Psalms 120:1-7 - The Songs Of Ascents.

Of the title itself different explanations are given. Some regard the degrees ( ma ' aloth ) as "steps," and accept a rabbinical explanation, that the psalms were written for chanting upon fifteen steps, which led from the Court of the Women in the temple to the Court of the Men. But there is no sufficient evidence of the existence of these steps. Others, translating ma ' aloth by "ascents," suggest that they are psalms composed for the Jews to chant on their ascent from Babylon to Jerusalem at the return from the Captivity. But the plural form is thus unaccounted for, while the ascription of five of the fifteen to David and Solomon is contradicted. Under these circumstances, recent critics mostly acquiesce in the view that the psalms were written for the pilgrims, who annually went up to Jerusalem at the three great feasts, to chant upon their journeys. (So Ewald, Thenius, Hengstenberg, Dean Johnson, and Professor Alexander.)