There shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon: and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.
Parallel translations
- WEB Abundance of grain shall be throughout the land. Its fruit sways like Lebanon. Let it flourish, thriving like the grass of the field.
- BSB May there be an abundance of grain in the land; may it sway atop the hills. May its fruit trees flourish like the forests of Lebanon, and its people like the grass of the field.
- NKJV There will be an abundance of grain in the earth, On the top of the mountains; Its fruit shall wave like Lebanon; And those of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.
- NASB ¶May there be abundance of grain on the earth on top of the mountains; Its fruit will wave like the cedars of Lebanon; And may those from the city flourish like the vegetation of the earth.
- NLT May there be abundant grain throughout the land, flourishing even on the hilltops. May the fruit trees flourish like the trees of Lebanon, and may the people thrive like grass in a field.
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
Under his reign grain abounds throughout the land and its fruit flourishes like the cedars of Lebanon.
Overview
The image is of overflowing agricultural blessing and vigorous growth even on the mountaintops. Abundance and fruitfulness mark the king's domain. This pictures the fruitful blessing of the messianic kingdom, where Christ's reign brings life and increase to all things (John 15:5).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 23
- 1 Kgs 4:20Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry.
- Rev 7:9After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
- Acts 1:15And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)
- Job 5:25Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth.
- Isa 2:2–3And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
- Ps 92:12–14The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
- 1 Cor 3:6–9I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
- Ps 104:16The trees of the LORD are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted;
- Job 8:7Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase.
- Hos 14:5–7I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.
- Mark 16:15–16And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
- Acts 4:4Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.
- Isa 44:3–5For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:
- Isa 32:15Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.
- Ps 72:6He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.
- Isa 32:20Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.
- Acts 2:41Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
- Isa 35:2It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God.
- Matt 13:31–33Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:
- Isa 30:23Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous: in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures.
- Jer 33:22As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.
- Isa 29:17Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?
- Rev 7:14And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
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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 72:16 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
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