Psa 120:7 | NETfull | STEP | I am committed to peace, but when I speak, they want to make war. A song of ascents.

Psalms 120:7

I am committed to peace, ^{▼▼ Heb “I, peace.”}
but when I speak, they want to make war. ^{▼▼ Heb “they [are] for war.”}

Psalm 121

^{▼▼ Psalm 121. The psalm affirms that the Lord protects his people Israel. Unless the psalmist addresses an observer (note the second person singular forms in vv. 3–8), it appears there are two or three speakers represented in the psalm, depending on how one takes v. 3. The translation assumes that speaker one talks in vv. 1–2, that speaker two responds to him with a prayer in v. 3 (this assumes the verbs are true jussives of prayer), and that speaker three responds with words of assurance in vv. 4–8. If the verbs in v. 3 are taken as a rhetorical use of the jussive, then there are two speakers. Verses 3–8 are speaker two’s response to the words of speaker one. See the note on the word “sleep” at the end of v. 3.}

A song of ascents.

7 ^{▼▼ The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120–134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101–150 (WBC), 219-21.}