where the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, as a testimony for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
Parallel translations
- WEB where the tribes go up, even Yah’s tribes, according to an ordinance for Israel, to give thanks to Yahweh’s name.
- KJV Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the LORD.
- NKJV Where the tribes go up, The tribes of the Lord, To the Testimony of Israel, To give thanks to the name of the Lord.
- NASB To which the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord— An ordinance for Israel— To give thanks to the name of the Lord.
- NLT All the tribes of Israel—the Lord’s people— make their pilgrimage here. They come to give thanks to the name of the Lord, as the law requires of Israel.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
To Jerusalem the tribes go up to give thanks to Yahweh's name, as ordained for Israel. United worship is God's appointment for His people.
Overview
The psalmist notes that all the tribes ascend to Jerusalem 'according to an ordinance,' to thank God together. Worship at the central sanctuary expressed Israel's unity under one God. This gathering of God's people for thanksgiving foreshadows the worldwide community drawn together in Christ to praise God's name.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Deut 16:16Three times a year all your men are to appear before the LORD your God in the place He will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the LORD empty-handed.
- Ps 66:13–16I will enter Your house with burnt offerings; I will fulfill my vows to You—
- Exod 34:23–24Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel.
- Ps 107:1–3Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His loving devotion endures forever.
- Ps 132:13For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His home:
- Exod 23:17Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD.
- Ps 118:19Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter and give thanks to the LORD.
- Exod 16:34And Aaron placed it in front of the Testimony, to be preserved just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
- Exod 32:15Then Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back.
- Ps 78:68But He chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which He loved.
- Deut 12:11then the LORD your God will choose a dwelling for His Name. And there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all the choice offerings you vow to the LORD.
- Exod 26:33–34And hang the veil from the clasps and place the ark of the Testimony behind the veil. So the veil will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place.
- Deut 12:5Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.
- Ps 116:17–19I will offer to You a sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the LORD.
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 122:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.