Psa 132:6-9 | Clarke | STEP | Verse 6 Lo, we have heard of it at Ephratah - This may be considered as a continuation of David's vow, as if he had said: As I had determined to build a temple for the ark, and heard that it was at Ephratah, I went and found it in the fields of Jaar, יער; - not the wood, but Kirjath Jaar or Jearim, where the ark was then lodged; - and having found it, he entered the tabernacle, ; and then, adoring that God whose presence was in it, he invited him to arise and come to the place which he had prepared for him.

Psalms 132:6-9

Verse 6

Lo, we have heard of it at Ephratah - This may be considered as a continuation of David's vow, as if he had said: As I had determined to build a temple for the ark, and heard that it was at Ephratah, I went and found it in the fields of Jaar, יער; - not the wood, but Kirjath Jaar or Jearim, where the ark was then lodged; - and having found it, he entered the tabernacle, Psa 132:7; and then, adoring that God whose presence was in it, he invited him to arise and come to the place which he had prepared for him. Verse 8

Arise, O Lord, into thy rest; thou and the ark of thy strength - Using the same expressions which Solomon used when he dedicated the temple, 2Chr 6:41, 2Chr 6:42. There are several difficulties in these passages. Ephratah may mean the tribe of Ephraim; and then we may understand the place thus: "I have learned that the ark had been in the tribe of Ephraim, and I have seen it at Kirjath-jearim, or Field of the woods, but this is not a proper place for it, for the Lord hath chosen Jerusalem." It is true that the ark did remain in that tribe from the days of Joshua to Samuel, during three hundred and twenty-eight years; and thence it was brought to Kirjath-jearim, where it continued seventy years, till the commencement of the reign of David over all Israel.

But if we take Psa 132:6-8, not as the continuation of David's vow, but as the words of the captives in Babylon, the explanation will be more plain and easy: "We have heard, O Lord, from our fathers, that thy tabernacle was formerly a long time at Shiloh, in the tribe of Ephraim. And our history informs us that it has been also at Kirjath-jearim, the fields of the wood; and afterwards it was brought to Jerusalem, and there established: but Jerusalem is now ruined, the temple destroyed, and thy people in captivity. Arise, O Lord, and reestablish thy dwelling-place in thy holy city!" See Calmet and others on this place. Verse 9

Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness - Let them be as remarkable for inward holiness as they are for the splendor of their holy vestments.