Psalms 1:3 (KJV)

What does Psalms 1:3 mean?

Psalms 1:3 compares the person who delights in God’s law to a well-watered tree: firmly established, bearing fruit at the proper time, and keeping its leaves. The picture describes a life that is sustained and fruitful, with the person’s work reaching a successful outcome.

The key detail is “rivers”: the Hebrew פֶּלֶג (peleg) means a channel or stream of water, including an irrigation channel. The tree stands beside a dependable water supply. The psalm’s unnamed speaker uses this picture to describe the person introduced in verses 1–2, whose delight and regular thought are directed toward God’s law.

The Hebrew behind Psalms 1:3

• “tree” — עֵץ (ets); “planted” — שָׁתַל (shatal): The first word means a tree; the second means to plant or transplant. “Planted” presents the tree as established in a particular place, where water can sustain its growth. The verse does not identify who planted it.

• “bringeth forth” — נָתַן (natan); “fruit” — פְּרִי (peri); “season” — עֵת (et): The verb commonly means “give”; here the tree “gives” or yields its fruit. “Season” means a time or appointed occasion. The phrase “his fruit in his season” describes fruit appearing at its proper time, rather than continuous fruit production.

• “leaf” — עָלֶה (aleh); “wither” — נָבֵל (navel): “Leaf” is singular in form but can describe the tree’s foliage collectively. “Wither” means to fade or shrivel. The leaves remain fresh, extending the picture of a tree whose water supply sustains its vitality.

• “doeth” — עָשָׂה (asah); “prosper” — צָלַח (tsalach): “Doeth” means to do or make. “Prosper” means to succeed or advance successfully. In “whatsoever he doeth shall prosper,” the picture opens out from the tree to the person’s activities: what the person undertakes succeeds.

Why Psalms 1:3 matters

• The tree describes the person of verses 1–2. “He” refers to the person who avoids the ways of the wicked and delights in God’s law. The fruitful tree gives that description a visible form.

• Fruitfulness has a proper time. “In his season” makes timing part of the picture: the tree’s health appears in fruit when fruit is due, as well as in leaves that remain fresh.

• The psalm contrasts rooted stability with rootlessness. Verse 4 describes the wicked as chaff blown away by the wind. The planted tree stays in place and produces fruit; the chaff cannot hold its ground.