Tehillim 120 | The Songs of Ascents

Today we begin a distinct unit of fifteen psalms, each bearing the title “A Song of Ascents”. When learning this sequence, there are two main questions worth asking:
1. What is the meaning of the title “A Song of Ascents,” and is there a connection between the title and the content of the psalms?
2. As with other parts of the Tehillim, are these psalms standalone compositions, or is there a thematic and conceptual progression among them?

Let’s begin with the first question. Regarding the meaning of the title “A Song of Ascents,” many interpretations have been offered by commentators and scholars. We’ll highlight two major approaches:
Chazal understood the psalms to have been recited on the stairs (ma’alot) of the Temple, hence their name. The Talmud (Sukkah 51b) describes the celebration of Simchat Beit HaShoeva as follows: “The pious and the men of action would dance… and they would say before them passages of song and praise. And the Levites would play on lyres, harps, cymbals, and trumpets, and countless other musical instruments. The musicians would stand on the fifteen stairs that descend from the Israelites’ courtyard to the Women’s Courtyard, corresponding to the fifteen Songs of the Ascents in Psalms, and upon which the Levites stand with musical instruments and recite their song.” This interpretation is supported by the dominant presence of Jerusalem and the Temple throughout these psalms.

According to another view, expressed in the Radak, the word “ascents” refers to the ascent from exile:
“It may also be explained that ‘ascents’ refers to the ascents from exile, for Israel is destined to ascend from exile to the Land of Israel, and these songs are spoken in the voice of those in exile.” This interpretation is supported by the language used to describe the return from Babylon in Ezra: “It was on the first day of the first month that the pilgrims met up to begin their journey (הַמַּעֲלָה) from Babylon” (Ezra 7:9), as well as by the content of these psalms, many of which speak of the return to Zion and Jerusalem.

If indeed the Songs of Ascents depict the journey to the Land of Israel, then we can understand Psalm 120, the first in the series, as a plea to God from within distress. The poet is surrounded by liars and deceitful people and describes his setting as in exile: “Woe to me that I dwell in Meshekh, that I live among the tents of Kedar” (120:5–6). This opening psalm is still firmly set in exile. It is from there that the journey to Israel and to Jerusalem begins—developing over the coming psalms.

We’ll note that exile is characterized here as a state of falsehood and deception, and of living among haters of peace. This emphasis may be intentionally linked to the end of the previous psalm. Psalm 119 closes by rejecting falsehood (119:163) and yearning for peace for those who love Torah (119:165). The psalm of praise for Torah presents a world of truth and peace, while psalm 120, spoken from exile, expresses the pain of the opposite reality.