Psalms 122:2-9

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 

122:4 The tribes go up ⁴  there, ⁵ 

the tribes of the Lord,

where it is required that Israel

give thanks to the name of the Lord. ⁶ 

122:5 Indeed, ⁷  the leaders sit ⁸  there on thrones and make legal decisions,

on the thrones of the house of David. ⁹ 

122:6 Pray ¹⁰  for the peace of Jerusalem!

May those who love her prosper! ¹¹ 

122:7 May there be peace inside your defenses,

and prosperity ¹²  inside your fortresses! ¹³ 

122:8 For the sake of my brothers and my neighbors

I will say, “May there be peace in you!”

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

I will pray for you to prosper. ¹⁴ 

[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).

[122:4]  ⁴ tn Or “went up.”

[122:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “which is where the tribes go up.”

[122:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “[it is] a statute for Israel to give thanks to the name of the Lord.”

[122:5]  ⁷ tn Or “for.”

[122:5]  ⁸ tn Or “sat.”

[122:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “Indeed, there they sit [on] thrones for judgment, [on] thrones [belonging] to the house of David.”

[122:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “ask [for].”

[122:6]  ¹¹ tn Or “be secure.”

[122:7]  ¹² tn or “security.”

[122:7]  ¹³ tn The psalmist uses second feminine singular pronominal forms to address personified Jerusalem.

[122:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “I will seek good for you.” The psalmist will seek Jerusalem’s “good” through prayer.