Psalms 122 - Introduction

CXXII.

It is on this psalm chiefly that the theory of the pilgrim odes is based. It tells its design in almost so many words, and actually refers to the ordinance which directed every male Israelite to visit the holy city three times a year. The poet stands in imagination or memory at the gates of Jerusalem. The journey is done, and at this moment the excitement and joy with which it was commenced are lovingly recalled. Then follow the impressions produced in the caravan of country strangers by the aspect of the city, the throngs of pilgrims pouring in at the several gates, the royal residences and courts of justice. At this moment the feelings of patriotic admiration and reverence get the better of mere wonder. The thought of the capital — capital political and religious — excites other emotions; and, as in so many instances of other pilgrims in connection with Jerusalem and of Rome, the prayer for the city’s welfare rises to the poet’s lips — a prayer which is none the less real because it reproduces literally the formal Oriental greetings which at such a time would be passing to and fro among the excited groups. The psalm, which shows only very slightly the step-like rhythm, is best arranged in couplets.

Title. — The addition of David is plainly a gratuitous conjecture. The LXX. knew nothing of it.