Psalms 51:18-19

51:18 Because you favor Zion, do what is good for her! 1 

Fortify 2  the walls of Jerusalem! 3 

51:19 Then you will accept 4  the proper sacrifices, burnt sacrifices and whole offerings;

then bulls will be sacrificed 5  on your altar. 6 

Psalms 100:4

100:4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,

and his courts with praise!

Give him thanks!

Praise his name!

Psalms 118:19

118:19 Open for me the gates of the just king’s temple! 7 

I will enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.

Psalms 118:27

118:27 The Lord is God and he has delivered us. 8 

Tie the offering 9  with ropes

to the horns of the altar! 10 

Deuteronomy 12:11-12

12:11 Then you must come to the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to reside, bringing 11  everything I am commanding you – your burnt offerings, sacrifices, tithes, the personal offerings you have prepared, 12  and all your choice votive offerings which you devote to him. 13  12:12 You shall rejoice in the presence of the Lord your God, along with your sons, daughters, male and female servants, and the Levites in your villages 14  (since they have no allotment or inheritance with you). 15 

Hebrews 13:15

13:15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, acknowledging his name.

1 tn Heb “do what is good for Zion in your favor.”

2 tn Or “Build.” The imperfect verbal form is used here to express the psalmist’s wish or request.

3 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

4 tn Or “desire, take delight in.”

5 tn Heb “then they will offer up bulls.” The third plural subject is indefinite.

6 sn Verses 18-19 appear to reflect the exilic period, when the city’s walls lay in ruins and the sacrificial system had been disrupted.

7 tn Heb “the gates of justice.” The gates of the Lord’s temple are referred to here, as v. 20 makes clear. They are called “gates of justice” because they are the entrance to the just king’s palace. This has been specified in the translation for clarity.

8 tn Heb “and he has given us light.” This may be an elliptical expression, with “his face” being implied as the object (see Num 6:25; Pss 31:16; 67:1; 80:3, 7, 19). In this case, “his face has given us light” = “he has smiled on us,” or “he has shown us his favor.” Another option (the one reflected in the translation) is that “light” here symbolizes divine blessing in the form of deliverance. “Light” is often used as a metaphor for deliverance and the life/blessings it brings. See Pss 37:6; 97:11; 112:4; Isa 49:6; 51:4; Mic 7:8. Some prefer to repoint the form וְיָאֵר (vÿya’er; vav [ו] conjunctive + jussive) and translate the statement as a prayer, “may he give us light.”

9 tn The Hebrew noun חַג (khag) normally means “festival,” but here it apparently refers metonymically to an offering made at the festival. BDB 291 s.v. חַג 2 interprets the word in this way here, citing as comparable the use of later Hebrew חֲגִיגָה, which can refer to both a festival and a festival offering (see Jastrow 424 s.v. חֲגִיגָה).

10 tn The second half of v. 27 has been translated and interpreted in a variety of ways. For a survey of major views, see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 122.

11 tn Heb “and it will be (to) the place where the Lord your God chooses to cause his name to dwell you will bring.”

12 tn Heb “heave offerings of your hand.”

13 tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 12:5.

14 tn Heb “within your gates” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “who belongs to your community.”

15 sn They have no allotment or inheritance with you. See note on the word “inheritance” in Deut 10:9.