Passing through the valley of Weeping, they make it a place of springs. Yes, the autumn rain covers it with blessings.
Parallel Translations
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Passing through the valley of Weeping, they make it a place of springs. Yes, the autumn rain covers it with blessings.
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Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools.
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(84-7) Passing through the valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; yea, the early rain clotheth it with blessings.
Cross-references (11)
Passages linked to Psalms 84:6 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 2 Corinthians 4:17 For our light affliction, which is for the moment, works for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory,
- John 16:33 I have told you these things, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have trouble; but cheer up! I have overcome the world.”
- Romans 5:3-5 Not only this, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope: and hope doesn’t disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
- Joel 2:23 “Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in Yahweh, your God; for he gives you the early rain in just measure, and he causes the rain to come down for you, the early rain and the latter rain, as before.
- Romans 8:37 No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
- Psalms 68:9 You, God, sent a plentiful rain. You confirmed your inheritance when it was weary.
- Revelation 7:14 I told him, “My lord, you know.” He said to me, “These are those who came out of the great suffering.They washed their robes, and made them white in the Lamb’s blood.
- Psalms 66:10-12 For you, God, have tested us. You have refined us, as silver is refined. You brought us into prison. You laid a burden on our backs. You allowed men to ride over our heads. We went through fire and through water, but you brought us to the place of abundance.
- 2 Samuel 5:22-24 The Philistines came up yet again, and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim. When David inquired of Yahweh, he said, “You shall not go up. Circle around behind them, and attack them in front of the mulberry trees. When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then stir yourself up; for then Yahweh has gone out before you to strike the army of the Philistines.”
- Acts 14:22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that through many afflictions we must enter into God’s Kingdom.
- 2 Kings 3:9-20 So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom, and they marched for seven days along a circuitous route. There was no water for the army or for the animals that followed them. The king of Israel said, “Alas! For Yahweh has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab.” But Jehoshaphat said, “Isn’t there a prophet of Yahweh here, that we may inquire of Yahweh by him?” One of the king of Israel’s servants answered, “Elisha the son of Shaphat, who poured water on the hands of Elijah, is here.” Jehoshaphat said, “Yahweh’s word is with him.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him. Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father, and to the prophets of your mother.” The king of Israel said to him, “No, for Yahweh has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab.” Elisha said, “As Yahweh of Armies lives, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I respect the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward you, nor see you. But now bring me a musician.” When the musician played, Yahweh’s hand came on him. He said, “Yahweh says, ‘Make this valley full of trenches.’ For Yahweh says, ‘You will not see wind, neither will you see rain, yet that valley will be filled with water, and you will drink, both you and your livestock and your other animals. This is an easy thing in Yahweh’s sight. He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand. You shall strike every fortified city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all springs of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.’ ” In the morning, about the time of offering the sacrifice, behold, water came by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 6 They passing through the valley of weeping, will…
6 They passing through the valley of weeping, will together make it a well. The meaning of the Psalmist is, that no impediments can prevent the enlightened and courageous worshippers of God from making conscience of waiting upon the sanctuary. By this manner of speaking, he confirms the statement which he had previously made, That nothing is more desirable than to be daily engaged in the worship of God; showing, as he does, that no difficulties can put a stop to the ardent longings of the godly, and prevent them from hastening with alacrity, yea, even though their way should be through dry and barren deserts, to meet together to solemnise the holy assemblies. As the Hebrew word הבחא, habbacha, when the final letter is ה, he, signifies tears, and when the final letter is א, aleph, a mulberry tree, some here read valley of tears, and others, valley of the mulberry. The majority of interpreters adopt the first reading; but the other opinion is not destitute of probability. There is, however, no doubt, that dry and barren deserts are here to be understood, in travelling through which, much difficulty and privation must be endured, particularly from the want of water; drink being of all other articles the most necessary to persons when travelling. David intended this as an argument to prove the steadfastness of the godly, whom the scarcity of water, which often discourages travelers from prosecuting their journey, will not hinder from hastening to seek God, though their way should be through sandy and and vales. In these words, reproof is administered to the slothfulness of those who will not submit to any inconvenience for the sake of being benefited by the service of God. They indulge themselves in their own ease and pleasures, and allow nothing to interfere with these. They will, therefore, provided they are not required to make any exertion or sacrifice, readily profess themselves to be the servants of God; but they would not give a hair of their head, or make the smallest sacrifice, to obtain the liberty of hearing the gospel preached, and of enjoying the sacraments. This slothful spirit, as is evident from daily observation, keeps multitudes fast bound to their nests, so that they cannot bear to forego in any degree their own ease and convenience. Yea, even in those places where they are summoned by the sound of the church-bell to public prayers to hear the doctrine of salvation, or to partake of the holy mysteries, we see that some give themselves to sleep, some think only of gain, some are entangled with the affairs of the world, and others are engaged in their amusements. It is therefore not surprising, if those who live at a distance, and who cannot enjoy these religious services and means of salvation, without making some sacrifice of their worldly substance, remain lolling at home. That such may not live secure and self-satisfied in the enjoyment of outward prosperity, David declares, that those who have true heart religion, and who sincerely serve God, direct their steps to the sanctuary of God, not only when the way is easy and cheerful, under the shade and through delightful paths, but also when they must walk through rugged and barren deserts; and that they will rather make for themselves cisterns with immense toil, than be prevented from prosecuting their journey by reason of the drought of the country.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain That is of mulberry trees, which was a barren…
That is of mulberry trees, which was a barren place: so that they which passed through, must dig pits for water: signifying, that no lets can hinder them that are fully bent to come to Christ’s Church, neither yet that God will ever fail them.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 84:6 [Who] passing through the valley of Baca…
Psa 84:6 [Who] passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools.
Ver. 6. Who passing through the valley of Baca] εν τη κοιλαδι του κλαυθμωνος (Sept.). That is, of tears, say some; of mulberry trees, say others; the one are moist, the other use to grow in more dry places. Between them both they may serve, saith one, to make up a more complete emblem of this miserable world, made up of woes and wants. In hoc exilio, saith Bernard, in hoc ergastulo, in hac peregrinatione, in hac valle lachrymarum, &c.
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Make it a well] They are as cheerful in their travel to God’s house as if they had plenty of water all the way. Finis edulcat media, the joy of the Lord is their strength, whereby they are carried on an end, as they say, to their journey’s end, the joyful preconceit of appearing before God in Zion allaying their great thirst.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Passing; or, being used to pass; for he seems…
Passing; or, being used to pass; for he seems not to speak of one particular act, but of a common course or custom.
Baca; a place, so called, which some Jewish and other writers affirm to have been a very dry place, and therefore incommodious for travellers in those hot countries, and in hot seasons; which place may be here mentioned not exclusively to other ways and passages, for this highway being but one, and on one side of Jerusalem, could not be a general way for all the Israelites thither, but synecdochically for all places of like nature, which made their journey to Jerusalem unpleasant or inconvenient. But their zeal for God’s service did easily overcome this and other difficulties. Or, the valley of tears, as this valley might be called, for the trouble or vexation which travellers found there by reason of drought, or otherwise. A well, or wells, i.e. they dig divers little pits or wells in it for their relief. This trouble they willingly undertook rather than to neglect the opportunity of going up to Jerusalem at their solemn times. And possibly they did this, not only for themselves, but for the benefit of other travellers who came after them; whereby they showed both their piety and charity.
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The rain also filleth the pools; God recompenseth their diligence in making pits, or little pools, or cisterns with his blessing, sending rain wherewith they may be filled, and the thirsty travellers refreshed. Possibly the words may be thus rendered, which is more agreeable to the order of the Hebrew text, yea, or also, (and so the Hebrew particle gam hath that emphasis which, as some learned interpreters observe, is not given to it in other translations; they do not only make little pits or wells, as it was now said, but also,) pools or cisterns (for this Hebrew word is by the learned rendered both ways) which (so the relative particle is to be understood, as it is very frequently in many texts of Scripture) the rain filleth, or may fill, i.e. which may receive and keep the rain which God sendeth for the refreshment of these travellers, whose great numbers made the provision of water more necessary. But it is not necessary to understand this and the foregoing clause of what these passengers did for their own use, as they travelled through this or such, like places; but it may be meant of what pious persons did before that time, who, having their hearts set upon God’s house, and the pathways leading to it, as was said, Psa 84:5, and being desirous to advance the worship of God, and to encourage the people to come to Jerusalem, endeavoured to make those ways (some parts whereof were very incommodious) easy and convenient; and particularly, because those Eastern countries were hot and dry, and springs of water were scarce there, as we may learn from Gen 26:15 Jdg 1:15, and many other passages of sacred Scripture and other authors, which was a great annoyance to travellers, they made these pits and pools or cisterns in such places where they were most necessary, and through which great numbers of people passed in their journey to the house of God.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain They go from strength to strength,.... Whose strength is…
They go from strength to strength,.... Whose strength is in the Lord, and in whose heart are his ways, and who pass through the valley of Baca, and find a well of supply, and pools of blessings there; they renew their spiritual strength; they grow stronger and stronger every step they take; the way of the Lord is strength unto them: or "from army to army", or "from company to company" (d), as Kimchi, alluding to the companies in which they went up to the feasts; see Luk 2:44 when those who were more zealous, or more able to undergo journeys, would outgo the rest, and first overtake one company, and then another, and get to Zion first: or from victory to victory: first overcoming one enemy, and then another, as sin, Satan, and the world, being more than conquerors through him that has loved them: or "from doctrine to doctrine" (e); being led first into one truth, and then into another, as they were able to bear them; and so following on to know the Lord, and increasing in the knowledge of him: or "from class to class" (f); from the lower to an higher form in the school of Christ; so Jarchi interprets it, from school to school; and the Targum, from the sanctuary to the school; compare with this Rom 1:17.
everyone of them in Zion appeareth before God; three times in the year, but not empty, Exo 34:20 so the saints appear before God in his church below, presenting their persons, souls and bodies, prayers and praises, as holy and spiritual sacrifices unto him; than which nothing is more desirable to them. This is the wished for happiness, and the issue of their travel, toil, and labour; see Psa 42:2, and they shall appear before him, and in his presence, in the, church above; when Christ shall appear, they shall appear with him in glory, and be like him, and see him as he is; even everyone of them, not one shall be wanting; because he is great in power, not one of them shall fail; and he will present them to his Father, saying,
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lo, I and the children thou hast given me: some render the words, "the God of gods will appear", or "be seen in Zion" (g); there Jehovah manifests himself, and grants his gracious presence; this is the mount of the Lord, in which he is and shall be seen, Gen 22:14.
(d) "de exercitu in exercitum", Pagninus; so Piscator, Junius & Tremellius; "de turma ad turmam": Vatablus, Cocceius. (e) "De doctrina ad doctrinam", so some in Vatablus. (f) "Ex cohorte, vel classe rudiorum et infirmiorum, ad classem adultiorum", Gussetius, p. 725. (g) "videbitur Deus deorum in Sijon", Pagninus Montanus; "videtur Deus deorum in Sion", Musculus; so Sept. and Eth.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Baca - A dry valley in the way to…
Baca - A dry valley in the way to Jerusalem, here put for all places of like nature. Make a well - They dig divers little pits or wells in it for their relief. The rain - God recompenses their diligence with his blessing, sending rain wherewith they may be filled.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 6. Passing through the valley of Baca make…
Verse 6. Passing through the valley of Baca make it a well] Instead of bacha, a mulberry-tree, seven MSS. have בכה becheh, mourning. I believe Baca to be the same here as Bochim, Jdg 2:1-6, called The Valley of Weeping. Though they pass through this barren and desert place, they would not fear evil, knowing that thou wouldst supply all their wants; and even in the sandy desert cause them to find pools of water, in consequence of which they shall advance with renewed strength, and shall meet with the God of Israel in Zion.
The rain also filleth the pools.] The Hebrew may be translated differently, and has been differently understood by all the Versions. גם ברכות יעטה מורה gam berachoth yaateh moreh; "Yea, the instructor is covered or clothed with blessings." While the followers of God are passing through the wilderness of this world, God opens for them fountains in the wilderness, and springs in the dry places. They drink of the well-spring of salvation; they are not destitute of their pastors. God takes care to give his followers teachers after his own heart, that shall feed them with knowledge; and while they are watering the people they are watered themselves; for God loads them with his benefits, and the people cover them with their blessings.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Psa 84:6. Who passing — Or, being used to…
Psa 84:6. Who passing — Or, being used to pass; for he seems not to speak of one particular act, but of a common course or custom; through the valley of Baca — A place so called, which some Jewish and other writers affirm to have been a very dry place, and therefore incommodious for travellers in those hot countries, and in hot seasons. Which place may be here mentioned, not exclusively of other ways; for this highway being but one, and on one side of Jerusalem, could not be a general way for all the Israelites thither; but synecdochically for all places of like nature, which made their journey to Jerusalem unpleasant or inconvenient. But their zeal for God’s service did easily overcome this and other difficulties. Or the clause may be rendered, the valley of tears, as this valley might be called, for the trouble or vexation which travellers found there by reason of drought, or other inconveniences. Make it a well — Or, wells; that is, they dig divers little pits or wells in it for their relief. This trouble they willingly undertook, rather than to neglect the opportunity of going up to Jerusalem at their solemn times. And possibly they did this, not only for themselves, but for the benefit of other travellers who came after them; whereby they showed both their piety and charity. The rain also filleth the pools — God recompenseth their diligence in making pits, or cisterns, with his blessing, sending rain wherewith they may be filled, and the thirsty travellers refreshed. It may be proper to inform the reader, that the words may be rendered more agreeably to the Hebrew text, yea, or also pools, or cisterns; that is, they make pools or cisterns, which the rain filleth, or, may fill; which may receive and keep the rain that God sendeth for the refreshment of these travellers, whose great numbers made the provision of water more necessary. But it is not necessary to understand this, and the foregoing clause, of what these passengers did for their own use, as they travelled through this, or such like places; but it may be meant of what pious persons had done before that time; who, having their hearts set upon God’s house, and the ways leading to it, and being desirous to advance the worship of God, and to encourage the people to come to Jerusalem, endeavoured to make those ways easy and convenient; and particularly because those eastern countries were hot and dry, and springs of water were scarce there.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Who passing through the valley of Baca - This…
Who passing through the valley of Baca - This is one of the most difficult verses in the Book of Psalms, and has been, of course, very variously interpreted. The Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate, Luther, and Professor Alexander, render it a valley of tears. The word “Baca” (בכא bâkâ') means properly weeping, lamentation; and then it is given to a certain tree - not probably a mulberry tree, but some species of balsam - from its weeping; that is, because it seemed to distil tears, or drops of balsam resembling tears in size and appearance. It is translated mulberry trees in 2Sa 5:23-24; 1Ch 14:14-15; and so in the margin here, “mulberry trees make him a well.” There is no reason, however, to think that it has that meaning here. The true rendering is, “valley of lamentation,” or weeping; and it may have reference to some lonely valley in Palestine - where there was no water - a gloomy way - through which those commonly passed who went up to the place of worship. It would be vain, however, to attempt now to determine the locality of the valley referred to, as the name, if ever given to it, seems long since to have passed away. It may, however, be used as emblematic of human life - “a vale of tears;” and the passage may be employed as an illustration of the effect of religion in diffusing happiness and comfort where there was trouble and sorrow - as if fountains should be made to flow in a sterile and desolate valley.
Make it a well - Or, a fountain. That is, It becomes to the pilgrims as a sacred fountain. They “make” such a gloomy valley like a fountain, or like a road where fountains - full, free, refreshing - break forth everywhere to invigorate the traveler. Religious worship - the going up to the house of God - turns that in the journey of life which would otherwise be gloomy and sad into joy; makes a world of tears a world of comfort; has an effect like that of changing a gloomy path into one of pleasantness and beauty. The idea here is the same which occurs in Isa 35:7, “And the parched ground shall become a pool” (see the notes at that passage); and in Job 35:10, “Who giveth songs in the night” (see the notes at that passage); an idea which was so beautifully illustrated in the case of Paul and Silas in the jail at Philippi, when, at midnight they “sang praises to God” Act 16:25, and which is so often illustrated in the midst of affliction and trouble. By the power of religion, by the presence of the Saviour, by the influence of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, such times become seasons of purest joy - times remembered ever afterward with most fervent gratitude, as among the happiest periods of life. For religion can diffuse smiles over faces darkened by care; can light up the eye sunk in despondency; can change tears of sorrow into tears of joy; can impart peace in scenes of deepest sorrow; and make the most gloomy vales of life like green pastures illuminated by the brightness of noonday.
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The rain also filleth the pools - Margin, “covereth.” This is a still more difficult expression than the former. The Septuagint and the Vulgate render it, “The teacher - the lawgiver - ὁ νομοθετῶν ho nomothetōn - “legislator” - gives blessings.” Luther, “The teachers shall be adorned with many blessings.” Gesenius, “Yea, with blessings the autumnal rain doth cover it.” DeWette, “And with blessing the harvest-rain covers it,” which he explains as meaning,” Where they come, though it would be sorrow and tears, yet they are attended with prosperity and blessing.” Professor Alexander, “Also with blessings is the teacher clothed.” The word rendered “rain” - מורה môreh - is from ירה yârâh, to throw, to cast, to place, to sprinkle, and may denote
(1) an archer;
(2) the early rain
(3) teaching, Isa 9:15; 2Ki 17:28; or a teacher, Isa 30:20; Job 36:22.
It is rendered rain, in the place before us; and former rain twice in Joe 2:23 (margin, a teacher). The word rendered “filleth” means properly to cover, and would be fitly so translated here. Compare Lev 13:45; Eze 24:17, Eze 24:22. The word has not naturally the idea of filling. The word rendered “pools” - ברכות berâkôth - if pointed in one manner - ברכה berêkâh (in the singular) - denotes a pond, pool, or basin of water; if pointed in another manner - ברכה berâkâh - it means blessing, benediction, and is often so used in the Scriptures, Gen 27:12; Gen 28:4; Gen 33:11; Pro 11:11,...The rendering of Gesenius, as above, “Yea, with blessings the autumnal rain doth cover it,” (that is, the valley so desolate in the heat of summer - the valley of weeping), would perhaps be the most natural, though it is not easy to see the connection according to this interpretation, or according to any other proposed.
Least of all is it easy to see the connection according to the translation of the Septuagint, the Vulgate, Luther, and Prof. Alexander. Perhaps the connection in the mind of the author of the psalm may have been this. He sees the sterile and desolate valley through which the pilgrims are passing made joyous by the cheerfulness - the happiness - the songs - of those who are on their way to the house of God. This fact - this image - suggests to him the idea that this is similar to the effect which is produced in that valley when copious rains descend upon it, and when, though commonly desolate, it is covered with grass and flowers, or is “blessed” by the rain. This latter image is to his mind an illustration of the happy scene now before him in the cheerful and exulting movements of the pilgrims on their way to the house of God. The one suggests the other; and the psalmist has a combined image before his mind, the one illustrating the other, and both showing how a vale naturally desolate and sterile may be made cheerful and joyous.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 6. Valley of Baca—Valley of weeping, or lamentation. That…
6. Valley of Baca—Valley of weeping, or lamentation. That there was a valley of this name would appear from the manner of referring to it, and also from the use of the definite article, הבכא, (the Baca.) But it is not the head of the valley of Rephaim, which Josephus (Ant., Psa_7:4) and the Septuagint (in 2Sa_5:23) have called “the place of weeping,” nor the Bochim near Bethel, of Jdg_2:1; Jdg_2:4-5. It must have been some road, or section of a road, notable in the pilgrim routes, or in the route of the returning exiles, (see Jer_31:8-9; Jer_50:4-5,) painful to travel and specially arid and waste. Yet even this, to the devout and joyful pilgrim, would be made delightful, as if filled with fountains and covered with verdure.
The rain also filleth the pools—Instead of “pools,” read blessings, as in 2Ch_20:26; instead of “filleth,” read covereth; and for “rain,” understand the early, or autumnal rains, (beginning with November,) which prepare the ground for the seed, as in Joe_2:23. The sense is, The early rain, which quickens the parched ground into fertility, covereth the “valley of weeping” with blessings. In Palestine there is little rain from the last of April to the first of November.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 6. Passing through the vale of Baca they make…
6. Passing through the vale of Baca they make it a place of springs,
Yea, the early rain clotheth it with blessings.
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The word Baca is derived from the root which means to weep, but it nowhere means weeping, for which words of a different form are used. Here, as in 2Sa_5:23, it probably denotes some kind of balsam-tree, so called from the ‘tears’ of gum which it exudes. The vale of Baca or the balsam-trees was some vale which, like the vale of Elah or the terebinth (1Sa_17:2), and the vale of Shittim or acacias, took its name from the trees which grew there. Balsam-trees are said to love dry situations, growing plentifully for example in the arid valley of Mecca; and this is clearly the point of the reference. The vale of Baca was some waterless and barren valley through which pilgrims passed on their way to Jerusalem; but faith turns it into a place of springs, finding refreshment under the most untoward circumstances, while God refreshes them with showers of blessing from above, as the autumnal rains clothe the dry plains with grass and flowers. Cp. Isa_35:1 ff., Isa_35:6 ff.; Isa_41:18 ff.; and see Tristram’s Natural Hist. of the Bible, pp. 30, 455, for a graphic description of the marvellous way in which the rains in Palestine transform the country from a brown and dusty desert to a lovely garden. Once more we have to note the singularly bold use of metaphor which is characteristic of this poet.
The familiar phrase ‘the vale of tears’ comes from the Vulg. vallis lacrimarum, and it is possible that such an allusion to the derivation of the word is intended. It is natural to regard the pilgrim’s experience as a parable of the pilgrimage of life, but this secondary application must not be allowed to supersede the original meaning.
This verse has suffered a strange fate in translation. The English Versions follow Jewish authorities in taking berâchôth as the plural of berçchâh, ‘a pool,’ not, as it must be, of berâchâh, ‘blessing.’ The LXX renders. The lawgiver shall give blessings, taking môreh to be connected with tôrâh, law: and similarly Jerome, The teacher shall be clothed with blessing, a rendering followed by Luther.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (6) Who passing through the valley of Baca.—All the…
(6) Who passing through the valley of Baca.—All the ancient versions have “valley of weeping,” which, through the Vulg. vallis lacrymosa, has passed into the religious language of Europe as a synonym for life. And Baca (bâkha) seems to have this signification, whatever origin we give the word. The valley has been variously identified—with the valley of Achor (Hos_2:15; Jos_7:24); the valley of Rephaim (2Sa_5:22)—a valley found by Burckhardt in the neighbourhood of Sinai; and one, more recently, by Renan, the last station of the present caravan route from the north to Jerusalem. Of these, the valley of Rephaim is most probably in the poet’s mind, since it is described (Isa_17:5) as sterile, and as the text stands, we think of some place devoid of water, but which the courage and faith of the pilgrims treats as if it were well supplied with that indispensable requisite, thus turning adversity itself into a blessing. He either plays on the sound of the word (Baca, and becaîm) or the exudations of the balsam shrub gave the valley its name.
The rain also filleth the pools.—That rain is the right rendering of the Hebrew word here appears from Joe_2:23. The rendering pools follows the reading, berechóth; but the text has berachóth, “blessings,” as read by the LXX. and generally adopted now. Render yea, as the autumn rain covers (it) with blessings, i.e., just as the benign showers turn a wilderness into a garden, so resolution and faith turn disadvantage to profit. (Comp. Isa_35:6-8; Isa_43:18 seq.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Who passing through the valley of Baca make it…
Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a wall; rather, through the valley of weeping (thda tou klauymwnov , LXX). So Hupfeld. Hengstenberg, Kay, and the Revised Version; compare Hosea"s "valley of Achor," i.e. "of Grief." When the righteous pass through a time of suffering or calamity, they turn it into a time of refreshment. The rain also filleth the pools; rather, the early rain (Joe_2:23) covereth it with blessings. The rain of God"s grace mantles all the valley with a luxuriant vegetation; in other words, the blessing of God rests on those who act as above described, and causes them ever to increase in righteousness and true holiness.
Living water from hidden springs.
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"Passing... a well." "The valley of Baca," i.e. of weeping, or lamentation. The image is of a company of pilgrims towards the holy city, whose way lies through a desolate, sterile valley. In that "dry and thirsty land" many a traveller has fainted with thirst. On those rugged rocks many a feeble or heedless foot has slipped, many a pilgrim fallen. But if "the blessings of heaven above" and "the precious things of the earth" be denied, there is yet "the blessing of the deep that worketh under." The pilgrims gird their loins, pitch their tents, and dig deep. Cool treasures of living water from hidden springs reward their toil. At morning they go on their way with a new song of praise, and leave a blessing for those who follow.
I OUR WAY, AS PILGRIMS TO THE BETTER LAND, LIES THROUGH THE VALLEY OF TEARS. Sometimes, thoughtlessly or bitterly (in either case ungratefully), this name is applied to human life as a whole. Untrue and unreasonable. If life has its dangers and deserts, weary wastes, gloomy gorges, perilous passages, it has also breezy sunny uplands, smiling valleys, fields of happy fruitful labour, quiet resting places, cheered by bright hopes, warm affections, pleasant memories. Many a light-hearted company marches for leagues with unbroken ranks. It is as untrue that life is all sorrow, as that it is all joy. But the valley of weeping has to be crossed. There are lives whose whole course is within its shadow. The happiest path runs so near its border that at any moment we may enter it; perhaps soon to emerge; perhaps not till the pilgrimage be ended. No unfrequented spot. If we take account of bleeding or broken hearts and shadowed hair all over the world a life failing with each sound we shall acknowledge that in this wide sense earth may not untruly be called "the valley of tears.
II HIDDEN WELL SPRINGS OF COMFORT AND BLESSING are provided by God for his children when passing through the valley of weeping. Comfort under trial, blessing through trial, hope beyond trial.
1. Sorrow for sin is the condition of the joy of forgiveness. (Mat_5:4) Violent emotion is not necessary; but a true sense of the guilt, as well as evil, of sin. Peace with God precedes peace in God. The deeper the sorrow, the sweeter the joy. Shallow views of sin are one of the chief dangers of our day; begetting shallow views of atonement, and of the relation of Christ"s death to our sins and "the sin of the world". (Joh_1:29 1Jn_2:2)
2. God"s presence and love, our Saviour"s sympathy, the power of the Holy Spirit as "the Comforter," are felt in trouble as at no other time. In the night the stars shine. (Psa_46:1) To bear trouble patiently is the part of a wise brave man, Christian or not; but comfort in trouble is the exclusive privilege of the Christian.
3. The discipline of sorrow produces rich fruits stronger faith, deeper humility, a new sense of the value of prayer and of the preciousness of God"s promises; patience, courage, detachment from the world, power to sympathize. (Jam_1:2, 3 1Pe_1:6, 7 Heb_12:10 Psa_119:67, Psa_119:71)
4. We are saved by hope. " (Rom_8:24) No grief so heavy as despair. None intolerable if hope shines ahead. A hidden well, (Col_3:3) but whose streams can refresh the dreariest, weariest stages of pilgrimage. (2Co_4:16-18) Christ"s atonement lifts from our heart the burden of the past. His sympathy and mediation bring every moment of the present into living happy relation to God. But his resurrection and ascension bind our own earthly life to the glorious immortal future. (Joh_14:1-3, 19 Heb_6:19)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 6. Who passing through the valley of Baca…
Ver. 6. Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well. Traversing joyfully the road to the great assembly, the happy pilgrims found refreshment even in the dreariest part of the road. As around a well men meet and converse cheerfully, being refreshed after their journey, so even in the vale of tears, or any other dreary glen, the pilgrims to the skies find sweet solace in brotherly communion and in anticipation of the general assembly above, with its joys unspeakable. Probably there is here a local allusion, which will never now be deciphered, but the general meaning is clear enough. There are joys of pilgrimage which make men forget the discomforts of the road.
The rain also filleth the pools. God gives to his people the supplies they need while traversing the roads which he points out for them. Where there were no natural supplies from below, the pilgrims found an abundant compensation in waters from above, and so also shall all the sacremental host of God's elect. Ways, which otherwise would have been deserted from want of accommodation, were made into highways abundantly furnished for the travellers' wants, because the great annual pilgrimages led in that direction; even so, Christian converse and the joy of united worship makes many duties easy and delightful which else had been difficult and painful.
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Ver. 6. Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well, etc. I consider the valley here mentioned to be the same as the valley of Bochim, mentioned in Jud 2:1, 5, which received its name from the weeping of the Jews, when they were rebuked by an angel for their disobedience to the commands of God. This valley is called m'kkh, Habbcaim, in 2Sa 5:24, the h of hkk to weep being changed into a. Josephus mentions, that the circumstance there related occurred en toiv alsesi toiv kaloumenoiv Klauqmwsi. Antiquities Jud. lib 7 c 4. my'kkh, Habb'caim, is rendered in that verse by the LXX Klauqmwn, weepings;and in Jud 2:1 kykkh, Habbocim, is also rendered by the LXX. Klauqmwn, weepings. The valley mentioned in Ps 84:6 is called by the LXX. Klauqmwn. I am inclined therefore to think, that in this place, joining to'kkh the m of the following word, and supplying y before it, we ought to read nymy'kkh instead of ny`m'kkh... All the ancient versionists seem to have thought, that the valley in this verse received its name from hkk, bacah, to weep. I translate the verse, Passing through the valley of Bochim, they will make it a fountain even of blessings; it shall be covered with the former rain. The Psalm has been supposed to have been written by Jehoshaphat. Probably he passed through Bochim, which seems to have been an arid valley, when he marched against the Moabites and Ammonites; see 2 Chronicles 20. After the victory the army of Jehoshaphat assembled in a valley, where they blessed the Lord; and from this circumstance it received the name of Berachah: see 2Ch 20:26. Perhaps the word tvkrk in this verse has an allusion to that circumstance; and perhaps the valley of Berachah was, before that glorious occasion, called the valley of Bochim. Richard Dixon.
Ver. 6. Passing through the valley of weeping make him, that is, Jehovah, a fountain. That is, they trust, and from him look for help, who having plain paths in their mind must pass through many difficulties. Similar help is sought by those, who, suffering from a scanty supply of water, press on through a dry valley, and yet do not despair or grow weary, but have God for their fountain, from which they drink and are refreshed. Venema.
Ver. 6. The valley of Baca. Valley of tear shrubs. E. W. Hengstenberg.
Ver. 6. Baca, signifieth a mulberry tree, which loves to grow in dry places that be sandy and barren, 2Sa 5:23-24, or 1Ch 14:14-15. Now they whose hearts be set upon God's house and holy worship, when they go thitherward through a sandy, dry, barren valley, do make it a well, that is, repute and count it as a well, the word rhrtysy signifieth to put or set, as Ge 3:15; Ps 21:6, 12 83:11, 13. For thus will they say with themselves, thinking upon the comfort of God's favour to whom they go, that it shall be to them as the rain of blessings, a plentiful and liberal rain upon the ground. Thomas Pierson.
Ver. 6. Make it a well. That which seemed an impediment turns to a furtherance; at least, no misery can be so great, no estate so barren, but a godly heart can make it a well, out of which to draw forth water of comfort; either water to cleanse, and make it a way to repentance; or water to cool, and make it a way to patience; or water to moisten, and make it a way of growing in grace; and if the well happen to be dry, and afford no water from below, yet the rain shall fill their pools, and supply them with water from above. If natural forces be not sufficient, there shall be supernatural graces added to assist them, that though troubles of the world seem rubs in the way to blessedness, yet in truth they are none, they hinder not arriving at the mark we aim at, they hinder us not from being made members of Sion, they hinder us not from approaching the presence of God. No, my soul, they are rather helps, for by this means we go from strength to strength, from strength of patience, to strength of hope; from strength of hope, to strength of faith, to strength of vision; and then will be accomplished that which David speaks here; Blessed is the man whose strength is in God, and in whose heart his ways are. Sir Richard Baker.
Ver. 6. The rain. Little as there may be of water, that little suffices on their way. It is a well to them. They find only "pools (which) the early rain has (barely) covered" but are content with the supply by the way. It is as good and sufficient to them as if showers of the heavy autumnal rains had filled the well. Pilgrims forget the scanty supply at an inn, when they have abundance in view at the end. Israelites going up to the Passover made light of deficient water, for their hearts were set on reaching Jerusalem. Andrew A. Bonar.
Ver. 6-7. The most gloomy present becomes bright to them: passing through even a terrible wilderness, they turn it into a place of springs, their joyous hope and the infinite beauty of the goal, which is worth any amount of toil and trouble, afford them enlivening comfort, refreshing, strengthening in the midst of the arid steppe. Not only does their faith bring forth water out of the sand and rocks of the desert, but God also on his part lovingly anticipates their love, and rewardingly anticipates their faithfulness: a gentle rain, like that which refreshes the sown fields in the autumn, descends from above and enwraps the valley of Baca in a fulness of blessing... the arid steppe becomes resplendent with a flowery festive garment (Isa 35:1-19), not to outward appearance, but to them spiritually, in a manner none the less true and real. And whereas under ordinary circumstances, the strength of the traveller diminishes in proportion as he has traversed more and more of his toilsome road, with them it is the very reverse; they go from strength to strength. Franz Delitzsch.
Ver. 6. As the valley of weeping symbolizes dejection, so a "well" symbolizes ever flowing salvation and comfort (compare Joh 4:14 Isa 12:3).
Ver. 6.
I. The valley of Baca. Of this valley we may observe,
1. It is much frequented.
2. Unpleasant to flesh and blood.
3. Very healthful.
4. Very safe.
5. Very profitable. II. The toilsome effort: make it a well.
1. Comfort may be obtained in the deepest trouble.
2. Comfort must be obtained by exertion.
3. Comfort obtained by one is of use to others, as a well may be. III. The heavenly supply. The rain also filleth the pools. All is from God; effort is of no avail without him.
Psalms 84:7*
Ver. 6-7. See Psalms on "Ps 84:7" for further information.
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain Or, weeping. Not a literal valley, but any place…
Baca
Or, weeping. Not a literal valley, but any place of tears. Cf. Psa 23:4.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 84:6 The Valley of Weeping probably refers to the…
84:6 The Valley of Weeping probably refers to the anguish that lonely pilgrims endured (see 23:4), rather than to an actual location. • refreshing springs . . . autumn rains: Even when pilgrims feel totally exhausted, the prospect of drawing near to the Lord renews their spirits (cp. Isa 35:6-10; 41:18-20; 43:17-20; 49:10).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.