Useful Bible Studies > Songs of Ascent Commentary
Last part: Psalm 128
The poet compares the man’s wife and children to important agricultural plants. He does not explain why he chose these particular plants. Probably, he wants to reader to think about these descriptions. To help you to do that, here is a description of these plants.
The poet compares the man’s wife to the plant called the vine. The vine is a bush. Its wood is not strong; it needs something to support it. The vine produces one of the most important agricultural crops in Israel. Its fruits are called grapes. They are very sweet and they are full of juice. The vine produces grapes in plentiful quantities. There are too many to eat them all while they are fresh. So people dry them in the sun. The dried fruits are called raisins. They last for many months. People eat them during the time of the year when there is no fresh fruit. And they are very useful for people to take when they go on journeys. The other main use for grapes is their juice. People use that juice to make wine.
The poet compares the man’s sons to young plants called olives. The olive becomes a tree that has a very long and useful life. The olive also yields plentiful fruits. However, these fruits are not sweet, but they are oily. And it is the oil that is very useful and valuable. People press the fruits to get the oil. They bake the oil, with flour, into bread and cakes. And they pour the oil onto other foods. The oil has several other important uses too. People used the oil as fuel for their lamps. People put the oil onto their skin. And they also used it to make medicines.
Both plants produce a crop each year. The vine in the description already yields good crops. So the wife is already achieving good things in her life. And she will continue to do that. But the sons are like young plants. The olive does not yield fruit until it is several years old. Perhaps these sons are too young to achieve good things in their lives yet. But they are growing and they are learning. And there is every hope that their lives will achieve good things for many years in the future.
It may seem as if the poet has forgotten about the man’s daughters! But in fact, the poet expected that the daughters would marry into other families in Israel. And then the description of the good wife in verse 3 would describe them too.
Next part: God’s perfect desire for families
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© 2015, Keith Simons.