Jeremiah 28 – “Hananiah’s False Prophecy and Death”

I. Summary

Hananiah prophesies the return of the temple’s vessels and king Jeconiah from Babylon within two years. When Jeremiah is informed that the prophecy is a lie, he warns Hananiah of his imminent death. Hananiah dies within two months.

II. Photo

The power of Nebuchadnezzar’s yoke grows: “Thus says the Lord: You have broken the wooden bars [of Nebuchadnezzar’s yoke] only to forge iron bars in place of them!” (v. 13)

III. Select Verses

1-4: In that same year, at the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, from Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the LORD, in the presence of the priests and all the people, saying, “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the LORD’S house, which King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon. I will also bring back to this place King Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim of Judah, and all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon, says the LORD, for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.”

10: Then the prophet Hananiah took the yoke from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, and broke it.

13-14: Go, tell Hananiah, Thus says the LORD: You have broken wooden bars only to forge iron bars in place of them! For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: I have put an iron yoke on the neck of all these nations so that they may serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and they shall indeed serve him; I have even given him the wild animals.

15-17: And the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah, the LORD has not sent you, and you made this people trust in a lie. Therefore thus says the LORD: I am going to send you off the face of the earth. Within this year you will be dead, because you have spoken rebellion against the LORD.” In that same year, in the seventh month, the prophet Hananiah died.

IV. Outline

1. Introduction to Hananiah’s prophecy in the temple during Zedekiah’s reign

2-4. Babylon’s yoke is broken; the temple vessels and king Jeconiah will be returned

5-6a. Introduction to Jeremiah’s speech

6b. Amen to Hananiah’s prophecy

7-9. Thoughts on peaceful prophecies coming true

10. Hananiah breaks the yoke on Jeremiah’s neck

11. Hananiah’s prophecy: Yahweh will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar

12-14. Yahweh tells Jeremiah that his broken wooden yoke will be replaced with an iron one

15-16. Jeremiah confronts Hananiah and predicts his death

17. Hananiah dies two months later

V. Comment

No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used

(see “Commentaries” page)

Photo copied from http://media.tractorsupply.com/is/image/TractorSupplyCompany/forging_a_link_between_the_ages_1?$360$

Jeremiah 27 – “The Yoke of Babylon; The Temple’s Vessels”

Hebrew-English Text

I. Summary

Jeremiah sends yokes to the kings of Judah, Ammon, Moab, Edom, Sidon, and Tyre as an augury for their servitude to Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Jeremiah belittles the false prophets and warns that the Temple’s vessels will be brought to Babylon.

II. Photo

Jeremiah speaks in metaphors: “Put your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon; serve him and his people, and live!” (v. 12)

III. Select Verses

2-7: Thus said the LORD to me: Make for yourself thongs and bars of a yoke, and put them on your neck. And send them to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the Ammonites, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon, by envoys who have come to King Zedekiah of Judah in Jerusalem; and give them this charge to their masters: Thus said the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: Say this to your masters: “It is I who made the earth, and the men and beasts who are on the earth, by My great might and My outstretched arm; and I give it to whomever I deem proper. I herewith deliver all these lands to My servant, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon; I even give him the wild beasts to serve him. All nations shall serve him, his son and his grandson — until the turn of his own land comes, when many nations and great kings shall subjugate him.

9-10: As for you, give no heed to your prophets, augurs, dreamers, diviners, and sorcerers, who say to you, ‘Do not serve the king of Babylon.’ For they prophesy falsely to you — with the result that you shall be banished from your land; I will drive you out and you shall perish.

19-22: “For thus said the LORD of Hosts concerning the columns, the tank, the stands, and the rest of the vessels remaining in this city, which King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon did not take when he exiled King Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem; for thus said the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels remaining in the House of the LORD, in the royal palace of Judah, and in Jerusalem: They shall be brought to Babylon, and there they shall remain, until I take note of them — declares the LORD of Hosts — and bring them up and restore them to this place.”

IV. Outline

1. Introduction: Prophecy in Jehoiakim’s first year

2-3. Performance prophecy: yokes for Israel’s neighbors

4-8. Meaning: the kings will serve Nebuchadnezzar, his son, and his grandson

9-10. Those who disagree are false prophets

11. Serving Nebuchadnezzar leads to life

12-15. The same prophecy for Zedekiah; warning against false prophets

16-17. Jeremiah warns the people of the false prophets

18. The false prophets should pray for the Temple’s vessels

19-22. The Temple’s vessels will be brought to Babylon until Yahweh returns them

V. Comment

No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used

(see “Commentaries” page)

Photo copied from https:// solumevangelium.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/nepal-ox-plow.jpg

Jeremiah 26 – “Jeremiah is Nearly Killed for his Prophecy”

Hebrew-English Text

I. Summary

Jeremiah is seized after prophesying doom for the Temple. The people debate whether a prophet must be killed for this action. Jeremiah is ultimately protected by Ahikam.

II. Photo

Jeremiah is seized: “ And when Jeremiah finished speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak to all the people, the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, shouting, “You shall die!” (v. 9)

III. Select Verses

7-9: The priests and prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the House of the LORD. And when Jeremiah finished speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak to all the people, the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, shouting, “You shall die! How dare you prophesy in the name of the LORD that this House shall become like Shiloh and this city be made desolate, without inhabitants?” And all the people crowded about Jeremiah in the House of the LORD.

12-14: Jeremiah said to the officials and to all the people, “It was the LORD who sent me to prophesy against this House and this city all the words you heard. Therefore mend your ways and your acts, and heed the LORD your God, that the LORD may renounce the punishment He has decreed for you. As for me, I am in your hands: do to me what seems good and right to you.

16-19: Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and prophets, “This man does not deserve the death penalty, for he spoke to us in the name of the LORD our God.” And some of the elders of the land arose and said to the entire assemblage of the people, “Micah the Morashtite, who prophesied in the days of King Hezekiah of Judah, said to all the people of Judah: ‘Thus said the LORD of Hosts: Zion shall be plowed as a field, Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins And the Temple Mount a shrine in the woods.’ “Did King Hezekiah of Judah, and all Judah, put him to death? Did he not rather fear the LORD and implore the LORD, so that the LORD renounced the punishment He had decreed against them? We are about to do great injury to ourselves!”

20-23: There was also a man prophesying in the name of the LORD, Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim, who prophesied against this city and this land the same things as Jeremiah. King Jehoiakim and all his warriors and all the officials heard about his address, and the king wanted to put him to death. Uriah heard of this and fled in fear, and came to Egypt. But King Jehoiakim sent men to Egypt, Elnathan son of Achbor and men with him to Egypt. They took Uriah out of Egypt and brought him to King Jehoiakim, who had him put to the sword and his body thrown into the burial place of the common people.

IV. Outline

1-3. Introduction

    1. Date of prophecy

    2-3. Call to prophecy 

4-6. Jeremiah’s prophecy: disobedience will lead to destruction

7-9. Jeremiah is seized

10-11. The death penalty is proposed

12-15. Jeremiah’s response

    12-13. Jeremiah’s assertion of innocence; call to repent

    14. Acceptance of fate

    15. Condemnation

16-23. The people debate Jeremiah’s fate

    16. The people’s change of heart

    17-19. Micah was not killed and he was a catalyst for repentance

    20-23. Uriah was killed for his prophecies

24. Ahikam son of Shapham protects Jeremiah

V. Comment

Our chapter contains one of the rare biblical occurences when another biblical passage is quoted explicitly. In verses 17-19 the elders quote a prophecy of Micah:

And some of the elders of the land arose and said to the entire assemblage of the people, “Micah the Morashtite, who prophesied in the days of King Hezekiah of Judah, said to all the people of Judah: ‘Thus said the LORD of Hosts: Zion shall be plowed as a field, Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins And the Temple Mount a shrine in the woods.’ “Did King Hezekiah of Judah, and all Judah, put him to death? Did he not rather fear the LORD and implore the LORD, so that the LORD renounced the punishment He had decreed against them? We are about to do great injury to ourselves!” (vv. 17-19)

As it turns out, this prophecy does appear word for word in Micah 3:12:

“Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the house a wooded height.”

Our chapter also refers to the prophecy of a certain Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-Jearim, but this figure is not known from any other source.

VI. Works Used

(see “Commentaries” page)

Photo copied from http:// allchristiannews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/handcuffs1.jpg

Jeremiah 25 – “The Cup of Wrath for Judah and the Nations”

Hebrew-English Text

I. Summary

Yahweh’s prophets have been ignored. Babylon will be destroyed 70 years after Judah. Jeremiah gives the nations a drink from the cup of wrath, signifying their doom.

II. Photo

Jeremiah gives drink to the nations: “So I took the cup from the hand of the Lord and gave drink to all the nations to whom the Lord had sent me.” (v. 17)

III. Select Verses

3: From the thirteenth year of King Josiah son of Amon of Judah, to this day — these twenty-three years — the word of the LORD has come to me. I have spoken to you persistently, but you would not listen.

11b-14: And those nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. When the seventy years are over, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation and the land of the Chaldeans for their sins — declares the LORD — and I will make it a desolation for all time. And I will bring upon that land all that I have decreed against it, all that is recorded in this book — that which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. For they too shall be enslaved by many nations and great kings; and I will requite them according to their acts and according to their conduct.

17-20: So I took the cup from the hand of the LORD and gave drink to all the nations to whom the LORD had sent me: Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, and its kings and officials, to make them a desolate ruin, an object of hissing and a curse — as is now the case; Pharaoh king of Egypt, his courtiers, his officials, and all his people; all the mixed peoples; all the kings of the land of Uz; all the kings of the land of the Philistines — Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and what is left of Ashdod…

33: In that day, the earth shall be strewn with the slain of the LORD from one end to the other. They shall not be mourned, or gathered and buried; they shall become dung upon the face of the earth.

IV. Outline

1-2. Prophecy and date (4th year of Jehoiakim, 1st of Nebuchadnezzar)

3. For 23 years Jeremiah’s prophecies have been ignored

4-7. Other prophets, who condemned idols, have been ignored

8-10. Yahweh will send Nebuchadnezzar to devastate the land

11-12. After 70 years Babylon will be destroyed

13-14. Babylon will receive the punishments reserved for Israel

15-29. Symbolic act: the cup of wrath

    15-16. Yahweh shows Jeremiah a cup of wrath to give to the nations

    17. Symbolic act

    18. Judah

    19. Egypt

    20a. The land of Uz

    20b. The Phillistines

    21. Transjordan: Edom, Moab, Ammon

    22-23. The Arabian tribes

    24. Elam and Persia

    25-26. Other kings; Sheshach (Babylon?)

    27-29. The message Jeremiah must recite

30-31. Proclomation: thunderous Yahweh has a case against the nations

32-33. All men will die

34-38. Shepherd analogy: Yahweh will ravage the shepherds and their flocks

V. Comment

No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used

(see “Commentaries” page)

Photo copied from http://doubletree3.hilton.com/resources/media/dt/en_US/img/offers/information/image/100057439/DT_stockdtsippwine_677x387_FitToBoxSmallDimension_Center.jpg

Jeremiah 24 – “The Fig Analogy”

Hebrew-English Text

I. Summary

Yahweh shows Jeremiah a basket of ripe figs to be eaten and a basket of spoiled figs to be discarded. This means that Yahweh will reinstate and bless the Judean exiles but cast off and kill king Zedekiah, his officials, and the Judeans in Egypt.

II. Photo

The analogy is explained: “As with these good figs, so will I single out for good the Judean exiles whom I have driven out from this place to the land of the Chaldeans (Babylon).” (v. 5)

III. Select Verses

2-3: One basket contained very good figs, like first-ripened figs, and the other basket contained very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. And the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I answered, “Figs — the good ones are very good, and the bad ones very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.”

5-7: Thus said the LORD, the God of Israel: As with these good figs, so will I single out for good the Judean exiles whom I have driven out from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. I will look upon them favorably, and I will bring them back to this land; I will build them and not overthrow them; I will plant them and not uproot them. And I will give them the understanding to acknowledge Me, for I am the LORD. And they shall be My people and I will be their God, when they turn back to Me with all their heart.

8-10: And like the bad figs, which are so bad that they cannot be eaten — thus said the Lord — so will I treat King Zedekiah of Judah and his officials and the remnant of Jerusalem that is left in this land, and those who are living in the land of Egypt: I will make them a horror — an evil — to all the kingdoms of the earth, a disgrace and a proverb, a byword and a curse in all the places to which I banish them. I will send the sword, famine, and pestilence against them until they are exterminated from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.

IV. Outline

1a. Two baskets of figs at the temple

1b. Date: Zedekiah (after Jeconiah’s exile)

2-3. One basket is ripe, the other cannot be eaten

4-7. Yahweh will reinstate and bless the Judaean exiles

8-10. Yahweh will exterminate Zedekiah, his officials, and the Judeans in Egypt

V. Comment

No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used

(see “Commentaries” page)

Photo copied from http://www.inspired2cook.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/fig-plate2.jpg

Jeremiah 22 – “Doom for Josiah’s Descendants”

Hebrew-English Text

I. Summary

Jeremiah prophesies exile and doom for the descendants of king Josiah.

II. Photo

King Jehoiakim will die ignominiously: “He shall have the burial of an ass, dragged out and left lying outside the gates of Jerusalem.” (v. 19)

III. Select Verses

2-5: Say: “Hear the word of the LORD: O king of Judah, you who sit on the throne of David, and your courtiers and your subjects who enter these gates! Thus said the LORD: Do what is just and right; rescue from the defrauder him who is robbed; do not wrong the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow; commit no lawless act, and do not shed the blood of the innocent in this place. For if you fulfill this command, then through the gates of this palace shall enter kings of David’s line who sit upon his throne, riding horse-drawn chariots, with their courtiers and their subjects. But if you do not heed these commands, I swear by Myself — declares the LORD — that this palace shall become a ruin.”

10-12: Do not weep for the dead And do not lament for him; Weep rather for him who is leaving, For he shall never come back To see the land of his birth! For thus said the LORD concerning Shallum son of King Josiah of Judah, who succeeded his father Josiah as king, but who has gone forth from this place: He shall never come back. He shall die in the place to which he was exiled, and he shall not see this land again.

18-19: Assuredly, thus said the LORD concerning Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah: They shall not mourn for him, “Ah, brother! Ah, sister!” They shall not mourn for him, “Ah, lord! Ah, his majesty!” He shall have the burial of an ass, Dragged out and left lying Outside the gates of Jerusalem.

24-26: As I live — declares the LORD — if you, O King Coniah, son of Jehoiakim, of Judah, were a signet on my right hand, I would tear you off even from there. I will deliver you into the hands of those who seek your life, into the hands of those you dread, into the hands of King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon and into the hands of the Chaldeans. I will hurl you and the mother who bore you into another land, where you were not born; there you shall both die.

30: Thus said the LORD: Record this man [Coniah] as without succession, One who shall never be found acceptable; For no man of his offspring shall be accepted To sit on the throne of David And to rule again in Judah.

IV. Outline

1-2. Call to prophesy

3-5. Ultimatum: justice brings kingship, failure brings doom

6-9. Future punishments

10-12. Shallum will die in exile

13-16. Josiah’s greatness was justice; his son’s [Shallum’s? Jehoiakim’s?] palace is not great

17. Condemnation

18-19. Jehoiakim will die in ignominy

20-23. Condemnation and future punishment

24-30. Coniah’s (Jehoiachin’s) and his mother’s future exile; the end of the dynasty

V. Comment

No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used

(see “Commentaries” page)

Photo copied from

http://lollitop.magicgate.eu/media/LollitopMagicgate_004/lollitop_021_ways_of_the_wind94785692462745345.jpg

Jeremiah 21 – “Doom for Jerusalem”

Hebrew-English Text

I. Summary

Jeremiah warns king Zedekiah and his prophet that Jerusalem will be destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians.

II. Photo

Yahweh will join the Babylonians and fight against Jerusalem: “ I Myself will battle against you with an outstretched mighty arm, with anger and rage and great wrath.” (v. 5)

III. Select Verses

1-2: The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur son of Malchiah and the priest Zephaniah, son of Maaseiah, to say, “Please inquire of the LORD on our behalf, for King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon is attacking us. Perhaps the LORD will act for our sake in accordance with all His wonders, so that [Nebuchadrezzar] will withdraw from us.”

3-5: Jeremiah answered them, “Thus shall you say to Zedekiah: Thus said the LORD, the God of Israel: I am going to turn around the weapons in your hands with which you are battling outside the wall against those who are besieging you — the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans — and I will take them into the midst of this city; and I Myself will battle against you with an outstretched mighty arm, with anger and rage and great wrath.

8-9: “And to this people you shall say: Thus said the LORD: I set before you the way of life and the way of death. Whoever remains in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but whoever leaves and goes over to the Chaldeans who are besieging you shall live; he shall at least gain his life.

12: O House of David, thus said the LORD: Render just verdicts Morning by morning; Rescue him who is robbed From him who defrauded him. Else My wrath will break forth like fire And burn, with none to quench it, Because of your wicked acts.

IV. Outline

1-2. Introduction: prophetic response to Zedekiah and Pashhur about Nebuchadrezzar

3-7. Yahweh will fight on Nebuchadrezzar’s side

8-10. Those in Jerusalem will die and those who go to Babylon will live

11-12. Message to the king: injustice will lead to destruction

13-14. Yahweh will punish those in the valley (Jerusalem?) who think they are invincible

V. Comment

No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used

(see “Commentaries” page)

Photo copied from http://th07.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2012/227/a/6/arm_of_momo_ii_by_unseen62-d5b5kh3.jpg

Jeremiah 16 – “Prophecy of Exile and Ingathering”

112 Hebrew-English Text

I. Summary

Yahweh will avenge the people’s idolatry by exiling them and killing their children. Yahweh will ingather the exiles and the people will confess their sins.

II. Photo

Yahweh will punish his people: “I am going to banish from this place, in your days and before your eyes, the sound of mirth and gladness, the voice of bridegroom and bride.” (v. 9)

III. Select Verses

2-4: You are not to marry and not to have sons and daughters in this place. For thus said the LORD concerning any sons and daughters that may be born in this place, and concerning the mothers who bear them, and concerning the fathers who beget them in this land: They shall die gruesome deaths. They shall not be lamented or buried; they shall be like dung on the surface of the ground. They shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, and their corpses shall be food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth.

9: For thus said the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: I am going to banish from this place, in your days and before your eyes, the sound of mirth and gladness, the voice of bridegroom and bride.

10-11: And when you announce all these things to that people, and they ask you, “Why has the LORD decreed upon us all this fearful evil? What is the iniquity and what the sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?” say to them, “Because your fathers deserted Me — declares the LORD — and followed other gods and served them and worshiped them; they deserted Me and did not keep My Instruction.

14-15. Assuredly, a time is coming — declares the LORD — when it shall no more be said, “As the LORD lives who brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt,” but rather, “As the LORD lives who brought the Israelites out of the northland, and out of all the lands to which He had banished them.” For I will bring them back to their land, which I gave to their fathers.

20: Can a man make gods for himself? No-gods are they!

21: Assuredly, I will teach them, Once and for all I will teach them My power and My might. And they shall learn that My name is LORD.

IV. Outline

1. Introduction

2-4. All children will die

5-7. There will be no mourning

8-9. There will be no joyous occasions

10-13. Rationale for exile: idol worship

14-15. The ingathering will be more famous than the exodus

16-18. Yahweh will find all sinners

19-20. Affirmation of faith; future confession

21. Rationale of punishment: Yahweh will teach his name

V. Comment

No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used

(see “Commentaries” page)

Photo copied from

http://www.preownedweddingdresses.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/112.jpg

Psalm 129 – “Imprecation of Enemies”

china_gal04_oct07 Hebrew-English Text

I. Summary
Psalm 129 speaks of the pain caused by enemies, specifically the “haters of Zion” (v. 5). It contains a wish for the enemies to wither away and to be ostracized.

II. Photo
V. 6 curses the enemy saying, “Let them be like grass on roofs that fades before it can be pulled up.”

III. Outline
1a. Superscription
1c. Call on community to participate
1b, 2-3. Complaint
4. Affirmation of confidence
5-8. Imprecation

IV. Comment
Psalm 129 is in the shir hama’alot section of the Psalter, possibly indicating its use by pilgrims on their journey to Jerusalem. Yet, if it was not used in that context, it might have been placed in the shir hama’alot section because of the mention of “Zion” in verse 5. It is interesting how Psalm 128 is a “blessing” and Psalm 129 is its polar opposite: not only is it an imprecation, it even negates possible blessings (v. 8 says “the passersby shall not say ‘“the blessing of the LORD be upon you’”).

The specific genre of Psalm 129 is the subject of scholarly debate. While it might be interpreted as a Thanksgiving (vv. 1-3 speaks of past trouble, and v. 2b speaks of a salvation of sorts), it might also be interpreted as a Complaint or Lament (vv. 1-3 speak of trouble, and the imprecation is somewhat similar to a petition). Yet, both genres usually open with an initial invocation (e.g. Ps 69:2a), a component lacking in our psalm. Also, there is no direct petition of thanksgiving formula. Others move beyond these genres and, based on the affirmation of confidence in v. 4, relegate Psalm 129 to the Trust genre. Yet, seeing that the imprecation is the major focus of the psalm, and the salvation of v. 2b is weak and muted, I have labeled Psalm 129 as an Imprecation, a genre closely related to the complaint/petition.

The psalm begins with individualistic language which is taken over by the community with the words “let Israel now declare.” These words are a call on the community to participate in the psalm’s recitation (cf. Ps. 118:2-4; 124:1). The metaphor “youth” is an individualistic term applied to the people of Israel, much as in Jer. 2:2: “Go proclaim to Jerusalem: Thus said the LORD: I accounted to your favor The devotion of your youth, Your love as a bride — How you followed Me in the wilderness, In a land not sown.”

The metaphorical complaint in v. 3, “Plowmen plowed across my back; they made long furrows” conjures up feelings of acute pain. Metaphors continue in vv. 4, 6-7 where the speaker describes God as one who “has snapped the cords of the wicked” and hopes for the enemy to fade away like grass in the hot sun.

The imprecation in v. 5, “Let all who hate Zion be frustrated and fall back in disgrace,” seems to have been a standard form of imprecation. Like our verse, Ps. 35:4, 40:15, and 70:3 all use the verbs yevoshu “be frustrated” and yissogu ‘achor “fall back in disgrace.” Yet, verse 5 is unique in specifying the enemies as “haters of Zion” while the other psalms speak of the mevaqshei nafshi “those who seek my life.”

V. Important Verses
vv. 5-6: Let all who hate Zion fall back in disgrace, let them be like grass on roofs that fades before it can be pulled up…

Psalm 128 – “Blessing for the Righteous”

3_grapevine Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Psalm 128 is a short blessing for those who “fear the Lord,” and it was most likely said to the pilgrims who journeyed to Jerusalem. Those who “fear the Lord” are blessed/assured sustenance, an exceptional family, the ability to return to Jerusalem, and long life.

II. Photo

The blessing in v. 3 says “Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine within your house”
III. Outline
1a. Superscription
1bc. Beatitude
2-3. Blessing/assurance
4. Rationale
5-6a. Blessing/assurance
6v. Closing benediction

IV. Comment
Psalm 128 begins with a beatitude, a way of conferring “extraordinary bliss on a person who lives up to certain standards of ethical and religious behavior, as implied in the descriptive designation.” (Gerstenberger) Due to the fact that Psalm 128 is in the shir hama’alot section, it is likely that this blessing was given to the pilgrims at Jerusalem (hence the mention of Zion and Jerusalem in v. 5). Like the beatitude of v. 1, the Psalter’s 25 other beatitudes begin with the word ashrei “praiseworthy is he who…” and are followed by participles or adjectives which describe the blessed person (in our case the adjective “all who fear the Lord” and the participle “those who follow his ways” are used). The beatitude in v. 1 unique is that it shifts from the third person to a second person address in vv. 2-3 (for a similar shift in person, see Deut. 33:29 and Eccl. 10:17).

The initial blessing, “You shall enjoy the fruit of your labors; you shall be happy and you shall prosper,” is similar to those of the Wisdom genre. This, and the fact that Psalm 128 speaks of the family, makes it very similar to 127.

The next blessing (v. 3) is a simile: “Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine within your house; your sons, like olive saplings around your table.” Wine and oil were considered human luxuries (cf. Ps 104:14-16) and thus the subject of blessing. Gerstenberger notes how the style and message of v. 3 is related to other blessings in Tanach, namely those given to newlywed men or women (cf. Ruth 4:12; Gen. 24:60; 28:3). The psalm ends with a blessing to see Jerusalem throughout one’s lifetime (v. 5), and to live long enough to see one’s grandchildren (v. 6).

In terms of literary structure, the psalm repeats words such as ashrei, yare’, tov, yevorach, re’ei, and banim (3x).

V. Important Verses
v. 3: Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine within your house; your sons, like olive saplings around your table
v. 5-6: May the LORD bless you from Zion; may you share the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life, and live to see your children’s children…