☰ Psalms 128
128
1  A song of ascents.1
How blessed is every one of the Lord’s loyal followers,2
each one who keeps his commands!3
2  You4 will eat what you worked so hard to grow.5
You will be blessed and secure.6
3  Your wife will be like a fruitful vine7
in the inner rooms of your house;
your children8 will be like olive branches,
as they sit all around your table.
4  Yes indeed, the man who fears the Lord
will be blessed in this way.9
5  May the Lord bless you10 from Zion,
that you might see11 Jerusalem12 prosper
all the days of your life,
6  and that you might see13 your grandchildren.14
May Israel experience peace!15 16
1 128:1 sn: Psalm 128. The psalmist observes that the godly individual has genuine happiness because the Lord rewards such a person with prosperity and numerous children. 2 128:1 sn: The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21. 3 128:1 tn: Heb “every fearer of the Lord.” 4 128:2 tn: Heb “the one who walks in his ways.” 5 128:2 tn: The psalmist addresses the representative God-fearing man, as indicated by the references to “your wife” (v. 3) and “the man” (v. 4), as well as the second masculine singular pronominal and verbal forms in vv. 2-6. 6 128:2 tn: Heb “the work of your hands, indeed you will eat.” 7 128:3 tn: Heb “how blessed you [will be] and it will be good for you.” 8 128:3 sn: The metaphor of the fruitful vine pictures the wife as fertile; she will give her husband numerous children (see the next line). 9 128:4 tn: One could translate “sons” (see Ps 127:3 and the note on the word “sons” there), but here the term seems to refer more generally to children of both genders. 10 128:5 tn: Heb “look, indeed thus will the man, the fearer of the Lord, be blessed.” 11 128:5 tn: The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive of prayer (note the imperatives that are subordinated to this clause in vv. 5b-6a). Having described the blessings that typically come to the godly, the psalmist concludes by praying that this ideal may become reality for the representative godly man being addressed. 12 128:5 tn: The imperative with prefixed vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding jussive. 13 128:6 map: For location see . 14 128:6 tn: The imperative with prefixed vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the jussive in v. 5a. 15 128:6 tn: Heb “sons to your sons.” 16 128:6 tn: Heb “peace [be] upon Israel.” The statement is understood as a prayer (see Ps 125:5).
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