Limitless Word
Where the tribes go up, The tribes of the Lord, To the Testimony of Israel, To give thanks to the name of the Lord.
Psalms 122:4 · New King James Version
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.
  • BSB where the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, as a testimony for 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 in a year all of your males shall appear before Yahweh your God in the place which he chooses: in the feast of unleavened bread, in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tents. They shall not appear before Yahweh empty.
  • Ps 66:13–16I will come into your temple with burnt offerings. I will pay my vows to you,
  • Exod 34:23–24Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord Yahweh, the God of Israel.
  • Ps 107:1–3Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever.
  • Ps 132:13For Yahweh has chosen Zion. He has desired it for his habitation.
  • Exod 23:17Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord Yahweh.
  • Ps 118:19Open to me the gates of righteousness. I will enter into them. I will give thanks to Yah.
  • Exod 16:34As Yahweh commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.
  • Exod 32:15Moses turned, and went down from the mountain, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand; tablets that were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other they were written.
  • Ps 78:68But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which he loved.
  • Deut 12:11then it shall happen that to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the wave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which you vow to Yahweh.
  • Exod 26:33–34You shall hang up the veil under the clasps, and shall bring the ark of the testimony in there within the veil: and the veil shall separate the holy place from the most holy for you.
  • Deut 12:5But to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, you shall seek his habitation, and there you shall come.
  • Ps 116:17–19I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call on Yahweh’s name.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 122:4YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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.