Verse Lens · Context pointer
Psalms 122:4 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 4. 4Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the LORD.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
Psalm 122:4: Within “Joyful arrival and prayer for Jerusalem's peace,” the line “Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, unto…” supplies one distinct parallel claim, image, address, or response.
Read It With
- Psalms 122:1–9
- Psalms 122:1–9
Read Psalm 122:4 with 122:1–9 and the whole of Psalm 122. Psalm 122:4 recalls named communal memory through “Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, unto the testimony of…” as part of the psalm's selective theological retelling. The song-of-ascents-zion form, parallel lines, voice, and Book V placement keep the selected line from becoming a contextless slogan.
Why It Needs Context
The line “Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, unto the…” is a premise, image, address, response, or transition inside Psalms 122:1–9; its parallel neighbors and the movement titled “Joyful arrival and prayer for Jerusalem's peace” must supply the claim before teaching or application.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Psalms 122:1–9 — Joyful arrival and prayer for Jerusalem's peaceSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Psalms 122:1–9, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Psalms
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ps.xml, OSIS 122:1–9
Open the fixed Hebrew Psalms file ↗