Bible Strands
Psalms 107:38
He blesses them, and they multiply greatly; He does not let their herds diminish.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses the redeemed community, describing God’s ongoing provision for those restored to the land. The immediate context highlights divine blessing on agricultural labor and livestock expansion following their return.
The words — The text employs וַיְבָרֲכֵם (va-yᵉḇāreḵem), meaning “and He blessed them,” alongside יַמְעִיט (yamʿîṭ), a Hiphil imperfect verb meaning “He made few” or “diminished.”
The thread — This pattern of covenantal blessing and numerical increase runs through Exodus 1:7, Genesis 12:2, and Genesis 17:20, where God’s favor consistently produces population growth and agricultural fruitfulness.
Why it lands — The verse requires readers to recognize that sustained prosperity depends on divine favor rather than human effort alone. It calls for acknowledgment that God actively preserves both population and resources.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly; and suffereth not their cattle to decrease.
Cross-references
- Exodus 1:7 but the Israelites were fruitful and increased rapidly; they multiplied and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.
- Genesis 12:2 I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
- Genesis 17:20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you, and I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He will become the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.
- Deuteronomy 7:14 You will be blessed above all peoples; among you there will be no barren man or woman or livestock.
- Deuteronomy 30:9 So the LORD your God will make you abound in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your land. Indeed, the LORD will again delight in your prosperity, as He delighted in that of your fathers,
- Psalms 128:1 A song of ascents. Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in His ways!
- Genesis 17:16 And I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will descend from her.”
- Deuteronomy 28:11 The LORD will make you prosper abundantly—in the fruit of your womb, the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your land—in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give you.
- Psalms 144:13 Our storehouses will be full, supplying all manner of produce; our flocks will bring forth thousands, tens of thousands in our fields.
- Genesis 1:28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth.”