Psalms 122:2-3

122:2 Our feet are ¹  standing

inside your gates, O Jerusalem.

122:3 Jerusalem ²  is a city designed

to accommodate an assembly. ³ 

Psalms 122:6

122:6 Pray ⁴  for the peace of Jerusalem!

May those who love her prosper! ⁵ 

Psalms 137:5

137:5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,

may my right hand be crippled! ⁶ 

Psalms 147:2

147:2 The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem, ⁷ 

and gathers the exiles of Israel.

[122:2]  ¹ tn Or “were.”

[122:3]  ² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[122:3]  ³ tc Heb “Jerusalem, which is built like a city which is joined to her together.” The meaning of the Hebrew text is unclear. Many regard this as a description of the compact way in which the city was designed or constructed. The translation assumes an emendation of the verb חֻבְּרָה (khubbÿrah, “is joined”) to a noun חֶבְרָה (khevrah, “association; company”). The text then reads literally, “Jerusalem, which is built like a city which has a company together.” This in turn can be taken as a reference to Jerusalem’s role as a city where people congregated for religious festivals and other civic occasions (see vv. 4-5).

[122:6]  ³ tn Heb “ask [for].”

[122:6]  ⁴ tn Or “be secure.”

[137:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “may my right hand forget.” In this case one must supply an object, such as “how to move.” The elliptical nature of the text has prompted emendations (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 236). The translation assumes an emendation to תִּכְשַׁח (tikhshakh), from an otherwise unattested root כשׁח, meaning “to be crippled; to be lame.” See HALOT 502 s.v. כשׁח, which cites Arabic cognate evidence in support of the proposal. The corruption of the MT can be explained as an error of transposition facilitated by the use of שָׁכַח (shakhakh, “forget”) just before this.

[147:2]  ⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.