1 Samuel 18:7

18:7 The women who were playing the music sang,

“Saul has struck down his thousands,

but David his tens of thousands!”

1 Samuel 18:2

18:2 Saul retained David 1  on that day and did not allow him to return to his father’s house.

1 Samuel 5:1

The Ark Causes Trouble for the Philistines

5:1 Now the Philistines had captured the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.

Psalms 24:7-10

24:7 Look up, 2  you gates!

Rise up, 3  you eternal doors!

Then the majestic king 4  will enter! 5 

24:8 Who is this majestic king? 6 

The Lord who is strong and mighty!

The Lord who is mighty in battle!

24:9 Look up, you gates!

Rise up, you eternal doors!

Then the majestic king will enter!

24:10 Who is this majestic king?

The Lord who commands armies! 7 

He is the majestic king! (Selah)

Psalms 134:1-3

Psalm 134 8 

A song of ascents. 9 

134:1 Attention! 10  Praise the Lord,

all you servants of the Lord,

who serve 11  in the Lord’s temple during the night.

134:2 Lift your hands toward the sanctuary

and praise the Lord!

134:3 May the Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth,

bless you 12  from Zion! 13 

1 tn Heb “him”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

2 tn Heb “lift up your heads.” The gates of the Lord’s dwelling place are here personified. The idiom “lift up the head” often means “be confident, bold” (see Judg 8:28; Job 10:15; Ps 83:2; Zech 1:21).

3 tn Heb “lift yourselves up.”

4 tn Or “king of glory.”

5 tn Following the imperatives of the preceding lines, the prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose or result.

6 sn Who is this majestic king? Perhaps the personified gates/doors ask this question, in response to the command given in v. 7.

7 tn Traditionally, “the Lord of hosts,” a title which here pictures the Lord as a mighty warrior-king who leads armies into battle.

8 sn Psalm 134. The psalmist calls on the temple servants to praise God (vv. 1-2). They in turn pronounce a blessing on the psalmist (v. 3).

9 sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

10 tn Heb “Look!”

11 tn Heb “stand.”

12 tn The pronominal suffix is second masculine singular, suggesting that the servants addressed in vv. 1-2 are responding to the psalmist.

13 tn Heb “may the Lord bless you from Zion, the maker of heaven and earth.”