Psalm 134:3

WEB

May Yahweh bless you from Zion, even he who made heaven and earth.

BSB

May the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth, bless you from Zion.

KJV

The LORD that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion.

Matthew Henry

Verses 1–3

Psalms 134:1–3

This psalm instructs us concerning a two-fold blessing: -

I. Our blessing God, that is, speaking well of him, which here we are taught to do, Psa 134:1, Psa 134:2. 1. It is a call to the Levites to do it. They were the servants of the Lord by office, appointed to minister in holy things; they attended the sanctuary, and kept the charge of the house of the Lord, Num 3:6, etc. Some of them did by night stand in the house of the Lord, to guard the holy things of the temple, that they might not be profaned, and the rich things of the temple, that they might not be plundered. While the ark was in curtains there was the more need of guards upon it. They attended likewise to see that neither the fire on the altar nor the lamps in the candlestick went out. Probably it was usual for some devout and pious Israelites to sit up with them; we read of one that departed not from the temple night or day, Luk 2:37. Now these are here called upon to blesss the Lord. Thus they must keep themselves awake by keeping themselves employed. Thus they must redeem time for holy exercises; and how can we spend our time better than in praising God? It would be an excellent piece of husbandry to fill up the vacancies of time with pious meditations and ejaculations; and surely it is a very modest and reasonable to converse with God when we have nothing else to do. Those who stood in the house of the Lord must remember where they were, and that holiness and holy work became that house. Let them therefore bless the Lord; let them all do it in concert, or each by himself; let them lift up their hands in the doing of it, in token of the lifting up of their hearts. Let them lift up their hands in holiness (so Dr. Hammond reads it) or in sanctification, as it is fit when they lift them up in the sanctuary; and let them remember that when they were appointed to wash before they went in to minister they were thereby taught to lift up holy hands in prayer and praise. 2. It is a call to us to do it, who, as Christians, are made priests to our God, and Levites, Isa 66:21. We are the servants of the Lord; we have a place and a name in his house, in his sanctuary; we stand before him to minister to him. Even by night we are under his eye and have access to him. Let us therefore bless the Lord, and again bless him; think and speak of his glory and goodness. Let us lift up our hands in prayer, in praise, in vows; let us do our work with diligence and cheerfulness, and an elevation of mind. This exhortation is ushered in with Behold! a note commanding attention. Look about you, Sirs, when you are in God's presence, and conduct yourselves accordingly.

II. God's blessing us, and that is doing well for us, which we are here taught to desire, Psa 134:3. Whether it is the watchmen's blessing their captain, or the Levites' blessing the high priest, or whoever was their chief (as many take it, because it is in the singular number, The Lord bless thee), or whether the blessing is pronounced by one upon many ("The Lord bless thee, each of you in particular, thee and thee; you that are blessing God, the Lord bless you"), is not material. We may learn, 1. That we need desire no more to make us happy than to be blessed of the Lord, for those whom he blesses are blessed indeed. 2. That blessings out of Zion, spiritual blessings, the blessings of the covenant, and of communion with God, are the best blessings, which we should be most earnest for. 3. It is a great encouragement to us, when we come to God for a blessing, that it is he who made heaven and earth, and therefore has all the blessings of both at his disposal, the upper and nether springs. 4. We ought to beg these blessings, not only for ourselves, but for others also; not only, The Lord bless me, but, The Lord bless thee, thus testifying our belief of the fulness of divine blessings, that there is enough for others as well as for us, and our good-will also to others. We must pray for those that exhort us. Though the less is blessed of the greater (Heb 7:7), yet the greater must be prayed for by the less.

Cross-references: Ps 134:1 · Ps 134:2 · Num 3:6 · Luke 2:37 · Isa 66:21 · Ps 134:3 · Heb 7:7

Hebrew interlinear

H1288

בָּרַךְbârak/baw-rak'/

v — kneel, bless, curse

Derivation: a primitive root;

to kneel; by implication to bless God (as an act of adoration), and (vice-versa) man (as a benefit); also (by euphemism) to curse (God or the king, as treason)

KJV: × abundantly, × altogether, × at all, blaspheme, bless, congratulate, curse, × greatly, × indeed, kneel (down), praise, salute, × still, thank.

בָּרַךְ

vb — kneel

[בָּרַךְ] 329 vb. kneel, bless

Qal

1. kneel down

2. bless

Niph. bless oneself

Pi.

1. bless God, adore with bended knees

2. God blesses

3. men bless men

4. salute, greet, with an invocation of blessing

5. bless, with the antithetical meaning curse from the greeting in departing, saying adieu to, taking leave of; but rather a blessing overdone and so really a curse as in vulgar English as well as in the Shemitic cognates

Pu.

1. pass. to be blessed, adored

2. prospered by God

3. have prosperity invoked, by Balaam

4. in gratitude

Hiph. and he made his camel kneel

Hithp. bless oneself, congratulate oneself in his heart

H3068

יְהֹוָהYᵉhôvâh/yeh-ho-vaw'/

n-pr — Existent, Jeho-vah

Derivation: from 1961;

(the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jeho-vah, Jewish national name of God

KJV: Jehovah, the Lord. Compare 3050, 3069.

יהוה

n.pr.dei — God

יהוה c. 6823 i.e. יַהְוֶה n.pr.dei Yahweh, the proper name of the God of Israel—(1. MT יְהֹוָה 6518 (Qr אֲדֹנָי), or יֱהֹוִה 305 (Qr אֱלֹהִים) 2. Many recent scholars explain יַהְוֶה as Hiph. of הוה (= היה) the one bringing into being, life-giver)

I. יהוה is not used by E in Gn, but is given Ex 3:12-15 as the name of the God who revealed Himself to Moses at Horeb

II.

1. יהוה is used with אלהים and suffixes, especially in D

2. the phrase † אֲנִי יהוה is noteworthy

3. יהוה is also used with several predicates, to form sacred names of holy places of Yahweh

H6726

צִיּוֹןTsîyôwn/tsee-yone'/

n-pr-loc — Tsijon, capital

Derivation: the same (regularly) as 6725;

Tsijon (as a permanent capital), a mountain of Jerusalem

KJV: Zion.

צִיּוֹן

n.pr.loc — Zion

צִיּוֹן 154 n.pr.loc. Ṣiyyôn, Zion

H6213

עָשָׂהʻâsâh/aw-saw'/

v — do, make

Derivation: a primitive root;

to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest application

KJV: accomplish, advance, appoint, apt, be at, become, bear, bestow, bring forth, bruise, be busy, × certainly, have the charge of, commit, deal (with), deck, displease, do, (ready) dress(-ed), (put in) execute(-ion), exercise, fashion, feast, (fight-) ing man, finish, fit, fly, follow, fulfill, furnish, gather, get, go about, govern, grant, great, hinder, hold (a feast), × indeed, be industrious, journey, keep, labour, maintain, make, be meet, observe, be occupied, offer, officer, pare, bring (come) to pass, perform, pracise, prepare, procure, provide, put, requite, × sacrifice, serve, set, shew, × sin, spend, × surely, take, × thoroughly, trim, × very, vex, be (warr-) ior, work(-man), yield, use.

עָשָׂה

vb — do

עָשָׂה 2622 vb. do, make

Qal 2524

I.

1. do (1560 t.)

2. deal with

3. oft. in phr. do kindness with

4. abs. act, act with effect

II.

1. make (670 t.)

2. produce, yield

3. prepare, esp. of dressing and cooking food

4. make offering

5. attend to, put in order

6. observe, celebrate, religious festival

7. acquire property of various kinds

8. appoint priests

9. bring about of י׳’s effecting a deliverance

10. use

11. spend, pass, days of life

Niph. 97

1. be done

2.

a. be made, of concr. things

b. be produced from vine

c. be prepared, of food

d. be offered

e. be observed, passover

f. be used

Pu. I was made

עָשָׂה

vb — press

[עָשָׂה] vb. Pi. press, squeeze

H8064

שָׁמַיִםshâmayim/shaw-mah'-yim/

n-m — sky, aloft

Derivation: dual of an unused singular שָׁמֶה; from an unused root meaning to be lofty;

the sky (as aloft; the dual perhaps alluding to the visible arch in which the clouds move, as well as to the higher ether where the celestial bodies revolve)

KJV: air, × astrologer, heaven(-s).

שָׁמַי

n.m — heavens

[שָׁמַי] n.m. only pl. שָׁמַיִם 421 heavens, sky

1.

a. visible heavens, sky, where stars, etc., are

b. phrases

2.

a. as abode of God

b. Elijah taken up הַשּׁ׳ in whirlwind

3. הַשּׁ׳ personified in various relations

H776

אֶרֶץʼerets/eh'-rets/

n-f — earth, land

Derivation: from an unused root probably meaning to be firm;

the earth (at large, or partitively a land)

KJV: × common, country, earth, field, ground, land, × natins, way, + wilderness, world.

אֶ֫רֶץ

n. f — earth

אֶ֫רֶץ n. f. & (seld.) m. earth, land

1.

a. earth, whole earth (opp. to a part)

b. earth, opp. to heaven, sky

c. earth = inhabitants of earth

2. land =

a. country, territory

b. district, region

c. trial territory

d. piece of ground

e. specif. land of Canaan, or Israel

f. = inhabitants of land

g. used even of Shᵉʼôl

3.

a. ground, surface of ground

b. soil, as productive

4. אֶרֶץ in phrases

a. people of the land

b. in measurements of distance

c. the country of the plain, level or plain country

d. land of the living

e. end(s) of the earth

5. pl. אֲרָצוֹת is almost wholly late; it denotes lands, countries, often in contrast to Canaan, lands of the nations, etc.

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