Psalms 133 - Introduction

This Psalm is commonly supposed to describe the blessings which flowed from the meeting of the Israelites at Jerusalem at the great religious festivals. Such meetings were a consecration of the whole nation; they diffused a spirit of brotherly harmony throughout it; they sustained and quickened the national life by bringing individuals into fellowship with Jehovah and with one another at the religious centre of His choice. Attractive as this view is, and natural as it may have been to apply the Psalm to these gatherings, it is questionable whether it was the sight of them which inspired the poet. "Dwelling together" implies more than a temporary sojourn for a few days; and it seems preferable to connect the Psalm with Nehemiah's efforts to re-people Jerusalem (Nehemiah 11:1 ff.). It presents an ideal to be aimed at. Old animosities are to be laid aside. Brethren are to dwell together as brethren should do. A strong and united metropolis, at once the religious and political centre of the country, will consecrate and invigorate the whole nation, and spread blessing through the body of which it is the head.

If the title of Davidcould be regarded as authentic, the Psalm might refer to the reunion of the nation after the civil discords of the early years of his reign. It is however wanting in the Targum, and in some MSS of the LXX and of Jerome, and the language of the Psalm points to a post-exilic date for this as for the other Psalms of Ascent.