Mazmur 135:1-3

Psalm 135 ¹ 

135:1 Praise the Lord!

Praise the name of the Lord!

Offer praise, you servants of the Lord,

135:2 who serve ²  in the Lord’s temple,

in the courts of the temple of our God.

135:3 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good!

Sing praises to his name, for it is pleasant! ³ 

Mazmur 135:19-20

135:19 O family ⁴  of Israel, praise the Lord!

O family of Aaron, praise the Lord!

135:20 O family of Levi, praise the Lord!

You loyal followers ⁵  of the Lord, praise the Lord!

Mazmur 137:2-4

137:2 On the poplars in her midst

we hang our harps,

137:3 for there our captors ask us to compose songs; ⁶ 

those who mock us demand that we be happy, saying: ⁷ 

“Sing for us a song about Zion!” ⁸ 

137:4 How can we sing a song to the Lord

in a foreign land?

[135:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 135. The psalmist urges God’s people to praise him because he is the incomparable God and ruler of the world who has accomplished great things for Israel.

[135:2]  ² tn Heb “stand.”

[135:3]  ³ tn Heb “for [it is] pleasant.” The translation assumes that it is the Lord’s “name” that is pleasant. Another option is to understand the referent of “it” as the act of praising (see Ps 147:1).

[135:19]  ⁴ tn Heb “house” (here and in the next two lines).

[135:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “fearers.”

[137:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “ask us [for] the words of a song.”

[137:3]  ⁷ 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.

[137:3]  ⁸ 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.