Psalm 129:5-8 |
5. All who hate Zion shall be confounded, and turned backward. 6. They shall be as the grass1 of the housetops', which is withered before it comes forth: 7. With which the mower hath not filled his hand, nor the gleaner his bosom.2 8. Neither have they who pass by said, The blessing of Jehovah be upon you: we bless you in the name of Jehovah.3 |
5.
7.
1 Fry reads "corn," "
2 In the French version it is "son aisselle;" -- "his arm-pit."
3 "Here is an allusion to the custom of blessing; the reapers at their work; as in that instance recorded in the book of Ruth 2:4, 'And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, The Lord be with you; and they answered him, The Lord bless thee.'" -- Warner. "Precisely the same customs of salutation which are here indicated still prevail in Mohammedan Asia. Nearly the same form of words, implying the blessing and peace of God, is retained, and the neglect to give the salutation is still an indignity and an insult." -- Illustrated Commentary upon the Bible.
4 "In Judea, the roofs of the houses are flat, and covered with cement. On this the grass would not uncommonly grow: but, being thin and weak, and its situation hot and exposed, it was speedily 'dried up and withered.' The same sort of architecture, and the same appearances, are common in the East at this day." -- Warner.
5
6 "Whereof the mower hath not filled his hand, etc. -- i.e., It is too scanty to afford employment for a labourer to gather it by the hand, or for a reaper, who uses a sickle, depositing what he cuts in the fold of his garment, or as Le Clerc understands it, under his left arm. The Psalmist in effect prays, that the enemies of Israel may be reduced to such poverty, that none could become richer by despoiling them: in a word, that they might be altogether despicable. For binding up the sheaves, Hammond suggests, gathereth the handfuls, with reference to the gleaner, Ruth 2:2." -- Cresswell.
7 Au lieu que chacun communement en passant par les bleds les benit, et prie pour la moisson." -- Fr.