The Meaning of Psalms 106:38 Explained

Psalms 106:38

KJV: And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.

YLT: And they shed innocent blood -- Blood of their sons and of their daughters, Whom they have sacrificed to idols of Canaan, And the land is profaned with blood.

Darby: And shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with blood.

ASV: And shed innocent blood, Even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, Whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan; And the land was polluted with blood.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And shed  innocent  blood,  [even] the blood  of their sons  and of their daughters,  whom they sacrificed  unto the idols  of Canaan:  and the land  was polluted  with blood. 

What does Psalms 106:38 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalms 106:34-48 - Regarded When They Cried
Israel's conquest of Canaan did not fulfill the divine mandate. The inhabitants, whose sins had become a menace to mankind, were allowed to exist side by side with the Hebrew immigrants; and, as is often the case, the conquerors were conquered, and the invaders were contaminated by the morals of the invaded. Intermarriage poured a large admixture of alien blood into Israel, and the excesses of idolatry, even to the hideous practice of human sacrifices, became intensified by the ties of kinship and neighborhood.
The whole history of Israel is summed up as alternating cycles of sin and punishment, repentance and deliverance; and we are left wondering, first at the inveterate evil of the human heart, which learns nothing from experience, and next at the inexhaustible long-suffering of God, which, while justice strikes, yet finds some way of alleviating the smart of the stroke, Psalms 106:46. The love of God persists all through humanism and outreaches it.
The prayer of Psalms 106:47 shows that this psalm was written in exile. The psalmist hopes and believes that one result of his people's restoration will be thankfulness and the expression upon grateful lips of never-ending praise. So ends the fourth book of the Psalter.
For Review Questions, see the e-Sword Book Comments. [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 106

1  The psalmist exhorts to praise God
4  He prays for pardon of sin, as God pardoned the fathers
7  The story of the people's rebellion, and God's mercy
47  He concludes with prayer and praise

What do the individual words in Psalms 106:38 mean?

and shed blood innocent the blood of their sons and daughters Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan and was polluted the land with blood
וַיִּֽשְׁפְּכ֨וּ דָ֪ם נָקִ֡י דַּם־ בְּנֵ֘יהֶ֤ם וּֽבְנוֹתֵיהֶ֗ם אֲשֶׁ֣ר זִ֭בְּחוּ לַעֲצַבֵּ֣י כְנָ֑עַן וַתֶּחֱנַ֥ף הָ֝אָ֗רֶץ בַּדָּמִֽים

וַיִּֽשְׁפְּכ֨וּ  and  shed 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: שֶׂפֶק 
Sense: to pour, pour out, spill.
דָ֪ם  blood 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: דָּם  
Sense: blood.
נָקִ֡י  innocent 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: נָקִי 
Sense: clean, free from, exempt, clear, innocent.
דַּם־  the  blood 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: דָּם  
Sense: blood.
בְּנֵ֘יהֶ֤ם  of  their  sons 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, third person masculine plural
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
וּֽבְנוֹתֵיהֶ֗ם  and  daughters 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine plural construct, third person masculine plural
Root: בַּת  
Sense: daughter.
אֲשֶׁ֣ר  Whom 
Parse: Pronoun, relative
Root: אֲשֶׁר 
Sense: (relative part.).
זִ֭בְּחוּ  they  sacrificed 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: זָבַח  
Sense: to slaughter, kill, sacrifice, slaughter for sacrifice.
לַעֲצַבֵּ֣י  to  the  idols 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: עָצָב  
Sense: idol, image.
כְנָ֑עַן  of  Canaan 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: כְּנַעַן 
Sense: the 4th son of Ham and the progenitor of the Phoenicians and of the various nations who peopled the seacoast of Palestine.
וַתֶּחֱנַ֥ף  and  was  polluted 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person feminine singular
Root: חָנֵף  
Sense: to be profaned, be defiled, be polluted, be corrupt.
הָ֝אָ֗רֶץ  the  land 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.
בַּדָּמִֽים  with  blood 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: דָּם  
Sense: blood.