Psalms 127 · Verse 3

Psalms 127:3

Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
Psalms 127:3, King James Version

Psalms 127:3 in other translations

BSBChildren are indeed a heritage from the LORD, and the fruit of the womb is His reward.
WEBBehold, children are a heritage of the LORD. The fruit of the womb is his reward.
ASVLo, children are a heritage of Jehovah; And the fruit of the womb is his reward.
YLTLo, an inheritance of Jehovah are sons, A reward is the fruit of the womb.
DARBYLo, children are an inheritance from Jehovah, and the fruit of the womb a reward.
BBESee, sons are a heritage from the Lord; the fruit of the body is his reward.
WebsterLo, children are a heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

What does Psalms 127:3 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 127:3-5
3-5. Posterity is often represented as a blessing from God (Ge 30:2, 18; 1Sa 1:19, 20). Children are represented as the defenders (arrows) of their parents in war, and in litigation.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 3 Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord - That is, To many God gives children in place of temporal good. To many others he gives houses, lands, and thousands of gold and silver, and with them the womb that beareth not; and these are their inheritance. The poor man has from God a number of children, without lands or money; these are his inheritance; and God shows himself their father, feeding and supporting them by a chain of miraculous providences. Where is the poor man who would give up his six children, with the prospect of having more, for the thousands or millions of him who is the center of his own existence, and has neither root nor branch but his forlorn solitary self upon the face of the earth? Let the fruitful family, however poor, lay this to heart; "Children are a heritage of the Lord; and the fruit of the womb is his reward." And he who gave them will feed them; for it is a fact, and the maxim formed on it has never failed, "Wherever God sends mouths, he sends meat." "Murmur not," said an Arab to his friend, "because thy family is large; know that it is for their sakes that God feeds thee."

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Psalms 127:3 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

הִנֵּ֤הhi.Nehhere!H2009
נַחֲלַ֣תna.cha.Lat[the] inheritance ofH5159
יְהוָ֣הYah.wehYahwehH3068
בָּנִ֑יםba.Nim[is] sonsH1121
שָׂ֝כָ֗רSa.Khar[is] a rewardH7939
פְּרִ֣יpe.Ri[the] fruit ofH6529
הַבָּֽטֶן\׃ha.Ba.tenthe wombH990

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Psalms 127:3

  • Psalms 128:3-4

    Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table. Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord.

  • Deuteronomy 28:4

    Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.

  • 1 Samuel 1:27

    For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him:

  • Genesis 48:4

    And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.

  • Genesis 33:5

    And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are those with thee? And he said, The children which God hath graciously given thy servant.

  • Isaiah 8:18

    Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion.

  • Genesis 1:28

    And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

  • 1 Samuel 1:19-20

    And they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped before the Lord, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and the Lord remembered her. Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the Lord.

  • Joshua 24:3-4

    And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac. And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave unto Esau mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.

  • Genesis 24:60

    And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them.

  • Genesis 41:51-52

    And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house. And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.

  • Genesis 30:1-2

    And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die. And Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God’s stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
children.
128:3,4; Ge 1:28; 15:4,5; 24:60; 30:1,2; 33:5; 41:51,52; 48:4
De 28:4; Jos 24:3,4; 1Sa 1:19,20,27; 2:20,21; 1Ch 28:5; Isa 8:18

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Psalms 127:2

    It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.

  • Psalms 127:3

    Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

  • Psalms 127:4

    As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.

Read all of Psalms 127

Psalms 127:3 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		He aquí, heredad de Jehová son los hijos: cosa de estima el fruto del vientre.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Voici, les fils sont un héritage de l’ Éternel, et le fruit du ventre est une récompense.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Siehe, ein Erbteil Jehovas sind Söhne, eine Belohnung die Leibesfrucht;
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Uxor tua sicut vitis abundans in lateribus domus tuæ; filii tui sicut novellæ olivarum in circuitu mensæ tuæ.