Psalms 133

Look at how good and how pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!

1Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

Note"Brothers" here translates a Hebrew word that covers blood brothers but also kinsmen and fellow countrymen generally. "Dwelling together" was a concrete matter in ancient Israel: land passed to sons as a shared inheritance, and brothers who stayed on the undivided family property lived side by side, while quarrels over that inheritance split households apart. The psalm carries a heading in Hebrew calling it "a song of ascents," one of a group of fifteen psalms (120–134) associated with pilgrims traveling up to Jerusalem.

2It is like the costly, sweet-smelling oil poured on the head, which ran down onto the beard, Aaron's beard, and went on down to the collar of his robes.

2It 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;

NoteThe King James "ointment" does not mean a medical salve. It is olive oil blended with expensive spices (myrrh, cinnamon, cane and cassia) and poured, not rubbed, over the head. Aaron was Moses' brother and the first high priest of Israel; at his installation this perfumed oil was poured on his head in such quantity that it ran down over him. The Hebrew phrase behind "the skirts of his garments" literally means "the mouth of his robes," which may be the neck-opening at the collar or the lower hem; translators divide over which, so the picture is either oil reaching his collar or running the whole length of him.

3It is like the dew of Mount Hermon, and like the dew that came down on the mountains of Zion. For it was there that the LORD commanded the blessing to be given: life that lasts forever.

3As 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.

NoteMount Hermon is a nine-thousand-foot peak in the far north of the region, snow-capped much of the year and known for exceptionally heavy dew. Zion is the hill of Jerusalem, roughly a hundred miles south and much drier. Dew from Hermon falling on Zion is therefore an image of abundance arriving where it does not naturally belong. "Commanded the blessing" is a Hebrew way of saying God gave the order and the blessing came, the same construction used of a king issuing a decree.