Psalms 122:4

Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the LORD.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Whither	שֶׁשָּׁ֨ם she.Sham	H8033	there (transferring to time) then · relative particle + adverb
tribes	שְׁבָטִ֡ים she.va.Tim	H7626	a scion · noun, common masculine plural absolute
up	עָל֪וּ 'a.Lu	H5927	to ascend · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
tribes	שִׁבְטֵי shiv.tei-	H7626	a scion · noun, common masculine plural construct
LORD	יָ֭הּ yah	H3050	Jah · proper noun, a man's name
testimony	עֵד֣וּת 'e.Dut	H5715	testimony · noun, common feminine singular absolute
Israel	לְיִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל le.Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · preposition + proper noun, a place name
thanks	לְ֝הֹד֗וֹת le.ho.Dot	H3034	physically · preposition + verb, hiphil infinitive construct
name	לְשֵׁ֣ם le.Shem	H8034	an appellation · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
LORD	יְהוָֽה Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Deuteronomy 16:16 Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened brea…
Psalms 66:13-16 I will go into thy house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee my vows,
Exodus 23:17 Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD.
Exodus 34:23-24 Thrice in the year shall all your men children appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel.
Psalms 107:1-3 O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psalms 118:19 Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the LORD:
Psalms 132:13 For the LORD hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation.
Exodus 16:34 As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 122:1-5

Here we have, I. The pleasure which David and other pious Israelites took in approaching to and attending upon God in public ordinances, Psa 122:1, Psa 122:2. 1. The invitation to them was very welcome. David was himself glad, and would have every Israelite to say that he was glad, when he was called upon to go up to the house of the Lord. Note, (1.) It is the will of God that we should worship him in concert, that many should join together to wait upon him in public ordinances. We ought to worship God in our own houses, but that is not enough; we must go into the house of the Lord, to pay our homage to him there, and not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. (2.) We should not only…

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John Gill on Psalms 122:4

Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord,.... The twelve tribes of Israel; the males of them went up three times a year to Jerusalem to worship, at the feasts of passover, pentecost, and tabernacles; and was typical of the church of Christ, where the worship of God is carried on, his word preached, and ordinances administered; and whither saints go and attend for their own profit and the glory of God; this is the city of our solemnities, Isaiah 33:20; unto the testimony of Israel; the ark of the testimony a symbol of the divine Presence. The law is called a testimony, because it testified the will of God to be done; this was put into an ark, which had its name from thence, and was t…

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John Calvin on Psalms 122:4-5

Psalm 122:4-5 4. Thither the tribes ascended, the tribes of God, for a testimony to Israel, [69] to praise the name of Jehovah. 5. For there were set thrones for judgment, the thrones of the house of David. 4. Thither the tribes ascended. David here invests Jerusalem with two titles of honor, calling it the sacred and regularly appointed place for calling upon the name of God; and next, the royal sea, to which the whole people were to have recourse for obtaining justice. All our salvation depends upon these two points; first, that Christ has been given to us to be our priest; and, secondly, that he has been established king to govern us. This God showed to his ancient people under figures.…

The Church Fathers

"For there the tribes went up" [Psalm 122:4]. We were asking whither he ascends who has fallen; for we said, it is the voice of a man who is ascending, of the Church rising. Can we tell whither it ascends? Whither it goes? Whither it is raised? "Thither," he says, "the tribes went up." Whither? To "partaking in the Same." But what are the tribes? Many know, many know not. For if we use the word "curies" in its proper sense, we understand nothing, save the "curies" which exist in each particular city, whence the terms "curiales" and "decuriones," that is, the citizens of a curia or a decuria; and you know that each city has such curies. But there are, or were at one time, curies of the people in those cities, and one city has many curies, as Rome has thirty-five curies of the people. These are called tribes. The people of Israel had twelve of these, according to the sons of Jacob.
— Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 122

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Jerusalem — Called also Salem, Ariel, Jebus, the “city of God,” the “holy city;” by the modern Arabs el-Khuds, meaning “the holy;” once “the city of Judah” (2 Chr. 25:28). This name is in the original in the…
Feasts, The Anniversary · Were a time of thankfulness — Were a time of thankfulness
Jerusalem · The Jews: Went up to, at the feasts — The Jews: Went up to, at the feasts

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Psalms 122:4

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 122:1-5

John Gill on Psalms 122:4

John Calvin on Psalms 122:4-5

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Psalms 122:4

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 122:1-5

John Gill on Psalms 122:4

John Calvin on Psalms 122:4-5

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Psalms 122:4-5

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Psalms 122:4

Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 122:4