Psalm 114 · a question people ask
"Judah became his sanctuary, Israel his dominion" (114:2). Why Judah, when all Israel went out of Egypt?
The psalm doesn't say. In 114:1 it speaks of the whole people, "Israel" and "the house of Jacob". In 114:2 it sets Judah and Israel in two lines side by side. It doesn't say when Judah became his sanctuary, and it names no building or mountain (tap sanctuary). Other Scripture speaks of the LORD's holy place after the sea. The song at the sea says, "You have guided them in your strength to your holy habitation" (Exodus 15:13), and there holy is qodesh, 114:2's sanctuary. Psalm 78 says, "He brought them to the border of his sanctuary, to this mountain, which his right hand had taken" (Psalm 78:54), with the same word, and later, "But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which he loved. He built his sanctuary like the heights" (Psalm 78:68-69), where sanctuary is another Hebrew word, miqdash. Psalm 114 doesn't say whether it means any of these, and these notes don't choose.
The verses
“When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of foreign language, Judah became his sanctuary, Israel his dominion.”
““You, in your loving kindness, have led the people that you have redeemed. You have guided them in your strength to your holy habitation.”
“He brought them to the border of his sanctuary, to this mountain, which his right hand had taken.”
“But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which he loved. He built his sanctuary like the heights, like the earth which he has established forever.”