Psalms 123:1

Psalm 123

A song of ascents.

123:1 I look up toward you,

the one enthroned in heaven.

Psalms 123:1

Psalm 123

A song of ascents.

123:1 I look up toward you,

the one enthroned in heaven.

Psalms 8:1

Psalm 8

For the music director, according to the gittith style; 10  a psalm of David.

8:1 O Lord, our Lord, 11 

how magnificent 12  is your reputation 13  throughout the earth!

You reveal your majesty in the heavens above! 14 

Psalms 8:1

Psalm 8 15 

For the music director, according to the gittith style; 16  a psalm of David.

8:1 O Lord, our Lord, 17 

how magnificent 18  is your reputation 19  throughout the earth!

You reveal your majesty in the heavens above! 20 

Isaiah 57:15

57:15 For this is what the high and exalted one says,

the one who rules 21  forever, whose name is holy:

“I dwell in an exalted and holy place,

but also with the discouraged and humiliated, 22 

in order to cheer up the humiliated

and to encourage the discouraged. 23 

Isaiah 66:1

66:1 This is what the Lord says:

“The heavens are my throne

and the earth is my footstool.

Where then is the house you will build for me?

Where is the place where I will rest?

Luke 11:2

11:2 So he said to them, “When you pray, 24  say:

Father, 25  may your name be honored; 26 

may your kingdom come. 27 

Luke 11:1

Instructions on Prayer

11:1 Now 28  Jesus 29  was praying in a certain place. When 30  he stopped, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John 31  taught 32  his disciples.”

Luke 6:16

6:16 Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, 33  who became a traitor.


sn Psalm 123. The psalmist, speaking for God’s people, acknowledges his dependence on God in the midst of a crisis.

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.

tn Heb “I lift my eyes.”

tn Heb “sitting.” The Hebrew verb יָשַׁב (yashav) is here used metonymically of “sitting enthroned” (see Pss 9:7; 29:10; 55:19; 102:12).

sn Psalm 123. The psalmist, speaking for God’s people, acknowledges his dependence on God in the midst of a crisis.

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.

tn Heb “I lift my eyes.”

tn Heb “sitting.” The Hebrew verb יָשַׁב (yashav) is here used metonymically of “sitting enthroned” (see Pss 9:7; 29:10; 55:19; 102:12).

sn Psalm 8. In this hymn to the sovereign creator, the psalmist praises God’s majesty and marvels that God has given mankind dominion over the created order.

10 tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term הגתית is uncertain; it probably refers to a musical style or type of instrument.

11 tn The plural form of the title emphasizes the Lord’s absolute sovereignty.

12 tn Or “awesome”; or “majestic.”

13 tn Heb “name,” which here stands metonymically for God’s reputation.

14 tc Heb “which, give, your majesty on the heavens.” The verb form תְּנָה (tÿnah; an imperative?) is corrupt. The form should be emended to a second masculine singular perfect (נָתַתָּה, natatah) or imperfect (תִתֵן, titen) form. The introductory אֲשֶׁר (’asher, “which”) can be taken as a relative pronoun (“you who”) or as a causal conjunction (“because”). One may literally translate, “you who [or “because you”] place your majesty upon the heavens.” For other uses of the phrase “place majesty upon” see Num 27:20 and 1 Chr 29:25.

15 sn Psalm 8. In this hymn to the sovereign creator, the psalmist praises God’s majesty and marvels that God has given mankind dominion over the created order.

16 tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term הגתית is uncertain; it probably refers to a musical style or type of instrument.

17 tn The plural form of the title emphasizes the Lord’s absolute sovereignty.

18 tn Or “awesome”; or “majestic.”

19 tn Heb “name,” which here stands metonymically for God’s reputation.

20 tc Heb “which, give, your majesty on the heavens.” The verb form תְּנָה (tÿnah; an imperative?) is corrupt. The form should be emended to a second masculine singular perfect (נָתַתָּה, natatah) or imperfect (תִתֵן, titen) form. The introductory אֲשֶׁר (’asher, “which”) can be taken as a relative pronoun (“you who”) or as a causal conjunction (“because”). One may literally translate, “you who [or “because you”] place your majesty upon the heavens.” For other uses of the phrase “place majesty upon” see Num 27:20 and 1 Chr 29:25.

21 tn Heb “the one who dwells forever.” שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhenad) is sometimes translated “the one who lives forever,” and understood as a reference to God’s eternal existence. However, the immediately preceding and following descriptions (“high and exalted” and “holy”) emphasize his sovereign rule. In the next line, he declares, “I dwell in an exalted and holy [place],” which refers to the place from which he rules. Therefore it is more likely that שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhenad) means “I dwell [in my lofty palace] forever” and refers to God’s eternal kingship.

22 tn Heb “and also with the crushed and lowly of spirit.” This may refer to the repentant who have humbled themselves (see 66:2) or more generally to the exiles who have experienced discouragement and humiliation.

23 tn Heb “to restore the lowly of spirit and to restore the heart of the crushed.”

24 sn When you pray. What follows, although traditionally known as the Lord’s prayer, is really the disciples’ prayer. It represents how they are to approach God, by acknowledging his uniqueness and their need for his provision and protection.

25 tc Most mss, including later majority (A C D W Θ Ψ 070 Ë13 33vid Ï it), add ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς (Jhmwn Jo en toi" oujranoi", “our [Father] in heaven”) here. This makes the prayer begin like the version in Matt 6:9. The shorter version is read by Ì75 א B (L: + ἡμῶν) 1 700 pc as well as some versions and fathers. Given this more weighty external evidence, combined with the scribal tendency to harmonize Gospel parallels, the shorter reading is preferred.

26 tn Grk “hallowed be your name.”

27 tc Most mss (א A C D W Θ Ψ 070 Ë13 33vid Ï it) read at the end of the verse “may your will be done on earth as [it is] in heaven,” making this version parallel to Matt 6:10. The shorter reading is found, however, in weighty mss (Ì75 B L pc), and cannot be easily explained as arising from the longer reading.

28 tn Grk “And it happened that while.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

29 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

30 tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

31 sn John refers to John the Baptist.

32 sn It was not unusual for Jewish groups to have their own prayer as a way of expressing corporate identity. Judaism had the Eighteen Benedictions and apparently John the Baptist had a prayer for his disciples as well.

33 sn There is some debate about what the name Iscariot means. It probably alludes to a region in Judea and thus might make Judas the only non-Galilean in the group. Several explanations for the name Iscariot have been proposed, but it is probably transliterated Hebrew with the meaning “man of Kerioth” (there are at least two villages that had that name). For further discussion see D. L. Bock, Luke (BECNT), 1:546; also D. A. Carson, John, 304.