2:6 “I myself 1 have installed 2 my king
on Zion, my holy hill.”
78:68 He chose the tribe of Judah,
and Mount Zion, which he loves.
78:69 He made his sanctuary as enduring as the heavens above; 3
as secure as the earth, which he established permanently. 4
Written by the Korahites; a psalm, a song.
87:1 The Lord’s city is in the holy hills. 6
87:2 The Lord loves the gates of Zion
more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.
2:2 In the future 7
the mountain of the Lord’s temple will endure 8
as the most important of mountains,
and will be the most prominent of hills. 9
All the nations will stream to it,
2:3 many peoples will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain,
to the temple of the God of Jacob,
so 10 he can teach us his requirements, 11
and 12 we can follow his standards.” 13
For Zion will be the center for moral instruction; 14
the Lord will issue edicts from Jerusalem. 15
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 tc Heb “and he built like the exalting [ones] his sanctuary.” The phrase כְּמוֹ־רָמִים (kÿmo-ramim, “like the exalting [ones]”) is a poetic form of the comparative preposition followed by a participial form of the verb רוּם (rum, “be exalted”). The text should be emended to כִּמְרֹמִים (kimromim, “like the [heavenly] heights”). See Ps 148:1, where “heights” refers to the heavens above.
4 tn Heb “like the earth, [which] he established permanently.” The feminine singular suffix on the Hebrew verb יָסַד (yasad, “to establish”) refers to the grammatically feminine noun “earth.”
5 sn Psalm 87. The psalmist celebrates the Lord’s presence in Zion and the special status of its citizens.
6 tn Heb “his foundation [is] in the hills of holiness.” The expression “his foundation” refers here by metonymy to the
7 tn Heb “in the end of the days.” This phrase may refer generally to the future, or more technically to the final period of history. See BDB 31 s.v. ַאחֲרִית. The verse begins with a verb that functions as a “discourse particle” and is not translated. In numerous places throughout the OT, the “to be” verb with a prefixed conjunction (וְהָיָה [vÿhayah] and וַיְהִי [vayÿhi]) occurs in this fashion to introduce a circumstantial clause and does not require translation.
8 tn Or “be established” (KJV, NIV, NRSV).
9 tn Heb “as the chief of the mountains, and will be lifted up above the hills.” The image of Mount Zion being elevated above other mountains and hills pictures the prominence it will attain in the future.
10 tn The prefixed verb form with simple vav (ו) introduces a purpose/result clause after the preceding prefixed verb form (probably to be taken as a cohortative; see IBHS 650 §39.2.2a).
11 tn Heb “his ways.” In this context God’s “ways” are the standards of moral conduct he decrees that people should live by.
12 tn The cohortative with vav (ו) after the prefixed verb form indicates the ultimate purpose/goal of their action.
13 tn Heb “walk in his ways.”
14 tn Heb “for out of Zion will go instruction.”
15 tn Heb “the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”