Psalms · Chapter 128

1. Blessed—Oh the blessings of every one fearing Jehovah! The yrva, (ashrey,) “blessed,” happy, with which the author begins, and which characterizes the God-seeking man, is contrasted with the awv, (shahv,) vainly, in vain, which belongs to the self-trusting man, (Psalm 127:1) and the tone of confidence in the assured happiness of the former, with the µa, (if, except,) which conditions the success of the latter.

Verse 2. Those shalt eat the labour of thine hands] Thou shalt not be exempted from labour. Thou shalt work: But God will bless and prosper that work, and thou and thy family shall eat of it. Ye shall all live on the produce of your own labour, and the hand of violence shall not be permitted to deprive you of it. Thus,

Happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.] Thou shalt have prosperity.

Verse 2. Thou shalt eat the labour, &c. — Thy labour shall not be vain and fruitless, and the fruit of thy labour shall not be taken from thee and possessed by others, as was threatened to the disobedient Deuteronomy 28., but enjoyed by thyself with comfort and satisfaction. Happy shalt thou be — Whether thou be high or low, rich or poor, in the world, if thou fear God, and walk in his ways, thou mayest take the comfort of the promise to thyself, and expect the benefit of it, as if it were directed to thee by name. And it shall be well with thee — Both in this world and (as even the Chaldee paraphrast interprets the words) in the world to come. Whatever befalls thee, good shall be brought out of it; and “it shall be well with thee while thou livest, better when thou diest, and best of all in eternity.” — Henry.

2. Thou shall eat—Literally, Thou shalt surely eat the labour of thy hands. The clause is strongly asseverating. This is the true dignity of man—to support himself by his own labour; and this is the faithfulness of God to his children, to assure the rewards of their labour to them. It is “the promise of the life that now is,” 1 Timothy 4:8; opposed to the threatening of Deuteronomy 28:33; Leviticus 26:16.

V. 3. Olive-plants-Numerous, growing and flourishing.

Verse 3. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine] Thy children, in every corner and apartment of thy house, shall be the evidences of the fruitfulness of thy wife, as bunches of grapes on every bough of the vine are the proofs of its being in a healthy thriving state. Being about the house sides, or apartments, is spoken of the wife, not the vine; being around the table is spoken of the children, not of the olive-plants. It does not appear that there were any vines planted against the walls of the houses in Jerusalem, nor any olive-trees in pots or tubs in the inside of their houses; as may be found in different parts of Europe.

Verse 3. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine — “He will bless thee also in thy wife, and make her as fruitful as the vine, which spreads itself, laden with full clusters, over all the sides of thy house; and in thy hopeful children too, who shall grow up and flourish like the young olive-plants that are set in thy arbour, round about thy table.” Thus Bishop Patrick interprets the verse, and certainly the text, in its most obvious and literal sense, seems to countenance his interpretation. Mr. Harmer, however, in his Observations on Divers Passages of Scripture, questions the propriety of it, remarking that it does not appear, from the accounts of any travellers, that it was ever the custom of the Jews to conduct vines along the sides of their houses, and that we find no such arbours in the Levant as the bishop supposes, composed of young olive-plants, in the midst of which tables were set. He therefore understands the words thus: “Thy wife shall be in the sides, or private apartments of thy house, fruitful as a thriving vine:” considering the sides of the house as referring to the wife, not to the vine; and the table, in the other clause, to the children only, not to the olives. Cocceius, however, and Rabbi Kimchi, agree with Bishop Patrick, as does Dr. Hammond also, whose words are, “Vines, it seems, were then planted on the sides of houses, as now they are among us, and not only in vineyards, and to that the psalmist here refers. So likewise of olive-plants it is observable, not only that tables were dressed up with the boughs of them, ramis felicis olivæ, but that, in the eastern countries, they were usually planted, as in arbours, to shade the table, entertainments being made without doors, in gardens, under that umbrage, which gave all the liberty of the cool winds and refreshing blasts. An image whereof we have Genesis 18:4, Wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree; and a full expression Esther 1:5, The king made a feast in the court of the garden of the king’s palace.” Dr. Horne also, after weighing what Mr. Harmer had advanced against it, adopts this interpretation, observing that Mr. Merrick, in his Annotations, produces some very good arguments in favour of it. The doctor’s comment is, “The vine, a lowly plant, raised with tender care, becoming, by its luxuriance, its beauty, its fragrance, and its clusters, the ornament and glory of the house to which it is joined, and by which it is supported, forms the finest imaginable emblem of a fair, virtuous, and fruitful wife. The olive-trees planted by the inhabitants of the eastern countries around their tables, or banqueting-places in their gardens, to cheer the eye by their verdure, and to refresh the body by their cooling shade, do no less aptly and significantly set forth the pleasure which parents feel at the side of a numerous and flourishing offspring.”

Verse 3. Olive plants round about thy table. The Jews, in their warm climate, often took their food in gardens, under the shade of olives, vines, and figtrees.

3. By the sides of thine house—Literally. In the sides; supposed to denote “the background, or privacy of the house, where the housewife, who is not to be seen much out of doors, leads a quiet life, entirely devoted to her family,” (Delitzsch;) in contrast with the harlot, who wanders the street. Proverbs 7:11, 12. This requires us to refer the word “sides” not to vine, but to wife, as it is not the vine on the side of the “house,” but the wife on the inside of the “house,” thus: “Thy wife in the sides of thy house shall be as a fruitful vine; thy children around thy table like olive settings.” This last figure seems borrowed from the young olives springing from the roots of the parent tree, and perpetuating its beauty and fruitfulness.

Verse 4. Thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord.] A great price for a small consideration. Fear God, and thou shalt have as much domestic good as may be useful to thee.

4. Behold, that thus—The asseverating particle is again employed, as in verse 2, to confirm the happiness of the God-fearing man. “Behold,” surely “thus,” etc., a beautiful setting in the picture of a happy, pious nation.

Verse 5. The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion] In all thy approaches to him in his house by prayer, by sacrifice, and by offering, thou shalt have his especial blessing. Thou shalt thrive every where, and in all things. And thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem] Thou shalt see the cause of God flourish in thy lifetime, and his Church in great prosperity.

Verses 5, 6. The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion — Where the ark of the covenant was, and where the pious Israelites attended to offer their devotions. He will bless thee with those spiritual and everlasting blessings which are to be had nowhere but in Zion, and from the God who dwells in Zion, blessings which flow, not from common providence, but from special grace, and with all other mercies which thou shalt ask of God in Zion. And thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem — The prosperity of that city to which thou belongest, and which is the only seat of God’s worship and special presence, and whose good, therefore, is very delightful to every pious Israelite, and upon whose peace and safety those of every citizen of it depend, as every seaman is concerned in the safety of the ship in which he sails. Thou shalt see thy children’s children — Thy family shall be built up and continued, and thou shalt have the pleasure of seeing it; and peace upon Israel — Not only upon Jerusalem, and parts adjacent, but upon all the tribes and people of Israel. Thy private comforts shall not be allayed and imbittered by public troubles, but thou shalt see the welfare of God’s church and of thy native country, which every man that fears God is no less concerned for than for the prosperity of his own family. For a good man can have little comfort in seeing his children’s children, unless, withal, he sees peace upon Israel, and have hopes of transmitting the entail of religion, pure and entire, to those that shall come after him.

5. Out of Zion—The Hebrew knows no blessing apart from the Church, the covenant, and worship of God. The blessing must come from Zion, if it comes from God. See the good of Jerusalem—Next to his Church ranks his country, his nation. With the good of Jerusalem is connected all individual good. The religious-civic type of this psalm suits the lofty patriotism and piety of the time of David and the former part of Solomon’s reign, and as fitly the time of the return of the exiles.

Verse 6. Yea, thou shalt see thy children’s children] Thou shall not die till thou have seen thy family all settled in the world, and those of them who may be married blessed with children.

And peace upon Israel.] This is the same conclusion as in Psalm 125:5; and should be translated, Peace be upon Israel! May God favour his own cause, and bless all his people!

Verses 5, 6. The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion — Where the ark of the covenant was, and where the pious Israelites attended to offer their devotions. He will bless thee with those spiritual and everlasting blessings which are to be had nowhere but in Zion, and from the God who dwells in Zion, blessings which flow, not from common providence, but from special grace, and with all other mercies which thou shalt ask of God in Zion. And thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem — The prosperity of that city to which thou belongest, and which is the only seat of God’s worship and special presence, and whose good, therefore, is very delightful to every pious Israelite, and upon whose peace and safety those of every citizen of it depend, as every seaman is concerned in the safety of the ship in which he sails. Thou shalt see thy children’s children — Thy family shall be built up and continued, and thou shalt have the pleasure of seeing it; and peace upon Israel — Not only upon Jerusalem, and parts adjacent, but upon all the tribes and people of Israel. Thy private comforts shall not be allayed and imbittered by public troubles, but thou shalt see the welfare of God’s church and of thy native country, which every man that fears God is no less concerned for than for the prosperity of his own family. For a good man can have little comfort in seeing his children’s children, unless, withal, he sees peace upon Israel, and have hopes of transmitting the entail of religion, pure and entire, to those that shall come after him.

6. So far as this may apply to the returned exiles, compare Zechariah 8:4, 5. Peace upon Israel—There is no and in the original, as in our English version, and it does not belong here: Peace to Israel is simply a form of parting salutation, as in Psalm 125:5, having ended his psalm of blessing.