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.”
8 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).
9 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.
10 tn Heb “[at] the mountain God desires for his dwelling place.” The reference is to Mount Zion/Jerusalem.
11 tn The Hebrew particle אַף (’af) has an emphasizing function here.
12 tn The word “there” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
13 tn Or “for.”
14 tn Heb “he desired it for his dwelling place.”
15 tn The words “he said” are added in the translation to clarify that what follows are the
16 tn Heb “for I desired it.”