2:6 “I myself 1 have installed 2 my king
on Zion, my holy hill.”
3:4 To the Lord I cried out, 3
and he answered me from his holy hill. 4 (Selah)
68:15 The mountain of Bashan 5 is a towering mountain; 6
the mountain of Bashan is a mountain with many peaks. 7
68:16 Why do you look with envy, 8 O mountains 9 with many peaks,
at the mountain where God has decided to live? 10
Indeed 11 the Lord will live there 12 permanently!
78:68 He chose the tribe of Judah,
and Mount Zion, which he loves.
132:13 Certainly 13 the Lord has chosen Zion;
he decided to make it his home. 14
132:14 He said, 15 “This will be my resting place forever;
I will live here, for I have chosen it. 16
1 tn The first person pronoun appears before the first person verbal form for emphasis, reflected in the translation by “myself.”
2 tn Or perhaps “consecrated.”
3 tn The prefixed verbal form could be an imperfect, yielding the translation “I cry out,” but the verb form in the next line (a vav [ו] consecutive with the preterite) suggests this is a brief narrative of what has already happened. Consequently the verb form in v. 4a is better understood as a preterite, “I cried out.” (For another example of the preterite of this same verb form, see Ps 30:8.) Sometime after the crisis arose, the psalmist prayed to the Lord and received an assuring answer. Now he confidently awaits the fulfillment of the divine promise.
4 sn His holy hill. That is, Zion (see Pss 2:6; 48:1-2). The psalmist recognizes that the
5 sn The mountain of Bashan probably refers to Mount Hermon.
6 tn Heb “a mountain of God.” The divine name is probably used here in a superlative sense to depict a very high mountain (“a mountain fit for God,” as it were). Cf. NIV “are majestic mountains”; NRSV “O mighty mountain.”
7 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term, which appears only here in the OT, is uncertain. HALOT 174 s.v. גַּבְנוֹן suggests “many-peaked,” while BDB 148 s.v. גַּבְנִן suggests “rounded summit.”
7 tn The meaning of the Hebrew verb רָצַד (ratsad), translated here “look with envy,” is uncertain; it occurs only here in the OT. See BDB 952-53. A cognate verb occurs in later Aramaic with the meaning “to lie in wait; to watch” (Jastrow 1492 s.v. רְצַד).
8 tn Perhaps the apparent plural form should be read as a singular with enclitic mem (ם; later misinterpreted as a plural ending). The preceding verse has the singular form.
9 tn Heb “[at] the mountain God desires for his dwelling place.” The reference is to Mount Zion/Jerusalem.
10 tn The Hebrew particle אַף (’af) has an emphasizing function here.
11 tn The word “there” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
9 tn Or “for.”
10 tn Heb “he desired it for his dwelling place.”
11 tn The words “he said” are added in the translation to clarify that what follows are the
12 tn Heb “for I desired it.”