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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - Psalms 122:4 - 122:4
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The imposing character of the impression was still greatly enhanced by the consideration, that this is the city where at all times the twelve tribes of God's nation (which were still distinguished as its elements even after the Exile, Rom 11:1; Luk 2:36; Jam 1:1) came together at the three great feasts. The use of the שׁ twice as equivalent to אשׁר is (as in Canticles) appropriate to the ornamental, happy, miniature-like manner of these Songs of degrees. In שֶׁשָּׁם the שָׁם is, as in Ecc 1:7, equivalent to שָׁמָּה, which on the other hand in Psa 122:5 is no more than an emphatic שָׁם (cf. Psa 76:4; Psa 68:7). עָלוּ affirms a habit (cf. Job 1:4) of the past, which extends into the present. עֵדוּת לְיִשְׂרָאֵל is not an accusative of the definition or destination (Ew. §300, c), but an apposition to the previous clause, as e.g., in Lev 23:14, Lev 23:21, Lev 23:31 (Hitzig), referring to the appointing in Exo 23:17; Exo 34:23; Deu 16:16. The custom, which arose thus, is confirmed in Psa 122:5 from the fact, that Jerusalem, the city of the one national sanctuary, was at the same time the city of the Davidic kingship. The phrase יָשַׁב לְמִשְׁפָּט is here transferred from the judicial persons (cf. Psa 29:10 with Psa 9:5; Psa 28:6), who sit in judgment, to the seats (thrones) which are set down and stand there fro judgment (cf. Psa 125:1, and θρόνος ἔκειτο, Rev 4:2). The Targum is thinking of seats in the Temple, viz., the raised (in the second Temple resting upon pillars) seat of the king in the court of the Israelitish men near the שׁער העליון, but למשׁפט points to the palace, 1Ki 7:7. In the flourishing age of the Davidic kingship this was also the highest court of judgment of the land; the king was the chief judge (2Sa 15:2; 1Ki 3:16), and the sons, brothers, or kinsmen of the king were his assessors and advisers. In the time of the poet it is different; but the attractiveness of Jerusalem, not only as the city of Jahve, but also as the city of David, remains the same for all times.