Psalm 135

More accurately, “Hallelujah.” This is a Hebrew word often translated as “praise the LORD” or “thank the LORD.” Hebrew was the original language in which the Old Testament—the sacred Jewish scripture—was written.

The LORD’s name isn’t beautiful because of how it sounds. It’s beautiful because of who it represents. Scholars aren’t sure how it sounds. They don’t have the necessary vowels. “LORD” in all capital letters is the spelling most Bibles use when the writer refers to the name of God. Moses asked God what his name was, and God said Moses should tell the Israelite ancestors of the Jews that his name is “I AM” (Exodus 3:14). In the original Hebrew language, the name is spelled with only consonants—no vowels. It’s an ancient shorthand, to save hides used to make scrolls. The name is YHWH. Without knowing which vowels, most scholars have settled on YAHWEH, pronounced YAH-way.

Sihon and Og were two Amorite kings in what is now the Arab country of Jordan, east of Israel and the Jordan River. They refused to let Moses and the Hebrew ancestors of the Jewish people to peacefully pass through their territory. These refugees from Egyptian slavery were on their way to the land Moses said God promised them, in what is now Israel and Israeli-occupied Palestinian Territory.

Canaan was the ancient name for what is today roughly the same territory as Israel and the Palestinian Territories, which includes Gaza and the Occupied West Bank.

“Zion” is a term of endearment, and another name for Jerusalem. It’s a bit like “The Big Apple” for New York City, “The City of Love” for Paris.