Psalms Chapter 48 verse 2 Holy Bible

ASV Psalms 48:2

Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, Is mount Zion, `on' the sides of the north, The city of the great King.
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BBE Psalms 48:2

Beautiful in its high position, the joy of all the earth, is the mountain of Zion, the mountain of God, the town of the great King.
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DARBY Psalms 48:2

Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, [on] the sides of the north, the city of the great King.
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KJV Psalms 48:2

Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.
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WBT Psalms 48:2

A Song and Psalm for the sons of Korah. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness.
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WEB Psalms 48:2

Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, Is Mount Zion, on the north sides, The city of the great King.
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YLT Psalms 48:2

Beautiful `for' elevation, A joy of all the land, `is' Mount Zion, The sides of the north, the city of a great king.
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Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 2. - Beautiful for situation; literally, for elevation; i.e. in respect of its lofty position. "Jerusalem, above all other great capitals," says Professor Cheyne, "is a mountain city." "It is a glorious burst," says Canon Tristram, "as the traveller rounds the shoulder of Mount Olivet, and the Haram wall starts up before him from the deep gorge of the Kedron, with its domes and crescents sparkling in the sunlight - a royal city" ('Land of Israel,' pp. 111, 112). The joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion (comp. Romans 2:15). The psalmist writes as a devout Israelite. To him there is nothing in the world so lovely, nothing so gladdening, as Mount Zion and the holy city seated on it. He does not mean to say that all the earth felt as he did; though he may have thought that, if men were wise, they would so feel. On the sides of the north. Professor Cheyne regards this clause as a gloss which has crept into the text. Others give a mystical interpretation founded on Isaiah 14:15. But the simplest explanation seems to be the best. Zion, the city of David, lay to the north of the temple, and abutted on the city's northern wall. The city of the great King (comp. ver. 1, "the city of our God").

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(2) Situation.--Heb., noph. A word only found here, but explained from a cognate Arabic word to mean elevation. And this feature is quite distinctive enough of Jerusalem to lend confirmation to this explanation--"Its elevation is remarkable." (See Stanley, Sinai and Palestine, p. 170.)On the other hand, an adverbial use--highly beautiful or supremely beautiful (comp. Lamentations 2:15, "The perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth") may be all that the poet intends.Sides of the north.--A common phrase, generally taken to mean the quarter or region of the north (see Ezekiel 38:6; Ezekiel 38:15; Ezekiel 39:2; Isaiah 14:13), but which, from the various uses of two words making it up, might mean northern recesses or secret recesses, according as we adopt the derived or the original meaning of ts?phon. . . .