Psalms 65:9-13

Context

65:9 You visit the earth and give it rain;¹

you make it rich and fertile²

with overflowing streams full of water.³

You provide grain for them,⁴

for you prepare the earth to yield its crops.⁵

65:10 You saturate⁶ its furrows,

and soak⁷ its plowed ground.⁸

With rain showers you soften its soil,⁹

and make its crops grow.¹⁰

65:11 You crown the year with your good blessings,¹¹

and you leave abundance in your wake.¹²

65:12 The pastures in the wilderness glisten with moisture,¹³

and the hills are clothed with joy.¹⁴

65:13 The meadows are clothed with sheep,

and the valleys are covered with grain.

They shout joyfully, yes, they sing.

[65:9] ¹tn The verb form is a Polel from שׁוּק (shuq, “be abundant”), a verb which appears only here and in Joel 2:24 and 3:13, where it is used in the Hiphil stem and means “overflow.”

[65:9] ²tn Heb “you greatly enrich it.”

[65:9] ³tn Heb “[with] a channel of God full of water.” The divine name is probably used here in a superlative sense to depict a very deep stream (“a stream fit for God,” as it were).

[65:9] ⁴tn The pronoun apparently refers to the people of the earth, mentioned in v. 8.

[65:9] ⁵tn Heb “for thus [referring to the provision of rain described in the first half of the verse] you prepare it.” The third feminine singular pronominal suffix attached to the verb “prepare” refers back to the “earth,” which is a feminine noun with regard to grammatical form.

[65:10] ⁶tn Heb “saturating” [the form is an infinitive absolute].

[65:10] ⁷tn Heb “flatten, cause to sink.”

[65:10] ⁸tn Heb “trenches,” or “furrows.”

[65:10] ⁹tn Heb “soften it,” that is, the earth.

[65:10] ¹⁰tn Heb “its vegetation you bless.” Divine “blessing” often involves endowing an object with special power or capacity.

[65:11] ¹¹tn Heb “your good,” which refers here to agricultural blessings.

[65:11] ¹²tn Heb “and your paths drip with abundance.”

[65:12] ¹³tn Heb “drip.”

[65:12] ¹⁴tn That is, with rich vegetation that brings joy to those who see it.