*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
They will go from strength to strength. In this verse the same sentiment is repeated. Mount Zion being the place where, according to the appointment of the law, the holy assemblies were observed, after the ark of the covenant was removed thither, it is said, that the people of God will come to Zion in great numbers, provoking one another to this good work. [1] The word chyl, chayil, seldom signifies a troop, or band of men, but most commonly power, or strength. It will therefore be more in accordance with the ordinary use of the term, to translate, They will go from strength to strength; [2] implying, that the saints are continually acquiring fresh strength for going up to mount Zion, and continue to prosecute their journey without weariness or fatigue, until they reach the wished-for place, and behold the countenance of God. If the word troop is preferred, the meaning will be, that not a few only will come, but numerous companies. The manner in which God manifested himself to his servants in the temple in old time, we have spoken of elsewhere, and especially on the 27th psalm, at the 4th and 5th verses. No visible image of God was there to be seen; but the ark of the covenant was a symbol of his presence, and genuine worshippers found from experience, that by this means they were greatly aided in approaching him.
1 - "Horsley reads, from wall to wall;' Merrick, from station to station;' others, from virtue to virtue,' in the military sense. All come to the same effect; they persevere through all difficulty or opposition, having their hearts set on reaching Zion's hill." -- Williams. "I think with Gejerus that the Hebrew may be translated from strength to strength, (answerably to the words from faith to faith, Romans 1:17, and from glory to glory, 2-Corinthians 3:18,) and signify, that whereas other travelers grow more and more weary as they travel, each of the pious persons here described shall, by the refreshments administered to them, proceed from one degree of strength to another, viresque acquiret eundo. As Jerusalem is represented in the New Testament as a type of heaven, I see nothing irrational in supposing that the inspired writer might, in describing the ascent to Jerusalem, have in view also that spiritual progress which leads to the city which is above, the mother of us all. The words before us are certainly very applicable to the advances made in this progress, from strength to strength, from one stage of Christian perfection to another." -- Merrick's Annotations.
2 - "Ailleurs." This supplement is not in the Latin version.
They go from strength to strength - Margin," company to company." The Septuagint and Vulgate, "They go from strength to strength; the God of gods is seen in Zion." Luther, "They obtain one victory after another, that one must see that there is a righteous God in Zion." DeWette, "Going they increase in strength, until they appear before God in Zion." This last is doubtless the true idea. As they pass along, as they come nearer and nearer to the end of their journey, their strength, their ardor, their firmness of purpose increases. By their conversation; by their songs; by encouraging one another; by seeing one difficulty overcome after another; by the fact kept before their minds, and increasingly apparent, that they are constantly approaching the end of their journey - that the distance to be traveled is constantly diminishing - that the difficulties become less and less, and that they will soon see the towers and walls of the desired city - they are invigorated, cheered, comforted. What a beautiful illustration of the life of Christian pilgrims - of the bands of the redeemed - as they journey on toward the end of their course - the Mount Zion above! By prayer and praise and mutual counsel, by their songs, by the fact that difficulties are surmounted, leaving fewer to be overcome, and that the journey to be traveled is diminishing constantly - by the feeling that they are ever drawing nearer to the Zion of their home, until the light is seen to glitter and play on its towers and walls - they increase in strength, they become more confirmed in their purposes, they bear trials better, they overcome difficulties more easily, they walk more firmly, they tread their way more cheerfully and triumphantly.
Every one of them in Zion appeareth before God - literally, "He shall appear to God in Zion." The meaning evidently is, that they who are referred to in the previous verses as going up to Zion will be seen there, or will come before God, in the place of worship. There is a change of number here, from the plural to the singular - as, in Psalm 84:5, there is a change from the singular to the plural. Such changes are frequent in the Scriptures as in other writings, and the one here can be accounted for on the supposition that the author of the psalm, in looking upon the moving procession, at one moment may be supposed to have looked upon them as a procession - a moving mass - and then that he looked upon them as individuals, and spake of them as such. The idea here is, that they would not falter and fall by the way; that the cheerful, joyous procession would come to the desired place; that their wishes would be gratified, and that their joy would be full when they came to the end of their journey - to Zion. So it is of all Christian pilgrims. Every true believer - everyone that truly loves God - will appear before him in the upper Zion - in heaven. There their joy will be complete; there the long-cherished desires of their hearts will be fully gratified; there all that they ever hoped for, and more, will be realized.
They go from strength to strength - They proceed from one degree of grace to another, gaining Divine virtue through all the steps of their probation.
Every one of them in Zion appeareth before God - This is a paraphrase, and a bad one, but no translation. They shall proceed from strength to strength, יראה אל אלהים בציון yeraeh el Elohim betsiyon, "The God of gods shall be seen in Zion." God shall appear in their behalf, as often as they shall seek him; in consequence of which they shall increase in spiritual strength.
Some think there is a reference here to companies of people going up to Jerusalem from different parts of the land, bending together as they go on, so that the crowd is continually increasing. This meaning our translators have put in the margin.
They go from (f) strength to strength, [every one of them] in Zion appeareth before God.
(f) They are never weary but increase in strength and courage till they come to God's house.
They go from strength to strength,.... Whose strength is in the Lord, and in whose heart are his ways, and who pass through the valley of Baca, and find a well of supply, and pools of blessings there; they renew their spiritual strength; they grow stronger and stronger every step they take; the way of the Lord is strength unto them: or "from army to army", or "from company to company" (d), as Kimchi, alluding to the companies in which they went up to the feasts; see Luke 2:44 when those who were more zealous, or more able to undergo journeys, would outgo the rest, and first overtake one company, and then another, and get to Zion first: or from victory to victory: first overcoming one enemy, and then another, as sin, Satan, and the world, being more than conquerors through him that has loved them: or "from doctrine to doctrine" (e); being led first into one truth, and then into another, as they were able to bear them; and so following on to know the Lord, and increasing in the knowledge of him: or "from class to class" (f); from the lower to an higher form in the school of Christ; so Jarchi interprets it, from school to school; and the Targum, from the sanctuary to the school; compare with this Romans 1:17.
everyone of them in Zion appeareth before God; three times in the year, but not empty, Exodus 34:20 so the saints appear before God in his church below, presenting their persons, souls and bodies, prayers and praises, as holy and spiritual sacrifices unto him; than which nothing is more desirable to them. This is the wished for happiness, and the issue of their travel, toil, and labour; see Psalm 42:2, and they shall appear before him, and in his presence, in the, church above; when Christ shall appear, they shall appear with him in glory, and be like him, and see him as he is; even everyone of them, not one shall be wanting; because he is great in power, not one of them shall fail; and he will present them to his Father, saying,
lo, I and the children thou hast given me: some render the words, "the God of gods will appear", or "be seen in Zion" (g); there Jehovah manifests himself, and grants his gracious presence; this is the mount of the Lord, in which he is and shall be seen, Genesis 22:14.
(d) "de exercitu in exercitum", Pagninus; so Piscator, Junius & Tremellius; "de turma ad turmam": Vatablus, Cocceius. (e) "De doctrina ad doctrinam", so some in Vatablus. (f) "Ex cohorte, vel classe rudiorum et infirmiorum, ad classem adultiorum", Gussetius, p. 725. (g) "videbitur Deus deorum in Sijon", Pagninus Montanus; "videtur Deus deorum in Sion", Musculus; so Sept. and Eth.
The figure of the pilgrim is carried out. As such daily refit their bodily strength till they reach Jerusalem, so the spiritual worshipper is daily supplied with spiritual strength by God's grace till he appears before God in heaven.
appeareth . . . God--the terms of the requisition for the attendance on the feasts (compare Deuteronomy 16:16),
They go - They grow stronger and stronger. Appeareth - This is added as the blessed fruit of their long and tedious journey.
*More commentary available at chapter level.