Psalms 72:16 - meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Psalms 72:16
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.
expansion · noun, common feminine singular construct
corn
בַּ֨רbar
H1250
grain of any kind (even while standing in the field) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
earth
בָּאָרֶץ֮ba.'a.Retz
H776
the earth (at large · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
top
בְּרֹ֪אשׁbe.Rosh
H7218
the head (as most easily shaken) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
mountains
הָ֫רִ֥יםha.Rim
H2022
a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figurative… · noun, common masculine plural absolute
fruit
פִּרְי֑וֹpir.Yo
H6529
fruit (literally or figuratively) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
shake
יִרְעַ֣שׁyir.'Ash
H7493
to undulate (as the earth · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Lebanon
כַּלְּבָנ֣וֹןka.le.va.Non
H3844
Lebanon · preposition with the article + proper noun, a place name
city
מֵ֝עִ֗ירme.'Ir
H5892
a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the wi… · preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute
flourish
וְיָצִ֥יצוּve.ya.Tzi.tzu
H6692
to twinkle · conjunction + verb, hiphil, 3rd person masculine plural
grass
כְּעֵ֣שֶׂבke.'E.sev
H6212
grass (or any tender shoot) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
earth
הָאָֽרֶץha.'A.retz
H776
the earth (at large · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
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.
Revelation 7:9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood bef…
Job 5:25 Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth.
Job 8:7 Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase.
Psalms 72:6 He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.
Psalms 92:12-14 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Psalms 104:16 The trees of the LORD are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted;
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 shal…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
John Gill on Psalms 72:16
There shall be an handful of corn,.... By which are not meant the people of Christ, compared to corn, or wheat, in distinction from hypocrites, said to be as chaff, Matthew 2:12; who are but few, yet fruitful and flourishing; nor the Gospel, so called in opposition to the chaff of false doctrine, Jeremiah 23:28; nor the blessings of grace, signified by corn, wine, and oil, Jeremiah 31:12; but Christ, who compares himself to a corn of wheat, John 12:24; for its choiceness and purity, and for its usefulness for food; and he may be compared to an handful of it, because of the little account he was made of here on earth, and the little that was expected from him; and on account of the small begi…
Psalm 72:16-20
16. A handful of corn shall be in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall be shaken as of Lebanon: [141] and they shall go forth from the city as it were a plant of the earth. 17. His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued in the presence of the sun: and all nations shall bless themselves in him, and shall call him blessed. 18. Blessed be Jehovah God! the God of Israel! who alone doeth wonderful things. 19. And blessed be his glorious name [literally, the name of his glory] for ever; and let all the earth be filled with his glory. Amen, and Amen. 20. The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.
16. A handful of corn shall be [142…
Here, where the futures again stand at the head of the clauses, they are also again to be understood as optatives. As the blessing of such a dominion after God's heart, not merely fertility but extraordinary fruitfulness may be confidently desired for the land פּסּה (ἁπ. λεγ..), rendered by the Syriac version sugo, abundance, is correctly derived by the Jewish lexicographers from פּסס = פּשׂה (in the law relating to leprosy), Mishnic פּסה, Aramaic פּסא, Arabic fšâ, but also fšš (vid., Job, at Psa 35:14-16), to extend, expandere; so that it signifies an abundance that occupies a broad space. בּראשׁ, unto the summit, as in Psa 36:6; Psa 19:5. The idea thus obtained is the same as when Hof…
The Church Fathers
"And there shall be a firmament on the earth, on the tops of the mountains" [Psalm 72:16]. For, "all the promises of God in Him are Yea," [2 Corinthians 1:20] that is, in Him are confirmed: because in Him has been fulfilled whatever has been prophesied for our salvation. For the tops of the mountains it is meet to understand as the authors of the divine Scriptures, that is, those persons through whom they were supplied: wherein He is indeed Himself the Firmament: for unto Him all things that have been divinely written are ascribed. But this He willed should be on earth; because for the sake of those that are upon earth, they were written. Whence He came also Himself upon earth, in order that He might confirm all these things, that is, in Himself might show them to have been fulfilled. "For it was necessary," He says, "for all things to be fulfilled which were written in the Law, and the Prophets, and Psalms, concerning Me:" [Luke 24:44] that is, "in the tops of the mountain." [Isaiah 2:2] For so there comes in the last time the evident Mount of the Lord, prepared on the summit of the mountains: of which here he speaks, "in the tops of the mountains." "Highly superexalted above Libanus shall be His fruit." Libanus we are wont to take as this world's dignity: for Libanus is a mountain bearing tall trees, and the name itself is interpreted whiteness. For what marvel, if above every brilliant state of this world there is superexalted the fruit of Christ, of which fruit the lovers have contemned all secular dignities? But if in a good sense we take Libanus, because of the "cedars of Libanus which He has planted:" what other fruit must be understood, that is being exalted above this Libanus, except that whereof the Apostle speaks when he is going to speak concerning that love of his, "yet a pre-eminent way to you I show"? [1 Corinthians 12:31] For this is put forward even in the first rank of divine gifts, in the place where he says, "but the fruit of the Spirit is love:" [Galatians 5:22] and with this are conjoined the remaining words as consequent. "And they shall flourish from the city like hay of the earth." Because city is used ambiguously, and there is not annexed of Him, or of God, for there has not been said, "from the city" of Him, or "from the city" of God, but only "from the city:" in a good sense it is understood, in order that from the city of God,…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Lebanon — White, “the white mountain of Syria,” is the loftiest and most celebrated mountain range in Syria. It is a branch running southward from the Caucasus, and at its lower end forking into two parallel…
Psalms, Book Of — The present Hebrew name of the book is Tehill’im, “Praises;” but in the actual superscriptions of the psalms the word Tehillah is applied only to one, (Psalms 145:1) ... which is indeed emphatically…
Cedar · FIGURATIVE — FIGURATIVE
Corn · FIGURATIVE — FIGURATIVE
Fruits · Illustrative: Of converts to the church — Illustrative: Of converts to the church
Gentiles · PROPHECIES OF THE CONVERSION OF — PROPHECIES OF THE CONVERSION OF
Lebanon · Illustrative: (Shaking of its forests,) of prodigious growth of the church — Illustrative: (Shaking of its forests,) of prodigious growth of the church
Rulers · CHARACTER AND QUALIFI — CHARACTER AND QUALIFI
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
the trees of Lebanon: Lebanon was renowned for its lumber (see study note on 2 Chr 2:8).
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 72:16
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.
There shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains. From small beginnings great results shall spring. A mere handful in a place naturally ungenial shall produce a matchless harvest. What a blessing that there is a handful; "except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah:" but now the faithful are a living seed, and shall multiply in the land. The fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon. The harvest…
