Psa 48:2, Jer 3:17, Eze 38:12 | JFB | STEP | 2-3. situation-- literally, "elevation." joy of, &c.-- source of joy. sides of the north-- poetically for eminent, lofty, distinguished, as the ancients believed the north to be the highest part of the earth (compare ).

‏ Psalms 48:2

2-3. situation--literally, "elevation."

joy of, &c.--source of joy.

sides of the north--poetically for eminent, lofty, distinguished, as the ancients believed the north to be the highest part of the earth (compare Is 14:13).

‏ Jeremiah 3:17

17. Jerusalem--the whole city, not merely the temple. As it has been the center of the Hebrew theocracy, so it shall be the point of attraction to the whole earth (Is 2:2-4; Zec 2:10, 11; 14:16-21).

throne of ... Lord--The Shekinah, the symbol of God's peculiar nearness to Israel (De 4:7) shall be surpassed by the antitype, God's own throne in Jerusalem (Psa 2:6, 8; Eze 34:23, 24; Zec 2:5).

imagination--rather, as Margin, "the obstinacy" or stubbornness.

‏ Ezekiel 38:12

12. midst of the land--literally, "the navel" of the land (Jud 9:37, Margin). So, in Eze 5:5, Israel is said to be set "in the midst of the nations"; not physically, but morally, a central position for being a blessing to the world: so (as the favored or "beloved city," Re 20:9) an object of envy. Grotius translates, "In the height of the land" (so Eze 38:8), "the mountains of Israel," Israel being morally elevated above the rest of the world.