Psalms 128:1–4
Children like olive shoots around the table
Study it word by word1A song of the ascents. Happy is everyone who fears YHWH, who walks in his ways.
2The labor of your hands, when you eat it, happy are you, and it will be good for you.
3Your wife will be like a fruitful vine in the inner parts of your house; your children like shoots of olive trees around your table.
4Look, thus will be blessed the man who fears YHWH.
In its context
…
5May YHWH bless you from Zion, and see the good of Jerusalem all the days of your life;
6and see the children of your children. Peace be upon Israel.
Its words in the original
- שִׁירshir· song
Song, singing.
- מַּעֲלוֹתmaalot· step; ascent
Step, stair; going up.
- אַשְׁרֵיashre· happy, blessed
Happy, blessed: an exclamation for the good that someone has.
- יְרֵאyere· fearing, God-fearing
Fearing; above all, one who reveres God and therefore obeys him.
- יְהוָהyehva· YHWH
The personal name of the God of Israel, written in Hebrew with four letters, Y-H-W-H, without vowels. Out of reverence Jews stopped pronouncing it and read "Adonai" (Lord), so many Bibles put "the LORD" or "Jehovah". This translation keeps the four letters. The name is related to the verb "to be" (Exodus 3:14-15). He is not a god other than Elohim: "YHWH Elohim" is the same Creator God, called by his name.
- הֹלֵךְholech· go, walk
Go, walk, come. Figuratively, the way one lives ("walk with God").
- דְרָכָיderachay· way
Way, road, journey. Figuratively, the way one lives or acts.
- יְגִיעַyegia· toil, its fruit
Wearying labor and what it earns.
- כַּפֶּיkape· palm, sole
The palm of the hand or the sole of the foot; also a pan or small bowl.
- תֹאכֵלtochel· eat
Eat; also consume, devour (said of fire or the sword).
- טוֹבtov· good
Good in the widest sense: pleasant, beautiful, useful, right, of good quality. As a noun, "good", "good things", "well-being".
- אֶשְׁתְּesht· woman, wife
Woman; with a possessive ("his woman"), wife. In Hebrew it is "ishah", which sounds like "ish", man.
- גֶפֶןgefen· vine
Vine: the plant that bears grapes.
- פֹּרִיָּהporiya· be fruitful
Bear fruit; be fruitful, have descendants.
- יַרְכְּתֵיyarkte· far end, recess
The farthest or deepest part: the back of a house or a cave, the ends of the earth, the edge of a territory.
- בֵיתֶvete· house, household
House. Also the family that lives in it ("the house of Noah") and someone's descendants ("the house of David"); also a temple, "the house of God".
- בָּנֶיbane· son
Son. In the plural it can include sons and daughters, and also grandsons and descendants. "Son of..." also says what group someone belongs to ("sons of Israel" = Israelites).
- שְׁתִלֵיshetile· shoot
A shoot, a sprout that springs up beside the trunk, like the new shoots of the olive tree.
- זֵיתִיםzetim· olive
Olive tree; olive.
- סָבִיבsaviv· around
Around, on every side; the surroundings.
- שֻׁלְחָנֶshulchane· table
Table; also a meal.
- יְבֹרַךְyevorach· bless, kneel
Bless. When God blesses, he gives good: life, children, fruit, prosperity. When a person "blesses God", he gives him nothing: he praises and thanks him. Between people, it is wishing the other the good that comes from God; also greet. The root also means kneel.
- גָּבֶרgaver· man
Man, a grown man in his strength.