Discovery BoxPsalms 128:1 
ContextA song of ascents. 2
128:1 How blessed is every one of the Lord’s loyal followers, 3
each one who keeps his commands! 4
Psalms 128:3
Context128:3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine 5
in the inner rooms of your house;
your children 6 will be like olive branches,
as they sit all around your table.
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 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 tn Heb “every fearer of the
4 tn Heb “the one who walks in his ways.”
5 sn The metaphor of the fruitful vine pictures the wife as fertile; she will give her husband numerous children (see the next line).
6 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.
