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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.

May they be like grass on the roof,(A)
    which withers(B) before it can grow;
a reaper cannot fill his hands with it,(C)
    nor one who gathers fill his arms.
May those who pass by not say to them,
    “The blessing of the Lord be on you;
    we bless you(D) in the name of the Lord.”

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