Psalms 87:5

87:5 But it is said of Zion’s residents, ¹ 

“Each one of these ²  was born in her,

and the sovereign One ³  makes her secure.” ⁴ 

Isaiah 9:7

9:7 His dominion will be vast ⁵ 

and he will bring immeasurable prosperity. ⁶ 

He will rule on David’s throne

and over David’s kingdom, ⁷ 

establishing it ⁸  and strengthening it

by promoting justice and fairness, ⁹ 

from this time forward and forevermore.

The Lord’s intense devotion to his people ¹⁰  will accomplish this.

Isaiah 14:32

14:32 How will they respond to the messengers of this nation? ¹¹ 

Indeed, the Lord has made Zion secure;

the oppressed among his people will find safety in her.

Isaiah 62:7

62:7 Don’t allow him to rest until he reestablishes Jerusalem, ¹² 

until he makes Jerusalem the pride ¹³  of the earth.

Jeremiah 33:2

33:2 “I, the Lord, do these things. I, the Lord, form the plan to bring them about. ¹⁴  I am known as the Lord. I say to you,

Micah 4:1-2

Better Days Ahead for Jerusalem

4:1 In the future ¹⁵  the Lord’s Temple Mount will be the most important mountain of all; ¹⁶ 

it will be more prominent than other hills. ¹⁷ 

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 ¹⁸  of Jacob’s God,

so he can teach us his commands ¹⁹ 

and we can live by his laws.” ²⁰ 

For Zion will be the source of instruction;

the Lord’s teachings will proceed from Jerusalem. ²¹ 

Matthew 16:18

16:18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades ²²  will not overpower it.

[87:5]  ¹ tn Heb “and of Zion it is said.” Another option is to translate, “and to Zion it is said.” In collocation with the Niphal of אָמַר (’amar), the preposition lamed (-לְ) can introduce the recipient of the statement (see Josh 2:2; Jer 4:11; Hos 1:10; Zeph 3:16), carry the nuance “concerning, of” (see Num 23:23), or mean “be named” (see Isa 4:3; 62:4).

[87:5]  ² tn Heb “a man and a man.” The idiom also appears in Esth 1:8. The translation assumes that the phrase refers to each of Zion’s residents, in contrast to the foreigners mentioned in v. 4. Those advocating the universalistic interpretation understand this as a reference to each of the nations, including those mentioned in v. 4.

[87:5]  ³ tn Traditionally “Most High.”

[87:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “and he makes her secure, the Most High.”

[9:7]  ⁵ tc The Hebrew text has לְםַרְבֵּה (lÿmarbeh), which is a corrupt reading. לם is dittographic; note the preceding word, שָׁלוֹם (shalom). The corrected text reads literally, “great is the dominion.”

[9:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “and to peace there will be no end” (KJV and ASV both similar). On the political and socio-economic sense of שָׁלוֹם (shalom) in this context, see the note at v. 6 on “Prince of Peace.”

[9:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “over the throne of David, and over his kingdom.” The referent of the pronoun “his” (i.e., David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:7]  ⁸ tn The feminine singular pronominal suffix on this form and the following one (translated “it” both times) refers back to the grammatically feminine noun “kingdom.”

[9:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “with/by justice and fairness”; ASV “with justice and with righteousness.”

[9:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the zeal of the Lord.” In this context the Lord’s “zeal” refers to his intense devotion to and love for his people which prompts him to vindicate them and to fulfill his promises to David and the nation.

[14:32]  ¹¹ sn The question forces the Philistines to consider the dilemma they will face – surrender and oppression, or battle and death.

[62:7]  ¹² tn “Jerusalem” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons; note the following line.

[62:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “[the object of] praise.”

[33:2]  ¹⁴ tn Or “I, the Lord, made the earth. I formed it in such a way as to firmly establish it”; Heb “Thus says the Lord who makes/does it, the Lord who forms it to establish it, whose name is the Lord.” It is unclear what the antecedent of “it” is. The Greek version supplies the object “the earth.” However, as D. Barthélemy, ed., Preliminary and Interim Report on the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, 4:269, notes, this is probably a smoothing of a text which had no object other than the pronoun. No other text or version has an object other than the pronoun. It could be argued that “the earth” is to be understood as the intended referent from other contexts within the book of Jeremiah (Jer 10:12, 16; 51:15) where these verbs refer to the Lord as creator and from the prior context in 32:17 where the Lord’s power as creator is the basis for the assertion that nothing is too hard for him. This is the object that is supplied in a number of modern English versions and commentaries. However, the use of the feminine singular pronoun in other contexts to refer to an indefinite reality which is spelled out in the preceding or following context (cf. 2 Kgs 19:25; Isa 22:11; 37:26; 44:7) lends credence to the suggestion by the committee for The Hebrew Old Testament Project that the pronoun refers to the work or plan of the Lord, a view which is reflected in the NJPS and has been adopted here. For the use of the verb “form” here in the sense of “plan” see BDB 427 s.v. יָצַר 2.b and compare the usage in Isa 22:11; 37:26. The best discussion of options is given in G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, T. G. Smothers, Jeremiah 26-52 (WBC), 169-70, who see the pronoun referring ahead to the great and hidden things of v. 3. As in several other cases our translation has opted for a first person introduction rather than the third person of the original because the Lord himself is speaking.

[4:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “at the end of days.”

[4:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “will be established as the head of the mountains.”

[4:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “it will be lifted up above the hills.”

[4:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “house.”

[4:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “ways.”

[4:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and we can walk in his paths.”

[4:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “instruction [or, “law”] will go out from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”

[16:18]  ²² tn Or “and the power of death” (taking the reference to the gates of Hades as a metonymy).