104:3 and lays the beams of the upper rooms of his palace on the rain clouds. 1
He makes the clouds his chariot,
and travels along on the wings of the wind. 2
128:3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine 3
in the inner rooms of your house;
your children 4 will be like olive branches,
as they sit all around your table.
1 tn Heb “one who lays the beams on water [in] his upper rooms.” The “water” mentioned here corresponds to the “waters above” mentioned in Gen 1:7. For a discussion of the picture envisioned by the psalmist, see L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World, 44-45.
2 sn Verse 3 may depict the Lord riding a cherub, which is in turn propelled by the wind current. Another option is that the wind is personified as a cherub. See Ps 18:10 and the discussion of ancient Near Eastern parallels to the imagery in M. Weinfeld, “‘Rider of the Clouds’ and ‘Gatherer of the Clouds’,” JANESCU 5 (1973): 422-24.
3 sn The metaphor of the fruitful vine pictures the wife as fertile; she will give her husband numerous children (see the next line).
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.