Discovery BoxPsalms 48:1-2
ContextA song, a psalm by the Korahites.
48:1 The Lord is great and certainly worthy of praise
in the city of our God, 2 his holy hill.
48:2 It is lofty and pleasing to look at, 3
a source of joy to the whole earth. 4
Mount Zion resembles the peaks of Zaphon; 5
it is the city of the great king.
Psalms 68:16
Context68:16 Why do you look with envy, 6 O mountains 7 with many peaks,
at the mountain where God has decided to live? 8
Indeed 9 the Lord will live there 10 permanently!
Psalms 121:1
ContextA song of ascents. 12
121:1 I look up 13 toward the hills.
From where 14 does my help come?
Isaiah 2:2-3
Contextthe mountain of the Lord’s temple will endure 16
as the most important of mountains,
and will be the most prominent of hills. 17
All the nations will stream to it,
2:3 many peoples will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain,
to the temple of the God of Jacob,
so 18 he can teach us his requirements, 19
and 20 we can follow his standards.” 21
For Zion will be the center for moral instruction; 22
the Lord will issue edicts from Jerusalem. 23
Isaiah 56:7
Context56:7 I will bring them to my holy mountain;
I will make them happy in the temple where people pray to me. 24
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar,
for my temple will be known as a temple where all nations may pray.” 25
Zechariah 8:3
Context8:3 The Lord says, ‘I have returned to Zion and will live within Jerusalem. 26 Now Jerusalem will be called “truthful city,” “mountain of the Lord who rules over all,” “holy mountain.”’
Zechariah 8:2
Context8:2 “The Lord who rules over all says, ‘I am very much concerned for Zion; indeed, I am so concerned for her that my rage will fall on those who hurt her.’
Zechariah 1:18
Context1:18 (2:1) 27 Once again I looked and this time I saw four horns.
[48:1] 1 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] 2 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] 3 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] 4 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] 5 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
[68:16] 6 tn The meaning of the Hebrew verb רָצַד (ratsad), translated here “look with envy,” is uncertain; it occurs only here in the OT. See BDB 952-53. A cognate verb occurs in later Aramaic with the meaning “to lie in wait; to watch” (Jastrow 1492 s.v. רְצַד).
[68:16] 7 tn Perhaps the apparent plural form should be read as a singular with enclitic mem (ם; later misinterpreted as a plural ending). The preceding verse has the singular form.
[68:16] 8 tn Heb “[at] the mountain God desires for his dwelling place.” The reference is to Mount Zion/Jerusalem.
[68:16] 9 tn The Hebrew particle אַף (’af) has an emphasizing function here.
[68:16] 10 tn The word “there” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
[121:1] 11 sn Psalm 121. The psalm affirms that the Lord protects his people Israel. Unless the psalmist addresses an observer (note the second person singular forms in vv. 3-8), it appears there are two or three speakers represented in the psalm, depending on how one takes v. 3. The translation assumes that speaker one talks in vv. 1-2, that speaker two responds to him with a prayer in v. 3 (this assumes the verbs are true jussives of prayer), and that speaker three responds with words of assurance in vv. 4-8. If the verbs in v. 3 are taken as a rhetorical use of the jussive, then there are two speakers. Verses 3-8 are speaker two’s response to the words of speaker one. See the note on the word “sleep” at the end of v. 3.
[121:1] 12 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.
[121:1] 13 tn Heb “I lift my eyes.”
[121:1] 14 tn The Hebrew term מֵאַיִן (me’ayin) is interrogative, not relative, in function. Rather than directly stating that his source of help descends from the hills, the psalmist is asking, “From where does my help come?” Nevertheless, the first line does indicate that he is looking toward the hills for help, probably indicating that he is looking up toward the sky in anticipation of supernatural intervention. The psalmist assumes the dramatic role of one needing help. He answers his own question in v. 2.
[2:2] 15 tn Heb “in the end of the days.” This phrase may refer generally to the future, or more technically to the final period of history. See BDB 31 s.v. ַאחֲרִית. The verse begins with a verb that functions as a “discourse particle” and is not translated. In numerous places throughout the OT, the “to be” verb with a prefixed conjunction (וְהָיָה [vÿhayah] and וַיְהִי [vayÿhi]) occurs in this fashion to introduce a circumstantial clause and does not require translation.
[2:2] 16 tn Or “be established” (KJV, NIV, NRSV).
[2:2] 17 tn Heb “as the chief of the mountains, and will be lifted up above the hills.” The image of Mount Zion being elevated above other mountains and hills pictures the prominence it will attain in the future.
[2:3] 18 tn The prefixed verb form with simple vav (ו) introduces a purpose/result clause after the preceding prefixed verb form (probably to be taken as a cohortative; see IBHS 650 §39.2.2a).
[2:3] 19 tn Heb “his ways.” In this context God’s “ways” are the standards of moral conduct he decrees that people should live by.
[2:3] 20 tn The cohortative with vav (ו) after the prefixed verb form indicates the ultimate purpose/goal of their action.
[2:3] 21 tn Heb “walk in his ways.”
[2:3] 22 tn Heb “for out of Zion will go instruction.”
[2:3] 23 tn Heb “the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”
[56:7] 24 tn Heb “in the house of my prayer.”
[56:7] 25 tn Heb “for my house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations.”
[8:3] 26 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[1:18] 27 sn This marks the beginning of ch. 2 in the Hebrew text. Beginning with 1:18, the verse numbers through 2:13 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 1:18 ET = 2:1 HT, 1:19 ET = 2:2 HT, 1:20 ET = 2:3 HT, 1:21 ET = 2:4 HT, 2:1 ET = 2:5 HT, etc., through 2:13 ET = 2:17 HT. From 3:1 the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible are again the same.
