 "Psalms 109:14 - The Nature of Imprecatory Prayer") exemplifies the **Nature of Imprecatory Prayer** itself. These psalms provide a divinely sanctioned outlet for intense human suffering, anger, and a longing for justice in a world often marked by profound injustice. They are raw, honest expressions of pain and a desperate appeal to God as the only one capable of righting wrongs, rather than prescriptive commands for believers to curse their enemies.

### EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
#### Key Word Analysis
* **Iniquity (Hebrew, _'avon'_):** This term (עָוֹן) carries a rich semantic range, encompassing not merely a mistake or an accidental wrong, but a deliberate perversion, a twisting of what is right, and the resultant guilt or punishment for such sin. It implies a moral deviation, often with a sense of rebellion or willful transgression against God's law or righteous standards. In the context of Psalms 109:14, the psalmist is not asking God to remember a minor misstep, but a deep-seated, active rebellion that characterizes the enemy and their lineage.
* **Remembered (Hebrew, _zakhar'_):** The Hebrew word (זָכַר) for "remembered" in a biblical context is far more active than simply recalling a past event. When God "remembers," it implies an active engagement, a bringing to mind for the purpose of acting, intervening, or fulfilling a promise or judgment. Here, the psalmist is pleading for God to actively recall and act upon the ancestral sins of the enemy, bringing their consequences to bear in the present judgment, rather than overlooking or forgetting them.
* **Blotted out (Hebrew, _machah'_):** This verb (מָחָה) means to wipe away, erase, obliterate, or utterly destroy. It is often used in contexts of divine forgiveness, where God promises to "blot out" the sins of His repentant people, signifying a complete removal and non-remembrance (e.g., [Isaiah 43:25](/isaiah/43-25 "Isaiah 43:25 - God Blots Out Transgressions")). In Psalms 109:14, the psalmist's plea is the inverse: that the enemy's sin, particularly that of their mother, would *not* be erased but would remain vividly before God's judgment, ensuring full accountability.

#### Verse Breakdown
* **"Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the LORD;":** This clause opens the imprecation by invoking the concept of generational sin. The psalmist desires that the accumulated moral perversion and guilt of the enemy's ancestors be brought to God's active remembrance. This is a plea for divine justice to consider the full historical weight of unrighteousness associated with the adversary, suggesting a pattern of rebellion or opposition to God's ways that extends through their lineage. The phrase "with the LORD" emphasizes that this remembrance is not a human act of holding a grudge, but a divine act of judicial reckoning.
* **"and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.":** This parallel clause reinforces and intensifies the previous petition. By specifically mentioning the "sin of his mother," the psalmist broadens the scope of the desired judgment to include both paternal and maternal lines, ensuring a comprehensive accounting of the enemy's heritage of wrongdoing. The plea that this sin not be "blotted out" is a stark contrast to God's gracious promise to blot out the sins of the repentant. Here, the psalmist desires the opposite for the enemy—that their sins remain unforgotten, unforgiven, and fully present before God for judgment. This highlights the severity of the psalmist's anguish and the depth of the perceived injustice.

#### Literary Devices
Psalms 109:14 employs several powerful literary devices to convey its intense message. **Parallelism** is evident in the structure of the verse, with the two clauses mirroring each other in form and intensifying the request: "Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered" is paralleled by "let not the sin of his mother be blotted out." This specific type of parallelism is often called **antithetical parallelism** in its spiritual implication, as it expresses the *opposite* of God's usual gracious act of blotting out sin for His people, thus amplifying the severity of the desired judgment. The verse also utilizes **Imprecation** as its primary rhetorical mode, a direct address to God requesting harm or judgment upon an enemy. This is a characteristic feature of the genre of imprecatory psalms, serving as an outlet for intense suffering and a plea for divine justice. Furthermore, there is an element of **Personification** in the way "iniquity" and "sin" are treated as entities that can be "remembered" or "blotted out" by God, giving them a tangible presence before the divine court. The intensity of the language also borders on **Hyperbole**, reflecting the psalmist's extreme distress and the depth of the perceived betrayal, using strong, vivid terms to express a profound longing for comprehensive justice.

### THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Psalms 109:14, with its plea for generational accountability, stands in a complex theological tension with other biblical teachings. While the Old Testament does acknowledge the concept of corporate solidarity and the potential for the consequences of sin to ripple through generations (e.g., the ten commandments in [Exodus 20:5](/exodus/20-5 "Exodus 20:5 - Consequences of Idolatry")), later prophetic books, particularly Ezekiel and Jeremiah, emphasize a strong shift towards individual accountability, stating that "The soul who sins will die" ([Ezekiel 18:20](/ezekiel/18-20 "Ezekiel 18:20 - Individual Responsibility")). This development highlights a progression in revelation, clarifying that God does not punish innocent children for their parents' sins, but rather that patterns of sin and their societal consequences can persist. The psalmist's plea here is less about God punishing the innocent and more about God fully remembering and acting upon the cumulative weight of unrighteousness associated with the enemy's lineage, underscoring God's perfect justice and His active memory of all deeds. This contrasts sharply with God's promise to His repentant people to "blot out" their transgressions and "remember their sins no more," a theme central to the New Covenant.

* [Ezekiel 18:20](/ezekiel/18-20 "Ezekiel 18:20 - The Soul Who Sins Will Die")
* [Isaiah 43:25](/isaiah/43-25 "Isaiah 43:25 - God Blots Out Transgressions")
* [Jeremiah 31:34](/jeremiah/31-34 "Jeremiah 31:34 - I Will Remember Their Sins No More")

### REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Psalms 109:14 challenges modern readers to grapple with the raw, intense emotions expressed in the imprecatory psalms. It reminds us that the Bible does not shy away from the human experience of profound injustice, betrayal, and the desperate longing for divine intervention. While our New Testament calling is to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us ([Matthew 5:44](/matthew/5-44 "Matthew 5:44 - Love Your Enemies")), these psalms provide a divinely inspired outlet for our own cries for justice when we feel wronged. They teach us that it is permissible to bring our deepest pain and anger before God, trusting Him as the ultimate righteous Judge who alone can perfectly discern and execute justice. This verse also serves as a stark reminder of the gravity of sin, both individual and potentially generational in its patterns and consequences, and the profound contrast between the desire for judgment upon enemies and God's boundless grace that offers to blot out the sins of the repentant through Christ. It compels us to consider the nature of true justice and the ultimate source of vindication.

#### Questions for Reflection
* **How does this verse challenge or affirm your understanding of God's justice?**
* **In what ways do you see patterns of "generational sin" manifest in the world today, and how does the New Testament balance this with individual responsibility?**
* **How can we, as New Testament believers, reconcile the intense imprecations of the psalmist with the command to love our enemies?**

### FAQ
**How do we reconcile Psalms 109:14 with New Testament teachings on forgiveness and love for enemies?**

Answer: Reconciling Psalms 109:14 with New Testament teachings requires understanding the nature of imprecatory psalms and the progression of biblical revelation. Firstly, imprecatory psalms are not commands for believers to curse their enemies, but rather honest, divinely inspired prayers from individuals under severe distress. They are appeals to God, the ultimate righteous Judge, to execute justice when human systems have failed. The psalmist is not taking vengeance into his own hands but entrusting it to the Lord. Secondly, the Old Testament, while containing principles of "an eye for an eye," also contains calls for justice, mercy, and even kindness to enemies (e.g., [Proverbs 25:21](/proverbs/25-21 "Proverbs 25:21 - Feeding Your Enemy")). The New Testament, however, brings a fuller revelation of God's character in Christ, emphasizing radical love, forgiveness, and non-retaliation. Jesus commands His followers to "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" ([Matthew 5:44](/matthew/5-44 "Matthew 5:44 - Love Your Enemies")), and Paul teaches, "Do not repay evil for evil" ([Romans 12:17](/romans/12-17 "Romans 12:17 - Do Not Repay Evil for Evil")). Therefore, while Psalms 109:14 gives voice to a legitimate human cry for justice in the face of profound evil, it is not a prescriptive model for Christian behavior. Instead, it directs our longing for justice to God, who perfectly balances justice with mercy, ultimately fulfilled in Christ's atoning work, which addresses sin definitively and offers forgiveness to all who repent.

### CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Psalms 109:14, with its raw plea for the remembrance of ancestral sin and the desire that it not be "blotted out," finds its profound and redemptive fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ. While the psalmist longs for the full weight of sin to be held against his adversary, Christ's mission was precisely the opposite for those who believe: to take the full weight of sin upon Himself so that it *could* be blotted out. The "iniquity of his fathers" and "the sin of his mother" point to the universal reality of inherited sinfulness and the accumulated guilt of humanity, which only a perfect sacrifice could address. Jesus, the [Lamb of God](/john/1-29 "John 1:29 - Jesus, the Lamb of God"), became sin for us, though He knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God ([2 Corinthians 5:21](/2_corinthians/5-21 "2 Corinthians 5:21 - Christ Became Sin for Us")). Through His crucifixion, Christ "blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us... nailing it to the cross" ([Colossians 2:14](/colossians/2-14 "Colossians 2:14 - Blotting Out the Record of Debt")), effectively erasing the record of our debt and guilt. The ultimate fulfillment of God's promise in the New Covenant is that He will "be merciful toward their iniquities, and their sins I will remember no more" ([Hebrews 8:12](/hebrews/8-12 "Hebrews 8:12 - I Will Remember Their Sins No More"), quoting [Jeremiah 31:34](/jeremiah/31-34 "Jeremiah 31:34 - The New Covenant Promise")). Thus, while the psalmist's cry for justice is valid, Christ provides the ultimate, merciful solution to the problem of sin, transforming the desire for remembered iniquity into the glorious reality of forgotten and forgiven transgression for all who come to Him in faith.

Note: Commentary is generated by AI with a directive for Biblical fidelity. Always rely on the Holy Spirit for discernment. The Scripture text and cross-references are from verified, non-AI sources.

Cross-References

Exodus 20:5

Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God [am] a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth [generation] of them that hate me;

Nehemiah 4:5

And cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee: for they have provoked [thee] to anger before the builders.

Jeremiah 18:23

Yet, LORD, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay [me]: forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee; deal [thus] with them in the time of thine anger.

Leviticus 26:39

And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies' lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them.

2 Samuel 21:8

But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite:

2 Samuel 21:9

And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the LORD: and they fell [all] seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first [days], in the beginning of barley harvest.

2 Kings 11:1

¶ And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal.