Psalms / Chapter 120

Psalms 120

7 verses • Westminster Leningrad Codex

Translator's Introduction

What This Chapter Is About

Psalm 120 is the first of the fifteen Songs of Ascents (Psalms 120-134), a collection traditionally associated with pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The psalmist cries out to the LORD from a place of exile among deceitful, war-loving people. He describes himself as living in Meshech and dwelling among the tents of Kedar — both far-flung locations that represent hostile foreign territory. The psalm is a lament of displacement: the psalmist longs for peace but is surrounded by those who want war.

What Makes This Chapter Remarkable

The Songs of Ascents (shir ha-ma'alot) are the 'pilgrimage playlist' of ancient Israel — songs sung by worshipers as they traveled up to Jerusalem for the three annual festivals. Psalm 120 begins the journey at the point of maximum distance from Jerusalem, both geographically and spiritually. The psalmist is among liars and warmongers, far from the peace of Zion. The collection will gradually move closer to Jerusalem and the Temple, arriving at the priestly blessing in Psalm 134. The structure of the entire collection enacts the journey from exile to worship. Beginning with a lament is significant: the pilgrimage does not start from a place of strength but from a place of suffering.

Translation Friction

Meshech was a region in Anatolia (modern Turkey), and Kedar was an Arabian desert tribe — placing the psalmist simultaneously in both locations is geographically impossible. Most scholars understand these as metaphorical: Meshech and Kedar represent the far north and the far south, together meaning 'I am as far from Jerusalem as it is possible to be.' The psalm's language about lying lips and deceitful tongues suggests the psalmist's primary suffering is social rather than physical — he is surrounded by people who cannot be trusted.

Connections

Psalm 120 begins the Songs of Ascents (120-134), a coherent collection with its own internal progression. The theme of lying tongues connects to Psalms 12, 52, and 140. Meshech appears in Genesis 10:2 and Ezekiel 38-39 as a distant, threatening people. Kedar appears in Song of Solomon 1:5, Isaiah 21:16-17, and Jeremiah 49:28-29 as desert-dwelling warriors. The longing for shalom ('peace') in verse 7 anticipates Psalm 122:6-8, where the pilgrim prays for the peace of Jerusalem.

Psalms 120:1

שִׁ֗יר הַֽמַּ֫עֲל֥וֹת אֶל־יְ֭הוָה בַּצָּרָ֣תָה לִּ֑י קָ֝רָ֗אתִי וַֽיַּעֲנֵֽנִי׃

A Song of Ascents. In my distress I called to the LORD, and He answered me.

KJV In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he heard me.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

מַעֲלוֹת ma'alot
"Ascents" — ascents, steps, stairs, goings up, degrees

ma'alot refers to the act of going upward. Applied to these psalms, it describes the pilgrimage journey 'up' to Jerusalem — a journey that is simultaneously geographical (ascending the Judean hills), liturgical (ascending the Temple steps), and spiritual (ascending from distress to praise).

Translator Notes

  1. The superscription shir ha-ma'alot appears on all fifteen psalms of this collection. The word ma'alot comes from the root alah ('to go up, to ascend'). The phrase batzaratah li ('in my distress, in my narrow place') uses tzarah ('distress, trouble, tight place'), the same word family as metzar in Psalm 118:5. The pilgrimage begins from a place of constriction.
Psalms 120:2

יְֽהוָ֗ה הַצִּ֣ילָה נַ֭פְשִׁי מִשְּׂפַת־שֶׁ֑קֶר מִלָּשׁ֥וֹן רְמִיָּֽה׃

LORD, rescue my life from lying lips, from the deceitful tongue.

KJV Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The prayer hatzilah nafshi ('rescue my life') is directed against sfat sheqer ('lips of falsehood') and lashon remiyyah ('tongue of deceit'). The psalmist's primary enemy is not a sword but a mouth. The suffering described throughout this psalm is social and verbal — he is surrounded by people whose words are weapons. The word remiyyah ('deceit, treachery') suggests calculated deception, not casual dishonesty.
Psalms 120:3

מַה־יִּתֵּ֣ן לְ֭ךָ וּמַה־יֹּסִ֥יף לָ֗ךְ לָשׁ֥וֹן רְמִיָּֽה׃

What will He give you, and what more will He add to you, you deceitful tongue?

KJV What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The formula mah yitten lekha umah yossif lakh parallels the oath formula koh ya'aseh lekha Elohim ve-koh yossif ('thus may God do to you and thus may He add'). By using this pattern, the psalmist implies that the deceitful tongue is under divine oath-curse — God will deal with it as one deals with a perjurer.
Psalms 120:4

חִצֵּ֣י גִבּ֣וֹר שְׁנוּנִ֑ים עִ֝֗ם גַּחֲלֵ֥י רְתָמִֽים׃

Sharp arrows of a warrior, with burning coals of broom wood.

KJV Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The retamim ('broom wood, broom plant') is identified with Retama raetam, a desert shrub whose roots produce charcoal of exceptional heat and duration. Bedouin traditions confirm that broom-wood coals retain heat far longer than other fuels. The imagery suggests a slow, thorough burning — not a flash fire but sustained heat.
Psalms 120:5

אוֹיָה־לִ֭י כִּי־גַ֣רְתִּי מֶ֑שֶׁךְ שָׁ֝כַ֗נְתִּי עִֽם־אָהֳלֵ֥י קֵדָֽר׃

What misery for me, that I live as a foreigner in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!

KJV Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

קֵדָר Qedar
"Kedar" — a nomadic Arabian tribe descended from Ishmael; symbolically represents distant, hostile territory

Kedar was known for its skilled archers and warriors. Their black tents (Song of Solomon 1:5) became proverbial. As a metaphor in this psalm, Kedar represents life among people who are alien to the covenant community.

Translator Notes

  1. The verb garti ('I sojourned') means to live as a resident alien, without permanent rights or status. The verb shakhanti ('I dwelt') is the same root as the Shekhinah (divine presence) and the mishkan (tabernacle) — but here the psalmist dwells not in God's presence but among those hostile to God's people. The contrast is painful.
Psalms 120:6

רַ֭בַּת שָֽׁכְנָה־לָּ֣הּ נַפְשִׁ֑י עִ֝֗ם שׂוֹנֵ֥א שָׁלֽוֹם׃

Too long my soul has lived among those who hate peace.

KJV My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. Rabbat shakhenah lah nafshi im soneh shalom ('too long has my soul dwelt with those who hate peace') — the word rabbat ('much, too much, too long') expresses exhaustion. The psalmist has endured this exile beyond what is bearable. His neighbors are described as soneh shalom ('those who hate peace') — peace itself is what they oppose. The word shalom ('peace, wholeness, well-being') is the opposite of everything the psalmist's environment represents.
Psalms 120:7

אֲנִֽי־שָׁ֭לוֹם וְכִ֣י אֲדַבֵּ֑ר הֵ֝֗מָּה לַמִּלְחָמָֽה׃

I am for peace, but when I speak, they choose war.

KJV I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

שָׁלוֹם shalom
"peace" — peace, wholeness, well-being, completeness, harmony, prosperity

shalom is far more than the absence of conflict. It describes a state of total well-being — material, relational, spiritual, and communal. The psalmist's identification with shalom (ani shalom, 'I am peace') makes him a living contradiction to his environment, which is defined by milchamah ('war').

Translator Notes

  1. The stark brevity of the final line is powerful: ani shalom ('I — peace') versus hemmah lammilchamah ('they — for war'). The contrast is absolute. The psalmist does not elaborate or explain — the two realities are placed side by side and left to speak for themselves. The lack of resolution is deliberate: the Songs of Ascents will provide the resolution as the pilgrim moves progressively closer to Jerusalem across Psalms 121-134.
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