King James Version
Psalms 133
3 verses with commentary
How Good and Pleasant It Is
A Song of degrees of David. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! together: Heb. even together
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
This brief wisdom psalm extols covenant community through the exclamation 'Behold!' (hinneh—look, pay attention). The dual adjectives 'good and pleasant' (tov and na'im) encompass both moral rightness and experiential enjoyment. 'Brethren dwelling together in unity' refers to harmonious relationships among God's people, particularly relevant in David's context of tribal tensions. The subsequent ve...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(1) **In unity.**—Better, *altogether. *The Hebrew particle *gam, *here used with the word “together,” is in our version sometimes rendered “yea,” when it plainly should be taken with the adjective to intensify it exactly like our “all.” (See, for instance, Psalm 25:3; 2Samuel 19:30.) The common idiom, *gam shenayîm, “*all two” (i.e., both), exactly like the French *tous deux, *and the German *all...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
19. God's firm and universal dominion is a pledge that He will keep His promises (Psa 11:4; 47:8).
It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard</strong>. References Aaron's anointing (Exodus 29:7). Oil so copious it flowed down beard to robe. Anointing oil symbolized Holy Spirit, consecration. Unity is similarly precious—not manufactured but poured from above.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **It is like.**—The italics of the Authorised Version are wrongly inserted. *Unity *could not be said to *flow down. *The other term of the simile is implied in Psalm 133:3. (See Note.) Literally, *Like the oil, the good oil, on the head descending upon the beard, Aaron’s beard, which *(*was*)* descending to the mouth of his robes. *Oil meets us as the standing symbol of joy and festivity. (Se...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**20-22. do his commandments ... word--**or, literally, "so as to hearken," &c., that is, their acts of obedience are prompt, so that they are ever ready to hear, and know, and follow implicitly His declared will (compare De 26:17; Lu 1:19).
As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion</strong>. <strong>For there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore</strong>. Hermon's dew refreshing Zion—northern abundance reaching southern scarcity supernaturally. <strong>For there</strong> (in unity) <strong>the LORD commanded the blessing</strong>. Not suggested but commanded. Unity bring...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **As the dew . . .**—Better, keeping the same word as in Psalm 133:2. *like the dew of Hermon, which descended on the Mount Zion. *This statement of the dew of a mountain in the *north *descending on a mountain in the *south, *appears so strange and impossible that our version inserted the words, “and as the dew.” But the sentence is constructed in exactly the same form as Psalm 133:2, and the...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**20-22. do his commandments ... word--**or, literally, "so as to hearken," &c., that is, their acts of obedience are prompt, so that they are ever ready to hear, and know, and follow implicitly His declared will (compare De 26:17; Lu 1:19).