The Meaning of Psalms 72:16 Explained

Psalms 72:16

KJV: There shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon: and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.

YLT: There is a handful of corn in the earth, On the top of mountains, Shake like Lebanon doth its fruit, And they flourish out of the city as the herb of the earth.

Darby: There shall be abundance of corn in the earth, upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon; and they of the city shall bloom like the herb of the earth.

ASV: There shall be abundance of grain in the earth upon the top of the mountains; The fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon: And they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

There shall be an handful  of corn  in the earth  upon the top  of the mountains;  the fruit  thereof shall shake  like Lebanon:  and [they] of the city  shall flourish  like grass  of the earth. 

What does Psalms 72:16 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalms 72:12-20 - "his Name Shall Endure For Ever"
How is it that lands so distant as Tarshish, by the Strait of Gibraltar; so rich as Sheba and Seba in south Arabia; tribes so wild as the Bedouin of the desert; and nations so imperial as those beyond the River, shall own the sway of Christ? The answer is given in Psalms 72:12 -For! The world is full of sorrow and injustice, and He who can stanch flowing wounds and mete out justice to the oppressed, will win all hearts and become the acknowledged Leader of mankind.
He shall live! We cannot forget our Lord's own words: "I am He that liveth and was dead, and behold I am alive for evermore," Revelation 1:18. Jesus is possessed of the ageless life of the eternal Word, of the human life which He bore through His sojourn on earth, and of that indissoluble life in virtue of which He exercises His priesthood, Hebrews 7:17, r.v. margin.
"We pray for Christ," says; Augustine, "when we pray for His Church, because it is His body; and when we say, "˜Thy kingdom come.'" His name shall have issue, Psalms 72:17, r.v., margin. It will reproduce itself. The children of "the Name" are found in every land, and will ultimately people the world.
For Review Questions, see the e-Sword Book Comments. [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 72

1  David, praying for Solomon, shows the goodness and glory of God's kingdom
18  He blessed God

What do the individual words in Psalms 72:16 mean?

There will be an abundance of grain in the earth On the top of the mountains shall wave like Lebanon Its fruit and [those] shall flourish of the city like grass of the earth
יְהִ֤י פִסַּת־ בַּ֨ר ׀ בָּאָרֶץ֮ בְּרֹ֪אשׁ הָ֫רִ֥ים יִרְעַ֣שׁ כַּלְּבָנ֣וֹן פִּרְי֑וֹ וְיָצִ֥יצוּ מֵ֝עִ֗יר כְּעֵ֣שֶׂב הָאָֽרֶץ

יְהִ֤י  There  will  be 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect Jussive, third person masculine singular
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
פִסַּת־  an  abundance 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: פִּסָּה  
Sense: abundance, fullness, plenty.
בַּ֨ר ׀  of  grain 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: בַּר 
Sense: corn, grain.
בָּאָרֶץ֮  in  the  earth 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.
בְּרֹ֪אשׁ  On  the  top 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: רֹאשׁ 
Sense: head, top, summit, upper part, chief, total, sum, height, front, beginning.
הָ֫רִ֥ים  of  the  mountains 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: הַר  
Sense: hill, mountain, hill country, mount.
יִרְעַ֣שׁ  shall  wave 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: רָעַשׁ 
Sense: to quake, shake.
כַּלְּבָנ֣וֹן  like  Lebanon 
Parse: Preposition-k, Article, Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: לְבָנׄון  
Sense: a wooded mountain range on the northern border of Israel.
פִּרְי֑וֹ  Its  fruit 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: פְּרִי  
Sense: fruit.
וְיָצִ֥יצוּ  and  [those]  shall  flourish 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: צוּץ 
Sense: to blossom, shine, sparkle.
מֵ֝עִ֗יר  of  the  city 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, feminine singular
Root: עִיר 
Sense: excitement, anguish.
כְּעֵ֣שֶׂב  like  grass 
Parse: Preposition-k, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: עֵשֶׂב  
Sense: herb, herbage, grass, green plants.
הָאָֽרֶץ  of  the  earth 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.