Psalms 128:1
in Psalms 128Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in His ways!
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Blessed is every one that feareth Jehovah, That walketh in his ways.
KJV
Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord; that walketh in his ways.
⋯
This verse in Psalms 128
Commentary
3 notes on this verseBlessed are all who fear the Lord. Just as no one can say 'The Lord is my portion' except the one who has no other portion in the world, so the one who fears anything else outside the Lord does not fear the Lord. Indeed, the Savior himself says: 'Do not fear those who can kill the body, but fear him who can kill both body and soul in hell.' You see, then, that whoever does not fear the Lord fears some other thing outside the Lord. The one who fears the Lord, what signs does he have?
This site's exposition
all who fear the LORD
on Psalms 128:1-2
The same Hebrew word closes Psalm 127 and opens this one, and Spurgeon called it the catch word joining the two songs. The blessing rests on those who fear the LORD and walk in His ways. A man eats the fruit of his own labor.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord. The last Psalm ended with a blessing, —for the word there translated "happy" is the same as that which is here rendered "blessed": thus the two songs are joined by a catch word. There is also in them a close community of subject. The fear of God is the corner stone of all blessedness. We must reverence the ever blessed God before we can be blessed ourselves.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
A song of ascents. Praiseworthy is every man who fears the Lord All of these are admonitions and disciplines. Because it is written, “Praiseworthy is the man,” “Praiseworthy is a man,” it therefore says here “every,” to include a woman.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
If..the toil of your hands He who benefits from the toil of his hands inherits two worlds. In Tractate Berachoth (8a).
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַ֭שְׁרֵי | ʾashrei | how blessed! | H835 → | 45 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | [is] every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| יְרֵ֣א | yere' | [one] fearing | H3373 → | 64 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | <of> Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| הַ֝הֹלֵ֗ךְ | haholekh | who walks | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| בִּדְרָכָֽיו׃ | bidrakhav | in ways his | H1870 → | 707 times |
אַ֭שְׁרֵיhow blessed!
ʾashreiH835 →45 times
כָּל־[is] every
kol-H3605 →5413 times
יְרֵ֣א[one] fearing
yere'H3373 →64 times
יְהוָ֑ה<of> Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
הַ֝הֹלֵ֗ךְwho walks
haholekhH1980 →1546 times
בִּדְרָכָֽיו׃in ways his
bidrakhavH1870 →707 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 119:1Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the Law of the LORD.
it leads to
- Luke 11:28
But He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
- Ezekiel 11:20
so that they may follow My statutes, keep My ordinances, and practice them. Then they will be My people, and I will be their God.
- James 1:25
But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so—not being a forgetful hearer, but an effective doer—he will be blessed in what he does.
- John 13:17
If you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
- Luke 1:6
Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and decrees of the Lord.
- Luke 11:28
Through
Luke 1:50His mercy extends to those who fear Him, from generation to generation.
it leads to
- Psalms 103:17–18
But from everlasting to everlasting the loving devotion of the LORD extends to those who fear Him, and His righteousness to their children’s children—
- Exodus 20:6
but showing loving devotion to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.
- Psalms 103:17–18
Through
Psalms 103:13As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.
it leads to
- Luke 11:11–12
What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead?
- Luke 11:11–12
About Psalms
This page draws on Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 7; Jerome, Homily 42, on Psalm 127 and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.