Limitless Word
And may those who pass by refuse to give them this blessing: “The Lord bless you; we bless you in the Lord’s name.”
Psalms 129:8 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB Neither do those who go by say, “The blessing of Yahweh be on you. We bless you in Yahweh’s name.”
  • KJV Neither do they which go by say, The blessing of the LORD be upon you: we bless you in the name of the LORD.
  • BSB May none who pass by say to them, “The blessing of the LORD be on you; we bless you in the name of the LORD.”
  • NKJV Neither let those who pass by them say, “The blessing of the Lord be upon you; We bless you in the name of the Lord!”
  • NASB Nor do those who pass by say, “The blessing of the Lord be upon you; We bless you in the name of the Lord.”

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

No passerby pronounces the customary blessing on such a harvest. It shows the wicked excluded from the blessing that belongs to God's people.

Overview

The psalm ends with the picture of travelers who withhold the usual greeting that invoked Yahweh's blessing on reapers, signaling that the wicked share no part in it. Blessing in the Lord's name belongs to His people, not those who oppose them. This blessing is fully secured in Christ, in whom all of God's promises are yes and amen.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 2

  • Ruth 2:4Behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said to the reapers, “May Yahweh be with you.” They answered him, “May Yahweh bless you.”
  • Ps 118:26Blessed is he who comes in Yahweh’s name! We have blessed you out of Yahweh’s house.

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 129:8YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.

How Psalms 129:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.