Psalm 122

Psalm 12210

A song of ascents,11 by David.

122:1 I was glad because1 they said to me,

“We will go to the Lord’s temple.”

122:2 Our feet are2 standing

inside your gates, O Jerusalem.

122:3 Jerusalem3 is a city designed

to accommodate an assembly.4

122:4 The tribes go up5 there,6

the tribes of the Lord,

where it is required that Israel

give thanks to the name of the Lord.7

122:5 Indeed,8 the leaders sit9 there on thrones and make legal decisions,

on the thrones of the house of David.10

122:6 Pray11 for the peace of Jerusalem!

May those who love her prosper!12

122:7 May there be peace inside your defenses,

and prosperity13 inside your fortresses!14

122:8 For the sake of my brothers and my neighbors

I will say, “May there be peace in you!”

122:9 For the sake of the temple of the Lord our God

I will pray for you to prosper.15

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10	sn Psalm 122. The psalmist expresses his love for Jerusalem and promises to pray for the city’s security.
11	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.
1	tn Heb “in the ones saying to me.” After the verb שָׂמַח (samakh), the preposition בְּ (bet) usually introduces the reason for joy.
2	tn Or “were.”
3	map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
4	tc Heb “Jerusalem, which is built like a city which is joined to her together.” The meaning of the Hebrew text is unclear. Many regard this as a description of the compact way in which the city was designed or constructed. The translation assumes an emendation of the verb חֻבְּרָה (khubbérah, “is joined”) to a noun חֶבְרָה (khevrah, “association; company”). The text then reads literally, “Jerusalem, which is built like a city which has a company together.” This in turn can be taken as a reference to Jerusalem’s role as a city where people congregated for religious festivals and other civic occasions (see vv. 4–5).
5	tn Or “went up.”
6	tn Heb “which is where the tribes go up.”
7	tn Heb “[it is] a statute for Israel to give thanks to the name of the Lord.”
8	tn Or “for.”
9	tn Or “sat.”
10	tn Heb “Indeed, there they sit [on] thrones for judgment, [on] thrones [belonging] to the house of David.”
11	tn Heb “ask [for].”
12	tn Or “be secure.”
13	tn or “security.”
14	tn The psalmist uses second feminine singular pronominal forms to address personified Jerusalem.
15	tn Heb “I will seek good for you.” The psalmist will seek Jerusalem’s “good” through prayer.