Psalms 127

Psalms 127:1-5

CXXVII. A. This Ps. is, as is now generally admitted, composed of two independent Pss. In Psalms 127 A, i.e. in Psalms 127:1 f. the Psalmist’s theme is the vanity of toil without Yahweh’s blessing. The house was taken to mean the Temple: hence in the received text, but not in the LXX, the Ps. is ascribed to Solomon. At the end of Psa 127:2 render, “So,” i.e. as fully as others get by their toil—“he giveth to his beloved in sleep.” But the text is almost certainly corrupt. B. Psalms 127:3-5. Sons a Gift Bestowed by Yahweh. Psalms 127:4. children of youth, i.e. begotten in the vigorous youth of the fathers, are a stalwart bodyguard round their parent. They are compared to arrows in a warrior’s hand and quiver. But the Ps. points to a time of peace rather than of war. It is not in the battlefield but in “the gate,” where legal cases are decided, that a man with many sons finds redress, corrupt as Oriental courts have usually been. His numerous progeny prevent his being put to “shame,” i.e. disappointed (Job 5:4*).