Psalm 127

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Psalm 127 as an inscription (1610) on the bay window of the Mohren pharmacy, Bayreuth .
Psalm 127 as a house blessing, written in 1785

The short Psalm 127 is after the counting of the Septuagint and the Vulgate Psalm 126. In medieval Latin tradition it is also named after its initial words: Nisi Dominus ædificaverit domum . He belongs to the group of pilgrimage psalms (Psalm 120 to Psalm 134).

The attribution to Solomon was probably made because of the keyword "house building" in verse 1, since "house (of God)" is also the name for the Jerusalem temple . But the Psalm itself speaks of the everyday house and not of the temple.

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Portal of the house at Markt 10 in Naumburg .

The psalm is "an aphoristically designed wisdom teaching about happiness in life that one cannot" make "and force oneself, but that is a gift from YHWH ."

Like the pilgrimage psalms in general, the psalm is interested in the world of simple people: building houses, guarding the city and working in the fields. The patriarchal ancient society comes out very clearly in verses 3-5: Many strong sons secure an influential position for their father in society.

Text: Psalm 127 (unrevised standard translation)

Verse 1
[A pilgrimage song of Solomon.] If the Lord does not build the house, / everyone who builds it tries in vain. If the Lord does not watch over the city, the watcher keeps watch in vain.
Verse 2
It is in vain for you to get up early and sit down late to eat the bread of hardship; / for the Lord gives it to his own in their sleep.
Verse 3
Children are a gift from the Lord, / the fruit of the body is his gift.
Verse 4
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are sons of youth.
Verse 5
Happy the man who filled the quiver with them! / They do not fail in litigation with their enemies.

Translation options for V. 2

The Hebrew text of verse 2b, כֵּן יִתֵּן לִֽידִידֹו שֵׁנָֽא can be translated in different ways:

  1. "Yes, he gives his lover sleep"
  2. "Yes, he gives it to his lover in his sleep."

The more direct translation (1) is used by the Bible in fair language : "But: She (= Eternal) gives your loved one sleep." the second, traditional translation option.

The Septuagint reads: “It is in vain for you to get up early, to rise after sitting, eating your bread of sorrow when he gives sleep to his beloved” (ὅταν δῷ τοῖς ἀγαπητοῖς αὐτοῦ ὕπνον). This also corresponds to the Vulgate ( cum dederit dilectis suis somnum , "when / while he gives sleep to his beloved").

reception

House inscription

Psalm 127 was quoted very often as a house inscription in both Latin and German. The abbreviated form is also used in Latin: Nisi Dominus frustra or Nisi Deus frustra.

Psalm 127, 2b provided the winged saying : "The Lord gives his own in their sleep."

Church music

literature

  • Erich Zenger : Stuttgarter Psalter , Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-460-32068-0
  • Othmar Keel : Psalm 127: A praise to him who gives sleep and children , in: FV Reiterer (Ed.), Ein Gott, ein Revelation . Festschrift Notker Füglister, Würzburg 1991, pp. 155–163.

Web links

Commons : Psalm 127  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Klaus Seybold: Explained - The Commentary on the Zurich Bible . Ed .: Evangelical Reformed Church of the Canton of Zurich. tape 2 . Zurich 2010, p. 1265 .
  2. ↑ Erich Zenger: Stuttgart Psalter . S. 349 .
  3. ↑ Erich Zenger: Stuttgart Psalter . S. 350 .
  4. ↑ Erich Zenger: Stuttgart Psalter . S. 350-351 .
  5. ↑ Ulrike Bail et al. (Ed.): Bible in Righteous Language . Gütersloh 2006, p. 1172 .
  6. ↑ Wolfgang Kraus, Martin Karrer (Ed.): Septuaginta German . Stuttgart 2009, p. 882 .