Psalms 132:1

Psalm 132 ¹ 

A song of ascents. ² 

132:1 O Lord, for David’s sake remember

all his strenuous effort, ³ 

Isaiah 55:3

55:3 Pay attention and come to me!

Listen, so you can live! ⁴ 

Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to ⁵  you,

just like the reliable covenantal promises I made to David. ⁶ 

Acts 13:34

13:34 But regarding the fact that he has raised Jesus ⁷  from the dead, never ⁸  again to be ⁹  in a state of decay, God ¹⁰  has spoken in this way: ‘I will give you ¹¹  the holy and trustworthy promises ¹²  made to David.’ ¹³ 

[132:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 132. The psalmist reminds God of David’s devotion and of his promises concerning David’s dynasty and Zion.

[132:1]  ² sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

[132:1]  ³ tn Heb “all his affliction.” This may refer to David’s strenuous and tireless efforts to make provision for the building of the temple (see 1 Chr 22:14). Some prefer to revocalize the text as עַנַוָתוֹ (’anavato, “his humility”).

[55:3]  ⁴ tn The jussive with vav (ו) conjunctive following the imperative indicates purpose/result.

[55:3]  ⁵ tn Or “an eternal covenant with.”

[55:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “the reliable expressions of loyalty of David.” The syntactical relationship of חַסְדֵי (khasde, “expressions of loyalty”) to the preceding line is unclear. If the term is appositional to בְּרִית (bÿrit, “covenant”), then the Lord here transfers the promises of the Davidic covenant to the entire nation. Another option is to take חַסְדֵי (khasde) as an adverbial accusative and to translate “according to the reliable covenantal promises.” In this case the new covenantal arrangement proposed here is viewed as an extension or perhaps fulfillment of the Davidic promises. A third option, the one reflected in the above translation, is to take the last line as comparative. In this case the new covenant being proposed is analogous to the Davidic covenant. Verses 4-5, which compare David’s international prominence to what Israel will experience, favors this view. In all three of these interpretations, “David” is an objective genitive; he is the recipient of covenantal promises. A fourth option would be to take David as a subjective genitive and understand the line as giving the basis for the preceding promise: “Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to you, because of David’s faithful acts of covenantal loyalty.”

[13:34]  ⁷ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:34]  ⁸ tn Although μηκέτι (mhketi) can mean “no longer” or “no more,” the latter is more appropriate here, since to translate “no longer” in this context could give the reader the impression that Jesus did experience decay before his resurrection. Since the phrase “no more again to be” is somewhat awkward in English, the simpler phrase “never again to be” was used instead.

[13:34]  ⁹ tn The translation “to be in again” for ὑποστρέφω (Jupostrefw) is given in L&N 13.24.

[13:34]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:34]  ¹¹ tn The pronoun “you” is plural here. The promises of David are offered to the people.

[13:34]  ¹² tn Or “the trustworthy decrees made by God to David.” The phrase τὰ ὅσια Δαυὶδ τὰ πιστά (ta Josia Dauid ta pista) is “compressed,” that is, in a very compact or condensed form. It could be expanded in several different ways. BDAG 728 s.v. ὅσιος 3 understands it to refer to divine decrees: “I will grant you the sure decrees of God relating to David.” BDAG then states that this quotation from Isa 55:3 is intended to show that the following quotation from Ps 16:10 could not refer to David himself, but must refer to his messianic descendant (Jesus). L&N 33.290 render the phrase “I will give to you the divine promises made to David, promises that can be trusted,” although they also note that τὰ ὅσια in Acts 13:34 can mean “divine decrees” or “decrees made by God.” In contemporary English it is less awkward to translate πιστά as an adjective (“trustworthy”). The concept of “divine decrees,” not very understandable to the modern reader, has been replaced by “promises,” and since God is the implied speaker in the context, it is clear that these promises were made by God.

[13:34]  ¹³ sn A quotation from Isa 55:3. The point of this citation is to make clear that the promise of a Davidic line and blessings are made to the people as well.