Mazmur 132:3-8

132:3 He said, ¹  “I will not enter my own home, ² 

or get into my bed. ³ 

132:4 I will not allow my eyes to sleep,

or my eyelids to slumber,

132:5 until I find a place for the Lord,

a fine dwelling place ⁴  for the powerful ruler of Jacob.” ⁵ 

132:6 Look, we heard about it ⁶  in Ephrathah, ⁷ 

we found it in the territory of Jaar. ⁸ 

132:7 Let us go to his dwelling place!

Let us worship ⁹  before his footstool!

132:8 Ascend, O Lord, to your resting place,

you and the ark of your strength!

Mazmur 132:14

132:14 He said, ¹⁰  “This will be my resting place forever;

I will live here, for I have chosen it. ¹¹ 

[132:3]  ¹ tn The words “he said” are supplied in the translation to clarify that what follows is David’s vow.

[132:3]  ² tn Heb “the tent of my house.”

[132:3]  ³ tn Heb “go up upon the bed of my couch.”

[132:5]  ⁴ tn The plural form of the noun may indicate degree or quality; David envisions a special dwelling place (see Pss 43:3; 46:4; 84:1).

[132:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “the powerful [one] of Jacob.”

[132:6]  ⁶ tn Rather than having an antecedent, the third feminine singular pronominal suffix here (and in the next line) appears to refer to the ark of the covenant, mentioned in v. 8. (The Hebrew term אָרוֹן [’aron, “ark”] is sometimes construed as grammatically feminine. See 1 Sam 4:17; 2 Chr 8:11.)

[132:6]  ⁷ sn Some understand Ephrathah as a reference to Kiriath-jearim because of the apparent allusion to this site in the next line (see the note on “Jaar”). The ark was kept in Kiriath-jearim after the Philistines released it (see 1 Sam 6:21-7:2). However, the switch in verbs from “heard about” to “found” suggests that Ephrathah not be equated with Jair. The group who is speaking heard about the ark while they were in Ephrath. They then went to retrieve it from Kiriath-jearim (“Jaar”). It is more likely that Ephrathah refers to a site near Bethel (Gen 35:16, 19; 48:7) or to Bethlehem (Ruth 4:11; Mic 5:2).

[132:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “fields of the forest.” The Hebrew term יָעַר (ya’ad, “forest”) is apparently a shortened alternative name for קִרְיַת יְעָרִים (qiryat yÿ’arim, “Kiriath-jearim”), the place where the ark was kept after it was released by the Philistines and from which David and his men retrieved it (see 1 Chr 13:6).

[132:7]  ⁹ tn Or “bow down.”

[132:14]  ¹⁰ tn The words “he said” are added in the translation to clarify that what follows are the Lord’s words.

[132:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “for I desired it.”