Thijs Booij, «Psalm 133: "Behold, how good and how pleasant"», Vol. 83 (2002) 258-267

The opening line of Psalm 133 is, literally, about a social practice; the comparisons following it suggest that in fact a gathering of YHWH’s worshippers is meant. The latter is confirmed by the final line. V. 3a has a bridging function in that its last words ("on the mountains of Zion"), although belonging to the imagery of the comparison, are actually direct expression, relating to the statement of v. 1 (‘inversion’). The situation hinted at can hardly be other than the gathering in Jerusalem on the occasion of a religious festival. In view of the subtle structure and inner cohesion of Psalm 133, it is scarcely plausible that its present meaning is due to some form of adaptation.

Hermon, a mountain far to the north, be said to come down on the mountains of Zion? The line has been explained as a case of ‘popular meteorology’: clouds originating from Hermon precipitate as dew on the mountains of Zion²⁷. However, no trace of this is found elsewhere in the Old Testament; there dew is simply a gift from heaven²⁸. ‘Dew of Hermon’ is sometimes said to be a designation of profuse dew; as a set phrase, however, it would be singular. Some think the problem can be solved by emendation. Instead of Nwyc, Gunkel reads Nwy( (‘Iyyon’), the name of a town not far from Hermon²⁹; hy,Fci and NwOycf (both ‘dryness’) have also been proposed³⁰. In Gunkel’s opinion, the adjunct M#$ (‘there’) in v. 3b relates to v. 1: where brothers dwell together, God commands the blessing³¹. In view of the distance between v. 3b and v. 1 and the absence of a designation of place in the latter verse, this solution is not very plausible.

        J.P.M. van der Ploeg argues that v. 3a pictures an ideal situation. "Imagine the dew of this mountain (Hermon) precipitating on Sion! It does not happen, of course, but how good and pleasant would it be if it would occur!"³². This view, I think, is correct, although incomplete as an explanation of v. 3a.

        (3) A third problem, closely linked with those mentioned, is the relationship between the last two lines. Obviously, since the notion ‘Zion’ (v. 3a) is reiterated by ‘there’ (M#$, v. 3b), they are connected in a special way. The subject of the psalm, however, is a brotherly ‘dwelling together’. How is it to be explained that v. 3b, to justify ("For...") what the psalm had to say so far³³, links up with a part of text serving as a comparison? In fact, this is the key problem of the text.

III

        Summarizing: What, in v. 1, is meant by ‘brothers dwelling together’? What made the author say, in v. 3a, that dew of Hermon comes down on the mountains of Zion? Of what nature is the connection between v. 3a and v. 3b? I think the following considerations are in order.

        (1) Psalm 133 defines a situation first by the words ‘good’ and ‘pleasant’, then by the use of similes (comparisons)³⁴, with ‘Zion’ in the second of them. This state of affairs requires closer examination.