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Document Details :

Title: Psalm 127,2b
Subtitle: A Return to Martin Luther
Author(s): BOOIJ, Th.
Journal: Biblica
Volume: 81    Issue: 2   Date: 2000   
Pages: 262-268
DOI: 10.2143/BIB.81.2.3200436

Abstract :
In Ps 127,2b שנא (šēnā') tells about the manner of giving (H. Irsigler); it does so by denoting the state of the ידיד when he is receiving God’s gift. The particle כן, as related to נתן, means ‘according to that’, referring to the notion of toil. The tenor of v. 2b is to underscore that it is God who ‘builds the house’, ‘keeps the city’. What humans receive is not the outcome of toil, not a divine reward for it, but an expression of favour, a gift just like that. Translation: ‘To his beloved one He gives it in sleep’.

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