Psalms 72:17

May his name endure for ever;

As long as the sun doth shine may his name have Issue:

May all nations bless themselves in him, (and) call him happy.

The Psalmist prays that the king's name may not perish like the name of the wicked (Job 18:19), but may always have issue, be perpetuated in his posterity as long as time lasts (cp. Psalms 72:5). The Ancient Versions however (LXX, Syr., Targ., Jer.) point to the reading yikkôn, shall be established, instead of yinnôn, shall have issue, a word which is found nowhere else. Cp. Psalms 89:37; 1 Kings 2:12; 1 Kings 2:45. The LXX reads, "All the families of the earth shall be blessed in him, all nations shall call him happy." But each of these last three verses is a tristich, and the words "all families of the earth" are introduced from Genesis 12:3. May all nations bless themselves in him, invoking for themselves the blessings which he enjoys as the highest and best which they can imagine (cp. Genesis 48:20); an allusion to the promises to Abraham and Isaac (Genesis 22:18; Genesis 26:4).