Discovery BoxPsalms 122:1-9 
ContextA song of ascents, 2 by David.
122:1 I was glad because 3 they said to me,
“We will go to the Lord’s temple.”
inside your gates, O Jerusalem.
122:3 Jerusalem 5 is a city designed
to accommodate an assembly. 6
122:4 The tribes go up 7 there, 8
the tribes of the Lord,
where it is required that Israel
give thanks to the name of the Lord. 9
122:5 Indeed, 10 the leaders sit 11 there on thrones and make legal decisions,
on the thrones of the house of David. 12
122:6 Pray 13 for the peace of Jerusalem!
May those who love her prosper! 14
122:7 May there be peace inside your defenses,
and prosperity 15 inside your fortresses! 16
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. 17
1 sn Psalm 122. The psalmist expresses his love for Jerusalem and promises to pray for the city’s security.
2 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 tn Heb “in the ones saying to me.” After the verb שָׂמַח (samakh), the preposition בְּ (bet) usually introduces the reason for joy.
4 tn Or “were.”
5 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
6 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 (khubbÿrah, “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).
7 tn Or “went up.”
8 tn Heb “which is where the tribes go up.”
9 tn Heb “[it is] a statute for Israel to give thanks to the name of the
10 tn Or “for.”
11 tn Or “sat.”
12 tn Heb “Indeed, there they sit [on] thrones for judgment, [on] thrones [belonging] to the house of David.”
13 tn Heb “ask [for].”
14 tn Or “be secure.”
15 tn or “security.”
16 tn The psalmist uses second feminine singular pronominal forms to address personified Jerusalem.
17 tn Heb “I will seek good for you.” The psalmist will seek Jerusalem’s “good” through prayer.
