Psalms 84:3 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Psalms 84:3
Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God.
a little bird (as hopping) · noun, common both genders singular absolute
found
מָ֪צְאָהMa.tze.'ah
H4672
properly · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
house
בַ֡יִתVa.yit
H1004
a house (in the greatest variation of applications · noun, common masculine singular absolute
swallow
וּדְר֤וֹרu.de.Ror
H1866
the swift · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular absolute
nest
קֵ֥ןken
H7064
a nest (as fixed) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
lay
שָׁ֪תָהSha.tah
H7896
to place (in a very wide application) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
young
אֶפְרֹ֫חֶ֥יהָ'ef.Ro.Chei.ha
H667
the brood of a bird · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
altars
מִ֭זְבְּחוֹתֶיךָMiz.be.cho.tei.kha
H4196
an altar · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
LORD
יְהוָ֣הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
hosts
צְבָא֑וֹתtze.va.'ot
H6635
a mass of persons (or figuratively · noun, common feminine plural absolute
King
מַ֝לְכִּ֗יmal.Ki
H4428
a king · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
God
וֵאלֹהָֽיve.lo.Hai
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
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
Psalms 91:1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
Psalms 90:1 Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.
Matthew 8:20 And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
Psalms 43:4 Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God.
Psalms 116:7 Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee.
Psalms 5:2 Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray.
Matthew 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy child…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 84:1-7
The psalmist here, being by force restrained from waiting upon God in public ordinances, by the want of them is brought under a more sensible conviction than ever of the worth of them. Observe,
I. The wonderful beauty he saw in holy institutions (Psa 84:1): How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! Some think that he here calls God the Lord of hosts (that is, in a special manner of the angels, the heavenly hosts) because of the presence of the angels in God's sanctuary; they attended the Shechinah, and were (as some think) signified by the cherubim. God is the Lord of these hosts, and his the tabernacle is: it is spoken of as more than one (thy tabernacles) because there were several…
Yea, the sparrow hath found an house,.... One or other of the houses of men, where to build its nest; or its nest itself is called an house, as it seems to be explained in the next clause: the word here used signifies any bird; we translate it a "sparrow", and so Kimchi; the Targum renders it the "dove"; but the Midrash is,
"it is not said as a dove, but as a sparrow: the dove takes its young, and returns to its place; not so the sparrow:''
and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young; the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions, have it the "turtle", the stock, or ring dove: and so the Targum, which paraphrases this clause, in connection with the followin…
Psalm 84:1-4
1. How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Jehovah of Hosts! 2. My soul longeth, [or greatly desireth,] yea, even fainteth after the courts of Jehovah: my heart and my flesh leap for joy towards the living God. 3. The sparrow also hath found a house for herself, and the swallow [457] a nest for herself, where she may place her young ones, O thine altars! Thou Jehovah of Hosts! my King, and my God. 4. Blessed are they who dwell in thy house: they will be ever praising thee. Selah.
1 How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Jehovah of Hosts! David complains of his being deprived of liberty of access to the Church of God, there to make a profession of his faith, to improve in godliness, and…
The Church Fathers
For indeed the sparrow has found itself a house, and the turtledove a nest where she may lay her young. This is what the Lord says in the Gospel: "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests." For indeed the sparrow has found itself a house. He gave a comparison from an everyday example. Because he had said, How beloved are your tabernacles, which my soul longs for, and my flesh desires the kingdom of heaven; he gives a comparison, and says: The birds are free, and although they wander through the air, yet they remember their nests, and return to them. If, then, sparrows seek out their nests, why should the human soul not seek the dwellings prepared for it by the Lord?
In heart, let us migrate from living in this world, from which we are rapidly going to migrate in the body, that that heavenly dwelling may receive us, concerning which the apostle says that we have an eternal dwelling from God, a house not made by hands, in the heavens. Concerning this dwelling it has been written: "Happy are those who live in your house, ever singing your praise." There, just as there is an eternal dwelling, so there is eternal praise. Those who live there always praise God because they are always exulting about God and in God; and just as for those who give praise, there is the sweet eternity of a holy dwelling, so the eternal sweetness of giving praise remains for those who dwell there.
Your altars, O Lord of hosts. What is to be understood by, For indeed the sparrow has found itself a house, and the turtledove a nest where she may lay her young: your altars, O Lord of hosts? What is the connection? It hangs upon what came before. My soul longs and faints for the courts of the Lord: your altars, O Lord of hosts. John in the Apocalypse saw the altar of the Lord, beneath which were the souls of the righteous. For he says thus: "I saw beneath the altar of the Lord the souls of those slain for the word of the Lord and the testimony of Jesus." They were beneath the altar of God, because they had been offered up in martyrdom for Christ; for the victim of the Lord and Savior deserved to be beneath the altar in heaven.
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
Bird — Birds are divided in the Mosaic law into two classes, (1) the clean (Lev. 1:14-17; 5:7-10; 14:4-7), which were offered in sacrifice; and (2) the unclean (Lev. 11:13-20). When offered in sacrifice,…
Gittith — A stringed instrument of music. This word is found in the titles of Ps. 8, 81, 84. In these places the LXX. render the word by “on the wine-fats.” The Targum explains by “on the harp which David…
Music, Instrumental — Among instruments of music used by the Hebrews a principal place is given to stringed instruments. These were, (1.) The kinnor, the “harp.” (2.) The nebel, “a skin bottle,” rendered “psaltery.” (3.)…
Sparrow — Mentioned among the offerings made by the very poor. Two sparrows were sold for a farthing (Matt. 10:29), and five for two farthings (Luke 12:6). The Hebrew word thus rendered is tsippor, which…
Swallow — (1.) Heb. sis (Isa. 38:14; Jer. 8:7), the Arabic for the swift, which “is a regular migrant, returning in myriads every spring, and so suddenly that while one day not a swift can be seen in the…
Birds · Make their nests: Under the roofs of houses — Make their nests: Under the roofs of houses
Sparrow · Nests of — Nests of
Swallow · Builds its nest in the sanctuary — Builds its nest in the sanctuary
Temple, The First · Was called: Zion — Was called: Zion
Worship · Loved by his people — Loved by his people
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).
How loved and lovely (ידידות) is the sacred dwelling-place (plur. as in Psa 43:3) of the all-commanding, redemptive God, viz., His dwelling-place here below upon Zion! Thither the poet is drawn by the deeply inward yearning of love, which makes him pale (נכסף from כּסף, to grow pale, Psa 17:12) and consumes him (כּלה as in Job 19:27). His heart and flesh joyfully salute the living God dwelling there, who, as a never-failing spring, quenches the thirst of the soul (Psa 42:3); the joy that he feels when he throws himself back in spirit into the long-denied delight takes possession even of his bodily nature, the bitter-sweet pain of longing completely fills him (Psa 63:2). The mention of the "c…
The poet envies the birds that have nesting places in and around the Temple.
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 84:3
Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King, and my God.
Yea, the sparrow hath found an house. He envied the sparrows which lived around the house of God, and picked up the stray crumbs in the courts thereof; he only wished that he, too, could frequent the solemn assemblies and bear away a little of the heavenly food. And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young. He envied also the swallows whose nests were built under the eaves of the priest's houses, who there found a place for their young, as well as for themselves. We rejoice not only in our personal religious opport…
