Psalms 129:7

Psa 129:7 Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand; nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom.

Ver. 7. Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand] As holding it not worth gathering in. Wicked men are useless creatures; as Stratonicus, in Athenaeus, saith, that the hill Haemus was for eight months in the year very cold, and for the other four it was winter.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7. (Psa 129:7) (With) which the reaper fills not his hand and his bosom, (when) binding sheaves. The ephemeral and worthless vegetation of the house-top is contrasted still further with the useful products of the earth, in order to contrast still more strongly the end of the righteous and the wicked. The last Hebrew word is translated above strictly as a participle of the verb to bind or gather sheaves, and may agree with reaper in the first clause. Since the latter, however, is itself a participle used as a noun, most interpreters put the same construction on the other word, and suppose it to denote a different person from the reaper. With which the reaper fills not his hand nor his bosom the sheaf-binder. The word translated bosom is explained by lexicographers to mean the front fold of the oriental robe, in which things are carried. It might also be translated lap. Hengstenberg's version is his arm. Compare my note on Isa 49:22.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7 With which the mower hath not filled his hand. “Whereof the mower hath not filled his hand, etc. — i.e., It is too scanty to afford employment for a labourer to gather it by the hand, or for a reaper, who uses a sickle, depositing what he cuts in the fold of his garment, or as Le Clerc understands it, under his left arm. The Psalmist in effect prays, that the enemies of Israel may be reduced to such poverty, that none could become richer by despoiling them: in a word, that they might be altogether despicable. For binding up the sheaves, Hammond suggests, gathereth the handfuls, with reference to the gleaner, Ruth 2:2 ” — Cresswell.

“Au lieu que chacun communement en passant par les bleds les benit, et prie pour la moisson.” — Fr.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

7. mower] Reaper (R.V.). The ‘grass’ includes corn springing from grains accidentally dropped on the roof.

bosom] The ‘lap’ or loose fold of the garment, which could be used for collecting the ears of corn. Cp. Neh_5:13. Children were carried in it (Isa_49:22).

7, 8. An expansion of the simile (cp. Psa_127:4-5).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand,.... Such grass never rises high enough to be mowed, nor is of that account to have such pains taken with it; nor the quantity so large as to fill a mower's hand, and carry it away in his arms;

nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom; when corn is mowed or reaped, the binders come and gather it up in their arms, and bind it in sheaves, and then bring it into the barn; but nothing of this kind is done with grass on the housetops. This represents the insignificancy and worthlessness of wicked men; who, when the harvest comes, the end of the world, will not be gathered in by the reapers, the angels, into Christ's garner into heaven as the wheat, the righteous will; but like the tares and chaff will be cast into unquenchable fire, Mat 3:12.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand - It cannot be gathered and laid up for the use of cattle, as grass can that grows in the field. It is valueless for any such purpose; or, is utterly worthless. The phrase “filleth not his hand” seems to be derived from the idea of reaping, where the reaper with one hand takes hold of the grain which he reaps, and cuts it off with the sickle in the other.

Nor he that bindeth sheaves - The man who gathers in the harvest. This was commonly performed by a different person from the reaper.

His bosom - This word would commonly refer to the bosom of the garment, in which tilings were carried; or that part above the girdle. It may be used here, however, in a larger sense - since it is incongruous to suppose that sheaves of grain would be carried thus - as meaning simply that one who gathered the sheaves would usually convey them in his arms, folding them to his bosom.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ver. 7. Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand; nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom. When with his sickle the husbandman would cut down the tufts, he found nothing to lay hold upon: the grass promised fairly enough, but there was no fulfilment, there was nothing to cut or to carry, nothing for the hand to grasp, nothing for the lap to gather. Easterners carry their corn in their bosoms, but in this case there was nothing to bear home. Thus do the wicked come to nothing. By God's just appointment they prove a disappointment. Their fire ends in smoke; their verdure turns to vanity; their flourishing is but a form of withering. No one profits by them, least of all are they profitable to themselves. Their aim is bad, their work is worse, their end is worst of all.

Ver. 7. The mower filleth not his hand, etc. The grain was rather pulled than cut, and as each handful was taken the reaper gave it a flourishing swing up into his bosom. Mrs. Finn, in "Home in the Holy Land", 1866.

Ver. 7. He that bindeth sheaves his bosom. A practice prevails in hot climates of sending out persons into the woods and other wild places to collect the grass, which would otherwise be wasted; and it is no uncommon tiling in the evening to see groups of grass cutters in the market, waiting to dispose of their bundles or sheaves, which are often so large that one is disposed to wonder how they could have been conveyed from the woods upon one man's shoulders. Maria Calcott, in "A Scripture Herbal", 1842.

Psalms 129:8*

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand. Which is so worthless that no one takes the trouble to mow it. Nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom. Much less does any one bind it into sheaves and store it away.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

his arm Like (Isa. 49:22): “and they will bring your sons in [their] arms (בחצן),” aisselle in French, and so (Neh. 5:13): “Also I shook out my arm (חצני).”

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.