Psalms 127:3

127:3 Yes, ¹  sons ²  are a gift from the Lord,

the fruit of the womb is a reward.

Psalms 127:5

127:5 How blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!

They will not be put to shame ³  when they confront ⁴  enemies at the city gate.

[127:3]  ¹ tn or “look.”

[127:3]  ² 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.

[127:5]  ³ tn Being “put to shame” is here metonymic for being defeated, probably in a legal context, as the reference to the city gate suggests. One could be humiliated (Ps 69:12) or deprived of justice (Amos 5:12) at the gate, but with strong sons to defend the family interests this was less likely to happen.

[127:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “speak with.”