Discovery BoxPsalms 26:8
Context26:8 O Lord, I love the temple where you live, 1
the place where your splendor is revealed. 2
Psalms 27:4-5
Context27:4 I have asked the Lord for one thing –
this is what I desire!
I want to live 3 in the Lord’s house 4 all the days of my life,
so I can gaze at the splendor 5 of the Lord
and contemplate in his temple.
27:5 He will surely 6 give me shelter 7 in the day of danger; 8
he will hide me in his home; 9
he will place me 10 on an inaccessible rocky summit. 11
Psalms 42:1-2
ContextBook 2
(Psalms 42-72)
For the music director; a well-written song 13 by the Korahites.
42:1 As a deer 14 longs 15 for streams of water,
so I long 16 for you, O God!
for the living God.
I say, 18 “When will I be able to go and appear in God’s presence?” 19
Psalms 43:3-4
Context43:3 Reveal 20 your light 21 and your faithfulness!
They will lead me, 22
they will escort 23 me back to your holy hill, 24
and to the place where you live. 25
43:4 Then I will go 26 to the altar of God,
to the God who gives me ecstatic joy, 27
so that I express my thanks to you, 28 O God, my God, with a harp.
Psalms 63:1-2
ContextA psalm of David, written when he was in the Judean wilderness. 30
63:1 O God, you are my God! I long for you! 31
My soul thirsts 32 for you,
my flesh yearns for you,
in a dry and parched 33 land where there is no water.
63:2 Yes, 34 in the sanctuary I have seen you, 35
and witnessed 36 your power and splendor.
Psalms 84:1-3
ContextFor the music director; according to the gittith style; 38 written by the Korahites, a psalm.
84:1 How lovely is the place where you live, 39
O Lord who rules over all! 40
84:2 I desperately want to be 41
in the courts of the Lord’s temple. 42
My heart and my entire being 43 shout for joy
to the living God.
84:3 Even the birds find a home there,
and the swallow 44 builds a nest,
where she can protect her young 45
near your altars, O Lord who rules over all,
my king and my God.
Psalms 84:10
Context84:10 Certainly 46 spending just one day in your temple courts is better
than spending a thousand elsewhere. 47
I would rather stand at the entrance 48 to the temple of my God
than live 49 in the tents of the wicked.
Psalms 122:1
ContextA song of ascents, 51 by David.
122:1 I was glad because 52 they said to me,
“We will go to the Lord’s temple.”
Psalms 122:9
Context122:9 For the sake of the temple of the Lord our God
I will pray for you to prosper. 53
Isaiah 38:22
Context38:22 Hezekiah said, “What is the confirming sign that I will go up to the Lord’s temple?”
[26:8] 1 tn Heb “the dwelling of your house.”
[26:8] 2 tn Heb “the place of the abode of your splendor.”
[27:4] 4 sn The
[27:5] 6 tn Or “for he will.” The translation assumes the כִּי (ki) is asseverative here, rather than causal.
[27:5] 7 tn Heb “he will hide me in his hut.”
[27:5] 10 tn The three imperfect verb forms in v. 5 anticipate a positive response to the prayer offered in vv. 7-12.
[27:5] 11 tn Heb “on a rocky summit he lifts me up.” The
[42:1] 12 sn Psalm 42. The psalmist recalls how he once worshiped in the Lord’s temple, but laments that he is now oppressed by enemies in a foreign land. Some medieval Hebrew
[42:1] 13 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. The word is derived from a verb meaning “to be prudent; to be wise.” Various options are: “a contemplative song,” “a song imparting moral wisdom,” or “a skillful [i.e., well-written] song.” The term occurs in the superscriptions of Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142, as well as in Ps 47:7.
[42:1] 14 tn Since the accompanying verb is feminine in form, the noun אָיִּל (’ayyil, “male deer”) should be emended to אַיֶּלֶת (’ayyelet, “female deer”). Haplography of the letter tav has occurred; note that the following verb begins with tav.
[42:1] 15 tn Or “pants [with thirst].”
[42:1] 16 tn Or “my soul pants [with thirst].” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).
[42:2] 17 tn Or “my soul thirsts.”
[42:2] 18 tn The words “I say” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarification.
[42:2] 19 tn Heb “When will I go and appear [to] the face of God?” Some emend the Niphal verbal form אֵרָאֶה (’era’eh, “I will appear”) to a Qal אֶרְאֶה (’er’eh, “I will see”; see Gen 33:10), but the Niphal can be retained if one understands ellipsis of אֶת (’et) before “face” (see Exod 34:24; Deut 31:11).
[43:3] 21 sn God’s deliverance is compared here to a light which will lead the psalmist back home to the Lord’s temple. Divine deliverance will in turn demonstrate the Lord’s faithfulness to his people.
[43:3] 22 tn Or “may they lead me.” The prefixed verbal forms here and in the next line may be taken as jussives.
[43:3] 24 sn In this context the Lord’s holy hill is Zion/Jerusalem. See Isa 66:20; Joel 2:1; 3:17; Zech 8:3; Pss 2:6; 15:1; 48:1; 87:1; Dan 9:16.
[43:3] 25 tn Or “to your dwelling place[s].” The plural form of the noun may indicate degree or quality; this is the
[43:4] 26 tn The cohortative expresses the psalmist’s resolve. Prefixed with the vav (ו) conjunctive it also expresses the result or outcome of the preceding verbs “lead” and “escort.”
[43:4] 27 tn Heb “to God, the joy of my happiness.” The phrase “joy of my happiness” employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the degree of the psalmist’s joy. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81.
[43:4] 28 tn The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive probably indicates purpose (“so that”) or intention.
[63:1] 29 sn Psalm 63. The psalmist expresses his intense desire to be in God’s presence and confidently affirms that God will judge his enemies.
[63:1] 30 sn According to the psalm superscription David wrote the psalm while in the “wilderness of Judah.” Perhaps this refers to the period described in 1 Sam 23-24 or to the incident mentioned in 2 Sam 15:23.
[63:1] 31 tn Or “I will seek you.”
[63:1] 33 tn Heb “faint” or “weary.” This may picture the land as “faint” or “weary,” or it may allude to the effect this dry desert has on those who are forced to live in it.
[63:2] 34 tn The Hebrew particle כֵּן (ken) is used here to stress the following affirmation (see Josh 2:4).
[63:2] 35 tn The perfect verbal form is understood here as referring to a past experience which the psalmist desires to be repeated. Another option is to take the perfect as indicating the psalmist’s certitude that he will again stand in God’s presence in the sanctuary. In this case one can translate, “I will see you.”
[63:2] 36 tn Heb “seeing.” The preposition with the infinitive construct here indicates an accompanying circumstance.
[84:1] 37 sn Psalm 84. The psalmist expresses his desire to be in God’s presence in the Jerusalem temple, for the Lord is the protector of his people.
[84:1] 38 tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term הַגִּתִּית (haggittit) is uncertain; it probably refers to a musical style or instrument.
[84:1] 39 tn Or “your dwelling place[s].” The plural form of the noun may indicate degree or quality; this is the
[84:1] 40 tn Traditionally, “
[84:2] 41 tn Heb “my soul longs, it even pines for.”
[84:2] 42 tn Heb “the courts of the
[84:2] 43 tn Heb “my flesh,” which stands for his whole person and being.
[84:3] 44 tn The word translated “swallow” occurs only here and in Prov 26:2.
[84:3] 45 tn Heb “even a bird finds a home, and a swallow a nest for herself, [in] which she places her young.”
[84:10] 47 tn Heb “better is a day in your courts than a thousand [spent elsewhere].”
[84:10] 48 tn Heb “I choose being at the entrance of the house of my God over living in the tents of the wicked.” The verb סָפַף (safaf) appears only here in the OT; it is derived from the noun סַף (saf, “threshold”). Traditionally some have interpreted this as a reference to being a doorkeeper at the temple, though some understand it to mean “lie as a beggar at the entrance to the temple” (see HALOT 765 s.v. ספף).
[84:10] 49 tn The verb דּוּר (dur, “to live”) occurs only here in the OT.
[122:1] 50 sn Psalm 122. The psalmist expresses his love for Jerusalem and promises to pray for the city’s security.
[122:1] 51 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.
[122:1] 52 tn Heb “in the ones saying to me.” After the verb שָׂמַח (samakh), the preposition בְּ (bet) usually introduces the reason for joy.
[122:9] 53 tn Heb “I will seek good for you.” The psalmist will seek Jerusalem’s “good” through prayer.
