Psalms 84:1-6

Psalm 84 ¹ 

For the music director; according to the gittith style; ²  written by the Korahites, a psalm.

84:1 How lovely is the place where you live, ³ 

O Lord who rules over all! ⁴ 

84:2 I desperately want to be ⁵ 

in the courts of the Lord’s temple. ⁶ 

My heart and my entire being ⁷  shout for joy

to the living God.

84:3 Even the birds find a home there,

and the swallow ⁸  builds a nest,

where she can protect her young ⁹ 

near your altars, O Lord who rules over all,

my king and my God.

84:4 How blessed ¹⁰  are those who live in your temple

and praise you continually! (Selah)

84:5 How blessed are those who ¹¹  find their strength in you,

and long to travel the roads that lead to your temple! ¹² 

84:6 As they pass through the Baca Valley, ¹³ 

he provides a spring for them. ¹⁴ 

The rain ¹⁵  even covers it with pools of water. ¹⁶ 

[84:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 84. The psalmist expresses his desire to be in God’s presence in the Jerusalem temple, for the Lord is the protector of his people.

[84:1]  ² tn The precise meaning of the Hebrew term הַגִּתִּית (haggittit) is uncertain; it probably refers to a musical style or instrument.

[84:1]  ³ tn Or “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 43:3; 46:4; 132:5, 7).

[84:1]  ⁴ tn Traditionally, “Lord of hosts.” The title draws attention to God’s sovereign position (see Ps 69:6).

[84:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “my soul longs, it even pines for.”

[84:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “the courts of the Lord” (see Ps 65:4).

[84:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “my flesh,” which stands for his whole person and being.

[84:3]  ⁸ tn The word translated “swallow” occurs only here and in Prov 26:2.

[84:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “even a bird finds a home, and a swallow a nest for herself, [in] which she places her young.”

[84:4]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see v. 12 and Pss 1:1; 2:12; 34:9; 41:1; 65:4; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).

[84:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness [of] the man.” Hebrew literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The principle stated here was certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender or age. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender and age specific “man” with the plural “those.” The individual referred to in v. 5a is representative of followers of God, as the use of plural forms in vv. 5b-7 indicates.

[84:5]  ¹² tn Heb “roads [are] in their heart[s].” The roads are here those that lead to Zion (see v. 7).

[84:6]  ¹³ tn The translation assumes that the Hebrew phrase עֵמֶק הַבָּכָא (’emeq habbakha’) is the name of an otherwise unknown arid valley through which pilgrims to Jerusalem passed. The term בָּכָא (bakha’) may be the name of a particular type of plant or shrub that grew in this valley. O. Borowski (Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 130) suggests it is the black mulberry. Some take the phrase as purely metaphorical and relate בָּכָא to the root בָּכָה (bakhah, “to weep”). In this case one might translate, “the valley of weeping” or “the valley of affliction.”

[84:6]  ¹⁴ tc The MT reads “a spring they make it,” but this makes little sense. Many medieval Hebrew mss, as well as the LXX, understand God to be the subject and the valley to be the object, “he [God] makes it [the valley] [into] a spring.”

[84:6]  ¹⁵ tn This rare word may refer to the early (or autumn) rains (see Joel 2:23).

[84:6]  ¹⁶ tc The MT reads בְּרָכוֹת (bÿrakhot, “blessings”) but the preceding reference to a “spring” favors an emendation to בְּרֵכוֹת (bÿrekhot, “pools”).