128:6 and that you might see 3 your grandchildren. 4
May Israel experience peace! 5
17:6 Grandchildren 6 are like 7 a crown 8 to the elderly,
and the glory 9 of children is their parents. 10
1 tn Heb “saw Ephraim, the children of the third.”
2 tn Heb “they were born on the knees of Joseph.” This expression implies their adoption by Joseph, which meant that they received an inheritance from him.
3 tn The imperative with prefixed vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the jussive in v. 5a.
4 tn Heb “sons to your sons.”
5 tn Heb “peace [be] upon Israel.” The statement is understood as a prayer (see Ps 125:5).
6 tn Heb “children of children [sons of sons].”
7 tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.
8 sn The metaphor signifies that grandchildren are like a crown, that is, they are the “crowning glory” of life. The proverb comes from a culture that places great importance on the family in society and that values its heritage.
9 tn The noun תִּפְאָרָת (tif’arat) means “beauty; glory” (BDB 802 s.v.). In this passage “glory” seems to be identified with “glorying; boasting”; so a rendering that children are proud of their parents would be in order. Thus, “glory of children” would be a subjective genitive, the glorying that children do.”
10 tc The LXX has inserted: “To the faithful belongs the whole world of wealth, but to the unfaithful not an obulus.” It was apparently some popular sentiment at the time.