Psalms 2:6

2:6 “I myself ¹  have installed ²  my king

on Zion, my holy hill.”

Psalms 3:4

3:4 To the Lord I cried out, ³ 

and he answered me from his holy hill. ⁴  (Selah)

Psalms 43:3-4

43:3 Reveal ⁵  your light ⁶  and your faithfulness!

They will lead me, ⁷ 

they will escort ⁸  me back to your holy hill, ⁹ 

and to the place where you live. ¹⁰ 

43:4 Then I will go ¹¹  to the altar of God,

to the God who gives me ecstatic joy, ¹² 

so that I express my thanks to you, ¹³  O God, my God, with a harp.

Psalms 87:1-3

Psalm 87 ¹⁴ 

Written by the Korahites; a psalm, a song.

87:1 The Lord’s city is in the holy hills. ¹⁵ 

87:2 The Lord loves the gates of Zion

more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.

87:3 People say wonderful things about you, ¹⁶ 

O city of God. (Selah)

Hebrews 12:22

12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion, the city ¹⁷  of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the assembly

Revelation 14:1

An Interlude: The Song of the 144,000

14:1 Then ¹⁸  I looked, and here was ¹⁹  the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him were one hundred and forty-four thousand, who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.

[2:6]  ¹ tn The first person pronoun appears before the first person verbal form for emphasis, reflected in the translation by “myself.”

[2:6]  ² tn Or perhaps “consecrated.”

[3:4]  ³ tn The prefixed verbal form could be an imperfect, yielding the translation “I cry out,” but the verb form in the next line (a vav [ו] consecutive with the preterite) suggests this is a brief narrative of what has already happened. Consequently the verb form in v. 4a is better understood as a preterite, “I cried out.” (For another example of the preterite of this same verb form, see Ps 30:8.) Sometime after the crisis arose, the psalmist prayed to the Lord and received an assuring answer. Now he confidently awaits the fulfillment of the divine promise.

[3:4]  ⁴ sn His holy hill. That is, Zion (see Pss 2:6; 48:1-2). The psalmist recognizes that the Lord dwells in his sanctuary on Mount Zion.

[43:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “send.”

[43:3]  ⁶ sn God’s deliverance is compared here to a light which will lead the psalmist back home to the Lord’s temple. Divine deliverance will in turn demonstrate the Lord’s faithfulness to his people.

[43:3]  ⁷ tn Or “may they lead me.” The prefixed verbal forms here and in the next line may be taken as jussives.

[43:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “bring.”

[43:3]  ⁹ sn In this context the Lord’s holy hill is Zion/Jerusalem. See Isa 66:20; Joel 2:1; 3:17; Zech 8:3; Pss 2:6; 15:1; 48:1; 87:1; Dan 9:16.

[43:3]  ¹⁰ tn Or “to your dwelling place[s].” The plural form of the noun may indicate degree or quality; this is the Lord’s special dwelling place (see Pss 46:4; 84:1; 132:5, 7).

[43:4]  ¹¹ tn The cohortative expresses the psalmist’s resolve. Prefixed with the vav (ו) conjunctive it also expresses the result or outcome of the preceding verbs “lead” and “escort.”

[43:4]  ¹² tn Heb “to God, the joy of my happiness.” The phrase “joy of my happiness” employs an appositional genitive. Synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the degree of the psalmist’s joy. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81.

[43:4]  ¹³ tn The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive probably indicates purpose (“so that”) or intention.

[87:1]  ¹⁴ sn Psalm 87. The psalmist celebrates the Lord’s presence in Zion and the special status of its citizens.

[87:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “his foundation [is] in the hills of holiness.” The expression “his foundation” refers here by metonymy to the Lord’s dwelling place in Zion. The “hills” are the ones surrounding Zion (see Pss 125:2; 133:3).

[87:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “glorious things are spoken about you.” The translation assumes this is a general reference to compliments paid to Zion by those who live within her walls and by those who live in the surrounding areas and lands. Another option is that this refers to a prophetic oracle about the city’s glorious future. In this case one could translate, “wonderful things are announced concerning you.”

[12:22]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “and the city”; the conjunction is omitted in translation since it seems to be functioning epexegetically – that is, explaining further what is meant by “Mount Zion.”

[14:1]  ¹⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[14:1]  ¹⁹ tn The phrase “and here was” expresses the sense of καὶ ἰδού (kai idou).