Footnotes

1. Psalm 122:1 sn Psalm 122. The psalmist expresses his love for Jerusalem and promises to pray for the city’s security.
2. Psalm 122:1 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.
3. Psalm 122:1 tn Heb “in the ones saying to me.” After the verb שָׂמַח (samakh), the preposition ב (bet) usually introduces the reason for joy.
4. Psalm 122:2 tn Or “were.”
5. Psalm 122:3 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 (khubb^erah, “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).
6. Psalm 122:4 tn Or “went up.”
7. Psalm 122:4 tn Heb “which is where the tribes go up.”
8. Psalm 122:4 tn Heb “[it is] a statute for Israel to give thanks to the name of the Lord.”
9. Psalm 122:5 tn Or “for.”
10. Psalm 122:5 tn Or “sat.”
11. Psalm 122:5 tn Heb “Indeed, there they sit [on] thrones for judgment, [on] thrones [belonging] to the house of David.”
12. Psalm 122:6 tn Heb “ask [for].”
13. Psalm 122:6 tn Or “be secure.”
14. Psalm 122:7 tn or “security.”
15. Psalm 122:7 tn The psalmist uses second feminine singular pronominal forms to address personified Jerusalem.
16. Psalm 122:9 tn Heb “I will seek good for you.” The psalmist will seek Jerusalem’s “good” through prayer.