Psalms 9:14

9:14 Then I will ¹  tell about all your praiseworthy acts; ² 

in the gates of Daughter Zion ³  I will rejoice because of your deliverance.” ⁴ 

Psalms 48:11

48:11 Mount Zion rejoices;

the towns ⁵  of Judah are happy, ⁶ 

because of your acts of judgment. ⁷ 

Psalms 69:35

69:35 For God will deliver Zion

and rebuild the cities of Judah,

and his people ⁸  will again live in them and possess Zion. ⁹ 

Psalms 74:2

74:2 Remember your people ¹⁰  whom you acquired in ancient times,

whom you rescued ¹¹  so they could be your very own nation, ¹² 

as well as Mount Zion, where you dwell!

Psalms 78:68

78:68 He chose the tribe of Judah,

and Mount Zion, which he loves.

Psalms 97:8

97:8 Zion hears and rejoices,

the towns ¹³  of Judah are happy,

because of your judgments, O Lord.

Psalms 102:13

102:13 You will rise up and have compassion on Zion. ¹⁴ 

For it is time to have mercy on her,

for the appointed time has come.

Psalms 125:1

Psalm 125 ¹⁵ 

A song of ascents. ¹⁶ 

125:1 Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion;

it cannot be upended and will endure forever.

Psalms 126:1

Psalm 126 ¹⁷ 

A song of ascents. ¹⁸ 

126:1 When the Lord restored the well-being of Zion, ¹⁹ 

we thought we were dreaming. ²⁰ 

Psalms 137:1

Psalm 137 ²¹ 

137:1 By the rivers of Babylon

we sit down and weep ²² 

when we remember Zion.

Psalms 137:3

137:3 for there our captors ask us to compose songs; ²³ 

those who mock us demand that we be happy, saying: ²⁴ 

“Sing for us a song about Zion!” ²⁵ 

Psalms 146:10

146:10 The Lord rules forever,

your God, O Zion, throughout the generations to come! ²⁶ 

Praise the Lord!

[9:14]  ¹ tn Or “so that I might.”

[9:14]  ² tn Heb “all your praise.” “Praise” stands by metonymy for the mighty acts that prompt it.

[9:14]  ³ sn Daughter Zion is an idiomatic title for Jerusalem. It appears frequently in the prophets, but only here in the psalms.

[9:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “in your deliverance.”

[48:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “daughters.” The reference is to the cities of Judah surrounding Zion (see Ps 97:8 and H. Haag, TDOT 2:336).

[48:11]  ⁶ tn The prefixed verbal forms are understood as generalizing imperfects. (For other examples of an imperfect followed by causal לְמַעַן [lÿma’an], see Ps 23:3; Isa 49:7; 55:5.) Another option is to interpret the forms as jussives, “Let Mount Zion rejoice! Let the towns of Judah be happy!” (cf. NASB, NRSV; note the imperatives in vv. 12-13.)

[48:11]  ⁷ sn These acts of judgment are described in vv. 4-7.

[69:35]  ⁹ tn Heb “they”; the referent (God’s people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[69:35]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “it.” The third feminine singular pronominal suffix probably refers to “Zion” (see Pss 48:12; 102:14); thus the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[74:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “your assembly,” which pictures God’s people as an assembled community.

[74:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “redeemed.” The verb “redeem” casts God in the role of a leader who protects members of his extended family in times of need and crisis (see Ps 19:14).

[74:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the tribe of your inheritance” (see Jer 10:16; 51:19).

[97:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “daughters.” The term “daughters” refers to the cities of Judah surrounding Zion (see Ps 48:11 and H. Haag, TDOT 2:336).

[102:13]  ²¹ tn The imperfect verbal forms are understood as expressing the psalmist’s confidence in God’s intervention. Another option is to take them as expressing the psalmist’s request or wish, “You, rise up and have compassion!”

[125:1]  ²⁵ sn Psalm 125. The psalmist affirms his confidence in the Lord’s protection and justice.

[125:1]  ²⁶ 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.

[126:1]  ²⁹ sn Psalm 126. Recalling the joy of past deliverance, God’s covenant community asks for a fresh display of God’s power and confidently anticipate their sorrow being transformed into joy.

[126:1]  ³⁰ 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.

[126:1]  ³¹ tn Heb “turns with a turning [toward] his people.” The Hebrew noun שִׁיבַת (shivat) occurs only here in the OT. For this reason many prefer to emend the form to the more common שְׁבִית (shevit) or שְׁבוּת (shÿvut), both of which are used as a cognate accusative of שׁוּב (shuv; see Ps 14:7). However an Aramaic cognate of שְׁבִית appears in an eighth century b.c. Old Aramaic inscription with the verb שׁוּב. This cognate noun appears to mean “return” (see J. Fitzmyer, The Aramaic Treaties of Sefire [BibOr], 119-20) or “restoration” (see DNWSI 2:1125). Therefore it appears that שְׁבִית should be retained and understood as a cognate accusative of שׁוּב. In addition to Fitzmyer (119-20) see L. C. Allen, who offers the literal translation, “turn with a turning toward” (Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 170). Allen takes שְׁבִית as construct and understands “Zion” as an objective genitive.

[126:1]  ³² tn Heb “we were like dreamers.” This could mean the speakers were so overcome with ecstatic joy (see v. 3b) that they were like those who fantasize about pleasurable experiences in their sleep (see Isa 29:7-8). Since dreams are more commonly associated in the OT with prophetic visions, the community may be comparing their experience of God’s renewed favor to a prophet’s receiving divine visions. Just as a prophetic dream sweeps the individual into a different dimension and sometimes brings one face-to-face with God himself (see Gen 28:11-15; 1 Kgs 3:5-15), so the community was aware of God’s presence in a special way in the day of Zion’s restoration. Though the MT as it stands makes good sense, some choose to understand a homonymic root here meaning “to be healthy; to be strong” (see BDB 321 s.v. I חָלַם) and translate, “we were like those restored to health.” This reading appears to have the support of several ancient translations as well as 11QPs^a. See L. C. Allen (Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 170-71) for a discussion of the viewpoints.

[137:1]  ³³ sn Psalm 137. The Babylonian exiles lament their condition, vow to remain loyal to Jerusalem, and appeal to God for revenge on their enemies.

[137:1]  ³⁴ tn Heb “there we sit down, also we weep.”

[137:3]  ³⁷ tn Heb “ask us [for] the words of a song.”

[137:3]  ³⁸ tn Heb “our [?] joy.” The derivation and meaning of the Hebrew phrase תוֹלָלֵינוּ (tolalenu, “our [?]”) are uncertain. A derivation from תָּלַל (talal, “to mock”) fits contextually, but this root occurs only in the Hiphil stem. For a discussion of various proposals, see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 236.

[137:3]  ³⁹ tn Heb “from a song of Zion.” Most modern translations read, “one of the songs of Zion,” taking the preposition מִן (min, “from”) as partitive and “song” as collective. The present translation assumes the mem (ם) is enclitic, being misunderstood later as the prefixed preposition.

[146:10]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “for a generation and a generation.”