Thijs Booij, «Psalm 127,2b: a Return to Martin Luther», Vol. 81 (2000) 262-268

In Ps 127,2b )n# (s\e4na4)) tells about the manner of giving (H. Irsigler); it does so by denoting the state of the dydy when he is receiving God’s gift. The particle Nk, as related to Ntn, 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’.

would be especially striking if )n# was taken as ‘in sleep’: when he slept, Solomon was given (the promise of) wisdom, riches, and honour.

        The second clarification concerns the meaning and function of Nk. In Ps 127,2 the ‘alternative’ Nk is not only supposed by authors reading )n# as an object, but also by some of those taking it as ‘in sleep’. The latter consider Nk to be the object: in sleep God gives ‘the right thing’ to whom he loves³⁰. An objection to this explanation is, once again, that a notion is being added. The essence of vv. 1-2a is that only God can bring about what human beings want; the question what is proper for them³¹ is not raised. In my view Irsigler is right in regarding Nk of Ps 127,2 as the well-known deictic particle (HALAT: Nk II), usually translated by ‘so’; only on this interpretation v. 2b can be a completion of the idea of vv. 1-2a, without complicating it. For a clear understanding of Nk in Ps 127,2b two aspects of the word are to be considered:

        (1) The nature of the reference. The particle Nk may refer back, within the sentence, to a phrase, a term introduced by k, or a clause introduced by r#)k; it may also refer to a preceding utterance, sentence, or passage³². In a few of the latter cases, however, Nk does not refer to the utterance (etc.) itself, but to an essential element of it:

yl) wbrq Nk-yk
But be good to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table, for so they met me [i.e., according to such goodness] when I fled from your brother Absalom (1 Kgs 2,7).

        Nk does not refer to the order itself, but to the principle expressed by it.

Mkyhl) hwhyl Nk Nw#(t-)l
² You shall demolish completely all the places where the nations whom you will dispossess served their gods ... ³ you shall tear down their altars, smash their pillars, burn their sacred poles, hew down the idols of their gods and blot out their names from such places. ⁴ You must not do so to YHWH your God [worship him in that way] (Deut 12,2-4).

        Nk does not refer to the command itself, but to the forms of worship denoted in it.

        In Ps 127,2 Nk can be understood in a similar way³³: it does not refer to the preceding statement (‘It is in vain that...’ etc.), but to an essential element of it, namely the notion of toiling.