Mazmur 84:3

84:3 Even the birds find a home there,

and the swallow ¹  builds a nest,

where she can protect her young ² 

near your altars, O Lord who rules over all,

my king and my God.

Mazmur 104:17

104:17 where the birds make nests,

near the evergreens in which the herons live. ³ 

[84:3]  ¹ tn The word translated “swallow” occurs only here and in Prov 26:2.

[84:3]  ² tn Heb “even a bird finds a home, and a swallow a nest for herself, [in] which she places her young.”

[84:3]  sn The psalmist here romanticizes the temple as a place of refuge and safety. As he thinks of the birds nesting near its roof, he envisions them finding protection in God’s presence.

[104:17]  ³ tn Heb “[the] heron [in the] evergreens [is] its home.”

[104:17]  sn The cedars and evergreens of the Lebanon forest are frequently associated (see, for example, 2 Chr 2:8; Isa 14:8; 37:24; Ezek 31:8).