16:6 It is as if I have been given fertile fields
or received a beautiful tract of land. 1
111:6 He announced that he would do mighty deeds for his people,
giving them a land that belonged to other nations. 2
127:3 Yes, 3 sons 4 are a gift from the Lord,
the fruit of the womb is a reward.
1 tn Heb “measuring lines have fallen for me in pleasant [places]; yes, property [or “an inheritance”] is beautiful for me.” On the dative use of עַל, see BDB 758 s.v. II.8. Extending the metaphor used in v. 5, the psalmist compares the divine blessings he has received to a rich, beautiful tract of land that one might receive by allotment or inheritance.
2 tn Heb “the strength of his deeds he proclaimed to his people, to give to them an inheritance of nations.”
3 tn or “look.”
4 tn Some prefer to translate this term with the gender neutral “children,” but “sons” are plainly in view here, as the following verses make clear. Daughters are certainly wonderful additions to a family, but in ancient Israelite culture sons were the “arrows” that gave a man security in his old age, for they could defend the family interests at the city gate, where the legal and economic issues of the community were settled.