Psalm 127:2

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 127:2

(2) It . . . sleep.—This verse, of the literal rendering of which there is no question, has met with many different interpretations. About the first clause there is no difference. Early rising, to pursue the business of the day, is vain without the Divine blessing on the labour. The next two clauses admit two different interpretations. Some connect the sitting down with the meal: “delaying to sit down and eat the bread of cares” (or sorrow), i.e., so immersed in business as to allow hardly time... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Psalms 127:1-5

God the Builder of the Home Psalms 127:1 He who undertakes to build up a home without God fails and fails dismally. The first requisite in the building of the home is character, and the final purpose of every true home is the strengthening and development of character. Let us consider the practical bearing of this thought of the home as a school of character. I. The first necessity is surely a frank recognition of the Divinity of the home. The division of secular and sacred is misleading in... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Psalms 127:1-5

Psalms 127:1-5THIS pure expression of conscious dependence on God’s blessing for all well-being may possibly have special reference to the Israel of the Restoration. The instances of vain human effort and care would then have special force, when the ruins of many generations had to be rebuilt and the city to be guarded. But there is no need to seek for specific occasion, so general is this psalm. It sings in a spirit of happy trust the commonplace of all true religion, that God’s blessing... read more

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Psalms 127:1-5

Psalm 120-134 The Psalms of Degrees Fifteen brief Psalms follow, called songs of degrees, or, ascents. They were in all probability used by Israel going up to Jerusalem three times a year to celebrate the feasts of the Lord--”Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, a testimony for Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the LORD.” They are indeed Psalms of “the goings-up” for we rise higher and higher as we read through them. Prophetically they give us again the steps from trial and... read more

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - Psalms 127:2

127:2 [It is] vain for {c} you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread {d} of sorrows: [for] so he giveth his beloved {e} sleep.(c) Who watch and ward and are also magistrates and rulers of the city.(d) Either that which is gained by hard labour, or eaten with grief of mind.(e) Not exempting them from labour, but making their labours comfortable and as it were a rest. read more

James Gray

James Gray's Concise Bible Commentary - Psalms 127:1-5

This group is differentiated by the title attached to each: “A Song of Degrees” or “A Song of Ascents.” The title seems derived from the going up of the people to Jerusalem at the great festivals which came three times a year. (Compare Deuteronomy 16:16 ; 1 Kings 12:27-28 , etc.); the thought being that they chanted the psalms at different stages in their journey. The pertinency of this application of these psalms is more apparent in some than others. For example, Psalms 121:0 represents the... read more

Robert Hawker

Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary - Psalms 127:2

Anxiety and care will never improve either by exertion, for the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Ecclesiastes 9:11 ; Zechariah 4:6 . read more

George Haydock

George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary - Psalms 127:2

Hands. The idle are not entitled to blessings, which God will bestow on the industrious who fear him, preserving them from evils, Leviticus xxvi. 16., and Deuteronomy xxviii. 30. (Calmet) (2 Corinthians iii. 10.) --- Some have explained Greek: karpon, "fruits:" though it here means hands. (Berthier) read more

Paul E. Kretzmann

The Popular Commentary by Paul E. Kretzmann - Psalms 127:1-5

The Divine Blessing Needed for Human Enterprises. A song of degrees for Solomon, a hymn written by him probably in connection with the building of the Temple, but applicable to all similar conditions of life, the believers realizing their dependence upon Jehovah in all things. v. 1. Except the Lord build the house, Himself watching over the erection of every building executed by men and prospering their labors, they labor in vain that build it, there being so many possibilities of failure... read more

Johann Peter Lange

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Critical, Doctrinal and Homiletical - Psalms 127:1-5

Psalms 127:0A Song of Degrees for Solomon Except the Lord build the house,They labour in vain that build it:Except the Lord keep the city,The watchman waketh but in vain.2 It is vain for you to rise up early,To sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows:For so he giveth his beloved sleep.3 Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord:And the fruit of the womb is his reward.4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man:So are children of the youth.5 Happy is the man that hath his... read more

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