Psalms 114:2

114:2 Judah became his sanctuary,

Israel his kingdom.

Psalms 48:11

48:11 Mount Zion rejoices;

the towns ¹  of Judah are happy, ² 

because of your acts of judgment. ³ 

Psalms 60:7

60:7 Gilead belongs to me,

as does Manasseh! ⁴ 

Ephraim is my helmet, ⁵ 

Judah my royal scepter. ⁶ 

Psalms 68:27

68:27 There is little Benjamin, their ruler, ⁷ 

and the princes of Judah in their robes, ⁸ 

along with the princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naphtali.

Psalms 69:35

69:35 For God will deliver Zion

and rebuild the cities of Judah,

and his people ⁹  will again live in them and possess Zion. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 76:1

Psalm 76 ¹¹ 

For the music director; to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a psalm of Asaph, a song.

76:1 God has revealed himself in Judah; ¹² 

in Israel his reputation ¹³  is great.

Psalms 78:68

78:68 He chose the tribe of Judah,

and Mount Zion, which he loves.

Psalms 97:8

97:8 Zion hears and rejoices,

the towns ¹⁴  of Judah are happy,

because of your judgments, O Lord.

Psalms 108:8

108:8 Gilead belongs to me,

as does Manasseh! ¹⁵ 

Ephraim is my helmet, ¹⁶ 

Judah my royal scepter. ¹⁷ 

Psalms 63:1

Psalm 63 ¹⁸ 

A psalm of David, written when he was in the Judean wilderness. ¹⁹ 

63:1 O God, you are my God! I long for you! ²⁰ 

My soul thirsts ²¹  for you,

my flesh yearns for you,

in a dry and parched ²²  land where there is no water.

[48:11]  ¹ tn Heb “daughters.” The reference is to the cities of Judah surrounding Zion (see Ps 97:8 and H. Haag, TDOT 2:336).

[48:11]  ² tn The prefixed verbal forms are understood as generalizing imperfects. (For other examples of an imperfect followed by causal לְמַעַן [lÿma’an], see Ps 23:3; Isa 49:7; 55:5.) Another option is to interpret the forms as jussives, “Let Mount Zion rejoice! Let the towns of Judah be happy!” (cf. NASB, NRSV; note the imperatives in vv. 12-13.)

[48:11]  ³ sn These acts of judgment are described in vv. 4-7.

[60:7]  ¹ sn Gilead was located east of the Jordan. Half of the tribe of Manasseh lived east of the Jordan in the region of Bashan.

[60:7]  ² tn Heb “the protection of my head.”

[60:7]  ³ sn Judah, like Ephraim, was the other major tribe west of the Jordan. The Davidic king, symbolized here by the royal scepter, came from this tribe.

[68:27]  ¹ sn Little Benjamin, their ruler. This may allude to the fact that Israel’s first king, Saul, was from the tribe of Benjamin.

[68:27]  ² tc The MT reads רִגְמָתָם (rigmatam), which many derive from רָגַם (ragam, “to kill by stoning”) and translates, “[in] their heaps,” that is, in large numbers.

[69:35]  ¹ tn Heb “they”; the referent (God’s people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[69:35]  ² tn Heb “it.” The third feminine singular pronominal suffix probably refers to “Zion” (see Pss 48:12; 102:14); thus the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[76:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 76. The psalmist depicts God as a mighty warrior who destroys Israel’s enemies.

[76:1]  ² tn Or “God is known in Judah.”

[76:1]  ³ tn Heb “name,” which here stands metonymically for God’s reputation.

[97:8]  ¹ tn Heb “daughters.” The term “daughters” refers to the cities of Judah surrounding Zion (see Ps 48:11 and H. Haag, TDOT 2:336).

[108:8]  ¹ tn Gilead was located east of the Jordan River. Half of the tribe of Manasseh lived east of the Jordan in the region of Bashan.

[108:8]  ² tn Heb “the protection of my head.”

[108:8]  ³ sn Judah, like Ephraim, was the other major tribe west of the Jordan River. The Davidic king, symbolized here by the royal scepter, came from this tribe.

[63:1]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ tn Or “I will seek you.”

[63:1]  ⁴ tn Or “I thirst.”

[63:1]  ⁵ 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.