Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and a derision to them that are round about us.
Thou makest us a reproach ... a byword among the heathen - as Moses foretold (Deuteronomy 28:37), "Thou shalt become a proverb and a byword among all nations, where the Lord shall lead thee." The nation once "the blessed of the Lord," and "in whom all nations of the earth were to be blessed," is become a "byword," mashal-literally, a similitude; so that 'a Jew' is another name for one miserable and contemptible.
A shaking of the head - in scorn (Psalms 22:7).