Psalms 72:6
in Psalms 72May he be like rain that falls on freshly cut grass, like spring showers that water the earth.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He will come down like rain upon the mown grass, As showers that water the earth.
KJV
He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.
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This verse in Psalms 72
Commentary
13 notes on this verseNor is it strange that they should suffer the drought of unbelief, whom the Lord deprived of the fertilizing shower of prophecy, saying, "I will command my clouds that they rain not on that vineyard." For there is a health-giving shower of salutary grace, as David also said: "He came down like rain on a fleece and like drops that fall on the earth." The divine Scriptures promised us this rain on the whole earth, to water the world with the dew of the divine Spirit at the coming of the Savior.
This site's exposition
as long as the sun shines
on Psalms 72:5-7
The terms of the prayer run past any one reign: the sun, the moon, all generations, and a flourishing until the moon is no more. Verse 6 gives the picture, rain falling on freshly cut grass. Spurgeon read it as a psalm of Christ on that ground.
This site's exposition
like rain that falls on freshly cut grass
Albert Barnes noted that the Hebrew word for cut grass means a shearing and elsewhere names a fleece. The Greek translators read fleece here, and Augustine saw in it Gideon's fleece in Judges 6, fulfilled in Christ. Rain falls on what has been cut down.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"And He shall come down like rain into a fleece, and like drops distilling upon the earth" [Psalm 72:6]. He has called to our minds and admonished us, that what was done by Gedeon the Judge, in Christ has its end. For he asked a sign of the Lord, that a fleece laid on the floor should alone be rained upon, and the floor should be dry; and again, the fleece alone should be dry, and the floor should be rained upon; and so it came to pass. [Judges 6:36-38] Which thing signified, that, being as it were on a floor in the midst of the whole round world, the dry fleece was the former people Israel. The same Christ therefore Himself came down like rain upon a fleece, when yet the floor was dry: whence also He said, "I am not sent but to the sheep which were lost of the house of Israel." [Matthew 15:24] There He chose out a Mother by whom to receive the form of a servant, wherein He was to appear to men: there the disciples, to whom He gave this same injunction, saying, "Into the way of the nations go ye not away, and into the cities of the Samaritans enter ye not: go ye first to the sheep which are lost of the house of Israel." [Matthew 10:5-6] When He says, go ye first to them, He shows also that hereafter, when at length the floor was to be rained upon, they would go to other sheep also, which were not of the old people Israel, concerning whom He says, "I have other sheep which are not of this fold, it behooves Me to bring in them also, that there may be one flock and one Shepherd." [John 10:16] Hence also the Apostle: "for I say," he says, "that Christ was a minister of the Circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises of the fathers." [Romans 15:8] Thus rain came down upon the fleece, the floor being yet dry. […]
Therefore, today the Lord was born according to the flesh in such secret silence that his generation was thoroughly ignorant of his birth. For the world did not know that he was born outside the knowledge of his father and that he was conceived outside …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
He shall come - Christ did come down from heaven, and brought or sent down from heaven his doctrine, (which is often compared to rain) and the sweet and powerful influences of his spirit.
He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass,....
The gospel of Christ distils as the rain, which softens the ground that was hard, moistens that which was dry, and so makes it green and fruitful, Isa. lv. Let our hearts drink in the rain, Heb. vi. That Christ's kingdom shall be extended very far, and greatly enlarged; considering, 1.
5 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century5 voices
He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass. Blessings upon his gentle sway! Those great conquerors who have been the scourges of mankind have fallen like the fiery hail of Sodom, transforming fruitful lands into deserts; but he with mild, benignant influence softly refreshes the weary and wounded among men, and makes them spring up into newness of life.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
A beautiful figure expresses the grateful nature of His influence; 7, and, carrying out the figure, the results are described in an abundant production. the righteous--literally, "righteousness." flourish--literally, "sprout," or, "spring forth."
He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass. Blessings upon his gentle sway! Those great conquerors who have been the scourges of mankind have fallen like the fiery hail of Sodom, transforming fruitful lands into deserts; but he with mild, benignant influence softly refreshes the weary and wounded among men, and makes them spring up into newness of life. Pastures mown with the scythe, or shorn by the teeth of cattle, present, as it were, so many bleeding stems of grass, but when the rain falls it is balm to all these wounds, and it renews the verdure and beauty of the field; fit image of the visits and benedictions of "the consolation of Israel." My soul, how well it is for thee to be brought low, and to be even as the meadows eaten bare and trodden down by cattle, for then to thee shall the Lord have respect; he shall remember thy misery, and with his own most precious love restore thee to more than thy former glory. Welcome Jesus, thou true Bien-aime, the Well beloved, thou art far more than Titus ever was—the Delight of Mankind. As showers that water the earth. Each crystal drop of rain tells of heavenly mercy, which forgets not the parched plains: Jesus is all grace, all that he does is love, and his presence among men is joy. We need to preach him more, for no shower can so refresh the nations. Philosophic preaching mocks men as with a dust shower, but the gospel meets the case of fallen humanity, and happiness flourishes beneath its genial power. Come down, O Lord, upon my soul, and my heart shall blossom with thy praise:—
He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass - The word גז gez, which we translate mown grass, more properly means pastured grass or pastured land; for the dew of the night is intended to restore the grass which has been eaten in the course of the day. This very idea the Chaldee has seized, and renders the place thus: “He shall descend gently, like rain upon the grass which has been eaten by the locust.” But there seems to be a reference to the thick night dews which in summer fall on the pasturages, and become the means of restoring the grass consumed in the day-time by the cattle. This is finely expressed by the most accomplished of all poets and agriculturists: - Et quantum longis carpent armenta diebus, Exigua tantum gelidus ros nocte reponet. Virg. Geor. ii., ver. 201. “For what the day devours, the nightly dew Shall to the morn by pearly drops renew.” Dryden. Or to leave poetry, which always says too much or too little, the plain prose is: - “And as much as the flocks crop in the long days, So much shall the cold dew restore in one short night.” As showers that water the earth - The influence of the doctrine and Spirit of Christ on the soul of man shall be as grateful, as refreshing, and as fructifying, as the nightly dews on the cropped fields, and the vernal showers on the cultivated lands. Without his influence all tillage is vain; without him there can neither be seed nor fruit.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
He shall come down - That is, The influence of his reign will be like fertilising showers. The word” he” in this place might have been “it,” referring to his reign, or to the influence of his government. Like rain upon the mown grass - The word rendered “mown grass” - גז gêz - means properly “a shearing,” and is applied in Deu 18:4, and Job 31:20, to a fleece of wool. So it is understood here by the Septuagint, by the Latin Vulgate, by the Syriac, and by Luther; and, in accordance with this, it has been supposed by some that there is an allusion to the dew that descended on the fleece spread out by Gideon, Jdg 6:37. The Chaldee Paraphrase renders it, “As the grass that has been eaten off by locusts;” where the idea would be that after locusts have passed over a field, devouring everything, when the rain descends the fields revive, and nature again puts on the appearance of life. This idea is adopted by Rosenmuller. The common interpretation, however, which refers the word to a “mowing,” that is, a “mown meadow,” is probably the correct one; and thus understood, the image is very beautiful. The reign of the Messiah would resemble the gently descending shower, under which the grass which has been mown springs up again with freshness and beauty. As showers that water the earth - literally, “like showers, the watering of the earth.” The original word rendered “that water” suggests the idea of distilling, or “gently” flowing.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יֵ֭רֵד | yered | he will come down | H3381 → | 381 times |
| כְּמָטָ֣ר | kematar | like rain | H4306 → | 38 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| גֵּ֑ז | gez | mown grass | H1488 → | |
| כִּ֝רְבִיבִ֗ים | kirvivim | like copious showers | H7241 → | |
| זַרְזִ֥יף | zarzif | dropping of | H2222 → | |
| אָֽרֶץ׃ | ʾaretz | [the] earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
יֵ֭רֵדhe will come down
yeredH3381 →381 times
כְּמָטָ֣רlike rain
kematarH4306 →38 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
גֵּ֑זmown grass
gezH1488 →
כִּ֝רְבִיבִ֗יםlike copious showers
kirvivimH7241 →
זַרְזִ֥יףdropping of
zarzifH2222 →
אָֽרֶץ׃[the] earth
ʾaretzH776 →2504 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
Hosea 6:3So let us know—let us press on to know the LORD. As surely as the sun rises, He will appear; He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water…
it leads to
- Hosea 14:5
I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like the lily and take root like the cedars of Lebanon.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 24:7
I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD. They will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with all their…
- Proverbs 2:1–5
My son, if you accept my words and hide my commandments within you,
- Philippians 3:13–15
Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
- Matthew 13:11
He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.
- Hosea 14:5
Through
Deuteronomy 32:2Let my teaching fall like rain and my speech settle like dew, like gentle rain on new grass, like showers on tender plants.
it leads to
- Micah 5:7
Then the remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples like dew from the LORD, like showers on the grass, which do not wait for man or linger for mankind.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 55:10–11
For just as rain and snow fall from heaven and do not return without watering the earth, making it bud and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat,
- Job 29:22–23
After my words, they spoke no more; my speech settled on them like dew.
- Micah 5:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
About Psalms
This page draws on 12 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, On the Holy Spirit 1.8; Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 72; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 3; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Maximus of Turin, SERMON 97:3.