Psalms 122:3-5

122:3 Jerusalem ¹  is a city designed

to accommodate an assembly. ² 

122:4 The tribes go up ³  there, ⁴ 

the tribes of the Lord,

where it is required that Israel

give thanks to the name of the Lord. ⁵ 

122:5 Indeed, ⁶  the leaders sit ⁷  there on thrones and make legal decisions,

on the thrones of the house of David. ⁸ 

[122:3]  ¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[122:3]  ² 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]  ³ tn Or “went up.”

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

[122:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “[it is] a statute for Israel to give thanks to the name of the Lord.”

[122:5]  ⁵ tn Or “for.”

[122:5]  ⁶ tn Or “sat.”

[122:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “Indeed, there they sit [on] thrones for judgment, [on] thrones [belonging] to the house of David.”