Psalms 72:16

72:16 May there be ¹  an abundance ²  of grain in the earth;

on the tops ³  of the mountains may it ⁴  sway! ⁵ 

May its ⁶  fruit trees ⁷  flourish ⁸  like the forests of Lebanon! ⁹ 

May its crops ¹⁰  be as abundant ¹¹  as the grass of the earth! ¹² 

Isaiah 32:16-17

32:16 Justice will settle down in the desert

and fairness will live in the orchard. ¹³ 

32:17 Fairness will produce peace ¹⁴ 

and result in lasting security. ¹⁵ 

Isaiah 52:7

52:7 How delightful it is to see approaching over the mountains ¹⁶ 

the feet of a messenger who announces peace,

a messenger who brings good news, who announces deliverance,

who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” ¹⁷ 

Ezekiel 34:13-14

34:13 I will bring them out from among the peoples and gather them from foreign countries; I will bring them to their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the streams and all the inhabited places of the land. 34:14 In a good pasture I will feed them; the mountain heights of Israel will be their pasture. There they will lie down in a lush ¹⁸  pasture, and they will feed on rich grass on the mountains of Israel.

Joel 3:18

3:18 On that day ¹⁹  the mountains will drip with sweet wine, ²⁰ 

and the hills will flow with milk. ²¹ 

All the dry stream beds ²²  of Judah will flow with water.

A spring will flow out from the temple ²³  of the Lord,

watering the Valley of Acacia Trees. ²⁴ 

[72:16]  ¹ tn The prefixed verbal form is jussive, not imperfect. The translation assumes the subject is impersonal (rather than the king).

[72:16]  ² tn The Hebrew noun פִסַּה (pissah; which appears here in the construct form) occurs only here in the OT. Perhaps the noun is related to the verbal root פָּשָׂה (pasah, “to spread,” see BDB 832 s.v.; the root appears as פָּסָה [pasah] in postbiblical Hebrew), which is used in postbiblical Hebrew of the rising sun’s rays spreading over the horizon and a tree’s branches spreading out (see Jastrow 1194 s.v. פסי, פָּסָה, פָּשָׂה). In Ps 72:16 a “spreading of grain” would refer to grain fields extending out over the land. C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs (Psalms [ICC], 2:139) emend the form to סְפִיחַ (sÿfiakh, “second growth”).

[72:16]  ³ tn Heb “top” (singular).

[72:16]  ⁴ tn That is, the grain.

[72:16]  ⁵ tn According to the traditional accentuation of the MT, this verb belongs with what follows. See the translator’s note at the end of the verse for a discussion of the poetic parallelism and interpretation of the verse.

[72:16]  ⁶ tn The antecedent of the third masculine singular pronominal suffix is unclear. It is unlikely that the antecedent is אֶרֶץ (’erets, “earth”) because this noun is normally grammatically feminine. Perhaps רֹאשׁ (ro’sh, “top [of the mountains]”) is the antecedent. Another option is to understand the pronoun as referring to the king, who would then be viewed as an instrument of divine agricultural blessing (see v. 6).

[72:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “fruit.”

[72:16]  ⁸ tc According to the traditional accentuation of the MT, this verb belongs with what follows. See the note on the word “earth” at the end of the verse for a discussion of the poetic parallelism and interpretation of the verse. The present translation takes it with the preceding words, “like Lebanon its fruit” and emends the verb form from וְיָצִיצוּ (vÿyatsitsu; Qal imperfect third masculine plural with prefixed vav, [ו]) to יָצִיץ (yatsits; Qal imperfect third masculine singular). The initial vav is eliminated as dittographic (note the vav on the ending of the preceding form פִּרְיוֹ, piryo, “its/his fruit”) and the vav at the end of the form is placed on the following emended form (see the note on the word “crops”), yielding וַעֲמִיר (va’amir, “and [its] crops”).

[72:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “like Lebanon.”

[72:16]  ¹⁰ tc The MT has “from the city.” The translation assumes an emendation to עֲמִיר (’amir, “crops”).

[72:16]  ¹¹ tn The translation assumes that the verb צוץ (“flourish”) goes with the preceding line. The words “be as abundant” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[72:16]  ¹² tc The traditional accentuation and vocalization of the MT differ from the text assumed by the present translation. The MT reads as follows: “May there be an abundance of grain in the earth, / and on the tops of the mountains! / May its [or “his”?] fruit [trees?] rustle like [the trees of] Lebanon! / May they flourish from the city, like the grass of the earth!” If one follows the MT, then it would appear that the “fruit” of the third line is a metaphorical reference to the king’s people, who flow out from the cities to populate the land (see line 4). Elsewhere in the OT people are sometimes compared to grass that sprouts up from the land (see v. 7, as well as Isa 27:6; Pss 92:7; 103:15). The translation understands a different poetic structural arrangement and, assuming the emendations mentioned in earlier notes, interprets each line of the verse to be a prayer for agricultural abundance.

[32:16]  ¹³ sn This new era of divine blessing will also include a moral/ethical transformation, as justice and fairness fill the land and replace the social injustice so prevalent in Isaiah’s time.

[32:17]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and the product of fairness will be peace.”

[32:17]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and the work of fairness [will be] calmness and security forever.”

[52:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “How delightful on the mountains.”

[52:7]  ¹⁷ tn Or “has become king.” When a new king was enthroned, his followers would give this shout. For other examples of this enthronement formula (Qal perfect 3rd person masculine singular מָלַךְ [malakh], followed by the name of the king), see 2 Sam 15:10; 1 Kgs 1:11, 13, 18; 2 Kgs 9:13. The Lord is an eternal king, but here he is pictured as a victorious warrior who establishes his rule from Zion.

[34:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “good.”

[3:18]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and it will come about in that day.”

[3:18]  ²⁰ tn Many English translations read “new wine” or “sweet wine,” meaning unfermented wine, i.e., grape juice.

[3:18]  ²¹ sn The language used here is a hyperbolic way of describing both a bountiful grape harvest (“the mountains will drip with juice”) and an abundance of cattle (“the hills will flow with milk”). In addition to being hyperbolic, the language is also metonymical (effect for cause).

[3:18]  ²² tn Or “seasonal streams.”

[3:18]  ²³ tn Heb “house.”

[3:18]  ²⁴ tn Heb “valley of Shittim.” The exact location of the Valley of Acacia Trees is uncertain. The Hebrew word שִׁטִּים (shittim) refers to a place where the acacia trees grow, which would be a very arid and dry place. The acacia tree can survive in such locations, whereas most other trees require more advantageous conditions. Joel’s point is that the stream that has been mentioned will proceed to the most dry and barren of locations in the vicinity of Jerusalem.