1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
2 My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.
3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.
6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.
8 The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.
1 [[A Song H7892 of degrees.]] H4609 I will lift up H5375 mine eyes H5869 unto the hills, H2022 from whence H370 cometh H935 my help. H5828
2 My help H5828 cometh from the LORD, H3068 which made H6213 heaven H8064 and earth. H776
3 He will not suffer H5414 thy foot H7272 to be moved: H4132 he that keepeth H8104 thee will not slumber. H5123
4 Behold, he that keepeth H8104 Israel H3478 shall neither slumber H5123 nor sleep. H3462
5 The LORD H3068 is thy keeper: H8104 the LORD H3068 is thy shade H6738 upon thy right H3225 hand. H3027
6 The sun H8121 shall not smite H5221 thee by day, H3119 nor the moon H3394 by night. H3915
7 The LORD H3068 shall preserve H8104 thee from all evil: H7451 he shall preserve H8104 thy soul. H5315
8 The LORD H3068 shall preserve H8104 thy going out H3318 and thy coming in H935 from this time forth, and even for H5704 evermore. H5769
1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains: From whence shall my help come?
2 My help `cometh' from Jehovah, Who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: He that keepeth thee will not slumber.
4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 Jehovah is thy keeper: Jehovah is thy shade upon thy right hand.
6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, Nor the moon by night.
7 Jehovah will keep thee from all evil; He will keep thy soul.
8 Jehovah will keep thy going out and thy coming in From this time forth and for evermore. Psalm 122 A Song of Ascents; of David.
1 A Song of the Ascents. I lift up mine eyes unto the hills, Whence doth my help come?
2 My help `is' from Jehovah, maker of heaven and earth,
3 He suffereth not thy foot to be moved, Thy preserver slumbereth not.
4 Lo, He slumbereth not, nor sleepeth, He who is preserving Israel.
5 Jehovah `is' thy preserver, Jehovah `is' thy shade on thy right hand,
6 By day the sun doth not smite thee, Nor the moon by night.
7 Jehovah preserveth thee from all evil, He doth preserve thy soul.
8 Jehovah preserveth thy going out and thy coming in, From henceforth even unto the age!
1 {A Song of degrees.} I lift up mine eyes unto the mountains: whence shall my help come?
2 My help [cometh] from Jehovah, who made the heavens and the earth.
3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved; he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 Jehovah is thy keeper, Jehovah is thy shade upon thy right hand;
6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
7 Jehovah will keep thee from all evil; he will keep thy soul.
8 Jehovah will keep thy going out and thy coming in, from henceforth and for evermore.
1 > I will lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from Yahweh, Who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not allow your foot to be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, he who keeps Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 Yahweh is your keeper. Yahweh is your shade on your right hand.
6 The sun will not harm you by day, Nor the moon by night.
7 Yahweh will keep you from all evil. He will keep your soul.
8 Yahweh will keep your going out and your coming in, From this time forth, and forevermore.
1 <A Song of the going up.> My eyes are lifted up to the hills: O where will my help come from?
2 Your help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
3 May he not let your foot be moved: no need of sleep has he who keeps you.
4 See, the eyes of Israel's keeper will not be shut in sleep.
5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
6 You will not be touched by the sun in the day, or by the moon at night.
7 The Lord will keep you safe from all evil; he will take care of your soul.
8 The Lord will keep watch over your going out and your coming in, from this time and for ever.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 121
Commentary on Psalms 121 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
The Consolation of Divine Protection
This song of degrees is the only one that is inscribed שׁיר למעלות and not שׁיר המעלות . The lxx, Targum, and Jerome render it as in the other instances; Aquila and Symmachus, on the contrary, ᾠδὴ ( ᾆσμα ) εἰς τάς ἀναβάσεις , as the Midrash Sifrı̂ also mystically interprets it: Song upon the steps, upon which God leads the righteous up into the other world. Those who explain המעלות of the homeward caravans or of the pilgrimages rightly regard this למעלות , occurring only once, as favouring their explanation. But the Lamed is that of the rule or standard. The most prominent distinguishing mark of Psalms 121:1-8 is the step-like movement of the thoughts: it is formed למּעלות , after the manner of steps. The view that we have a pilgrim song before us is opposed by the beginning, which leads one to infer a firmly limited range of vision, and therefore a fixed place of abode and far removed from his native mountains. The tetrastichic arrangement of the Psalm is unmistakeable.
Apollinaris renders as meaninglessly as possible: ὄμματα δενδροκόμων ὀρέων ὑπερεξετάνυσσα - with a reproduction of the misapprehended ἦρα of the lxx. The expression in fact is אשּׂא , and not נשׂאתי . And the mountains towards which the psalmist raises his eyes are not any mountains whatsoever. In Ezekiel the designation of his native land from the standpoint of the Mesopotamian plain is “the mountains of Israel.” His longing gaze is directed towards the district of these mountains, they are his ḳibla , i.e., the sight-point of his prayer, as of Daniel's, Daniel 6:11. To render “from which my help cometh” (Luther) is inadmissible. מאין is an interrogative even in Joshua 2:4, where the question is an indirect one. The poet looks up to the mountains, the mountains of his native land, the holy mountains (Psalms 133:3; Psalms 137:1; Psalms 125:2), when he longingly asks: whence will my help come? and to this question his longing desire itself returns the answer, that his help comes from no other quarter than from Jahve, the Maker of heaven and earth, from His who sits enthroned behind and upon these mountains, whose helpful power reaches to the remotest ends and corners of His creation, and with ( עם ) whom is help, i.e., both the willingness and the power to help, so that therefore help comes from nowhere but from ( מן ) Him alone. In Psalms 121:1 the poet has propounded a question, and in Psalms 121:2 replies to this question himself. In Psalms 121:3 and further the answering one goes on speaking to the questioner. The poet is himself become objective, and his Ego, calm in God, promises him comfort, by unfolding to him the joyful prospects contained in that hope in Jahve. The subjective אל expresses a negative in both cases with an emotional rejection of that which is absolutely impossible. The poet says to himself: He will, indeed, surely not abandon thy foot to the tottering ( למּוט , as in Psalms 66:9, cf. Psalms 55:23), thy Keeper will surely not slumber; and then confirms the assertion that this shall not come to pass by heightening the expression in accordance with the step-like character of the Psalm: Behold the Keeper of Israel slumbereth not and sleepeth not, i.e., He does not fall into slumber from weariness, and His life is not an alternate waking and sleeping. The eyes of His providence are ever open over Israel.
That which holds good of “the Keeper of Israel” the poet applies believingly to himself, the individual among God's people, in Psalms 121:5 after Genesis 28:15. Jahve is his Keeper, He is his shade upon his right hand ( היּמין as in Judges 20:16; 2 Samuel 20:9, and frequently; the construct state instead of an apposition, cf. e.g., Arab. jânbu 'l - grbı̂yi , the side of the western = the western side), which protecting him and keeping him fresh and cool, covers him from the sun's burning heat. על , as in Psalms 109:6; Psalms 110:5, with the idea of an overshadowing that screens and spreads itself out over anything (cf. Numbers 14:9). To the figure of the shadow is appended the consolation in Psalms 121:6. הכּה of the sun signifies to smite injuriously (Isaiah 49:10), plants, so that they wither (Psalms 102:5), and the head (Jonah 4:8), so that symptoms of sun-stroke ( 2 Kings 4:19, Judith 8:2f.) appears. The transferring of the word of the moon is not zeugmatic. Even the moon's rays may become insupportable, may affect the eyes injuriously, and (more particularly in the equatorial regions) produce fatal inflammation of the brain.
(Note: Many expositors, nevertheless, understand the destructive influence of the moon meant here of the nightly cold, which is mentioned elsewhere in the same antithesis. Genesis 31:40; Jeremiah 36:30. De Sacy observes also: On dit quelquefois d'un grand froid, comme d'un grand chaud, qu'il est brulant . The Arabs also say of snow and of cold as of fire: jaḥrik , it burns.)
From the hurtful influences of nature that are round about him the promise extends in Psalms 121:7-8 in every direction. Jahve, says the poet to himself, will keep (guard) thee against all evil, of whatever kind it may be and whencesoever it may threaten; He will keep thy soul, and therefore thy life both inwardly and outwardly; He will keep ( ישׁמר־ , cf. on the other hand ישׁפּט־ in Psalms 9:9) thy going out and coming in, i.e., all thy business and intercourse of life (Deuteronomy 28:6, and frequently); for, as Chrysostom observes, ἐν τούτοις ὁ βίος ἅπας, ἐν εἰσόδοις καὶ ἐξόδοις , therefore: everywhere and at all times; and that from this time forth even for ever. In connection with this the thought is natural, that the life of him who stands under the so universal and unbounded protection of eternal love can suffer no injury.