For Praise the LORD, see 104.35.
Verse 1 sets the tone for the whole psalm. To “fear Yahweh” is to honor and respect him, to obey him. For Blessed see 1.1, where Good News Translation also translates as “Happy.” In verse 1b the meaning of delights in his commandments is “is happy to obey his commandments,” “takes pleasure in doing what Yahweh commands.”
The rewards for obeying Yahweh’s commands are prosperity and wealth, not only for the man himself but also for his family and descendants (verses 2-3). In verse 2a the Hebrew word translated mighty is generally used of military might, but here it may mean prosperity, wealth. In the same line in the land is the land of Israel; the Hebrew does not mean “on earth” (as Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy have it).
It seems probable that in verse 2b the generation of the upright means the descendants of the good man referred to in the preceding line (see New English Bible, Jerusalem Bible, New Jerusalem Bible); Biblia Dios Habla Hoy combines the two lines as follows: “The descendants of the honorable man will be blessed and will be powerful on earth.” The verb translated blessed is not the same as the word so translated in verse 1b by Revised Standard Version; here it means “will be blessed by God” (see comments on the verb in 16.7).
Three Hebrew words are used in verses 2a-3 to speak of the family and descendants of the righteous man: “seed … generation … house.” Generation … will be blessed must often be recast to say “God will give good things to his descendants.” Wealth and riches are synonymous and in many languages will be translated by a single term.
It is not easy to determine the precise meaning in verse 3b of tsedaqah (usually translated righteousness). The exact same statement is made of Yahweh’s tsedaqah in 111.3b; in both instances the line starts with the letter waw, the sixth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It is better to take it here to refer to the reward for being righteous (see Anderson, Briggs, Kirkpatrick), that is, prosperity (as in Pro 8.18). New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, and Dahood take the meaning to be “generosity, beneficence,” but it seems rather strange to switch so suddenly from the good man’s rewards (verses 2-3a) to one of his virtues. So Bible en français courant translates here “God’s approval is his forever.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, however, has “his faithfulness to the Lord lasts forever.”
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on the Book of Psalms. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1991. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .