Psalm 104:14

He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth;

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(14) For the service of man—i.e., for his use (so Gesenius). But some deny this meaning to the Hebrew, which properly means “labour” or “office.” (In 1Chronicles 27:26; Nehemiah 10:37, it means “agriculture,” “tillage.”) Hence they render, “And herbs for man’s labour in bringing them forth from the earth,” alluding to his task of cultivating the soil. Standing by itself the clause would indeed naturally require this sense, but the parallelism is against it, and in 1Chronicles 26:30, “service of a king,” we have a near approach to the meaning “use.”

That he may.—Better, bringing food out of the earth, taking the verb as gerund instead of infinitive absolute.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

104:10-18 When we reflect upon the provision made for all creatures, we should also notice the natural worship they render to God. Yet man, forgetful ungrateful man, enjoys the largest measure of his Creator's kindness. the earth, varying in different lands. Nor let us forget spiritual blessings; the fruitfulness of the church through grace, the bread of everlasting life, the cup of salvation, and the oil of gladness. Does God provide for the inferior creatures, and will he not be a refuge to his people?

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle - Out of the earth there is caused to grow every variety of food necessary for the various orders of beings that are placed upon it. The idea here is not merely that of "abundance;" it is also that of "variety:" the needs and tastes of all have been consulted in the productions of the earth. The one earth - the same earth - has been made to produce the endless varieties of food required for the creatures that have been placed on it. The word "grass" here refers to all the vegetable productions needful for cattle.

And herb for the service of man - Genesis 1:29. The word "herb" here would include every green plant or vegetable; or all that the earth produces for the food of man. This, of course, refers to the earth as it came from the hand of God, and to the original arrangement, before permission was given to man to eat the flesh of animals, Genesis 9:3. The word translated "service" might be rendered "culture," as if man was to cultivate it for his use, not that it was to be produced, as the food for cattle, spontaneously.

That he may bring forth food out of the earth - Hebrew, "bread." That is, that by culture he may bring forth that which would make bread.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

14, 15. so that men and beasts are abundantly provided with food.

for the service—literally, "for the culture," &c., by which he secures the results.

oil … shine—literally, "makes his face to shine more than oil," that is, so cheers and invigorates him, that outwardly he appears better than if anointed.

strengtheneth … heart—gives vigor to man (compare Jud 19:5).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Herb for the service of man; both for delight, and for necessity, either as food or physic. And this God doth; he watereth the earth, that thereby it may be prepared or disposed for the production of necessary provisions for beasts and for men, that so he (to wit, God)

may bring forth food out of the earth, which without this blessing of God the earth would never yield.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle,.... By means of rain falling upon the tender herb, and upon the mown grass, whereby provision of food is made for those creatures that live upon grass.

And herb for the service of man: some herbs being for physic for him, and others for food, and all more or less for his use. Herbs were the original food of man, Genesis 1:29 and still a dinner of herbs, where love is, is better than a stalled ox, and hatred therewith, Proverbs 15:17. Some render it, "and herb at the tillage of man" (o): grass grows of itself for the use of the cattle; but the herb, as wheat and the like, which is for the use of man, is caused to grow when man has taken some pains with the earth, and has tilled and manured it: but the former sense seems best.

That he may bring forth food out of the earth; either that man may do it by his tillage; or rather that the Lord may do it, by sending rain, and causing the grass and herbs to grow. However, man's food, as well as the food of beasts, comes out of the earth, as he himself does, and to which he must return.

(o) "ad culturam", Cocceius, some in Vatablus, and Michaelis; so Gussetius, p. 572.

Geneva Study Bible

He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of {h} man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth;

(h) He describes God's providential care over man, who not only provides necessary things for him such as herbs and other meat: but also things to rejoice and comfort him such as wine and oil or ointments.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

14. herb] Cp. Genesis 1:11-12; Genesis 1:29-30; Genesis 3:18; Genesis 9:3. The term includes all vegetable products.

for the service of man] The use of the word in Psalm 104:23 and elsewhere is in favour of the rendering of R.V. marg., for the labour of man:—God makes the soil respond to man’s tillage with abundant produce. But the Heb. word seems to be capable of the same extension of meaning as ‘service’ and this sense fits the parallelism and the context best.

14 b, 15. The division of the verses obscures the parallelism. Render,

That he may bring forth bread out of the earth,

And that wine may gladden the heart of man.

That he may make his face to shine with oil,

And that bread may sustain man’s heart.

Corn wine and oil were the chief products of Palestine (Deuteronomy 12:17). God provides for man’s enjoyment as well as for his sustenance. Cp. for the language Jdg 9:13; Ecclesiastes 10:19.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 14. - He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle. The results of God's careful arrangements are now spoken cf. In the first place, grass - fodder of every kind - is provided for the beasts on which man's life so greatly depends - a boon both to man and beast, of inestimable value. Next, there is brought forth herb for the service of man - i.e. for his direct service - vegetables and fruits for his food; spicy shrubs for his delectation; flax, papyrus, saffron, aloes, etc., for his use. That he may bring forth food out of the earth. That man himself may by his labour, by the cultivation of the natural products, obtain from the earth the food suitable to him. Psalm 104:14

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

In the fourth decastich the poet goes further among the creatures of the field and of the forest. The subject to להוציא is מצמיח. The clause expressing the purpose, which twice begins with an infinitive, is continued in both instances, as in Isaiah 13:9, but with a change of subject (cf. e.g., Amos 1:11; Amos 2:4), in the finite verb. On what is said of wine we may compare Ecclesiastes 10:19, Sir. 40:20, and more especially Isaiah, who frequently mentions wine as a representative of all the natural sources of joy. The assertion that משּׁמן signifies "before oil equals brighter than oil," is an error that is rightly combated by Bttcher in his Proben and two of his "Gleanings,"

(Note: Proben, i.e., Specimens of Old Testament interpretation, Leipzig 1833, and Aehrenlese (Gleanings), referred to in the preface of these volumes. - Tr.)

which imputes to the poet a mention of oil that is contrary to his purpose in this connection wand inappropriate. Corn, wine, and oil are mentioned as the three chief products of the vegetable kingdom (Luther, Calvin, Grotius, Dathe, and Hupfeld), and are assumed under עשׂב in Psalm 104:14, as is also the case in other instances where distinction would be superfluous, e.g., in Exodus 9:22. With oil God makes the countenance shining, or bright and cheerful, not by means of anointing-since it was not the face but the head that was anointed (Matthew 6:17), - but by the fact of its increasing the savouriness and nutritiveness of the food. להצהיל is chosen with reference to יצהר. In Psalm 104:15 לבב־אנושׁ does not stand after, as in Psalm 104:15 (where it is לבב־ with Gaja on account of the distinctive), but before the verb, because לבב as that which is inward stands in antithesis to פנים as that which is outside. Since the fertilization of the earth by the rain is the chief subject of the predication in Psalm 104:13, Psalm 104:16 is naturally attached to what precedes without arousing critical suspicion. That which satisfies is here the rain itself, and not, as in Psalm 104:13, that which the rain matures. The "trees of Jahve" are those which before all others proclaim the greatness of their Creator. אשׁר־שׁם refers to these trees, of which the cedars and then the cypresses (ברושׁים, root בר, to cut) are mentioned. They are places where small and large birds build their nests and lodge, more particularly the stork, which is called the חסידה as being πτηνῶν εὐσεβέστατον ζώων (Barbrius, Fab. xiii.), as avis pia (pietaticultrix in Petronius, Leviticus 6), i.e., on account of its love of family life, on account of which it is also regarded as bringing good fortune to a house.

(Note: In the Merg& district, where the stork is not called leklek as it is elsewhere, but charnuk[ on account of its bill like a long horn (Arab. chrn) standing out in front, the women and children call it Arab. 'bû sa‛d, "bringer of good luck." Like the חסידה, the long-legged carrion-vulture (Vultur percnopterus) or mountain-stork, ὀρειπελαργός, is called רחם (Arab. rḥm) on account of its στοργή.)

The care of God for the lodging of His creatures leads the poet from the trees to the heights of the mountains and the hiding-places of the rocks, in a manner that is certainly abrupt and that disturbs the sketch taken from the account of the creation. הגּבהים is an apposition. יעל (Arabic wa‛il) is the steinboc, wild-goat, as being an inhabitant of יעל (wa‛l, wa‛la), i.e., the high places of the rocks, as יען, Lamentations 4:3, according to Wetzstein, is the ostrich as being an inhabitant of the wa‛na, i.e., the sterile desert; and שׁפן is the rock-badger, which dwells in the clefts of the rocks (Proverbs 30:26), and resembles the marmot - South Arabic Arab. tufun, Hyrax Syriacus (distinct from the African). By שׁפן the Jewish tradition understand the coney, after which the Peshto here renders it לחגסא (חגס, cuniculus). Both animals, the coney and the rock-badger, may be meant in Leviticus 11:5; Deuteronomy 14:7; for the sign of the cloven hoof (פּרסה שׁסוּעה) is wanting in both. The coney has four toes, and the hyrax has a peculiar formation of hoof, not cloven, but divided into several parts.