Ps. 80.9 (the filling)

You cleared the ground
so that it took root
and filled the land. 

Distance. One aspect of this narration of Israel’s exodus-to-conquest that we failed to previously mention is the distancing technique. The ‘vine’ is, although clearly the ‘us’ of the psalm, described as “it” throughout. There is no explicit identification of Israel with the vine. The effect is important. In an odd way, by distancing it creates a greater intimacy and concern for the vine. The ‘vine’ seems to become much more vulnerable. It is more of a display, something that takes on the sense of accomplishment and of finality. Nathan does something very similar to David when he tells him the ‘story of the lamb’ and it creates in David a sense of deep concern and passion for the lamb. The reasons for this, I think, has something to do 1) with the overall story, beginning with God taking this vine from Egypt in order to preserve its life and transplanting it to the Land and 2) the fact that the vine is entirely passive and under the complete authority and control of God. When tragedy strikes it is as if it were striking the son of the Gardener (which is precisely what the psalm will later claim…) and is utterly unable to defend itself. 

Taking root. Here, we come to the point where the vine begins to operate according to its purpose. It begins to ‘take root’. It ventures forth, seeking its own nourishment, exercising its capacities. This image of Israel is varied. The Land is Israel’s life. It nourishes her. She is not merely a ‘people’ that exists apart from a place. Rather, her life depends upon her ability become ‘rooted’ in the land. Likewise, her ‘rooting in the Land’ is what is necessary for her fruitfulness. During the time of ‘transplanting’, when she presumably was being carried by God out of any soil, she was unable to produce any fruit because her roots were exposed; she had no nourishment. In the Land, however, she can begin to ‘be fruitful and multiply’. This is key—the Land is not simply ‘her life’; it is what enables her to ‘move beyond herself’ in fruit-bearing. The Land is not the place for ‘stasis’ or ‘rest’; it is the place for an ever-greater movement-in-peace—fruit-bearing. 

Filling the Land. This looks back to what we just saw, except now we come to an additional depth. One of the first commands of God to Adam and Even is “to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth”. That command and its reality echoes down through the Pentateuch: from Adam and Eve, to Abraham, to Israel in Egypt, to the conquest. Here, the ‘planting in the Land’ becomes the beginning of its realization in the Land—the vine is now “filling the Land” enacting the promise and command of God. As we will see this “filling” is crucial to understand. The Vine begins to grow in such a fashion that it is clearly operating within the blessing of God. This is no normal Vine: its ‘growth’ is a manifestation of the abundant power-blessing of God (it is kind of like a mustard seed…). Furthermore, its ‘filling’ is immediate. From the moment it begins to ‘root in the Land’, it begins to ‘fill the Land’. The psalmist, by juxtaposing these two instances of growth (rooting and filling), is attempting to show that the rapid growth of the Vine is a divine growth. On the one hand we speak of the ‘kingdom of God’; in an analogous way, we might call this the Vine of God.