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May they be like the grass on the rooftops,
which withers before one can even pull it up,[a]
which cannot fill the reaper’s hand,
or the lap of the one who gathers the grain.
Those who pass by will not say,[b]
“May you experience the Lord’s blessing!
We pronounce a blessing on you in the name of the Lord.”

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 129:6 tn The Hebrew verb שָׁלַף (shalaf) normally means “to draw [a sword]” or “to pull.” BDB 1025 s.v. suggests the meaning “to shoot up” here, but it is more likely that the verb here means “to pluck; to pull up,” a nuance attested for this word in later Hebrew and Aramaic (see Jastrow 1587 s.v. שָׁלַף).
  2. Psalm 129:8 tn The perfect verbal form is used for rhetorical effect; it describes an anticipated development as if it were already reality.