Revelation 3:12

3:12 The one who conquers ¹  I will make ²  a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will never depart from it. I ³  will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God (the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from my God), ⁴  and my new name as well.

Psalms 48:1-3

Psalm 48 ⁵ 

A song, a psalm by the Korahites.

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

in the city of our God, ⁶  his holy hill.

48:2 It is lofty and pleasing to look at, ⁷ 

a source of joy to the whole earth. ⁸ 

Mount Zion resembles the peaks of Zaphon; ⁹ 

it is the city of the great king.

48:3 God is in its fortresses;

he reveals himself as its defender. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 87:3

87:3 People say wonderful things about you, ¹¹ 

O city of God. (Selah)

Isaiah 1:21

Purifying Judgment

1:21 How tragic that the once-faithful city

has become a prostitute! ¹² 

She was once a center of ¹³  justice,

fairness resided in her,

but now only murderers. ¹⁴ 

Isaiah 52:1

52:1 Wake up! Wake up!

Clothe yourself with strength, O Zion!

Put on your beautiful clothes,

O Jerusalem, ¹⁵  holy city!

For uncircumcised and unclean pagans

will no longer invade you.

Jeremiah 31:23

Judah Will Be Restored

31:23 The Lord God of Israel who rules over all ¹⁶  says,

“I will restore the people of Judah to their land and to their towns.

When I do, they will again say ¹⁷  of Jerusalem, ¹⁸ 

‘May the Lord bless you, you holy mountain,

the place where righteousness dwells.’ ¹⁹ 

Hebrews 11:10

11:10 For he was looking forward to the city with firm foundations, ²⁰  whose architect and builder is God.

Hebrews 12:22

12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion, the city ²¹  of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the assembly

Hebrews 13:14

13:14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.

[3:12]  ¹ tn Or “who is victorious”; traditionally, “who overcomes.”

[3:12]  ² tn Grk “I will make him,” but the pronoun (αὐτόν, auton, “him”) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated here.

[3:12]  ³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[3:12]  ⁴ sn This description of the city of my God is parenthetical, explaining further the previous phrase and interrupting the list of “new names” given here.

[48:1]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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.

[48:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he is known for an elevated place.”

[87:3]  ¹¹ 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.”

[1:21]  ¹² tn Heb “How she has become a prostitute, the faithful city!” The exclamatory אֵיכָה (’ekhah, “how!”) is used several times as the beginning of a lament (see Lam 1:1; 2;1; 4:1-2). Unlike a number of other OT passages that link references to Israel’s harlotry to idolatry, Isaiah here makes the connection with social and moral violations.

[1:21]  ¹³ tn Heb “filled with.”

[1:21]  ¹⁴ tn Or “assassins.” This refers to the oppressive rich and/or their henchmen. R. Ortlund (Whoredom, 78) posits that it serves as a synecdoche for all varieties of criminals, the worst being mentioned to imply all lesser ones. Since Isaiah often addressed his strongest rebuke to the rulers and leaders of Israel, he may have in mind the officials who bore the responsibility to uphold justice and righteousness.

[52:1]  ¹⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[31:23]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.” See 7:3 and the study note of 2:19 for the rendering of this title and an explanation of its significance.

[31:23]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “They [i.e., people (the indefinite plural, GKC 460 §144.g)] will again say in the land of Judah and in its cities when I restore their fortunes.” For the meaning of the idiom “to restore the fortunes” see the translator’s note on 29:14.

[31:23]  ¹⁸ tn The words “of Jerusalem” are not in the text but it is implicit in the titles that follow. They have been supplied in the translation for clarity to aid in identifying the referent.

[31:23]  ¹⁹ sn The blessing pronounced on the city of Zion/Jerusalem by the restored exiles looks at the restoration of its once exalted state as the city known for its sanctity and its just dealing (see Isa 1:21 and Ps 122). This was a reversal of the state of Jerusalem in the time of Isaiah and Jeremiah where wickedness not righteousness characterized the inhabitants of the city (cf. Isa 1:21; Jer 4:14; 5:1; 13:27). The blessing here presupposes the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem and the temple which gave the city its sanctity.

[11:10]  ²⁰ tn Grk “that has foundations.”

[12:22]  ²¹ tn Grk “and the city”; the conjunction is omitted in translation since it seems to be functioning epexegetically – that is, explaining further what is meant by “Mount Zion.”