What Does Psalm 127:3 Mean?
Look, children are the LORD's portion; and the fruit of the womb is a wage.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.THE KEY
The word for children carries the language of building, yet the verse names their life as inheritance and fruit received.
THE MEANING
Children are part of what builds a household, yet their life is named as inheritance from the LORD and fruit of the womb. The verse holds building, receiving, and recompense together, so a child’s value does not rest on a parent’s achievement.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a child is valuable only as a parent’s accomplishment or possession; the verse locates the child’s life in the LORD’s inheritance and in fruit received.
THE ROOT
בָּנִים
banim
GROWS FROM
בנה
banah
Build, establish
בָּנִים (banim, children) is traditionally connected with בנה (banah, build). In a psalm that first speaks of the LORD building a house, this link makes children part of the household’s building and continuation, while the verse names their life as received.
ALSO GROWS
ben: son, child
בֵּן
This related singular noun stands behind בָּנִים (banim, children) in the verse.
boneh: builder, one who builds
בּוֹנֶה
This form makes the root’s building sense echo the psalm’s earlier image of the LORD building the house.
נַחֲלָה
naḥalah
GROWS FROM
נחל
naḥal
Inherit, take possession of an allotted share
“portion” in this verse is naḥalah. נַחֲלָה (naḥalah, inheritance) is more than something handed over: it names a share received and held. The verse places children within that language of belonging, so their lives are both gift from the LORD and part of what belongs to the LORD.
ALSO GROWS
naḥal: inherit, take possession
נָחַל
The verbal form shows the action behind נַחֲלָה (naḥalah, inheritance): receiving or holding an allotted share.
manḥil: one who causes another to inherit
מַנְחִיל
This form shows the root can also describe granting someone an inheritance, illuminating the LORD as giver.
שָׂכָר
sākhār
GROWS FROM
שכר
ś-k-r
Hire, pay wages; recompense
“wage” in this verse is sākhār. שָׂכָר (sākhār, wages or recompense) gives “reward” a shade of payment for labor. Beside the psalm’s language of building, it pictures the fruit of the womb as recompense received, while the image of inheritance keeps gift and belonging in view.
ALSO GROWS
sākhar: hire, pay wages
שָׂכַר
This verb reveals the work-and-payment sense carried by שָׂכָר (sākhār, recompense).
sākīr: hired worker
שָׂכִיר
This noun comes from the same root and keeps the idea of wages tied to labor visible.
THE PATTERN
Children are received as God’s gift and live within a belonging larger than the household.
And he lifted up his eyes and saw the women and the children, and said, Who are these with you? And he said, The children God has favored your servant with.Your wife is like a fruitful vine by the flanks of your house; your children like olive shoots around your table.But when Jesus saw it, he was vexed, and said to them, Let the little children come to me, and do not hold them back, for the governance of God belongs to such as these.THE THREAD
For the LORD's portion is his people; Jacob is the measuring cord of his inheritance.The inheritance word is shared: נַחֲלָה (naḥalah, inheritance) in the psalm and נַחֲלָתוֹ (naḥalato, his inheritance) in this verse. The psalm calls children an inheritance from the LORD; here God’s people are the LORD’s inheritance, opening both sides of the belonging named in the verse.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us