Charles Ellicott Commentary Psalms 144:12

"When our sons shall be as plants grown up in their youth, And our daughters as corner-stones hewn after the fashion of a palace;" — Psalms 144:12 (ASV)

That our sons.— This rendering of the relative, which so strangely begins this fragment, would be possible after Genesis 11:7; Genesis 13:16, etc., if a finite verb instead of participles followed. It might also mean “because,” as in Genesis 30:18, etc., but for the same anomalous construction. Alternatively, as the Septuagint renders it, it might be whose, if any antecedent for it could be discovered. But all these devices are plainly impossible, and the only option is to treat the passage it introduces as a fragment of another poem, quite unconnected with the previous part of the psalm. Render, we whose.

As plants.— The Hebrew word seems always to denote a young, vigorous tree recently planted. (See especially Job 14:9, aptly translated by the Septuagint νεόϕυτον. For the comparison, compare Isaiah 5:7; Psalms 1:3, Note; Psalms 128:3.)

Grown up in their youth.— The form used here is peculiar, but in another conjugation the verb is frequently used of bringing up children (see 2 Kings 10:6; Isaiah 1:2; Isaiah 23:4, etc.), just as it is used of the rain nourishing young plants (Isaiah 44:14).

Here the poet must mean grown tall beyond their age, or the figure is somewhat tame. A suggestion to read, “reproductive in their youth,” i.e., though young themselves, bringing up families, improves the poetry and well suits the intention of this fragment of song and the general feeling of the Hebrew people. Compare especially Psalm 127:4, sons of youth (Burgess).

Corner stones.— The word occurs only one other time, in Zechariah 9:15, where it is used of the corners of the altar. Its derivation is from a root meaning to conceal, as is also the word rendered garners, in the next verse. Aquila and Symmachus translate it as “angles.”

Polished.— The Hebrew word means to hew, and is used (with one exception) for wood for fuel. However, it is cognate with a word used for stones, and in Isaiah 51:1 it is found in the passive participle describing a cave hewn in a rock. The exception is Proverbs 7:16, where the word is applied to tapestry.

After the similitude of a palace— i.e., like a large and stately building. There seems no reason to confine the reference to the Temple, as the Septuagint and Vulgate do, though the absence of the article is not an insurmountable objection to this interpretation (Isaiah 44:28).

The explanations usually given for this passage suggest the resemblance is either to caryatids carved at the angles of a palace, or to carved or variegated wood pillars in the corners of a spacious room. For the first explanation, there seems to be no authority in Scripture or known Hebrew usage. The second explanation has the support of Dr. J. G. Wetzstein, but seems far-fetched.

It is far more in accordance with Hebrew feeling to render the words simply as like hewn angles, the building of a palace; this is an image suggestive of unassailable chastity and virtue, similar to that of the wall in Song of Solomon 8:9 (see Note). Perhaps the phrase women of strength or of a strong fortification, in Ruth 3:11, may imply the same figure. Grätz suggests altering the text to read “daughters of a palace.”