Psalm 72:16
New International Version
May grain abound throughout the land; on the tops of the hills may it sway. May the crops flourish like Lebanon and thrive like the grass of the field.

New Living Translation
May there be abundant grain throughout the land, flourishing even on the hilltops. May the fruit trees flourish like the trees of Lebanon, and may the people thrive like grass in a field.

English Standard Version
May there be abundance of grain in the land; on the tops of the mountains may it wave; may its fruit be like Lebanon; and may people blossom in the cities like the grass of the field!

Berean Standard Bible
May there be an abundance of grain in the land; may it sway atop the hills. May its fruit trees flourish like the forests of Lebanon, and its people like the grass of the field.

King James Bible
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.

New King James Version
There will be an abundance of grain in the earth, On the top of the mountains; Its fruit shall wave like Lebanon; And those of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.

New American Standard Bible
May there be abundance of grain on the earth on top of the mountains; Its fruit will wave like the cedars of Lebanon; And may those from the city flourish like the vegetation of the earth.

NASB 1995
May there be abundance of grain in the earth on top of the mountains; Its fruit will wave like the cedars of Lebanon; And may those from the city flourish like vegetation of the earth.

NASB 1977
May there be abundance of grain in the earth on top of the mountains; Its fruit will wave like the cedars of Lebanon; And may those from the city flourish like vegetation of the earth.

Legacy Standard Bible
May there be abundance of grain in the earth on top of the mountains; May its fruit wave like the cedars of Lebanon; And may those from the city blossom like vegetation of the earth.

Amplified Bible
There will be an abundance of grain in the soil on the top of the mountains; Its fruit will wave like [the cedars of] Lebanon, And those of the city will flourish like grass of the earth.

Christian Standard Bible
May there be plenty of grain in the land; may it wave on the tops of the mountains. May its crops be like Lebanon. May people flourish in the cities like the grass of the field.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
May there be plenty of grain in the land; may it wave on the tops of the mountains. May its crops be like Lebanon. May people flourish in the cities like the grass of the field.

American Standard Version
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.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
He shall be like the abundance of grain in the Earth and its fruit will spring up in the top of the mountains like Lebanon and they will sprout from the city like the grass of the Earth.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
There shall be an establishment on the earth on the tops of the mountains: the fruit thereof shall be exalted above Libanus, and they of the city shall flourish as grass of the earth.

Contemporary English Version
Let cities overflow with food and hills be covered with grain, just like Mount Lebanon. Let the people in the cities prosper like wild flowers.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And there shall be a firmament on the earth on the tops of mountains, above Libanus shall the fruit thereof be exalted : and they of the city shall flourish like the grass of the earth.

English Revised Version
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 flourish like grass of the earth.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
May there be plenty of grain in the land. May it wave [in the breeze] on the mountaintops, its fruit like [the treetops of] Lebanon. May those from the city flourish like the grass on the ground.

Good News Translation
May there be plenty of grain in the land; may the hills be covered with crops, as fruitful as those of Lebanon. May the cities be filled with people, like fields full of grass.

International Standard Version
May grain be abundant in the land all the way to the mountain tops; may its fruits flourish like the forests of Lebanon, and may the cities sprout like the grass of the earth.

JPS Tanakh 1917
May he be as a rich cornfield in the land upon the top of the mountains; May his fruit rustle like Lebanon; And may they blossom out of the city like grass of the earth.

Literal Standard Version
There is a handful of grain in the earth, | On the top of mountains, | Its fruit shakes like Lebanon, | And they flourish out of the city as the herb of the earth.

Majority Standard Bible
May there be an abundance of grain in the land; may it sway atop the hills. May its fruit trees flourish like the forests of Lebanon, and its people like the grass of the field.

New American Bible
May wheat abound in the land, flourish even on the mountain heights. May his fruit be like that of Lebanon, and flourish in the city like the grasses of the land.

NET Bible
May there be an abundance of grain in the earth; on the tops of the mountains may it sway! May its fruit trees flourish like the forests of Lebanon! May its crops be as abundant as the grass of the earth!

New Revised Standard Version
May there be abundance of grain in the land; may it wave on the tops of the mountains; may its fruit be like Lebanon; and may people blossom in the cities like the grass of the field.

New Heart English Bible
There shall be abundance of grain throughout the land. Its fruit sways like Lebanon. Let it flourish, thriving like the grass of the field.

Webster's Bible Translation
There shall be a handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit of it shall shake like Lebanon: and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.

World English Bible
Abundance of grain shall be throughout the land. Its fruit sways like Lebanon. Let it flourish, thriving like the grass of the field.

Young's Literal Translation
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.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Endow the King with Your Justice
15Long may he live! May gold from Sheba be given him. May people ever pray for him; may they bless him all day long. 16May there be an abundance of grain in the land; may it sway atop the hills. May its fruit trees flourish like the forests of Lebanon, and its people like the grass of the field. 17May his name endure forever; may his name continue as long as the sun shines. In him may all nations be blessed; may they call him blessed.…

Cross References
Job 5:25
You will know that your offspring will be many, your descendants like the grass of the earth.

Psalm 65:13
The pastures are clothed with flocks, and the valleys are decked with grain. They shout in triumph; indeed, they sing.

Psalm 104:16
The trees of the LORD have their fill, the cedars of Lebanon that He planted,

Song of Solomon 4:8
Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, come with me from Lebanon! Descend from the peak of Amana, from the summits of Senir and Hermon, from the dens of the lions, from the mountains of the leopards.

Isaiah 4:2
On that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of Israel's survivors.

Ezekiel 17:22
This is what the Lord GOD says: 'I will take a shoot from the lofty top of the cedar, and I will set it out. I will pluck a tender sprig from its topmost shoots, and I will plant it on a high and lofty mountain.


Treasury of Scripture

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

there

Job 8:7
Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase.

Isaiah 30:23
Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous: in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures.

Isaiah 32:15,20
Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest…

upon

Isaiah 2:2,3
And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it…

the fruit

Psalm 92:12-14
The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon…

Isaiah 29:17
Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?

Isaiah 35:1
The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.

of the city

Psalm 72:6
He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.

1 Kings 4:20
Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry.

Isaiah 44:3-5
For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring: …

Jump to Previous
Abundance Bloom Cedars City Corn Earth Field Flourish Fruit Full Grain Grass Handful Herb Lebanon Mountains Rich Shake Shaking Stems Sways Thereof Thrive Throughout Top Tops Wave Wide-Stretching
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Abundance Bloom Cedars City Corn Earth Field Flourish Fruit Full Grain Grass Handful Herb Lebanon Mountains Rich Shake Shaking Stems Sways Thereof Thrive Throughout Top Tops Wave Wide-Stretching
Psalm 72
1. David, praying for Solomon, shows the goodness and glory of God's kingdom
18. He blessed God














(16) An handful.--Rather, abundance, from a root meaning spread. The clauses, as arranged in the text, evidently miss the intention of the writer. Render,

"Let there be abundance of corn on the earth;

On the top of the mountains let it wave like Libanus,"

i.e., like the cedars of Libanus. The word rendered "wave" elsewhere is used of "earthquakes" or "violent storm," and suggests here rather a violent agitation than the quiet waving of a sunny cornfield, as if the very mountains were under cultivation, and their crowning woods that sway to and fro in the breeze were suddenly changed to grain. (Comp. Psalm 92:13.) The images suggested by the LXX. and Vulg., of the corn in the lowlands growing high enough to overtop Lebanon, is grotesque.

And they of the city . . .--Better, and let them (men) spring forth from the city like grass from the earth. (As images of large population, comp. Psalm 92:7; Job 5:25.) But probably we ought to transpose a letter and read, "and let cities spring up like grass from the earth."

Verse 16. - There shall be an handful of corn in the earth; rather, as in the Prayer book Version, an heap of corn; or, abundance of corn (Revised Version), "Abundance of corn" is put for general prosperity. Upon the top of the mountains. In flourishing times of agriculture, the very tops of the mountains were cultivated all over Palestine, as appears by the remains of terraces. The fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon. Canon Cook's seems to be the best exposition: "The ripened corn on the heights shall rustle in the wind like the foliage on Lebanon." And they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth. "They of the city" are the inhabitants of the "New Jerusalem" (Revelation 21:2), the citizens of Messiah's kingdom.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
May there be
יְהִ֤י (yə·hî)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect Jussive - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

an abundance
פִסַּת־ (p̄is·saṯ-)
Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 6451: Probably abundance, plenty

of grain
בַּ֨ר ׀ (bar)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1250: Grain, the open country

in the land;
בָּאָרֶץ֮ (bā·’ā·reṣ)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 776: Earth, land

may it sway
יִרְעַ֣שׁ (yir·‘aš)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7493: To undulate, through fear, to spring

atop
בְּרֹ֪אשׁ (bə·rōš)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 7218: The head

the hills.
הָ֫רִ֥ים (hā·rîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 2022: Mountain, hill, hill country

May its fruit trees
פִּרְי֑וֹ (pir·yōw)
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 6529: Fruit

flourish
וְיָצִ֥יצוּ (wə·yā·ṣî·ṣū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 6692: To twinkle, glance, to blossom

like [the forests of] Lebanon,
כַּלְּבָנ֣וֹן (kal·lə·ḇā·nō·wn)
Preposition-k, Article | Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 3844: Lebanon -- a wooded mountain range on the northern border of Israel

and its people
מֵ֝עִ֗יר (mê·‘îr)
Preposition-m | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 5892: Excitement

like the grass
כְּעֵ֣שֶׂב (kə·‘ê·śeḇ)
Preposition-k | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 6212: Herb, herbage

of the field.
הָאָֽרֶץ׃ (hā·’ā·reṣ)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 776: Earth, land


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OT Poetry: Psalm 72:16 There shall be abundance of grain throughout (Psalm Ps Psa.)
Psalm 72:15
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