Psalms 127:5

5 Blessed [is] the man who fills his quiver with them. They shall not be put to shame when they speak with enemies at the gate.

Psalms 127:5 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 127:5

Happy [is] the man that hath his quiver full of them
That is, his house full of them; called a quiver, referring to arrows before mentioned, this being the case in which they are put up: to have many children was always reckoned a great temporal blessing and happiness; see ( Job 1:2 ) ( Psalms 128:3 Psalms 128:4 Psalms 128:6 ) . The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Ethiopic, and Arabic versions, render it, "that fills his desire" has as many as he desires or wishes for: the Targum,

``who fills his school of them:''

so Jarchi interprets the children, of the disciples of the wise men. It may be applied to young converts, the children of Christ and of the church; which, when numerous, is a blessing to him and her; see ( Isaiah 49:20 Isaiah 49:21 ) ( Isaiah 53:10 Isaiah 53:11 ) ;

they shall not be ashamed;
the father and his children, as Aben Ezra; parents rather are meant, who are not ashamed when they have many children: with the Romans ^F26, those that had wives and children were preferred in honour to senior persons that had none; and they that had most to those that had fewest; and so with the Persians; (See Gill on Esther 5:11);

but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate:
where courts of judicature were kept; and so the Targum,

``in the gate of the house of judgment.''

The sense is, that their children should stand and plead the cause of their parents against their adversaries in courts of judicature; or publicly before the eyes of all, as Aben Ezra: and spiritually may design such of Christ's seed who are set for the defence of the Gospel, are valiant for the truth on earth, and earnestly contend for it; meet the enemy in the gate, publicly oppose him, and behave themselves like men, and are strong.

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FOOTNOTES:

F26 A. Gell. Noct. Attic. l. 2. c. 15.

Psalms 127:5 In-Context

1 Unless Yahweh builds a house, its builders labor at it in vain. Unless Yahweh guards a city, a guard watches in vain.

2 [It is] in vain for you who rise early [and] sit late, eating the bread of anxious toil, [when] thus he provides for his beloved in [his] sleep.

3 Look, children [are] the heritage of Yahweh; the fruit of the womb [is] a reward.

4 Like arrows in [the] hand of a warrior, so [are] the children of [one's] youth.

5 Blessed [is] the man who fills his quiver with them. They shall not be put to shame when they speak with enemies at the gate.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "whose quiver he [Yahweh] fills with them"