Psalm 1

1:3 - He is like a tree planted by streams of water . . .

The Bible uses a plethora of images to depict the effect of feeding on the word of God. Now the person whose delight is the law of the Lord, on which he spends time reading, reflecting, and instilling into his own life, is likened to a tree. While the luxuriance of a fruitful healthy tree would be a meaningful figure in any culture, it becomes an acutely poignant one in a semi-arid land like Israel where water was always, and remains, a major concern of everyday living, and it is little surprising then that the tree should become a key imagery of what thrives and flourishes (Psm 37:35, 52:8; 92:12; Jer 17:8; 11:16, 19). Here the righteous person is likened not merely to a tree, but one that is "planted by streams of water." Patrick Miller Jr thinks that the "tree is transplanted. The one who follows the righteous way is like a tree on a dry plain when it is moved to the water's edge and transplanted. It just takes off . . ."1 Such an idea of a "transplantation" makes for vivid emphasis, but it is not a suggestion elicited by anything in the text, except for the fact that the word for "streams" may also be understood as a "channel." Neither is it necessary for a proper understanding of the imagery. Any observant visitor to Israel and lands of similar climate and terrain quickly recognizes the difference being planted — whether accidentally or purposefully — by water makes to any tree. Jeremiah certainly knew, for he used a similar imagery (17:7-8):

"But blessed is the man who trusts in Yahweh, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."2

Such a tree, and the person it represents, is one that drinks deep of the elixir of life, and in its turn it evinces all the signs of vigour— "its leaf does not wither" —and the clearest evidence of fecundity— "giving its fruit in season" —as a good tree is supposed to. Such is a tree planted by streams of water; such is a righteous person, the one who is 'ashrey. And whatever he does prospers!