Ezekiel 20:40

20:40 For there on my holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, declares the sovereign Lord, all the house of Israel will serve me, all of them ¹  in the land. I will accept them there, and there I will seek your contributions and your choice gifts, with all your holy things.

Psalms 2:6

2:6 “I myself ²  have installed ³  my king

on Zion, my holy hill.”

Psalms 68:16

68:16 Why do you look with envy, ⁴  O mountains ⁵  with many peaks,

at the mountain where God has decided to live? ⁶ 

Indeed ⁷  the Lord will live there ⁸  permanently!

Psalms 132:14-16

132:14 He said, ⁹  “This will be my resting place forever;

I will live here, for I have chosen it. ¹⁰ 

132:15 I will abundantly supply what she needs; ¹¹ 

I will give her poor all the food they need. ¹² 

132:16 I will protect her priests, ¹³ 

and her godly people will shout exuberantly. ¹⁴ 

Psalms 133:3

133:3 It is like the dew of Hermon, ¹⁵ 

which flows down upon the hills of Zion. ¹⁶ 

Indeed ¹⁷  that is where the Lord has decreed

a blessing will be available – eternal life. ¹⁸ 

Isaiah 2:2-4

2:2 In the future ¹⁹ 

the mountain of the Lord’s temple will endure ²⁰ 

as the most important of mountains,

and will be the most prominent of hills. ²¹ 

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 ²²  he can teach us his requirements, ²³ 

and ²⁴  we can follow his standards.” ²⁵ 

For Zion will be the center for moral instruction; ²⁶ 

the Lord will issue edicts from Jerusalem. ²⁷ 

2:4 He will judge disputes between nations;

he will settle cases for many peoples.

They will beat their swords into plowshares, ²⁸ 

and their spears into pruning hooks. ²⁹ 

Nations will not take up the sword against other nations,

and they will no longer train for war.

Isaiah 56:7

56:7 I will bring them to my holy mountain;

I will make them happy in the temple where people pray to me. ³⁰ 

Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar,

for my temple will be known as a temple where all nations may pray.” ³¹ 

Micah 4:1-2

Better Days Ahead for Jerusalem

4:1 In the future ³²  the Lord’s Temple Mount will be the most important mountain of all; ³³ 

it will be more prominent than other hills. ³⁴ 

People will stream to it.

4:2 Many nations will come, saying,

“Come on! Let’s go up to the Lord’s mountain,

to the temple ³⁵  of Jacob’s God,

so he can teach us his commands ³⁶ 

and we can live by his laws.” ³⁷ 

For Zion will be the source of instruction;

the Lord’s teachings will proceed from Jerusalem. ³⁸ 

[20:40]  ¹ tn Heb “all of it.”

[2:6]  ² tn The first person pronoun appears before the first person verbal form for emphasis, reflected in the translation by “myself.”

[2:6]  ³ tn Or perhaps “consecrated.”

[68:16]  ⁴ 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).

[68:16]  ⁵ 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.

[68:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “[at] the mountain God desires for his dwelling place.” The reference is to Mount Zion/Jerusalem.

[68:16]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew particle אַף (’af) has an emphasizing function here.

[68:16]  ⁸ tn The word “there” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[132:14]  ⁹ tn The words “he said” are added in the translation to clarify that what follows are the Lord’s words.

[132:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “for I desired it.”

[132:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “I will greatly bless her provision.” The infinitive absolute is used to emphasize the verb.

[132:15]  ¹² tn Heb “her poor I will satisfy [with] food.”

[132:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “and her priests I will clothe [with] deliverance.”

[132:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “[with] shouting they will shout.” The infinitive absolute is used to emphasize the verb.

[133:3]  ¹⁵ sn Hermon refers to Mount Hermon, located north of Israel.

[133:3]  ¹⁶ sn The hills of Zion are those surrounding Zion (see Pss 87:1; 125:2). The psalmist does not intend to suggest that the dew from Mt. Hermon in the distant north actually flows down upon Zion. His point is that the same kind of heavy dew that replenishes Hermon may also be seen on Zion’s hills. See A. Cohen, Psalms (SoBB), 439. “Dew” here symbolizes divine blessing, as the next line suggests.

[133:3]  ¹⁷ tn Or “for.”

[133:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forever.”

[2:2]  ¹⁹ 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.

[2:2]  ²⁰ tn Or “be established” (KJV, NIV, NRSV).

[2:2]  ²¹ 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.

[2:3]  ²² 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).

[2:3]  ²³ tn Heb “his ways.” In this context God’s “ways” are the standards of moral conduct he decrees that people should live by.

[2:3]  ²⁴ tn The cohortative with vav (ו) after the prefixed verb form indicates the ultimate purpose/goal of their action.

[2:3]  ²⁵ tn Heb “walk in his ways.”

[2:3]  ²⁶ tn Heb “for out of Zion will go instruction.”

[2:3]  ²⁷ tn Heb “the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”

[2:4]  ²⁸ sn Instead of referring to the large plow as a whole, the plowshare is simply the metal tip which actually breaks the earth and cuts the furrow.

[2:4]  ²⁹ sn This implement was used to prune the vines, i.e., to cut off extra leaves and young shoots (H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:93; M. Klingbeil, NIDOTTE 1:1117-18). It was a short knife with a curved hook at the end sharpened on the inside like a sickle. Breaking weapons and fashioning agricultural implements indicates a transition from fear and stress to peace and security.

[56:7]  ³⁰ tn Heb “in the house of my prayer.”

[56:7]  ³¹ tn Heb “for my house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations.”

[4:1]  ³² tn Heb “at the end of days.”

[4:1]  ³³ tn Heb “will be established as the head of the mountains.”

[4:1]  ³⁴ tn Heb “it will be lifted up above the hills.”

[4:2]  ³⁵ tn Heb “house.”

[4:2]  ³⁶ tn Heb “ways.”

[4:2]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and we can walk in his paths.”

[4:2]  ³⁸ tn Heb “instruction [or, “law”] will go out from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”