EXPOSITION
AN antiphonal hymn, composed for a joyful occasion, when there was to be a procession to the temple, a welcoming of the procession by those inside, and the solemn offering of a sacrifice upon the altar there. Dr. Kay's conjecture, that the occasion was the joyful Passover which followed the dedication of the second temple in B.C. 516 (Ezra 6:19-22), is not improbable, though it cannot be regarded as more than a reasonable hypo thesis.
The first eighteen verses are the song of the procession as it winds its way slowly up the hill to the great gate of the temple, sung alternately, as it would seem, by the two halves of the procession. Psalms 118:19 is the utterance of the leader, in the name of the whole hand, on their arrival before the gates. Psalms 118:20 is the reply made to them by those inside. The procession, as it enters, sings Psalms 118:21-24 antiphonally as before, all joining in Psalms 118:25. Those already inside sing Psalms 118:26 in welcome of their friends. Psalms 118:27 belongs to the leader of the pro cession, and initiates the actual sacrifice. Psalms 118:28, Psalms 118:29 are then sung, either by the whole congregation or by the two parts of the procession.