Psalms 106:46

106:46 He caused all their conquerors ¹ 

to have pity on them.

Psalms 137:3

137:3 for there our captors ask us to compose songs; ² 

those who mock us demand that we be happy, saying: ³ 

“Sing for us a song about Zion!” ⁴ 

Psalms 68:18

68:18 You ascend on high, ⁵ 

you have taken many captives. ⁶ 

You receive tribute ⁷  from ⁸  men,

including even sinful rebels.

Indeed the Lord God lives there! ⁹ 

[106:46]  ¹ tn Or “captors.”

[137:3]  ² tn Heb “ask us [for] the words of a song.”

[137:3]  ³ tn Heb “our [?] joy.” The derivation and meaning of the Hebrew phrase תוֹלָלֵינוּ (tolalenu, “our [?]”) are uncertain. A derivation from תָּלַל (talal, “to mock”) fits contextually, but this root occurs only in the Hiphil stem. For a discussion of various proposals, see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 236.

[137:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “from a song of Zion.” Most modern translations read, “one of the songs of Zion,” taking the preposition מִן (min, “from”) as partitive and “song” as collective. The present translation assumes the mem (ם) is enclitic, being misunderstood later as the prefixed preposition.

[68:18]  ³ tn Heb “to the elevated place”; or “on high.” This probably refers to the Lord’s throne on Mount Zion.

[68:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “you have taken captives captive.”

[68:18]  ⁵ tn Or “gifts.”

[68:18]  ⁶ tn Or “among.”

[68:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “so that the Lord God might live [there].” Many take the infinitive construct with -לְ (lamed) as indicating purpose here, but it is unclear how the offering of tribute enables the Lord to live in Zion. This may be an occurrence of the relatively rare emphatic lamed (see HALOT 510-11 s.v. II לְ, though this text is not listed as an example there). If so, the statement corresponds nicely to the final line of v. 16, which also affirms emphatically that the Lord lives in Zion.