80 Th. Booij announcement in v. 6 opens with hnh: “Behold, we heard of it (...), we found it (...)” (19). Statements opening in this way can be the introduction to an appeal, as is the case in Gen 16,6; 42,2; 1 Sam 9,6.24; 1 Kgs 20,31; 2 Kgs 4,9- 10; 6,1-2 (20). The idea common to these texts is: Such being the state of affairs, this can be done. Verses 6-7 of our psalm, taken similarly, make good sense: ‘We have found it, so let us go in’. However, entering into Zion to worship there (v. 7) is futile if the place that David swore to ‘find’ is not accepted now by YHWH. This is the notion behind v. 8: “Rise up, YHWH, to your resting place, you and the ark of your strength!” Israel’s God, awful to his enemies, is asked to ‘rise up’ to the place (21) where, after war and wanderings, he lives with his people in peace (cf. Num 10,35; Ps 68,2; 95,11; also 1 Kgs 8,20-21.56). VI Since the Davidic king and the ark are part of the situation supposed in Psalm 132, the text must be pre-exilic (22). This is also indicated by the quotation in vv. 3-5. A Sumerian song records about king Gudea of Lagash, “To build a house for his King (the deity), he does not sleep during the night, not slumber on the midday” (23). In Egyptian royal inscriptions it is recorded that the ruler passes the night watchful, meditating what might serve the deity. This usually results in building a temple (24). So, when David says that he will give himself no rest until he finds a place where his God may dwell, this suits a traditional model of royal behaviour; the author of the psalm appears to have been familiar at the royal court. A further indication is the position of our text among the Songs of Ascent. Linguistic elements and late formulae argue most 107,25.29; 111,10; 144,6. The word ˆwra (‘chest, ark’), generally masculine, is feminine in 1 Sam 4,17; 2 Chr 8,11. In Ps 132 the feminine suffix is probably to distinguish the ark as a symbol from YHWH himself (cf. v. 8). (19) For [mv as ‘hear about, hear of’ see e.g. Jer 19,3; Job 42,5. (20) Cf. F. BROWN – S.R. DRIVER – C.A. BRIGGS, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (Oxford 21951) s.v., b (a) (p. 244). (21) For the pregnant use of l μwq see Gen 19,1; Esth 7,7. D.R. HILLERS, “Ritual Procession of the Ark and Ps 132”, CBQ 30 (1968) 48-55, reads l as ‘from’. It is doubtful whether in classical Hebrew l could have that meaning. E.F. HUWILER, “Patterns and Problems in Psalm 132”, The Listening Heart. Essays in Wisdom and the Psalms in Honor of Roland E. Murphy (ed. K.G. HOGLUND a.o.) (Sheffield 1987) 204, understands l as ‘for the sake of, on behalf of’. In that sense, however, it is generally used with respect to humans; see C. BROCKELMANN, Hebräische Syntax (Neukirchen 1956) § 107e; P. JOÜON – T. MURAOKA, A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew (Roma 1991) § 133d. If ‘for the sake of’ were meant in v. 8, it would rather have been expressed by d[b (2 Sam 10,12), l[ (Judg 9,17), tdwa l[ (Exod 18,8), or rbd l[ (Ps 45,5). (22) A later dating is defended in e.g. F. BAETHGEN, Die Psalmen. Übersetzt und erklärt (HK II/2; Göttingen 31904) 390-391; C.A. BRIGGS – E. G. BRIGGS, The Book of Psalms (ICC; Edinburgh 1906-1907) II, 468-469; M. BUTTENWIESER, The Psalms. Chronologically treated, with a new translation (1938, New York 21969) 381-382; K. SEYBOLD, Die Psalmen (HAT I/15; Tübingen 1996) 497; M. SAUR, Die Königspsalmen. Studien zur Entstehung und Theologie (BZAW 340; Berlin – New York 2004) 225-248. (23) See A. FALKENSTEIN – W. VON SODEN, Sumerische und Akkadische Hymnen und Gebete. Eingeleitet und übertragen (Zürich – Stuttgart 1953) 154. (24) See B.G. OCKINGA, “An Example of Egyptian Royal Phraseology in Psalm 132”, BN 11 (1980) 38-42.