Psalms 132:1-6

Psalm 132 ¹ 

A song of ascents. ² 

132:1 O Lord, for David’s sake remember

all his strenuous effort, ³ 

132:2 and how he made a vow to the Lord,

and swore an oath to the powerful ruler of Jacob. ⁴ 

132:3 He said, ⁵  “I will not enter my own home, ⁶ 

or get into my bed. ⁷ 

132:4 I will not allow my eyes to sleep,

or my eyelids to slumber,

132:5 until I find a place for the Lord,

a fine dwelling place ⁸  for the powerful ruler of Jacob.” ⁹ 

132:6 Look, we heard about it ¹⁰  in Ephrathah, ¹¹ 

we found it in the territory of Jaar. ¹² 

[132:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 132. The psalmist reminds God of David’s devotion and of his promises concerning David’s dynasty and Zion.

[132:1]  ² 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.

[132:1]  ³ tn Heb “all his affliction.” This may refer to David’s strenuous and tireless efforts to make provision for the building of the temple (see 1 Chr 22:14). Some prefer to revocalize the text as עַנַוָתוֹ (’anavato, “his humility”).

[132:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “the powerful [one] of Jacob.”

[132:3]  ⁵ tn The words “he said” are supplied in the translation to clarify that what follows is David’s vow.

[132:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “the tent of my house.”

[132:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “go up upon the bed of my couch.”

[132:5]  ⁸ tn The plural form of the noun may indicate degree or quality; David envisions a special dwelling place (see Pss 43:3; 46:4; 84:1).

[132:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “the powerful [one] of Jacob.”

[132:6]  ¹⁰ tn Rather than having an antecedent, the third feminine singular pronominal suffix here (and in the next line) appears to refer to the ark of the covenant, mentioned in v. 8. (The Hebrew term אָרוֹן [’aron, “ark”] is sometimes construed as grammatically feminine. See 1 Sam 4:17; 2 Chr 8:11.)

[132:6]  ¹¹ sn Some understand Ephrathah as a reference to Kiriath-jearim because of the apparent allusion to this site in the next line (see the note on “Jaar”). The ark was kept in Kiriath-jearim after the Philistines released it (see 1 Sam 6:21-7:2). However, the switch in verbs from “heard about” to “found” suggests that Ephrathah not be equated with Jair. The group who is speaking heard about the ark while they were in Ephrath. They then went to retrieve it from Kiriath-jearim (“Jaar”). It is more likely that Ephrathah refers to a site near Bethel (Gen 35:16, 19; 48:7) or to Bethlehem (Ruth 4:11; Mic 5:2).

[132:6]  ¹² tn Heb “fields of the forest.” The Hebrew term יָעַר (ya’ad, “forest”) is apparently a shortened alternative name for קִרְיַת יְעָרִים (qiryat yÿ’arim, “Kiriath-jearim”), the place where the ark was kept after it was released by the Philistines and from which David and his men retrieved it (see 1 Chr 13:6).