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
14:7 I wish the deliverance 5 of Israel would come from Zion!
When the Lord restores the well-being of his people, 6
may Jacob rejoice, 7
may Israel be happy! 8
53:6 I wish the deliverance 9 of Israel would come from Zion!
When God restores the well-being of his people, 10
may Jacob rejoice, 11
may Israel be happy! 12
For the music director; a psalm of David, a song.
65:1 Praise awaits you, 14 O God, in Zion.
Vows made to you are fulfilled.
74:2 Remember your people 15 whom you acquired in ancient times,
whom you rescued 16 so they could be your very own nation, 17
as well as Mount Zion, where you dwell!
87:5 But it is said of Zion’s residents, 18
“Each one of these 19 was born in her,
and the sovereign One 20 makes her secure.” 21
102:13 You will rise up and have compassion on Zion. 22
For it is time to have mercy on her,
for the appointed time has come.
A song of ascents. 24
125:1 Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion;
it cannot be upended and will endure forever.
137:3 for there our captors ask us to compose songs; 25
those who mock us demand that we be happy, saying: 26
“Sing for us a song about Zion!” 27
1 tn Or “so that I might.”
2 tn Heb “all your praise.” “Praise” stands by metonymy for the mighty acts that prompt it.
3 sn Daughter Zion is an idiomatic title for Jerusalem. It appears frequently in the prophets, but only here in the psalms.
4 tn Heb “in your deliverance.”
5 sn The deliverance of Israel. This refers metonymically to God, the one who lives in Zion and provides deliverance for Israel.
6 tn Heb “turns with a turning [toward] his people.” The Hebrew term שְׁבוּת (shÿvut) is apparently a cognate accusative of שׁוּב (shuv).
7 tn The verb form is jussive.
8 tn Because the parallel verb is jussive, this verb, which is ambiguous in form, should be taken as a jussive as well.
9 tn This refers metonymically to God, the one who lives in Zion and provides deliverance for Israel.
10 tn Heb “turns with a turning [toward] his people.” The Hebrew term שְׁבוּת (shÿvut) is apparently a cognate accusative of שׁוּב (shuv).
11 tn The verb form is jussive.
12 tn Because the parallel verb is jussive, this verb, which is ambiguous in form, should be taken as a jussive as well.
13 sn Psalm 65. The psalmist praises God because he forgives sin and blesses his people with an abundant harvest.
14 tn Heb “for you, silence, praise.” Many prefer to emend the noun דֻּמִיָּה (dumiyyah, “silence”) to a participle דּוֹמִיָּה (domiyyah), from the root דָּמָה (damah, “be silent”), understood here in the sense of “wait.”
15 tn Heb “your assembly,” which pictures God’s people as an assembled community.
16 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).
17 tn Heb “the tribe of your inheritance” (see Jer 10:16; 51:19).
18 tn Heb “and of Zion it is said.” Another option is to translate, “and to Zion it is said.” In collocation with the Niphal of אָמַר (’amar), the preposition lamed (-לְ) can introduce the recipient of the statement (see Josh 2:2; Jer 4:11; Hos 1:10; Zeph 3:16), carry the nuance “concerning, of” (see Num 23:23), or mean “be named” (see Isa 4:3; 62:4).
19 tn Heb “a man and a man.” The idiom also appears in Esth 1:8. The translation assumes that the phrase refers to each of Zion’s residents, in contrast to the foreigners mentioned in v. 4. Those advocating the universalistic interpretation understand this as a reference to each of the nations, including those mentioned in v. 4.
20 tn Traditionally “Most High.”
21 tn Heb “and he makes her secure, the Most High.”
22 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!”
23 sn Psalm 125. The psalmist affirms his confidence in the Lord’s protection and justice.
24 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.
25 tn Heb “ask us [for] the words of a song.”
26 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.
27 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.