A song of ascents. 2
134:1 Attention! 3 Praise the Lord,
all you servants of the Lord,
who serve 4 in the Lord’s temple during the night.
135:2 who serve 5 in the Lord’s temple,
in the courts of the temple of our God.
6:5 “Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray while standing in synagogues 6 and on street corners so that people can see them. Truly I say to you, they have their reward.
1 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).
2 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.
3 tn Heb “Look!”
4 tn Heb “stand.”
5 tn Heb “stand.”
6 sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.
7 tn Although the Greek subjunctive mood, formally required in a subordinate clause introduced by ἵνα ({ina), is traditionally translated by an English subjunctive (e.g., “may,” so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV), changes in the use of the subjunctive in English now result in most readers understanding such a statement as indicating permission (“may” = “has permission to”) or as indicating uncertainty (“may” = “might” or “may or may not”). Thus a number of more recent translations render such instances by an English future tense (“will,” so TEV, CEV, NLT, NASB 1995 update). That approach has been followed here.