84:7 They are sustained as they travel along; 1
each one appears 2 before God in Zion.
84:11 For the Lord God is our sovereign protector. 3
The Lord bestows favor 4 and honor;
he withholds no good thing from those who have integrity. 5
1 tn Heb “they go from strength to strength.” The phrase “from strength to strength” occurs only here in the OT. With a verb of motion, the expression “from [common noun] to [same common noun]” normally suggests movement from one point to another or through successive points (see Num 36:7; 1 Chr 16:20; 17:5; Ps 105:13; Jer 25:32). Ps 84:7 may be emphasizing that the pilgrims move successively from one “place of strength” to another as they travel toward Jerusalem. All along the way they find adequate provisions and renewed energy for the trip.
2 tn The psalmist returns to the singular (see v. 5a), which he uses in either a representative or distributive (“each one” ) sense.
3 tn Heb “[is] a sun and a shield.” The epithet “sun,” though rarely used of Israel’s God in the OT, was a well-attested royal title in the ancient Near East. For several examples from Ugaritic texts, the Amarna letters, and Assyrian royal inscriptions, see R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 131, n. 2.
4 tn Or “grace.”
5 tn Heb “he does not withhold good to those walking in integrity.”