The Meaning of Psalms 128:3 Explained

Psalms 128:3

KJV: Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table.

YLT: Thy wife is as a fruitful vine in the sides of thy house, Thy sons as olive plants around thy table.

Darby: Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine in the inner part of thy house; thy children like olive-plants round about thy table.

ASV: Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine, In the innermost parts of thy house; Thy children like olive plants, Round about thy table.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Thy wife  [shall be] as a fruitful  vine  by the sides  of thine house:  thy children  like olive  plants  round about  thy table. 

What does Psalms 128:3 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalms 128:1-6 - "it Shall Be Well With Thee"
This psalm is the portrait of a godly man and his home in the best days of the Hebrew commonwealth. The husband and father, Psalms 128:1-2. He is reverent and devout. Peace is on his face; he is happy in himself and in his home; respected among his fellows; and garners at the end the results of his work. The wife and house-mother, Psalms 128:3. She is like the vine surrounding the inner court of an oriental house, yielding shade and refreshment. The children, Psalms 128:3. The olive is the symbol of enduring prosperity and joy. The young plants will presently be bedded out to become trees of mature growth.
Forebodings Past deliverances, Psalms 129:1-4. Israel's youth was spent in Egypt. See Hosea 2:15; Hosea 11:1; Jeremiah 2:6. As the plow tears up the soil, so the lash cuts their quivering flesh. But in such furrows God sows the seed of a blessed "afterward." When our case is desperate, God cuts the oxen's binding cords, the plow stands still, and the bitter pain ceases. Forebodings and predictions, Psalms 129:5-8. Withered grass, unmourned, fit only for fuel. Such is the fate of those who oppress God's people. The reference is to the scant blades which grow on the flat roof of an Eastern house. The usual benediction on the reaper's toil will never extend to those withered blades. [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 128

1  The various blessings which follow those who fear God

What do the individual words in Psalms 128:3 mean?

Your wife [shall be] like a vine fruitful in the very heart of your house Your children like plants olive all around your table
אֶשְׁתְּךָ֤ ׀ כְּגֶ֥פֶן פֹּרִיָּה֮ בְּיַרְכְּתֵ֪י בֵ֫יתֶ֥ךָ בָּ֭נֶיךָ כִּשְׁתִלֵ֣י זֵיתִ֑ים סָ֝בִ֗יב לְשֻׁלְחָנֶֽךָ

אֶשְׁתְּךָ֤ ׀  Your  wife  [shall  be] 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, second person masculine singular
Root: אִשָּׁה  
Sense: woman, wife, female.
כְּגֶ֥פֶן  like  a  vine 
Parse: Preposition-k, Noun, common singular
Root: גֶּפֶן  
Sense: vine, vine tree.
פֹּרִיָּה֮  fruitful 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, feminine singular
Root: פָּרָה 
Sense: to bear fruit, be fruitful, branch off.
בְּיַרְכְּתֵ֪י  in  the  very  heart 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, fdc
Root: יְרֵכָה  
Sense: flank, side, extreme parts, recesses.
בֵ֫יתֶ֥ךָ  of  your  house 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, second person masculine singular
Root: בַּיִת 
Sense: house.
בָּ֭נֶיךָ  Your  children 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, second person masculine singular
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
כִּשְׁתִלֵ֣י  like  plants 
Parse: Preposition-k, Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: שָׁתִיל  
Sense: plant, cutting, transplanted shoot, slip.
זֵיתִ֑ים  olive 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: זַיִת  
Sense: olive, olive tree.
סָ֝בִ֗יב  all  around 
Parse: Adverb
Root: מוּסָב 
Sense: places round about, circuit, round about adv.
לְשֻׁלְחָנֶֽךָ  your  table 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular construct, second person masculine singular
Root: שֻׁלְחָן  
Sense: table.