Psalms 71:3

71:3 Be my protector and refuge, ¹ 

a stronghold where I can be safe! ² 

For you are my high ridge ³  and my stronghold.

Psalms 133:3

133:3 It is like the dew of Hermon, ⁴ 

which flows down upon the hills of Zion. ⁵ 

Indeed ⁶  that is where the Lord has decreed

a blessing will be available – eternal life. ⁷ 

[71:3]  ¹ tc Heb “become for me a rocky summit of a dwelling place.” The Hebrew term מָעוֹן (ma’on, “dwelling place”) should probably be emended to מָעוֹז (ma’oz, “refuge”; see Ps 31:2).

[71:3]  ² tc Heb “to enter continually, you commanded to deliver me.” The Hebrew phrase לָבוֹא תָּמִיד צִוִּיתָ (lavo’ tamid tsivvita, “to enter continually, you commanded”) should be emended to לְבֵית מְצוּדוֹת (lÿvet mÿtsudot, “a house of strongholds”; see Ps 31:2).

[71:3]  ³ sn You are my high ridge. This metaphor pictures God as a rocky, relatively inaccessible summit, where one would be able to find protection from enemies. See 1 Sam 23:25, 28.

[133:3]  ⁴ sn Hermon refers to Mount Hermon, located north of Israel.

[133:3]  ⁵ sn The hills of Zion are those surrounding Zion (see Pss 87:1; 125:2). The psalmist does not intend to suggest that the dew from Mt. Hermon in the distant north actually flows down upon Zion. His point is that the same kind of heavy dew that replenishes Hermon may also be seen on Zion’s hills. See A. Cohen, Psalms (SoBB), 439. “Dew” here symbolizes divine blessing, as the next line suggests.

[133:3]  ⁶ tn Or “for.”

[133:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forever.”