Psalms 115:12

115:12 The Lord takes notice of us, ¹  he will bless ²  –

he will bless the family ³  of Israel,

he will bless the family of Aaron.

Psalms 135:19

135:19 O family ⁴  of Israel, praise the Lord!

O family of Aaron, praise the Lord!

Psalms 135:2

135:2 who serve ⁵  in the Lord’s temple,

in the courts of the temple of our God.

Psalms 114:1

Psalm 114 ⁶ 

114:1 When Israel left Egypt,

when the family of Jacob left a foreign nation behind, ⁷ 

Psalms 115:10

115:10 O family ⁸  of Aaron, trust in the Lord!

He is their deliverer ⁹  and protector. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 116:19

116:19 in the courts of the Lord’s temple,

in your midst, O Jerusalem.

Praise the Lord!

Psalms 118:3

118:3 Let the family ¹¹  of Aaron say,

“Yes, his loyal love endures!”

Psalms 122:9

122:9 For the sake of the temple of the Lord our God

I will pray for you to prosper. ¹² 

Psalms 68:12

68:12 Kings leading armies run away – they run away! ¹³ 

The lovely lady ¹⁴  of the house divides up the loot.

Psalms 122:1

Psalm 122 ¹⁵ 

A song of ascents, ¹⁶  by David.

122:1 I was glad because ¹⁷  they said to me,

“We will go to the Lord’s temple.”

Psalms 135:20

135:20 O family of Levi, praise the Lord!

You loyal followers ¹⁸  of the Lord, praise the Lord!

Psalms 42:4

42:4 I will remember and weep! ¹⁹ 

For I was once walking along with the great throng to the temple of God,

shouting and giving thanks along with the crowd as we celebrated the holy festival. ²⁰ 

Psalms 84:3

84:3 Even the birds find a home there,

and the swallow ²¹  builds a nest,

where she can protect her young ²² 

near your altars, O Lord who rules over all,

my king and my God.

Psalms 52:1

Psalm 52 ²³ 

For the music director; a well-written song ²⁴  by David. It was written when Doeg the Edomite went and informed Saul: “David has arrived at the home of Ahimelech.” ²⁵ 

52:1 Why do you boast about your evil plans, ²⁶  O powerful man?

God’s loyal love protects me all day long! ²⁷ 

Psalms 127:1

Psalm 127 ²⁸ 

A song of ascents, ²⁹  by Solomon.

127:1 If the Lord does not build a house, ³⁰ 

then those who build it work in vain.

If the Lord does not guard a city, ³¹ 

then the watchman stands guard in vain.

[115:12]  ¹ tn Or “remembers us.”

[115:12]  ² tn Another option is to translate the prefixed form of the verb “bless” in vv. 12-13 as a jussive, “may he bless” (see v. 14).

[115:12]  ³ tn Heb “house.”

[135:19]  ⁴ tn Heb “house” (here and in the next two lines).

[135:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “stand.”

[114:1]  ¹⁰ sn Psalm 114. The psalmist recalls the events of the exodus and conquest and celebrates God’s kingship over his covenant people.

[114:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the house of Jacob from a nation speaking a foreign language.” The Hebrew verb לָעַז (la’at, “to speak a foreign language”) occurs only here in the OT.

[115:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “house.”

[115:10]  ¹⁴ tn Or “[source of] help.”

[115:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and their shield.”

[118:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “house.”

[122:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “I will seek good for you.” The psalmist will seek Jerusalem’s “good” through prayer.

[68:12]  ²² tn The verbal repetition draws attention to the statement.

[68:12]  ²³ tn The Hebrew form appears to be the construct of נוּה (nuh, “pasture”) but the phrase “pasture of the house” makes no sense here. The translation assumes that the form is an alternative or corruption of נצוה (“beautiful woman”). A reference to a woman would be appropriate in light of v. 11b.

[122:1]  ²⁵ sn Psalm 122. The psalmist expresses his love for Jerusalem and promises to pray for the city’s security.

[122:1]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ tn Heb “in the ones saying to me.” After the verb שָׂמַח (samakh), the preposition בְּ (bet) usually introduces the reason for joy.

[135:20]  ²⁸ tn Heb “fearers.”

[42:4]  ³¹ tn Heb “These things I will remember and I will pour out upon myself my soul.” “These things” are identified in the second half of the verse as those times when the psalmist worshiped in the Lord’s temple. The two cohortative forms indicate the psalmist’s resolve to remember and weep. The expression “pour out upon myself my soul” refers to mourning (see Job 30:16).

[42:4]  ³² tc Heb “for I was passing by with the throng [?], I was walking with [?] them to the house of God; with a voice of a ringing shout and thanksgiving a multitude was observing a festival.” The Hebrew phrase בַּסָּךְ אֶדַּדֵּם (bassakh ’eddaddem, “with the throng [?] I was walking with [?]”) is particularly problematic. The noun סָךְ (sakh) occurs only here. If it corresponds to הָמוֹן (hamon, “multitude”) then one can propose a meaning “throng.” The present translation assumes this reading (cf. NIV, NRSV). The form אֶדַּדֵּם (“I will walk with [?]”) is also very problematic. The form can be taken as a Hitpael from דָּדָה (dadah; this verb possibly appears in Isa 38:15), but the pronominal suffix is problematic. For this reason many emend the form to ם[י]אַדִּרִ (’adirim, “nobles”) or ם-רִ[י]אַדִ (’adirim, “great,” with enclitic mem [ם]). The present translation understands the latter and takes the adjective “great” as modifying “throng.” If one emends סָךְ (sakh, “throng [?]”) to סֹךְ (sokh, “shelter”; see the Qere of Ps 27:5), then ר[י]אַדִּ (’addir) could be taken as a divine epithet, “[in the shelter of] the majestic one,” a reading which may find support in the LXX and Syriac Peshitta.

[84:3]  ³⁴ tn The word translated “swallow” occurs only here and in Prov 26:2.

[84:3]  ³⁵ tn Heb “even a bird finds a home, and a swallow a nest for herself, [in] which she places her young.”

[52:1]  ³⁷ sn Psalm 52. The psalmist confidently confronts his enemy and affirms that God will destroy evildoers and vindicate the godly.

[52:1]  ³⁸ 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.

[52:1]  ³⁹ tn Heb “when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul and said to him, ‘David has come to the house of Ahimelech.’”

[52:1]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “Why do you boast in evil?”

[52:1]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “the loyal love of God [is] all the day.” In this context, where the psalmist is threatened by his enemy, the point seems to be that the psalmist is protected by God’s loyal love at all times.

[127:1]  ⁴⁰ sn Psalm 127. In this wisdom psalm the psalmist teaches that one does not find security by one’s own efforts, for God alone gives stability and security.

[127:1]  ⁴¹ 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.

[127:1]  ⁴² sn The expression build a house may have a double meaning here. It may refer on the surface level to a literal physical structure in which a family lives, but at a deeper, metaphorical level it refers to building, perpetuating, and maintaining a family line. See Deut 25:9; Ruth 4:11; 1 Sam 2:35; 2 Sam 7:27; 1 Kgs 11:38; 1 Chr 17:10, 25. Having a family line provided security in ancient Israel.

[127:1]  ⁴³ sn The city symbolizes community security, which is the necessary framework for family security.