Psalms 36:8

36:8 They are filled with food from your house,

and you allow them to drink from the river of your delicacies.

Psalms 27:4

27:4 I have asked the Lord for one thing –

this is what I desire!

I want to live ¹  in the Lord’s house ²  all the days of my life,

so I can gaze at the splendor ³  of the Lord

and contemplate in his temple.

Psalms 48:1-2

Psalm 48 ⁴ 

A song, a psalm by the Korahites.

48:1 The Lord is great and certainly worthy of praise

in the city of our God, ⁵  his holy hill.

48:2 It is lofty and pleasing to look at, ⁶ 

a source of joy to the whole earth. ⁷ 

Mount Zion resembles the peaks of Zaphon; ⁸ 

it is the city of the great king.

Psalms 87:2-3

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, ⁹ 

O city of God. (Selah)

Psalms 122:1

Psalm 122 ¹⁰ 

A song of ascents, ¹¹  by David.

122:1 I was glad because ¹²  they said to me,

“We will go to the Lord’s temple.”

Hebrews 9:23-24

9:23 So it was necessary for the sketches ¹³  of the things in heaven to be purified with these sacrifices, ¹⁴  but the heavenly things themselves required ¹⁵  better sacrifices than these. 9:24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with hands – the representation ¹⁶  of the true sanctuary ¹⁷  – but into heaven itself, and he appears now in God’s presence for us.

Revelation 21:2-3

21:2 And I saw the holy city – the new Jerusalem – descending out of heaven from God, made ready like a bride adorned for her husband. 21:3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Look! The residence ¹⁸  of God is among human beings. ¹⁹  He ²⁰  will live among them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them. ²¹ 

Revelation 21:22-23

21:22 Now ²²  I saw no temple in the city, because the Lord God – the All-Powerful ²³  – and the Lamb are its temple. 21:23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God lights it up, and its lamp is the Lamb.

[27:4]  ¹ tn Heb “my living.”

[27:4]  ² sn The Lord’s house. This probably refers to the tabernacle (if one accepts Davidic authorship) or the temple (see Judg 19:18; 1 Sam 1:7, 24; 2 Sam 12:20; 1 Kgs 7:12, 40, 45, 51).

[27:4]  ³ tn Or “beauty.”

[48:1]  ⁴ sn Psalm 48. This so-called “Song of Zion” celebrates the greatness and glory of the Lord’s dwelling place, Jerusalem. His presence in the city elevates it above all others and assures its security.

[48:1]  ⁵ sn The city of our God is Jerusalem, which is also referred to here as “his holy hill,” that is, Zion (see v. 2, as well as Isa 66:20; Joel 2:1; 3:17; Zech 8:3; Pss 2:6; 15:1; 43:3; 87:1; Dan 9:16).

[48:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “beautiful of height.” The Hebrew term נוֹף (nof, “height”) is a genitive of specification after the qualitative noun “beautiful.” The idea seems to be that Mount Zion, because of its lofty appearance, is pleasing to the sight.

[48:2]  ⁷ sn A source of joy to the whole earth. The language is hyperbolic. Zion, as the dwelling place of the universal king, is pictured as the world’s capital. The prophets anticipated this idealized picture becoming a reality in the eschaton (see Isa 2:1-4).

[48:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “Mount Zion, the peaks of Zaphon.” Like all the preceding phrases in v. 2, both phrases are appositional to “city of our God, his holy hill” in v. 1, suggesting an identification in the poet’s mind between Mount Zion and Zaphon. “Zaphon” usually refers to the “north” in a general sense (see Pss 89:12; 107:3), but here, where it is collocated with “peaks,” it refers specifically to Mount Zaphon, located in the vicinity of ancient Ugarit and viewed as the mountain where the gods assembled (see Isa 14:13). By alluding to West Semitic mythology in this way, the psalm affirms that Mount Zion is the real divine mountain, for it is here that the Lord God of Israel lives and rules over the nations. See P. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 353, and T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 103.

[87:3]  ⁹ 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.”

[122:1]  ¹⁰ sn Psalm 122. The psalmist expresses his love for Jerusalem and promises to pray for the city’s security.

[122:1]  ¹¹ 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.

[122:1]  ¹² tn Heb “in the ones saying to me.” After the verb שָׂמַח (samakh), the preposition בְּ (bet) usually introduces the reason for joy.

[9:23]  ¹³ tn Or “prototypes,” “outlines,” referring to the earthly sanctuary. See Heb 8:5 above for the prior use of this term.

[9:23]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “with these”; in the translation the referent (sacrifices) has been specified for clarity.

[9:23]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.”

[9:24]  ¹⁶ tn Or “prefiguration.”

[9:24]  ¹⁷ tn The word “sanctuary” is not in the Greek text at this point, but has been supplied for clarity.

[21:3]  ¹⁸ tn Or “dwelling place”; traditionally, “tabernacle”; literally “tent.”

[21:3]  ¹⁹ tn Or “people”; Grk “men” (ἀνθρώπων, anqrwpwn), a generic use of the term. In the translation “human beings” was used here because “people” occurs later in the verse and translates a different Greek word (λαοί, laoi).

[21:3]  ²⁰ tn Grk “men, and he.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[21:3]  ²¹ tc ‡ Most mss (א Ï^K) do not add the words “[as] their God” (αὐτῶν θεός, autwn qeos) after “he will be with them.” The mss with these words include A 2030 2050 2329 al. The Andreas group (Ï^A) also has the words, but in a different arrangement with the preceding (ἔσται μετ᾿ αὐτῶν θεὸς αὐτῶν, estai met’ autwn qeo" autwn). Not only do the words float, but scribes may have been motivated to make a connection here more directly with Isa 7:14; 8:8; Jer 24:7; 31:33; Zech 8:8. In light of sufficient external evidence as well as the possibility that the longer reading is theologically motivated, the shorter reading is preferred. NA²⁷ places the words in brackets, indicating doubts as to their authenticity.

[21:22]  ²² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic. Every verse from here to the end of this chapter begins with καί in Greek, but due to differences between Greek and contemporary English style, these have not been translated.

[21:22]  ²³ tn On this word BDAG 755 s.v. παντοκράτωρ states, “the Almighty, All-Powerful, Omnipotent (One) only of God…(ὁ) κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ π. …Rv 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22.”