Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 23:2
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures - Margin, “Pastures of tender grass.” The Hebrew word rendered “pastures” means usually “dwellings,” or “habitations.” It is applied here properly to “pastures,” as places where flocks and herds lie down for repose. The word rendered in the margin “tender grass” - דשׁא deshe' - refers to the first shoots of vegetation from the earth - young herbage - tender grass - as clothing the meadows, and as delicate food for cattle, Job 6:5. It differs from ripe... read more
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 23:1
The Lord is my shepherd - Compare Genesis 49:24, “From thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel;” Psalms 80:1, “Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel.” See also the notes at John 10:1-14. The comparison of the care which God extends over his people to that of a shepherd for his flock is one that would naturally occur to those who were accustomed to pastoral life. It would be natural that it should suggest itself to Jacob Genesis 49:24, and to David, for both of them had been shepherds. David, in... read more