The JPS Bible Commentary: Psalms 120-150 9780827609402, 082760940X

Table of contents :
Torah and Bible Commentary List
Title Page
Copyright Page
Sponsor Page
Dedication
Contents
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Hebrew Conventions
Introduction to the Commentary
Introduction to the Sidebars
Commentary to Psalms 120-150
Notes to the Commentary
Excursus: Songs of Ascents
Bibliography for the Commentary

Citation preview

THE JP S BIBLE COMMENTARY PSALMS 120 –150 ‫תהלים קכ–קנ‬

The JPS Torah Commentary G e n e r a l E d i t o r   Nahum M. Sarna L i t e r a r y E d i t o r   Chaim Potok G e n e s i s   Nahum M. Sarna E x o d u s   Nahum M. Sarna L e v i t i c u s   Baruch A. Levine N u m b e r s   Jacob Milgrom D e u t e r o n o m y   Jeffrey H. Tigay

The JPS Bible Commentary T h e H a f ta r o t   Michael Fishbane The Five Megillot and Jonah G e n e r a l E d i t o r   Michael Fishbane J o n a h   Uriel Simon E s t h e r   Adele Berlin E c c l e s i a s t e s   Michael V. Fox R u t h   Tamara Cohn Eskenazi and Tikva Frymer-Kensky S o n g o f S o n g s   Michael Fishbane Psalms G e n e r a l E d i t o r   Benjamin D. Sommer P s a l m s 1 2 0 – 1 5 0   Adele Berlin

THE JPS BIBLE C O M M E N TARY PSALMS 120 –150

‫תהלים קכ–קנ‬

The Traditional Hebrew Text with the JPS Translation Commentary by  A D E L E B E R L I N Sidebars on Ritual and Liturgical Uses of Psalms by  A V I G D O R S H I N A N and  B E N J A M I N D. S O M M E R

The Jewish Publication Society Philadelphia

2023  / 5783

© 2023 by The Jewish Publication Society All rights reserved. Published by the University of Nebraska Press as a Jewish Publication Society book. The English rendering of Psalms herein is from the New Jewish Publication Society (NJPS) translation, known also as the JPS Tanakh, first issued in its entirety in 1985, with a second edition in 1999 and further corrections in 2023. © 1972, 1982, 1985, 1999, 2023 by The Jewish Publication Society. English translation of other passages from the JPS Tanakh © 1985, 1999 by The Jewish Publication Society. Masoretic Hebrew text from “Miqra according to the Masorah,” purl.org/jps/mam, reformatted under a Creative Commons BY-SA 3.0 license. Book design adapted from the series design by Adrianne Onderdonk Dudden Composition by Raphaël Freeman, Renana Typesetting, Modi‘in, Israel Manufactured in the United States of America

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022049584 ISBN: 978-0-8276-0940-2 G e n e s i s   ISBN 978-0-8276-0326-4 E x o d u s   ISBN 978-0-8276-0327-1 L e v i t i c u s   ISBN 978-0-8276-0328-8 N u m b e r s   ISBN 978-0-8276-0329-5 D e u t e r o n o m y   ISBN 978-0-8276-0330-1 Five-volume set  ISBN 978-0-8276-0331-8 J o n a h   ISBN 978-0-8276-0672-2 E s t h e r   ISBN 978-0-8276-0699-9 E c c l e s i a s t e s   ISBN 978-0-8276-0742-2 H a f ta r o t   ISBN 978-0-8276-0691-3 R u t h   ISBN 978-0-8276-0744-6 S o n g o f S o n g s   ISBN 978-0-8276-0741-5

University of Nebraska Press Lincoln

The Jewish Publication Society expresses its gratitude for the generosity of the sponsorship of The JPS Bible Commentary—Psalms five-volume series: Dedicated in memory of Rabbi André Ungar

‫הרב מרדכי בן מאיר וצפורה‬ ‫עלָ ֽי‬ ‫֣ל‬ ָ ‫גָ ַמ‬ ‫לַ ֽיהֹוָ ֑ה ִּכ֖י‬ ‫ש ָירה‬ ֥ ִ ׁ ‫ָא‬ I will sing to the LORD, for He has been good to me. Psalms 13:6

The Jewish Publication Society expresses its gratitude for the generosity of the sponsor of this volume: The Hannah S. and Samuel A. Cohn Memorial Foundation in memory of Gerald L. Cohn (Gershon ben Sholem v’Hannah Sarah) 1928–2014 Like the Psalmist, he approached all of life with great intensity: his devotion to family, the challenges of commerce, and his love of Judaism were always clear. He has left a rich legacy.

The Jewish Publication Society expresses its gratitude for the generosity of an additional donor to this volume: The Berger family, in memory of David B. and Sophia M. Berger.

For Joseph, Miriam, Steve, Ethan, Jacob, Rebecca, and especially for George.

‫וראה בנים לבניך שלום על ישראל‬ Psalm 128:6

CONTENTS Acknowledgments  A b b r e v i at i o n s  

xi

xii

hebrew conventions  xiV I N T R O D U C T I O N T O T H E C O M M E N TA R Y   X V Adele Berlin Psalms as Praise, Prayer, and Teachings   xvi What Do the Psalms Mean?   xvii Psalms as Poetry  xix Speakers and Authors  xx Scenarios and Settings  xxii Dating Psalms 120–150  xxii Textual Traditions and Ancient Interpretations  xxiii The Role of Traditional Jewish Interpretation in a Modern Commentary  xxiv A Note on the Commentary  xxiv n o t e s   xxv I N T RO D U CT I O N TO T H E SI D E B A R S  X XV I I Benjamin D. Sommer Psalms in Daily, Sabbath, and Festival Prayers  xxvii Psalms and Fasts  xxix Psalms for the Sabbath, Holidays, and Special Occasions  xxix Psalms in Women’s Prayer Books  xxxi Magical Use of the Psalms  xxxi Ritual Recitation of the Entire Book of Psalms or Large Sections of the Book  xxxii n o t e s   xxxiii

Table 1.  Psalms Recited in Holiday Liturgies  xxxv Table 2.  A Custom in the Italian Rite: Psalms for Each Parashah and for Special Days  xxxix Table 3.  An Old Ashkenazic Custom: Psalms for Reading by Ḥevrot Tehillim (Psalms Societies) on Holidays and Other Occasions  xl T H E C O M M E N TA R Y T O P S A L M S 1 2 0 – 15 0  

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Adele Berlin with Sidebars on Ritual and Liturgical Uses of Psalms Avigdor Shinan and Benjamin D. Sommer n o t e s  174 E X C U R S U S : S O N G S O F A S C E N T S  18 3 Adele Berlin n o t e s  188 B I B L I O G R A P H Y F O R T H E C O M M E N TA R Y   18 9

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This commentary has been many years in the making. It was initiated by The Jewish Publication Society under the leadership of Ellen Frankel, with the assistance of Carol Hupping, and brought to fruition under Ellen’s successor at JPS, Barry L. Schwartz, and, in the final stage, by Barry’s successor, Elias Sacks. I thank them for including me among the team of scholars writing commentaries on the Book of Psalms and for their guidance during the process. A large measure of gratitude goes to Benjamin Sommer, editor of the Psalms volumes of the JPS Bible Commentary. He read carefully an earlier version of this volume and provided extensive and judicious comments, ranging from points of English style and Hebrew grammar to conceptual topics like the biblical views of God and of death. At every turn he reminded me of the needs and interests of the readers of the commentary. His suggestions, always made gently, led me to reconsider parts of what I had previously written, to expand some of my thoughts, and to make significant changes. He deserves credit for many improvements in the final version. Equally deserving of credit is David E. S. Stein, Project Manager, whose sharp eye and keen mind prevented infelicities in the manuscript. David is a close and careful reader with deep knowledge of the biblical text. Of course, neither Ben nor David is to blame for this volume’s deficits. I also thank Debra Corman, the copy editor, and Joy Weinberg, Managing Editor at JPS. Research on this commentary was completed in 2018, and only minor changes or updates were made thereafter. The study of Psalms, however, continues unabated, and I am sure that by the time this commentary is published, many more will have seen the light of publication. —Adele Berlin

ABBREVIATIONS

‫ ה׳‬God’s personal name; the tetragrammaton



// is placed in parallel with

J. Jerusalem Talmud JAOS Journal of the American Oriental Society

| sets off the author’s commentary JBL Journal of Biblical Literature after translators’ note Jer. Jeremiah ABD Anchor Bible Dictionary JHS Journal of Hebrew Scriptures



B. Babylonian Talmud



BB Bava Batra (tractate)



JNSL Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages



Ber. Berakhot (tractate)



Jon. Jonah



BHS Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia



Josh. Joshua



CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly





Chron. Chronicles Dan. Daniel Deut. Deuteronomy Eccles. Ecclesiastes



Exod. Exodus



Ezek. Ezekiel



Gen. Genesis



Hab. Habakkuk





JQR Jewish Quarterly Review

JSOT Journal for the Study of the Old Testament



Judg. Judges



KJV King James Version



Lam. Lamentations



Lev. Leviticus



M. Mishnah

HALOT The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (5 vols., 1994–2000) Heb. Hebrew HeBAI Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel



Hos. Hosea



Isa. Isaiah

JPS Jewish Publication Society

Mic. Micah Mid. Middot (tractate) MT Masoretic Text



NAB New American Bible



Nah. Nahum



NASB New American Standard Bible Neh. Nehemiah





NIV New International Version

Sam. Samuel



Shab. Shabbat (tractate)

NJPS New Jewish Publication Song Song of Songs Society translation (1985; Suk. Sukkah (tractate) 2023 corrected edn.), T. Tosefta used in this volume; Ta‘an. Ta‘anit (tractate) also known as the TDOT Theological Dictionary of JPS Tanakh the Old Testament NRSV New Revised Standard Version



Transl. Translators (of NJPS)



Num. Numbers



VT Vetus Testamentum



Prov. Proverbs



Yev. Yevamot (tractate)



Ps. Psalms



R. Rabbi



RB Revue biblique



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RSV Revised Standard Version



ZAW Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft



Zech. Zechariah

HEBREW CONVENTIONS The Hebrew text combines the results of a collation of the most reliable Tiberian masoretic manuscripts (such as the Aleppo Codex) with certain more modern notation conventions. Some conventions are designed to aid the non-expert reader. Lineation.  The Hebrew text’s formatting generally follows the construal of the NJPS translators, as Hebrew syntax allows. Its lineation usually follows the prosody indicated by the masoretic te‘amim (punctuation/accents/cantillation marks). Textual Variants.  Where the Masoretic Text’s ketiv (written tradition) and kerei (recited tradition) occasionally differ, the ketiv letters are printed first in small gray type, followed by the vocalized kerei letters in normal text type. (When reading the text aloud, the kerei is traditionally preferred by default.) This edition departs from traditional notation that presumes that readers know how to handle two recurring terms that are pronounced quite differently than how they are written—namely, God’s name when adjacent to the word Adonai (“Lord”), and “Jerusalem.” These are now cast in ketiv/kerei notation. Conversely, this edition forgoes ketiv/kerei notation for certain unexpected spellings involving the consonants ‫ י‬and ‫ ה‬as vowel-letters if the relevant vowel sign suffices to indicate the pronunciation and the intended grammatical form (i.e., plural or possessive). Although normally the presence of vowel-letters would aid in pronunciation, in these cases they do not. Masoretic Footnotes.  As is traditional, this edition’s notes on the Hebrew text have been culled from the much larger body of masoretic lore. Such notes were addressed to scribes already familiar with the concerns and conventions of their trade; a lot went without saying. Rather than reproduce the selected notes in their laconic original format, this edition renders them into modern English idiom. Masoretic notes typically verify as intentional a textual anomaly that might other­wise give a copyist (or a reader) pause, or they count the instances of something, such as the number of verses in the book. In so doing, they signify the commitment to quality control that for millennia has char­acterized the transmission of the biblical text. —David E. S. Stein, Project Manager

INTRODUCTION TO THE COMMENTARY Adele Berlin Psalms 120–150, the last chapters in the Book of Psalms in printed masoretic Bibles, are part of Book 5 of Psalms (Psalms 107–150) and do not, in and of themselves, constitute a single unified collection. Within Psalms 120–150 are several groups of psalms thought to have once been independent subcollections. The most likely is Psalms 120–134, the Songs of Ascents, identified by their superscriptions (see “Excursus: Songs of Ascents”). Many scholars identify Psalms 146–150, called the Hallelujah psalms because each begins and ends with “Hallelujah,” as a separate subcollection. There are, however, other Hallelujah psalms elsewhere in the Psalter, such as Psalms 113 and 135. A recent study concludes that Psalms 146–150 were originally separate psalms, not a discrete subcollection. While in their current position in the Masoretic Text they form a conclusion to the Psalter, they were not originally composed for that purpose.1 A few scholars think that the le-David superscriptions in Psalms 138–145 mark a subcollection of psalms, but this is questionable since le-David superscriptions also appear frequently in Psalms 3–41 and 51–72 and they tended to increase over time, as David became associated with more and more psalms and ultimately with the entire book. The psalms preserved in the Book of Psalms are arranged into five books. While psalms are mostly prayers, many of them presumably recited in Temple worship, the Book of Psalms is not a prayer book in the sense of a set of prayers to be recited in a certain order. Rather, it is an anthology containing different types of psalms, compiled in several stages over a period of time. Books 4 and 5 are thought to have been compiled during the postexilic period; indeed most, if not all, of the psalms in these books date from that period. There was fluidity in ancient times regarding which psalms to include and in what order to arrange them. The Masoretic Text contains 150 psalms, but the Septuagint has an additional psalm (it also numbers them differently), and the Syriac tradition has four more.2 The large Psalms scroll from Qumran includes additional material and arranges the psalms in a different sequence altogether. In recent years there has been increased interest in uncovering the principles behind the Masoretic Text’s arrangement, the linguistic and thematic connections between one psalm and the next, and the organization of topics.3 It is likely that the Levites of the Second Temple were the editors and compilers of the Book of Psalms as a whole.4 As guardians of the liturgy and learned poet-scribes, they are the most probable candidates. The Levites, at least in postexilic times, were not only liturgical poets and compilers; they also provided Torah instruction to the people (Neh. 8:2–8; 2 Chron. 17:7–9).5 Their instructional duties, no less than their liturgical duties, are

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Introduction to the Commentary served by the collection and preservation of psalms. Psalm 1, which acts as an introduction to the entire book, emphasizes the study of Torah. The Book of Psalms stands now as an anthology of “literature for teaching Torah piety.” 6 Individual psalms, and even more so the book as a whole, serve a didactic function (see next section). In fact, in Jewish tradition, both worship and the study of sacred texts are vehicles for praising God, and this tradition may be inherent in the Book of Psalms.7

Psalms as Praise, Prayer, and Teachings The essence of a psalm is the praise of God. Various words from the root ‫הלל‬, “to praise,” recur regularly in psalms, and the book is known as ‫ספר תהלים‬, literally “the book of praises.” Psalms see the praise of God as the main purpose of human beings, and they call upon all people, indeed all creatures, to praise Him. God is most praiseworthy for having created the universe, which is the event par excellence that demonstrates God’s supreme and unique power. He is to be praised also for the favors He has done, and will continue to do, for Israel; the Exodus from Egypt is the paradigmatic divine favor. References to these and other divine acts appear over and over again in psalms. God is praised through words and music, as indicated by the term ‫מזמור‬, “psalm,” from ‫זמר‬, “to sing or play music,” by other musical or choral instructions in the superscriptions, and by other references to song (‫ )שיר‬within psalms (Ps. 33:3, 137:4, 144:9). In ancient Israel, psalms were sung or chanted to musical accompaniment. Psalms offer praise to God in two modes: by addressing Him directly as “You” and by speaking about Him. Many psalms switch abruptly between second-person and third-person references to God, which may violate modern standards of composition but is commonplace in psalms. Similarly, the psalms often switch between singular and plural, between “I” and “we,” the individual and the community or nation. Most psalms are prayers, although only Psalms 17, 86, 90, 102, and 142 bear that term in their superscriptions (Ps. 145:1 in the Qumran Psalms scroll 11QPsa reads ‫ תפלה‬instead of ‫)תהלה‬, and Psalm 72 concludes Book 2 with “End of the prayers of David son of Jesse.” Psalms were almost certainly used liturgically in the Second Temple, quite likely in the First Temple, and possibly even in the Northern Kingdom and in other sanctuaries before the Jerusalem Temple was built. One can imagine reciting psalms outside of centers of worship, in other public or private spaces ( Jonah recited a psalm-like poem inside a fish!), but psalms are predominantly associated with public worship, first and foremost with the Temple in Jerusalem, the focal point and the primary location for official worship for most of ancient Israel’s history. Psalms are formal compositions written in highly conventionalized poetic language. They employ stylized rhetoric and draw on traditional themes and topics. They are not the spontaneous outpourings of an individual’s emotions or experiences. Psalms are ritualized poems for public recitation. As such, they are a form of public discourse. They aid the worshiper to express, in a communally sanctioned manner, thoughts appropriate to the occasion, be they praise to God, gratitude, petition, and the like. The Bible does know of spontaneous prayer, but that form of prayer is personal rather than communal

xvi

Introduction to the Commentary and is generally couched in prose rather than in poetry, although prose communal prayer is found in postexilic literature, like Nehemiah 9. Prose prayers are also limited to their specific narrative context—for example, Moses’ prayer for Miriam’s cure (Num. 12:13) and Jacob’s prayer for protection from Esau (Gen. 32:10–13)—whereas psalms, containing almost no specific contextual information and preserved outside of a narrative context, lend themselves to use on multiple or recurring occasions.8 Those occasions may be linked to the daily, weekly, or yearly (or festival) calendar, or they may celebrate milestones in the human life cycle or mark extraordinary events in the life of the individual or of the community, such as imminent danger, a great victory, the coronation of a new king, or the restoration of Judah after the exile. Because psalms embody traditional values and beliefs in traditional forms of verbal expression, those who hear or recite them are not only being given the words to express their own thoughts at the moment; they are, more importantly, also receiving reinforcement in the community’s system of beliefs and internalizing the phrases, metaphors, and myths through which those beliefs are articulated. Even though many psalms may be addressed to God (God is what literary scholars call the implied audience), the real audience is the community of worshipers. While psalms are a vehicle through which humans commune with God—the counterpart to Torah and prophecy, through which God communicates with humans—they (and all prayers) are intended to be heard by human worshipers. They teach worshipers how to imagine God and how to imagine themselves, as a nation and as individuals, vis-à-vis God and the world.9 Not all psalms are addressed to God, and not all present themselves as prayers. Some resemble teachings or sermons more than prayers, and they advocate adherence to ethical and moral standards and Torah teachings. They speak about the righteous and the wicked, good and evil, the good life, the workings of the cosmos, and God’s commandments. These psalms clearly indicate that they, and psalms in general, are the products of reasoned thought, not raw emotion, and that they were composed by educated poets who are transmitting elements of Israel’s beliefs and aspirations in psalmic form. With the heightened scholarly attention to the compilation of psalms into a book, more emphasis is being placed on the Book of Psalms as an educational book, a book to be studied, than on Psalms as a liturgical anthology. But the didactic function of psalms is not confined to specific psalms or to their final compilation into a book. To some degree, all psalms, from the start, implicitly serve a didactic purpose in addition to their liturgical purpose. Prayer plays an instructional role as well as a religious or spiritual role in the life of the community. It teaches those who recite the prayers how to construct their world of beliefs.

What Do the Psalms Mean? The primary aim of a commentary on the Book of Psalms is to explain what the psalms mean and how that meaning is generated. But whose meaning are we seeking? The meaning intended by the composer of the psalm, or perceived by the editors of the book, or as interpreted by the Qumran community or by the ancient Rabbis or the medieval exegetes or modern scholars? In fact, modern scholars do not all agree on the meaning, and neither did ancient or medieval interpreters. Meaning changes over time and varies

xvii

Introduction to the Commentary from one community or individual to the next, for meaning is sought and found in different contexts, for different purposes, and by using different interpretative approaches and tools of inquiry. A communal reading of a psalm in a liturgical context will cast the psalm’s meaning differently from a scholarly reading in the context of ancient Near Eastern literature; a Christian reading that sees in psalms the foreshadowing of Jesus will of necessity clash with a Jewish reading of the psalms. Differing meanings are legitimate, but not all can be investigated in one commentary. The focus here will be on the ancient meaning—more precisely, what contemporary scholars think the psalms meant to the ancient community for whom they were written. We will assume that this ancient community knew the psalms in more or less the same form as they are found in the Masoretic Text, although interesting variants in the Dead Sea Scrolls or the Ancient Versions will be noted (see below, Textual Traditions and Ancient Interpretations). The tools employed here for ascertaining a psalm’s meaning for the ancient audience are information about biblical language and biblical poetry, the historical context (as far as it may be determined), and the relationship of the psalm to other biblical thought and literature and, when applicable, to hymnic poems from the ancient Near East. Identifying the genre or type of the psalm is a helpful starting point. Knowing whether we have before us a psalm of praise, lament, thanksgiving, a wisdom psalm, or a royal psalm—to mention the most common types of psalms identified by form criticism—sets up certain expectations about the topic and message of the psalm. However, squeezing every psalm into a specific form-critical genre has its limitations. For one thing, these genre identifications derive from modern literature and are not native to ancient Israel. We do not know if or how ancient readers categorized the psalms. Furthermore, many psalms combine elements of several genres, like praise and thanksgiving. While identifying a psalm’s genre is a first step, concentrating on its typical or generic features may draw attention away from its distinctive message and forms of expression. Each psalm is a unique poem, even though it may share style, themes, and even phrases with other psalms. This commentary will highlight the poetic nature of the psalms, for poetry is the vehicle through which the message is expressed, and it will highlight the religious/national ideology that the psalms imply or articulate. Psalms 120–150 are thought to have been written in Judah in early Second Temple times. They will be analyzed in that historical context, for the assumption here is that they reflect the issues of concern during that time.10 Many of the themes in these psalms are found elsewhere in the Bible, because they were important components in the formation of postexilic Judean identity or, more precisely, the identity of a particular group in Yehud (the name of the Persian province that included the former kingdom of Judah). This group differentiated itself from opposing factions labeled “attackers,” “mockers,” “haters of Zion,” “lawless people,” and “people of false words.” 11 Among the tenets that define our group are the centrality of Zion/Jerusalem and the Temple as the focal point of the community and the source from which God’s blessing of Israel flows; the hope for the return of Davidic kingship; the Torah (or parts of it) as the story of Israel’s past, of which the group sees itself as the continuation;12 and the Torah as the record of the divine commandments that Israel is to follow. And, woven like a silver thread throughout and connecting these other ideas are God’s (YHVH’s)

xviii

Introduction to the Commentary uniqueness and His supremacy over the universe that He created, as well as the continuation of the covenant between God and Israel that ensures God’s continuing protection of Israel. Looming large is the shadow of the exile (most obviously in Psalms 126 and 137), an event that transcended its historical occurrence and became a concept, a metaphor for the postexilic Jewish condition. The historical exile may have officially ended with the return in 539 b.c.e., but postexilic Judean thought developed the idea that the return from exile was not complete, that the exile was ongoing, and that its end could only be hoped for in the future.13 In fact, many descriptions of current distress in the psalms can also describe exile, for the exile became a metaphor for later times of trouble.

Psalms as Poetry Psalms are poetry, the common form for public prayer and lament in ancient Israel, and also the form used for prophetic speech and Wisdom Literature. What distinguishes psalms from other biblical poetry is not their poetic form but their main thrust—praise of God and promoting the praise of God—and the rhetorical strategies they employ to reach their goal.14 Scholars during the last part of the twentieth century analyzed in detail the poetic tropes and structures of biblical poetry, especially parallelism, a hallmark of biblical poetry. Parallelism occurs in a set of two (or three) lines in which the second (and third) echoes the first, in any one of many ways, such that the poem pauses and at the same time moves forward. Other features were also noted, including word patternings and repetitions, and frame composition or inclusio (in which a psalm begins and ends with the same phrase). Discussions about meter were less conclusive, and the search for it has largely been abandoned; biblical poetry has no meter in the usual sense of a fixed number of countable elements, although rhythm is present because sets of lines, especially lines with parallelisms, tend to be of similar length. Another important characteristic of biblical poetry, perhaps all poetry, is its terseness. In biblical poetry terseness is manifest through short lines, often lacking the definite article, the marker for a definite direct object, and the relative particles “that, which” (-‫ ש‬,‫)אשר‬. The lines are paratactic, lacking conjunctions that would make explicit the relationship between the lines. They are linked by the all-purpose vav, “and/but,” or by nothing at all. Finally, poetry uses imagery, metaphor, and simile.15 The commentary will not dwell on the formal poetic structures, but will point out especially effective tropes and other features to show how they shape the message. Psalms employ conventional motifs, and many of the same words and phrases are found throughout the book, especially relating to the praise of God. At times a psalm may appear to be nothing more than a string of stock phrases and images, yet despite their similarity, no two psalms are exactly alike. It is tempting to praise this apparent creativity, but it is not clear if ancient poets prized creativity as much as modern poets do. Biblical poets worked firmly within their literary tradition, yet they often found an original way to express a traditional idea or to give a new twist to familiar themes and wording. One way they do this is by evoking earlier texts and traditions in echoes, allusions, and citations, in which they recontextualize or rewrite their source texts. When traditional ideas are reformulated,

xix

Introduction to the Commentary they gain new life to meet new exigencies. By the same token, the repetition of familiar thoughts and forms is comforting in a liturgical context and cements the continuity between the past and the present.16 The reuse of earlier texts in later ones is widespread in biblical literature, and recognizing reused texts and how they are deployed is an important key to the interpretation of all biblical texts, including psalms. A literary approach is also sensitive to the way a poem is built. Which words are chosen, and how are they arranged? What associations do the words provoke? What is gained by using one construction rather than another? How does the poem move from one topic to the next? What picture is created, and what is missing from the picture? To what effect are the allusions used, and how have they modified the source text? The assumption is that a poem is an intentionally wrought original artistic creation and that its artistry is a vehicle to convey its message.

Speakers and Authors As in all literature, we must distinguish between the historical author of a psalm and the speaking voice within it.17 This distinction is clearly illustrated in the first two verses of the poem “In Flanders Field”: In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie, In Flanders fields. The speakers identify themselves as “the Dead.” But obviously dead people did not write this poem. It was written by a Canadian military physician, Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, who wrote in the voice of the fallen soldiers buried in Flanders fields. The speaking voice in a psalm is no less a fictional construct than “the Dead” in McCrae’s poem. (I use the term “speaker” or “speaking voice” rather than “the Psalmist” because “the Psalmist” conflates the author and the speaker. And I refer to both as male, since, in the ancient context, it is most likely that they were men.) The speaker, like the narrator in a narrative, is a literary persona, the voice uttering the words. The speaker may reflect the views of the author, but psalms should not be taken as necessarily autobiographical or eyewitness accounts. When the speaker in a psalm calls out to God in a moment of distress, that does not automatically indicate that the author experienced that distress personally. Psalms are the products of the poet’s professional expertise, not his personal experience. Unfortunately, the failure to differentiate the historical author from the speaking persona is widespread and has led to mistaken ideas about when and where a psalm was written. A good poet can put the speaker in any location or situation, actual or fictional, and make

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Introduction to the Commentary it feel real and immediate. Just because the speaker in Psalm 137 says he was “by the rivers of Babylon” does not prove that the author of this psalm was ever in Babylonia.18 Just because Psalm 131 uses a feminine metaphor, “a weaned child with its mother,” does not mean that a woman wrote this psalm. Who wrote the psalms? We cannot identify the individual authors of the psalms. Like most ancient writings, psalms are anonymous. But we can say that the authors show every sign of having been trained literary experts, learned religious poets, probably members of the Temple personnel, at least during the Second Temple period, for which we have the most information. According to the Book of Chronicles, music and psalmody were important features of the Temple. (Chronicles purports to describe the First Temple, but scholars agree that its description retrojects the practices of the Second Temple back to the First Temple.) Those in charge of music and psalmody were the Levites, who served as singers or musicians in the Temple. It seems reasonable to posit that the Levites, being not only musicians but also learned men, composed some of the postexilic psalms. (See the beginning of this introduction for the Levites as compilers of psalms.) Information about psalmody in the First Temple is more elusive. We may assume that psalmody was part of First Temple rituals, although our proof is indirect. We do know of preexilic song on festivals from Amos 5:23, “Spare Me the sound of your hymns, / And let Me not hear the music of your lutes” (cf. Amos 8:10), and from Isa. 30:29, “For you, there shall be singing / As on a night when a festival is hallowed; / There shall be rejoicing as when they march / With flute, with timbrels, and with lyres.” In Isa. 38:20, Hezekiah mentions playing music in “the House of the Lord.” It is hard to imagine that Temple music and psalmody are postexilic innovations with no precedent.19 Hymns and religious music are known from much earlier periods in Ugarit and in Mesopotamia. Ancient Israel lived in a world where poetic prayers and music were part of religious practice, so it seems likely that worship in the First Temple included psalmody. It has been suggested that some psalms, notably the Asaphite and Korahite psalms (but not their superscriptions), date from First Temple times.20 However, we lack information outside of Chronicles (which is anachronistic) about the personnel who might have composed or performed psalms in the First Temple. The Torah does not mention them, nor are they listed among the exiled professionals in 2 Kings 24–25. We can only extrapolate that psalms were authored and/ or performed by preexilic liturgical poets who may have been attached to the Jerusalem Temple, to the Northern Kingdom temples at Dan and Bethel, or even earlier, to local shrines.21 The superscriptions linking certain psalms with named biblical figures, like David or Asaph, Heman, Ethan, and the sons of Korah (and Jeduthun, if that is a personal name), are not indicators of historical authorship. These superscriptions were added after the psalms had been composed. They reflect the same traditions about psalmody as found in Chronicles, where these names are identified several times as levitical singers. And they may also reflect more broadly an ancient tradition that sought to link psalms with biblical characters, especially with David (just as Proverbs and Song of Songs were linked with Solomon). In the course of time, David became the “author” of the entire Book of Psalms in Jewish and Christian tradition.

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Introduction to the Commentary

Scenarios and Settings Just as a psalm has a speaker, so it has a setting, a time and/or place in which the speaker speaks: “Out of the depths I call You” (Ps. 130:1); “By the rivers of Babylon” (Ps. 137:1); “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘We are going to the House of the Lord’” (Ps. 122:1). I call this setting a “scenario” to distinguish it from the form-critical “setting” or “place in life” (Sitz im Leben is the German term), which refers to the occasion for which a psalm was written or recited (such as a festival, a pilgrimage, or a coronation). We are familiar with the idea of scenarios in narrative fiction but less aware of it in poems. To be sure, not all psalms articulate a scenario; often the speaker is speaking from nowhere in particular. But when they are articulated, these scenarios should not be mistaken for historical data; we should not conclude that a psalm was written at the time and place of its literary scenario, any more than we should conclude that the psalm’s author actually experienced what is described. Nor do these scenarios necessarily indicate when the psalms were intended to be recited. Psalm 137, “By the rivers of Babylon,” was not composed in Babylonia and not meant to be recited while in Babylonia; and Psalm 122 was not necessarily penned by a pilgrim during or shortly after a visit to the Temple, nor meant to be recited by pilgrims. It is hard to resist the idea that a psalm that speaks, say, of a procession to the Temple was recited during such a procession, and it may well have been; but it may just as well have been recited on other occasions (after the destruction of the Temple, for example). The speaker and the scenario are both literary constructs, fictions that create the literary world of the psalm. They exist within that literary world and do not necessarily provide external data about the composition of the psalm. For that reason, the form-critical quest to find the “place in life,” often drawn from the psalm’s scenario, has lost favor. Already in 1983 Moshe Greenberg said, “Life settings have been conjectured on the basis of allusions in the psalms, but they carry no real conviction.” 22 More recently Corinne Körting notes that “the search for the Setting in Life is a hypothetical task. Sometimes the proposals are more bound to the standards of form and genre-critic than to the specifics of the single text.” 23 Benjamin Sommer judges that attempts “to know the setting in which the psalm was composed are not promising.” 24 Rather than the speaker and the scenario being seen as clues to the psalm’s composition or function, they should be seen as keys to the issues of concern within the psalm, for they are tools that the poet uses to shape his message. In fact, scholars have now turned to considering a psalm’s social, political, ideological, or theological context rather than its liturgical or ceremonial context.

Dating Psalms 120–150 Dating psalms is notoriously difficult and uncertain, and scholarly estimates, which change from one generation to the next, have ranged from the time of David to the Maccabean period. The current consensus is that Psalms 120–150 are postexilic, from the time of the destruction of the Temple in 586 b.c.e. to approximately the fourth century b.c.e. (before the Book of Chronicles, which quotes parts of a few psalms). These psalms are part of Book 5 of Psalms, which was compiled well after Books 1–3, making the collection of these

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Introduction to the Commentary psalms also postexilic, perhaps not long after the last of them were written. Of course, a late collection could contain psalms written much earlier, but lacking convincing proof to the contrary, we accept the current view that the psalms in Book 5 are postexilic. Psalms contain few overt references to contemporaneous historical persons or events. References are made to famous figures in the (distant) past, like Abraham, Jacob, and David, and to foundational events, like the Exodus and the exile, but these references are of little help in dating the psalms. Linguistic analysis provides the best evidence for dating, but it is not as precise as we would like. We can distinguish between preexilic and exilic/ postexilic linguistic vocabulary, grammar, and style—that is, between Classical Biblical Hebrew of the time of the monarchy and Late Biblical Hebrew, which begins roughly with the Babylonian exile in 586 b.c.e. The presence of Late Biblical Hebrew linguistic features confirms that a psalm cannot be earlier than that time (unless one assumes that it has been added to an older psalm). On this basis, Avi Hurvitz identified Psalms 103, 117, 119, 124, 125, 133, 144, and 145, as postexilic.25 Hurvitz wrote in 1972, and since then other psalms have been dated to this period. This dating is supported by the similarities in ideas and expressions that a number of psalms share with Second Isaiah and with Chronicles (and to some extent with Ezra-Nehemiah)—all postexilic books. But we do not know precisely when within the postexilic period a given psalm was written, although if we assume these psalms were written for use in the Temple, it would most likely have been when the Second Temple was standing. A late psalm may use an archaic term or mention an early event or an abandoned place. Such references do not prove that the psalm is preexilic or even that it is a revision of an older psalm. A reference to northern locations or names (Mount Hermon, Joseph, Ephraim) does not prove that the psalm had a northern origin, which would date it to before 722 b.c.e. (after which the Northern Kingdom ceased to exist). Psalm 133, for example, which mentions Hermon, has been identified on the basis of its language as a postexilic work.26 What these northern references do show is that motifs and expressions that once may have come from the Northern Kingdom became the property of all Israel and were preserved long after that kingdom was no more. In addition to preserving older terms and references, later works sometimes employ earlier words with new meanings.27 Moreover, psalms incorporate phraseology from or allusions to earlier texts that had become traditional. Ideas and language from the Torah and the Prophets are found frequently in psalms. Psalms are deeply engaged with Israel’s literary traditions, sometimes to explain or reinforce it and sometimes to modify it. The incorporation of earlier texts and allusions into a new work is part of the creative process whereby the new work is formed. Identifying these earlier threads is crucial for understanding the message of the psalm, but the presence of earlier texts says only that the psalm is later than the writings it alludes to. Language at any given time contains many linguistic strata.

Textual Traditions and Ancient Interpretations We have no original text of any psalm. Several different textual traditions survive, each with multiple copies, suggesting that the psalms, like other biblical books, were transmitted in

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Introduction to the Commentary variant forms from an early period. The main text traditions that precede the Masoretic Text are those preserved among the Dead Sea Scrolls (mostly in Hebrew) and in the Septuagint (the Greek translation) and the other Ancient Versions or translations: the Targums (Aramaic), the Vulgate (Latin), and the Peshitta (Syriac). Rabbinic literature preserves quotations of biblical verses. The official Hebrew text of the Bible for the Jewish community, and for the scholarly community, is the Masoretic Text, the Hebrew consonantal text along with its vowels, accent marks, and Masoretic notes on the text. Masoretic manuscripts are medieval, and there are slight variants in the manuscripts. The most complete copies of the Masoretic Text are the Leningrad Codex and the Aleppo Codex. (A codex is a handwritten book with bound pages, as opposed to a scroll.) All these various ancient and medieval textual witnesses are largely in agreement, but they occasionally differ from one another in spelling or wording, in their superscriptions, and in the number and arrangement of psalms. Each of these textual traditions should be treated independently, as examples of ancient biblical transmission and interpretation, rather than played off against one another in an effort to reconstruct a theoretical “original” text. The Masoretic Text will be privileged in this commentary; it is the subject of the commentary, the text to be explained. But the Masoretic Text is sometimes opaque or contains errors or omissions, and other textual traditions may help make better sense of what lies behind it. Even when the Masoretic Text is clear, it is interesting to note variant readings, for they offer a glimpse of alternative interpretations. Selective samples of these variants will be noted when they enrich the interpretive possibilities of the psalm.

The Role of Traditional Jewish Interpretation in a Modern Commentary Just as a taste of ancient interpretation (much of it Jewish, as in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Rabbinic literature) leavens the discussion of the Masoretic Text, so does a taste of medieval and early modern traditional Jewish interpretation, because it reveals how a given verse or psalm was understood in premodern Jewish communities.28 Here, too, the citations will be selective. While the medieval exegetes were brilliant close readers, linguistically knowledgeable, and exquisitely sensitive to intertextual echoes—such that they often anticipated modern observations—the danger in random references to premodern exegesis is that these references are severed from their historical and religious contexts. The medieval exegetes had a different agenda from ours and different criteria for establishing meaning. Even when their interpretations agree with our own, they may do so for reasons that are alien to ours. Nonetheless, contemporary biblical commentaries can no longer afford to ignore the gold mine found in medieval Jewish biblical interpretation, and even non-Jewish commentaries increasingly draw on it. The JPS Bible Commentary, which sees itself as the continuation of a long chain of Jewish biblical interpretation, has always understood the value of including medieval Jewish exegesis.

A Note on the Commentary The scholarship on the Book of Psalms is vast, and any attempt to convey all of it in a commentary is doomed to fall short and to overload the reader with contradictory

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Introduction to the Commentary interpretations and excessive information. This commentary does not aim to summarize or critique the scholarship on Psalms 120–150, but to use it judiciously to arrive at a fair estimation of each psalm’s meaning. At times multiple interpretations are offered, acknowledging thereby that there remain limits to our grasp of certain words or passages or that some passages lend themselves to more than one interpretation. On occasion a new interpretation is offered.

Notes for the Introduction to the Commentary 1. Broderson, The End of the Psalter. Her conclusion is based on her text critical and intertextual analysis of these psalms. 2. The number 150 became standard in printed editions of the Hebrew Bible since the Second Rabbinic Bible (1525), but medieval manuscripts have counts ranging from 143 to 154, depending on how they divide up and configure the psalms; see Yarchin, “Is There an Authoritative Shape for the Hebrew Book of Psalms?” 3. This interest gained steam with Wilson, The Editing of the Hebrew Psalter. See now, for example, deClaissé-Walford, The Shape and Shaping of the Book of Psalms, with previous literature. See also various articles by Yair Zakovitch. 4. See Smith, “The Levitical Compilation of the Psalter”; Gillingham, “The Levitical Singers and the Editing of the Hebrew Psalter”; Jonker, “Revisiting the Psalm Headings.” 5. Van der Toorn, Scribal Culture, 90. The Levites also led prayer and conducted music in the Temple, oversaw the physical Temple structure, and had administrative duties such as dispensing justice, collecting tithes and taxes, and keeping records. 6. Carr, Writing on the Tablet of the Heart, 154. Some scholars think that the collection of psalms has a messianic focus; see most recently Gosse, L’espérance messianique davidique et la structuration du Psautier. 7. On Psalm 1 and the issue of liturgy and study, see Sommer, “Psalm 1 and the Canonical Shaping of Jewish Scripture.” 8. Greenberg, Biblical Prose Prayer. To be sure, as Greenberg recognized, biblical prose prayers are literary creations, presumably imitating what a spontaneous prayer would sound like. 9. See Lenzi, Reading Akkadian Prayers and Hymns, 6–7; Berlin, “Psalms: Praying to God, Praying to Ourselves.” 10. Goulder, The Psalms of the Return, reads Psalms 120–134 in connection with Nehemiah, Psalms 107–119 in connection with the reconsecration of the Temple, and Psalms 135–150 in connection with Ezra. But such precise linkages have not been generally accepted. 11. There is a growing literature about postexilic identity in Yehud and the various groups living there. For identity formation in postexilic psalms, see Brettler, “Those Who Pray Together.” See also Tucker, Constructing and Deconstructing Power in Psalms 107–150. 12. Scholars disagree about how much of the Torah was known in the Persian period and what its status was. On identifying Torah allusions in several psalms, see Brettler, “Identifying Torah Sources in the Historical Psalms.”

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13. Berlin, “The Exile: Biblical Ideology and Its Postmodern Ideological Interpretation”; Halvorson-Taylor, Enduring Exile. 14. Alter, The Art of Biblical Poetry, 136, observes that psalms, more than other types of biblical poetry, aim to induce a religious or spiritual experience. 15. For a brief overview of the features of biblical poetry, with bibliography, see Berlin, “Introduction to Hebrew Poetry.” 16. Alter, The Art of Biblical Poetry, 112, notes the appropriateness of relying on convention in liturgical works and also the interplay between creativity and conventionality. Levine, Sing unto God a New Song, 145, notes that when elements of Israel’s sacred, or mythic, history (like the Exodus) are applied to later historical contexts, “Israel’s temporal experience is brought into the framework of eternity.” There is an extensive body of recent literature that investigates the use of early texts in later ones. 17. On this section and the next, see Berlin, “Speakers and Scenarios.” 18. See the commentary on Psalm 137. For some scholars, the mere mention of a geographic location indicates that the psalm was composed there. For example, Vos, Theopoetry, 251, says that Psalm 133 originated in the Hermon area, Psalm 126 in Beersheba, and Psalm 120 in the border area of the Syrian-Arabic desert. Obviously, there is no basis for this claim. 19. Moshe Greenberg posits that a class of temple singers could not have emerged from a Temple-less Judah and so must have been in existence before the exile (Biblical Prose Prayer, 5). See Sarna, “The Psalm Superscriptions and the Guilds,” for a fuller discussion. A number of psalms make reference to music (33:1–3, 57:8–9, 96:1, 98:1, 108:2–3, 144:9), but none can be firmly dated to before the exile and several are postexilic. 20. There is not full agreement on which psalms are preexilic. For various opinions, see Day, “How Many Pre-exilic Psalms Are There?”; Jonker, “Revisiting the Psalm Headings”; Rendsburg, Linguistic Evidence for the Northern Origin of Selected Psalms; Gerstenberger, Psalms, Part 1, 29. 21. These early liturgical poets were not priests or Levites, according to Haran, Temples and Temple Service in Ancient Israel, 124n21 (unlike the Levites in Chronicles). Sarna, “The Psalm Superscriptions and the Guilds,” identifies the preexilic poets as members of family guilds of professional liturgical poets whose names are preserved in psalm superscriptions and in Chronicles—Asaph, Ethan, Heman, the Korahites—although, as Sarna notes, Psalms and Chronicles do not agree on their information about these families. While Sarna offers sound evidence for the

Introduction to the Commentary existence of psalmody in the First Temple, his argument that Linguistic Dating of Biblical Texts. However, see now the critique there were preexilic professional guilds of musicians related of Young and Rezetko in Hendel and Joosten, How Old Is the to Asaph, Ethan, Heman, and the Korahites is not convincing. Hebrew Bible?, 135–44. On linguistic dating of psalms, see also While these names occur in preexilic biblical passages, none Day, “How Many Pre-exilic Psalms Are There?”; and Qimron, is associated with music. Only in postexilic sources are these “‫ללשון בית שני בספר תהלים‬.” names linked with psalmody. Moreover, the psalm superscrip26. Hurvitz, ‫ביו לשון ללשון‬, 156–60. tions are later, probably postexilic, additions to the psalms. 27. Joosten, “Pseudo-Classicisms in Late Biblical Hebrew.” 22. Greenberg, Biblical Prose Prayer, 6. 28. A sampling of studies on premodern Jewish interpre23. Körting, “Text and Context,” 568. tation of Psalms includes the following: For the Targum, see 24. Sommer, “A Commentary on Psalm 24,” 507–8. Bernstein, “A Jewish Reading of Psalms.” More generally, see 25. Hurvitz, ‫בין לשון ללשון‬. See also Sáenz-Badillos, A History Cooper, “Some Aspects of Traditional Jewish Psalms Interpreof the Hebrew Language, 122. See now Hurvitz et al., Concise tation.” On the medievals, see Simon, Four Approaches; Berlin, Lexicon of Late Biblical Hebrew. Hurvitz’s methods have been “Medieval Answers to Modern Questions”; and Berlin, “Reading critiqued in a review of this book by Robert Rezetko and Mar- the Psalms with ( Jewish) Medievals and Moderns.” See also tijn Naaijer in JHS 16 (2016). See also Rezetko and Young, His- Menahem Cohen’s introduction (in Hebrew) to his ‫מקראות גדולות‬ torical Linguistics & Biblical Hebrew; and Young and Rezetko, edition of Psalms.

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INTRODUCTION TO THE SIDEBARS Benjamin D. Sommer The sidebars to the Jewish Publication Society Psalms Commentary provide an overview of the ways each psalm has been used in prayer and ritual over the past two millennia in Rabbinic Judaism. These sidebars do not cover the ways psalms have been used outside Rabbinic Judaism—for instance, by the Qumran community, which produced the Dead Sea Scrolls, or by Karaite Jewish communities. Further, the sidebars describe uses of whole psalms; they do not, with a few particularly important exceptions, describe the ways individual verses or snippets from the psalms are used in Jewish liturgy and ritual.1 The following pages explain some practices described in the sidebars and some terms used in them.

Psalms in Daily, Sabbath, and Festival Prayers The sidebars furnish information on the use of psalms in the standard prayers recited on weekdays, the Sabbath, festivals, and various special occasions. This includes information about groups of psalms recited as a building block of a service—for example, the Pesukei deZimra (Verses of Praise) section that comes toward the beginning of the Morning Service each day of the year and the Kabbalat Shabbat (Welcoming the Sabbath) section that precedes the Evening Service on Friday nights; both of these consist largely of psalms. The sidebars also discuss the inclusion of individual psalms in other places within various services. In furnishing this information, the sidebars refer to several versions of the prayer book that have been in use since the standardization of rabbinic liturgy in the early Middle Ages. While the Mishnah and the Talmuds (which were compiled over the first eight centuries of the first millennium c.e.) lay down a basic structure for Jewish prayers, they do not specify exact wording for each and every element within this structure. During the post-Talmudic or Gaonic era (the last four centuries of the first millennium), fixed texts for daily, Sabbath, and festival prayers began to develop, especially in the centers of Rabbinic Judaism in Babylonia. By the twelfth century c.e., several versions of these fixed texts had emerged throughout the Jewish world, all of them based on rulings provided by the Ge’onim (the heads of the Babylonian Rabbinic academies). These local versions differed in regard to the precise phrasing of many prayers, the order of some liturgical elements, and—relevant for our concerns—the psalms they prescribed for specific occasions. French, German, Italian, North African, Spanish, Yemenite, Persian, and Greek-Balkan Jewish communities

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Introduction to the Sidebars all had their own version of the standard liturgy. Each local version is known as a “rite” in English or, in Hebrew, as a nusaḥ;2 thus one may speak, for example, of the French rite or, in Hebrew, nusaḥ tzarefat.3 Over time, several of these local rites began to disappear. For example, the French rite died out as those northern French Jews who survived the persecutions of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries adopted the German rite; Jews in Norman England had used the French rite as well, but after being expelled from England at the end of the thirteen century, they adopted the rites of the communities in which they found refuge. Conversely, when Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, the refugees brought their version of the siddur with them to many locations throughout the Mediterranean basin and the Near East. Over time, most Jewish communities in which Spanish refugees settled adopted the Spanish rite. As a result, the North African and Persian rites gradually disappeared, while the Italian and Greek-Balkan rites came to be used by a minority of Jews where they had once been standard. Today, four of the early medieval rites are still in use. Our sidebars describe the roles psalms play in each of these rites as well as in a fifth one that emerged in the 1700s. These are the following: • The Eidot Hamizraḥ rite, used by Jews of Spanish-Portuguese (or Sephardic) descent, and by Jews of Middle Eastern and North African origin.4 This rite is often called the Sephardic rite, but we use the term “Eidot Hamizraḥ” both to recognize that the majority of Jews who use this rite today are not in fact of Sephardic (i.e., Spanish-Portuguese) descent and to avoid confusion with the Sefard-Hasidic rite described below. • The Ashkenazic rite, used by Jews originating in northern Europe—that is, Germany (the original home of this rite) and Eastern Europe. Most North American and British Jews are of Ashkenazic origin. • The Italian rite. While the largest number of Jews in pre-Holocaust Italy were of Spanish-Portuguese origin and used the Eidot Hamizraḥ rite, many synagogues there continued to use the Italian rite even after the large influx of refugees from Spain and Portugal following the expulsions of 1492 and 1497. Many Italian synagogues continue to use this rite today. • The Yemenite rite. Unlike Jews in other parts of the Muslim world, the Jews of Yemen did not adopt the rite originating in Spain after 1492. They continue to use their own rite, which largely follows the wording for the prayers laid out by Maimonides in his legal code, the Mishneh Torah. Synagogues attended by Jews of Yemenite descent in Israel and elsewhere continue to pray with this rite today. • The Sefard-Hasidic rite, which came into existence among Hasidim in Eastern Europe in the eighteenth century. This rite is a variant of the Ashkenazic rite that has adopted some elements of the Eidot Hamizraḥ rite used by the great kabbalist Isaac Luria, who is also known as “the Ari.” Although this rite is often referred to as nusaḥ Sefard or nusaḥ ha’Ari, it is not, in fact, a version of the Sephardic Eidot Hamizraḥ prayer book used by Luria himself. Rather, it adapts the Ashkenazic siddur in some ways to the Eidot Hamizraḥ siddur used by Luria. The sidebars append the word “Hasidic” to “Sefard”

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Introduction to the Sidebars when referring to this rite in order to avoid confusion with the actual Eidot Hamizraḥ rite, which is often (and rather more correctly) referred to as the Sephardic rite.5 Within all five of these rites there are minor variations. Thus the Ashkenazic siddur of German Jews differs in a few respects from that of Eastern European Jews. Iraqi, Persian, and Moroccan communities have their own versions of the Eidot Hamizraḥ rite, as do Spanish-Portuguese Jews in Britain, North America, and elsewhere (and within the Spanish-Portuguese sub-rite, there are differences among the communities of Rhodes, of Turkey, and of England, to name a few). Different Hasidic communities have slightly divergent versions of the Sefard-Hasidic rite. The sidebars only rarely note differences involving sub-rites and sub-sub-rites. Instead they describe the uses of psalms in the most common versions of each rite, especially as they are evidenced in siddurim in extremely widespread use, such as the Rinnat Yisrael prayer books published in Israel in the last quarter of the twentieth century. (Orthodox prayer books generally identify which rite they contain on their cover and their title page.) In the last two centuries, Reform and Conservative prayer books have introduced a variety of innovations into the standard prayer books as well. These siddurim are largely based on the Ashkenazic rite, but sometimes they suggest a particular use of a psalm not found in earlier liturgical rites. The sidebars refer to examples of these uses as well. A variety of siddurim have been published within both movements in Europe, North America, and Israel, and some of their distinctive uses of psalms are noted in the sidebars. Just as the sidebars do not cover each sub-rite of the earlier, traditional siddurim, they do not attend to every Reform and Conservative siddur but focus on those published in the last three decades or so.

Psalms and Fasts The Mishnah, in Tractate Ta‘anit, prescribes public prayers and rituals for days when a fast is proclaimed due to a calamity such as a drought, an epidemic, or an invasion. The second chapter of this tractate spells out six additional blessings that are added between the seventh and eighth benedictions of the daily Amidah prayer on fast days proclaimed during a drought. Four of these additional six blessings consist of a psalm followed by a concluding blessing; the sidebars discuss this use of each of these psalms (102, 120, 121, and 130).

Psalms for the Sabbath, Holidays, and Special Occasions A variety of liturgical traditions assign specific psalms for specific days in the course of a year. According to Rabbinic tradition, certain psalms were designated for recitation each day of the week in the Temple: Psalms 24, 48, 82, 94, 81, 93, and 92 (listed in order from Sunday through the Sabbath). The Mishnah lists the psalms for each day of the week in Tractate Tamid 7:3–4, which explains that in the Jerusalem Temple, Levites sang the psalm for the day each morning after the priests completed sacrificing the daily whole offering at the altar. The connection of these psalms to specific days of the week appears

xxix

Introduction to the Sidebars also in the headings to Psalms 24, 48, 94, 93, and 92 in the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of the Bible, which dates, in the case of the Psalms, to the second century b.c.e.), though in the Masoretic Text only Psalm 92 contains such a heading. The post-Talmudic tractate Soferim (chapter 18), which dates roughly to the eighth century c.e., records the custom of reciting these psalms each day. The sidebars discuss some possible reasons these psalms were chosen for a particular day. The seven psalms of the day function as part of Jewish liturgy in siddurim used today. Worshipers recite them at the end of the Morning Services, either shortly before the Aleinu prayer (in the Eidot Hamizraḥ, Italian, Yemenite, and Sefard-Hasidic rites) or just after it (in the Ashkenazic rite). In some American Conservative prayer books, the psalms for the day are recited earlier in the Morning Services, right before Psalm 30 and Pesukei deZimra. In the Italian rite, the psalm for the day is also recited before the Grace After Meals.6 Soferim 18 further mentions a custom of designating certain psalms for recitation on holidays. According to evidence from the Cairo Genizah, synagogues that used the varied and flexible liturgical rites of the Land of Israel largely followed the assignments of psalms for holidays found in Soferim 18; worshipers in these synagogues usually recited the holiday psalms before the Evening Service and again in Pesukei deZimra at the beginning of the Morning Service.7 Later holiday prayer books or maḥzorim contain their own traditions regarding psalms for the holidays, which overlap only in small part with the tradition known from Soferim 18. More than one Ashkenazic tradition exists concerning holiday psalms. One such tradition was endorsed by Rabbi Elijah, the Vilna Gaon (1720–99), who laid out a list of holiday psalms to be recited at the end of the Morning Services after the Aleinu prayer.8 He ruled that these holiday psalms replace the psalm for each day of the week, except on the Sabbath, when Psalm 92 is recited rather than the psalm for the holiday. Thus worshipers following this practice recite just one psalm at the end of the Morning Services. German synagogues, however, had their own list of psalms for the holidays to be recited after Aleinu at the end of the Morning Services. In this tradition (canonized in the influential maḥzorim published by Wolf Zev Heidenheim in Rödelheim at the beginning of the nineteenth century), the psalms for holidays are recited immediately after the psalms for each day of the week rather than instead of them. Finally, Eidot Hamizraḥ, Yemenite, and Italian rites have their own list of psalms recited on holidays. Some of these are recited immediately before the beginning of the Evening Service on the holidays, others after the Evening Service; in the Italian rite, worshipers recite the psalms during the Service for Taking Out the Torah. In some synagogues that follow the Italian rite, there is also a special psalm for each parashah or Torah reading; like the holiday psalms, the psalm for each parashah is recited during the Torah Service.9 The sidebars take note of all these practices for holidays. In addition, tables 1 and 2 at the end of this introduction lay out the practices regarding recitation of holiday psalms as part of the synagogue liturgy. The sidebars also refer to an old Ashkenazic custom no longer in regular use. This custom assigns a particular psalm for each Sabbath’s parashah or Torah reading, as well as a psalm for holidays, fast days, and other special days, such as one on which a wedding or a circumcision takes place. Small groups known as ‫ חברות תהלים‬Ḥevrot Tehillim (Psalms

xxx

Introduction to the Sidebars Societies) devoted to the daily recitation of psalms would recite these psalms together after the Morning Services on the Sabbath and holidays and before the Morning Service on other days.10 The list of these psalms is found in Seligman (Isaac) Baer’s Seder Avodat Yisrael (Rödelheim, 1868), widely considered the classic edition of the Ashkenazic prayer book, and also in Baer’s 1860 edition of the Book of Psalms, which has often been reprinted. Table 3 at the end of this introduction provides a list of these psalms. The sidebars discuss possible reasons for the assignment of these psalms to particular parshiyot and holidays.

Psalms in Women’s Prayer Books In the eighteenth century, especially in Italy, some Jewish women owned prayer books designed for use both during their recitation of daily prayers and at important occasions in their lives: for example, during pregnancy, at the onset of labor, upon nursing an infant for the first time, and when performing the three commandments specific to women in Rabbinic Judaism (lighting Shabbat candles, taking a piece of dough [ḥallah] out of bread before baking it, and immersing oneself each month in a mikveh, or ritual bath, after menstruation before resuming sexual relations). Typically handwritten in Hebrew with directions in Italian, these prayer books were not completely standardized, but they followed similar formulas and contained more or less the same prayers. So far as is known, prayer books of this sort were never printed, but some copies of the Book of Psalms printed in this era contain prayers for women at the back that are largely identical to ones found in the handwritten Italian prayer books for women. One particularly well-preserved example of this genre, dating to 1786, was given to Baila Yudita Coen (or in Hebrew, Yehudith Kutscher bat Rachel) by her husband, Dr. Giuseppe Coen. This book, now located in the Rare Book Room of the Jewish Theological Seminary, was published with an English translation in 1992.11 Many of its often-elaborate sets of prayers include whole psalms, as well as collections of individual verses from various biblical books.12 The sidebars refer to all of the whole psalms found in this prayer book.

Magical Use of the Psalms Since ancient times, Jews and Christians have used biblical texts for magical purposes, and the psalms have played an especially prominent role in this realm. From medieval manuscripts to contemporary websites, a variety of traditions have directed Jews to recite, chant, whisper, or write certain psalms with a particular goal in mind. Prescribed ritual actions often accompanied this chanting or writing. Such uses of psalms were believed to prevent or cure various ills: miscarriage, death during childbirth, sudden death while sleeping, pain in various parts of the body, fevers, and drunkenness. Some psalms were thought to provide protection against evil spirits or to effect exorcisms. Others were believed to yield safety during a journey, rescue from captivity, success in businesses, defense against thieves, or the stimulation of meaningful dreams. Some secured effective study of the Torah that would not be forgotten. Often one can detect a connection between the wording of a psalm and the magical use to which it is put.

xxxi

Introduction to the Sidebars Texts and practices that achieve these goals are often referred to in Hebrew as ‫סגולות‬ (segullot). The sidebars quote from various texts that prescribe segullot involving the psalms. In particular, the sidebars refer to a medieval book, Sefer Shimmush Tehillim (The book of the use of psalms), which, proceeding in numerical order from Psalm 1 to Psalm 150, lays out magical uses of the psalms. The earliest, rather brief edition of this book was written around the eleventh century, probably in or near the Land of Israel. Written in a mixture of western Aramaic and Hebrew, this early edition does not mention all the psalms and focuses on the first two-thirds of the Psalter. Several editions of the book are found in manuscripts from both the Ashkenazic and Sephardic worlds. These editions differ from each other substantially. Successive editions referred to more and more psalms and tended to be written in Hebrew with little or no Aramaic. The first printed edition of the book, which covers essentially the entire Book of Psalms,13 appeared in 1551. That edition has been reprinted (and even uploaded to the web) many times since then.14 Tradition ascribed the book to Hai Gaon (939–1038), a Babylonian halakhist and the last head of the great rabbinic academy in Pumbedita. Though this ascription is not accurate, it does point correctly to the era in which the first version of the book was composed. However, the western Aramaic of the earliest version points toward Israel rather than Babylonia as its place of origin. The sidebars refer to some traditions from the various editions of Sefer Shimmush Tehillim. When possible, the sidebars describe the links between a psalm’s wording and its magical use.

Ritual Recitation of the Entire Book of Psalms or Large Sections of the Book Three additional traditions should be noted, though by their nature they are not mentioned in the sidebars. Among Ashkenazim in Germany and Poland in the Middle Ages, groups known as Ḥevrot Tehillim, or “Psalms Societies,” recited the whole Book of Psalms over the course of a week: Psalms 1–29 on Sunday, 30–50 on Monday, 51–72 on Tuesday, 73–89 on Wednesday, 90–106 on Thursday, 107–119 on Friday, and 120–150 on Shabbat.15 The members of the group would gather in synagogue in the very early morning to chant these psalms aloud before the Morning Service began; some groups read them after the Morning Service instead.16 On the Sabbath, this reading took place after the Morning Services rather than before, at least in some communities.17 Another custom that is still widely practiced (especially in ultra-Orthodox communities) involves the recitation of the entire Book of Psalms by a group of people (very often women), either daily or on Sabbath afternoons. The 150 psalms are divided among the participants; thus if ten people participate in the recitation, each person will recite roughly fifteen psalms. Typically, the recitation is performed on behalf of an individual (or various individuals) in crisis, usually someone with a serious illness. The merit produced by the recitation is supposed to promote the healing of the individual the reciters have in mind. Finally, psalms—though not necessarily the whole Book of Psalms—are traditionally recited by shomerim and shomerot (guardians), the men and women who stay with a body between death and burial. Friends or relatives of the deceased or pious Jews hired

xxxii

Introduction to the Sidebars specifically for this purpose, these guardians recite psalms throughout the time that they spend near the body. The presence of these guardians is a mark of respect toward the deceased, and the recitation of psalms is a fitting act of piety while they are sitting next to the coffin.18

Notes for the Introduction to the Sidebars 1. On the concatenation of verses from various biblical books (especially including Psalms) to form liturgical compositions in the siddur, see the helpful overview in Ruth Langer, “The Bible in the Liturgy,” in The Jewish Study Bible, 2nd ed., ed. Adele Berlin and Marc Brettler (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014), 2065–66; and, at greater length, Ruth Langer, “Biblical Texts in Jewish Prayers: Their History and Function,” in Jewish and Christian Liturgy and Worship: New Insights into Its History and Interaction, ed. Albert Gerhards and Clemens Leonhard (Leiden: Brill, 2007), 63–90. 2. Strictly speaking, this noun should be vocalized nosaḥ (‫)נ ַֹסח‬, but the form nusaḥ (‫נוּסח‬ ָּ ) is used much more often. 3. On the history of these rites, see Stefan Reif, Judaism and Hebrew Prayer: New Perspectives on Jewish Liturgical History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), chaps. 5–6 and also 253–55; Dalia Marx, “Jewish Liturgy,” in Judaism II: Literature, ed. Michael Tilly and Burton Visotzky (Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 2021), 271–86; and the brief but very helpful treatment by Lawrence Schiffman, “History and Liturgy: The Evolution of Multiple Prayer Rites,” Kol Hamevaser: The Jewish Thought Magazine of the Yeshiva University Student Body 3, no. 7 (May 2010): 8–10. 4. The term “Eidot Hamizraḥ” (‫)עדות המזרח‬, which means “Eastern communities,” is actually quite odd from a geographic point of view. It is the standard term for Jewish communities stemming from any part of the Muslim world—from as far east as Afghanistan and as far west as Morocco. Thus a Moroccan Jew is considered mizraḥi, or “eastern,” while a Jew from Lithuania or Russia is not, even though Morocco is roughly three thousand miles west of Russia. Nonetheless, it has long been a standard term, and we retain it here. 5. In addition, a fifth rite endured after the Middle Ages, usually referred to as the Romaniote or Romanian rite. It was in use in parts of Greece and the Balkans until the Holocaust; earlier, it had been used in Sicily, Apulia, and parts of Turkey as well. Even before the Holocaust, this rite had largely been replaced in these locations by the Eidot Hamizraḥ rite and was used only in a small minority of synagogues in Greece and the Balkans. Due to the slaughter of Greek Jewry by the Nazis, only a handful of synagogues use this rite today, and most of them open for services only occasionally. Our sidebars do not refer to the Romaniote or Romanian rite. The name of the rite, incidentally, can cause confusion. The rite was not used in synagogues in the city of Rome, nor was it used in the nation known as Romania. Rather, it was the main rite used in the heartland of the Byzantine Empire—in other words, Greece and western Turkey—prior to 1492. Because the Byzantine Empire was,

xxxiii

officially, the Eastern Roman Empire, the rite became known as Romaniote. 6. On weekdays, one further recites Psalm 67 before commencing the Grace in the Italian rite. One also recites Psalm 67 (but not the psalm for the day) before the Grace in the Yemenite rite. 7. The liturgical rites of the Land of Israel are no longer in use; they disappeared due to the devastation of Jewish communities in Israel during the Crusades, but they influenced the Italian and Ashkenazic rites, especially in their use of liturgical poems known as piyyutim and possibly in their use of psalms as well. Our knowledge of this vanished rite comes primarily from texts discovered in the Cairo Genizah. 8. Where Shir haYiḥud and Shir haKavod are recited, the order is Aleinu, the two Shirim, and then the psalm for holiday. 9. Concerning this custom and its relationship to varied psalms designated for each Shabbat in other medieval and early modern rites, see ‫סדר מזמורים להוצאת ספר תורה וסדר הפטרות כמנהג בני‬ ‫רומה כפי הנהוג בירושלים עיה״ק‬, ed. Hillel Moshe Sermoneta and Angelo Mordechai Piattelli ( Jerusalem, 2021), 1–3. 10. Customs varied; for the practice described, see ‫מנהגים‬ ‫דקהלתנו יצ״ו פיורדא‬, ed. Binyomin Shlomo Hamburger (Bnai Brak: Machon Moreshet Ashkenaz, 2010), 2a and 3a of the original edition of 1767. 11. Nina Beth Cardin, ed. and trans., Out of the Depths I Call to You: A Book of Prayers for the Married Jewish Woman (Northvale nj: Jason Aronson, 1992). Cardin provides not only a translation but a helpful commentary, as well as an introduction to this genre of women’s prayer books. 12. In this respect the Italian women’s prayer books differed from Yiddish books of prayers, or tkhines, for women and also from Fanny Neuda’s 1855 collection of German-language prayers for women, which did not contain whole psalms or lengthy biblical quotations. 13. The 1551 edition does not include Psalm 88, though other recensions that exist in manuscript do include that psalm. Interestingly, the 1551 edition also skips Psalm 43, perhaps recognizing that Psalms 42 and 43 constitute a single literary unit (see commentary to Psalms 42–43 in volume 2 of the JPS Psalms Commentary). It includes Psalms 9 and 10 as separate texts, in contrast to modern scholars who regard those two chapters as encompassing a single unit (see commentary to Psalms 9–10 in volume 1). The 1551 edition presents distinct uses for Psalms 14 and 53, even though those psalms are nearly identical. 14. Bill Rebiger, Sefer Shimmush Tehillim. Buch vom magischen Gebrauch der Psalmen: Edition, Übersetzung und Kommentar (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2010), provides the text of four

Introduction to the Sidebars recensions in Hebrew and Aramaic, with a German translation and commentary, along with a comprehensive introduction on the literary evolution of the work and its relation to other ancient and medieval magical traditions. 15. These divisions are given in the margins of Seligman (Isaac) Baer’s influential edition of the Psalter (printed in Rödelheim in 1860, and often reprinted with Baer’s Seder Avodat Yisrael). These divisions are available in various other Hebrew editions of the Book of Psalms as well—e.g., in the devotional Psalter in Hebrew with paintings by the artist Raphael Abecassis published by the Israeli Ministry of Defense in 2002 (see p. 4 of that edition). Some publications also provide systems for reading the whole Psalter over the course of a month; those divisions vary from edition to edition.

16. See Levush, Oraḥ Ḥayyim 1:9, as well as the seventeenth-century work by Yosefa Shames, ‫מנהגים דק״ק וורמיישא‬, ed. Binyomin Shlomo Hamburger (Bnai Brak: Machon Moreshet Ashkenaz, 1988), section on daily morning service §§3–5. 17. See Hamburger, ‫מנהגים דקהלתנו יצ״ו פיורדא‬, 3a of the original edition of 1767. 18. It is a pleasure to thank Professor Abraham Jacob Berkovitz for his helpful comments and learned suggestions both on this essay and on the sidebars to Psalms 120–150. It is likewise a pleasure to thank Avraham Sommer for his aid in producing the three tables that accompany this introduction. ‫בן חכם ישמח‬ ‫( אב‬Prov. 10:1).

xxxiv

Introduction to the Sidebars: Table 1

Table 1. Psalms Recited in Holiday Liturgies There have been a variety of customs regarding the recitation of psalms on holidays as part of the synagogue liturgy.1 The following table lays out seven such customs: The customs described in Tractate Soferim 18:3–11. This eighth-century-c.e. text largely reflects the practices of communities in the Land of Israel of its era. Tractate Soferim does not specify when worshipers recited these special holiday psalms, but evidence from liturgical texts discovered in the Cairo Genizah shows that worshipers recited them at the outset of the Evening Service and again in the morning, during Pesukei deZimra.2 In the Land of Israel, liturgy was more flexible than in Babylonia and the Diaspora, and some communities in Israel recited holiday psalms that differed from to those listed in Soferim. Some of these additional customs are listed in the footnotes to the column covering Soferim below.3 A custom of some Sephardic and Eidot Hamizraḥ Jews. In this custom, worshipers recite the psalms as part of the Evening Service on holidays. In the Eidot Hamizraḥ column of the chart below, psalms marked with a “B” are recited at the beginning of the Evening Service, immediately before the Barekhu prayer; those marked with an “E” are recited at the end of the Evening Service. The Yemenite rite, in which holiday psalms are recited at the outset of the Evening Service, immediately before the Barekhu prayer. The Italian rite (‫)נוסח בני רומי‬, in which psalms for holidays are usually recited during the Service for Taking Out the Torah Scroll in the Morning Service, immediately before the words ‫גדלו לה׳ אתי‬. The custom of the Rödelheim maḥzorim and siddurim edited by Wolf (Zev) Heidenheim and used in the western Ashkenazic or German rite, in which the holiday psalms appear at the end of the Morning Service (or after the Musaf Service, on days when that service is recited). In this rite, one first recites the regular psalm for the day of the week, and then one recites the special holiday psalm. Another Ashkenazic custom, this one codified by Rabbi Elijah, the Vilna Gaon.4 This custom is found in a variety of prayer books—for example, in the widely used Koren holiday prayer books (maḥzorim) published in Jerusalem in the late twentieth century. According to this custom, one recites the psalm for the holiday at the end of the Morning Service (or at the end of Musaf, when it is recited) instead of the regular psalm for the day. However, on Shabbat, one recites Psalm 92 rather than the psalm for the holiday. 1. Variations exist within all rites and customs. This table does not take all these variations into account. 2. See Ezra Fleischer, ‫תפילות הקבע בישראל בהתהוותן ובהתגבשותן‬, 2 vols., ed. Shulamit Elizur and Tova Beeri ( Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 2012), 1:619–20. 3. On these variations in Palestinian practice, see Lawrence Hoffman, “Hallels, Midrash, Canon, and Loss: Psalms in Jewish Liturgy,” in Psalms in Community. Jewish and Christian Textual, Liturgical, and Artistic Traditions, ed. Harold Attridge and Margot Fassler (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2003), 39–40. 4. Information on this custom is primarily taken from Yehoshua Cohen, Yeshayahu Vinograd, and David Cohen, eds., ‫סידור‬ ‫ ( אזור אליהו על פי נוסח הגר״א‬Jerusalem: Kerem Eliyahu, 5760), 80–83, 327–41.

xxxv

Introduction to the Sidebars: Table 1 Some Ashkenazic worshipers follow neither of the two preceding practices. Instead, even on holidays they recite the regular psalm for the day of the week (24, 48, etc.) rather than a special psalm for the holiday. That practice is found, for example, in the widely used Rinnat Yisrael maḥzorim published in Israel in the late twentieth century. The practice of contemporary American Conservative prayer books. This practice is found in the Rabbinical Assembly’s Lev Shalem prayer books edited by Edward Feld et al. In these and some other Conservative prayer books, the psalms for the holidays, like the psalms for the days of the week, are recited in the morning, before Pesukei deZimra (immediately before Psalm 30 and Mourner’s Kaddish).

Tractate Soferim Erev Rosh Hashanah Rosh Hashanah 1

Eidot Hamizraḥ 81 B; 150 E

Italy

81; 24, 23b

Gaon of Vilna and many Ashkenazim

An American Conservative practice

24c

81d

47

81

81

8

Rosh Hashanah 2

81

47

47

81

8

Erev Yom Kippur

1–4+24e

Yom Kippur Sukkot 1 Sukkot 2

47

Yemena

Rödelheim and German Ashkenazim

103, 130

h

76i

42, 43 B; 122 E 42, 42 B; 122 Ej

92 24, 23 f

24g 51

51

42, 43

76

76 (or 42+43)

76

67

42, 43k

76

76 (or 42+43)

42l

67

a. In the Yemenite rite, on Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Passover, Shavuot, Sukkot, and Shemini Atzeret, one recites Psalms 1, 2, and 150 immediately after the psalm specific to each of these holidays, and immediately before the Barekhu prayer of the Evening Service. b. Psalms 24 and 23 are recited at the end of the Evening Service (following Psalm 8, which is recited each day at the end of that service). c. Psalm 24 is recited immediately before Aleinu of the Evening Service. d. Psalm 81 is recited at the end of the Afternoon Service on each day of Rosh Hashanah. e. All five of these psalms are recited at the end of the Evening Service, shortly before Aleinu. f. Psalms 24 and 23 are recited at the end of the Evening Service (following Psalm 8, which is recited daily at the end of that service). g. Psalm 24 is recited before Aleinu. In addition, some congregations recite Psalms 1–4 after Psalm 27 (the psalm for the season), which follows Aleinu. h. In many congregations, the following ten psalms of repentance are added into Pesukei deZimra after Psalm 94: 17, 25, 32, 51, 65, 85, 86, 102, 103, and 104. i. Many Palestinian communities in fact recited Psalm 122 on Sukkot; others recited 113. Tractate Soferim mentions neither of these practices. j. These three are recited in the Diaspora, where the second day is a festival. k. These two are recited in the Diaspora, where the second day is a festival. l. Psalm 42 is designated for the second day only in the Diaspora (where ḥol hamo‘ed begins on the third day of Sukkot), not in Israel (where ḥol hamo‘ed begins on the second day).

xxxvi

Introduction to the Sidebars: Table 1

Italy

Rödelheim and German Ashkenazim

Gaon of Vilna and many Ashkenazim

An American Conservative practice

Sukkot ḥol ha-mo‘ed 1

76

31

29m

67

Sukkot ḥol ha-mo‘ed 2

76

31

50

67

Sukkot ḥol ha-mo‘ed 3

76

31

94n

67

Sukkot ḥol ha-mo‘ed 4

76

31

94/81o

67

Sukkot ḥol ha-mo‘ed 5 Hoshana Rabbah

76

31

81p

67

76

61

82

67

12

12

12

65

90r

8s

Tractate Soferim

Shemini Atzeret

12q

Simḥat Torah Passover 1

12 B; 122 E 12 B; 122 E 107 B; 114 E 107 B; 114 Ev

Yemena

12 12 107

105

105

114u

136

107w

106

136

78x

136

Passover 3

78

80

136

Passover 4

106

105

136

Passover 2

135t

Eidot Hamizraḥ

m. The Vilna Gaon’s list of psalms for the intermediate days of Sukkot is based on B. Suk. 55a. According to the Gaon’s practice, if a day of ḥol hamo‘ed coincides with Shabbat, one recites Psalm 92 instead of the psalm for that day, and on each of the remaining days of ḥol hamo‘ed, one recites the previous day’s psalm. In such a case, the psalm for the last day of ḥol hamo‘ed (Hoshana Rabbah) is not recited at all. n. In Israel, one recites only verses 16–23 of Psalm 94 on the third day of ḥol hamo‘ed, but in the Diaspora, one recites the entire psalm. Note that the order of verses is the opposite of what one might expect: one recites the second part of the psalm on the third day, and the first part on the second day. o. In Israel, one recites Psalm 94:1–15 on the fourth day of ḥol hamo‘ed, but in the Diaspora, one recites Psalm 81. p. This entry is relevant only to the Land of Israel, where is a fifth day of ḥol hamo‘ed prior to Hoshana Rabbah. In the Diaspora, Hoshana Rabbah takes place directly after the fourth day of ḥol hamo‘ed. q. Soferim notes the possibility of Psalm 9 (or, in some manuscripts, 111) as an alternative. Some Palestinian communities, however, seem to have recited Psalm 6, 122, or 148, though Soferim mentions none of those possibilities. r. This entry is relevant only to the Diaspora. Psalm 90 is not recited in Israel, where Shemini Atzeret and Simḥat Torah are the same day. s. This entry is relevant only to the Diaspora. Psalm 8 is not recited in Israel, where Shemini Atzeret and Simḥat Torah are the same day. t. Soferim notes that some say Psalm 83. u. If Shabbat coincides with one of the first six days of Passover, one recites Psalm 92 rather than the holiday psalm specific to that day. On each of the next days, one recites the psalm normally recited on the previous day, and the psalm for the sixth day is not recited at all. v. These two are recited in the Diaspora, where the second day is a festival. w. This is recited in the Diaspora, where the second day is a festival. x. This is the first day of ḥol hamo‘ed in Israel but the second day of the festival in the Diaspora.

xxxvii

Introduction to the Sidebars: Table 1 Rödelheim and German Ashkenazim

Gaon of Vilna and many Ashkenazim

An American Conservative practice

Passover 5

107

135

136

Passover 6

135

66

136

Tractate Soferim

Passover 7

136

Eidot Hamizraḥ

Yemena

Italy

Rosh Ḥodesh

ff

107 B; 114 E 107 B; 114 Ey 68 B; 122 E 68 B; 122 E 104

Ḥanukkah

30

30

30

30ii

30

Purim

7jj

22 B

83

7kk

22

22

22

22

137, 79

Passover 8 Shavuot 1

29

Shavuot 2

Ta‘anit Esther Tisha b’Av Tzom Gedalyah Tenth of Tevet Seventeenth of Tammuz

79, 137

107

18

114

18

136

107z

107

66aa

136bb

136

68

68

68

19

68

68

29dd

68ee

98

8gg

104hh

119 (selected verses)cc 119 (selected verses) 104

83

83

137, 126ll 102

83

83

102

79

83

102

y. These two are recited in the Diaspora, where the eighth day is a festival. z. This is recited in the Diaspora, where the eighth day is a festival. aa. This entry is relevant only to the Diaspora. Psalm 66 is not recited in Israel, where Passover lasts only seven days. bb. This entry is relevant only to the Diaspora. Psalm 136 is not recited in Israel, where Passover lasts only seven days. cc. Rather than reciting all of this psalm’s 176 verses (!), Siddur Lev Shalem suggests the following twenty-two, which begin, respectively, with all twenty-two letters of the alphabet: 1, 12, 18, 27, 35, 47, 50, 64, 66, 73, 88, 93, 99, 105, 114, 126, 136, 142, 151, 160, 165, 175. dd. This entry is relevant only to the Diaspora. Psalm 29 is not recited in Israel, where Shavuot lasts only one day. ee. This entry is relevant only to the Diaspora. Psalm 68 is not recited in Israel, where Shavuot lasts only one day. ff. Some Palestinian communities recited Psalm 98 for Rosh Ḥodesh, though Soferim does not mention this practice. gg. When Shabbat and Rosh Ḥodesh coincide, one recites Psalm 104 instead of Psalm 8. hh. According to the Vilna Gaon, when Shabbat coincides with Rosh Ḥodesh, one recites Psalm 104 and not Psalm 92. On Shabbat Rosh Ḥodesh Tevet, which occurs during Ḥanukkah, one recites 104 rather than 30 or 92. ii. In addition to reciting Psalm 30 in the morning during the Service for Taking Out the Torah, one recites it after lighting candles in the evening as well. jj. Some Palestinian communities recited Psalm 22 on Purim, though Soferim does not mention this practice. kk. In addition to reciting Psalm 7 in the morning during the Service for Taking Out the Torah, one recites it before the Evening Service of Purim as well. ll. Psalm 137 is recited in the Morning Service and 126 at the Afternoon Service.

xxxviii

Introduction to the Sidebars: Table 2

Table 2. A Custom in the Italian Rite: Psalms for Each Parashah and for Special Days In some synagogues that follow the Italian rite, a particular psalm is associated with each parashah and also with various special days of the year. Thus the Torah reading is paired not only with a haftarah taken from the second part of the biblical canon, the Prophets, but with a chapter from the third part, the Writings, as well. The psalm is recited during the Service for Taking Out the Torah, immediately before the words ‫גדלו לה׳ אתי ונרוממה‬ ‫( שמו יחדו‬Acclaim the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together). This list follows ‫סדר תפלות כמנהג בני רומה כפי הנהוג בירושלים עיה״ק‬, ed. Hillel Moshe Sarmonita and Angelo Mordechai Piateli ( Jerusalem, 2014), 179–80, with additions from ‫סדר מזמורים להוצאת ספר‬ ‫תורה וסדר הפטרות כמנהג בני רומה כפי הנהוג בירושלים עיה״ק‬, ed. Hillel Moshe Sarmonita and Angelo Mordechai Piateli ( Jerusalem, 2021), 1.

Psalms for Special Days Day Shabbat that is also Rosh Ḥodesh Shabbat Shuvah Shabbat during ḥol ha-mo‘ed of Sukkot First Shabbat during Ḥanukkah Second Shabbat during Ḥanukkah Shabbat Zakhor Shabbat haGadol Shabbat during ḥol ha-mo‘ed of Passover Shabbat of a circumcision Shabbat of a wedding Afternoon Service on Shabbat

Psalm 104 51 76 30 30 7 105 114 128 45 111

Day Yom ha’Atzma‘ut Tisha b’Av (Morning Service) Tisha b’Av (Afternoon Service) Fast of Esther (Morning Service) Other fast days (Morning Service) Other fast days (Afternoon Service) Rosh Ḥodesh Ḥanukkah Purim Mondays and Thursdays

Psalm 126 137 126 22 102 20 8 30 7 121

Psalms for Parshiyot (Weekly Torah Readings) Parashah Psalm Bere’shit 92 Noaḥ 29 Lekh Lekha 110 and 15 Va-yera’ 11 Ḥayyei Sarah 45 Toledot 34 Va-yetse’ 3 Va-yishlaḥ 27 Va-yeshev 40 Mikkets 30 Va-yiggash 48 Va-yeḥi 41 Shemot 99 Va-’era’ 46

xxxix

Parashah Bo’ Be-shallaḥ Yitro Mishpatim Terumah Tetsavveh Ki Tissa’ Va-yakhel Pekudei Va-yikra’ Tsav Shemini Tazria‘ Metsora‘

Psalm 77 66 19 72 26 65 75 and 84 61 133 50 91 128 121 120

Parashah Psalm ’Aḥarei Mot 12 Kedoshim 15 ’Emor 42 Be-har 112 Be-ḥukkotai 85 Be-midbar 68 and 117 Naso’ 67 and 68 Be-ha‘alotekha 21 Shelaḥ-Lekha 64 Koraḥ 5 Ḥukkat 58 Balak 36 Pinḥas 17 Mattot 111

Parashah Mas‘ei Devarim Va-’etḥannan ‘Ekev Re’eh Shofetim Ki Tetse’ Ki Tavo’ Nitsavim Va-yelekh Ha’azinu Ve-zo’t Ha-berakhah

Psalm 49 137 90 75 and 85 97 17 32 43 47 and 81 47 and 51 51 and 76 12

Introduction to the Sidebars: Table 3

Table 3. An Old Ashkenazic Custom: Psalms for Reading by H·evrot Tehillim (Psalms Societies) on Holidays and Other Occasions Holiday Rosh Ḥodesh Shabbat ha-Gadol First day of Passover Second day of Passover Ḥol ha-mo‘ed of Passover Seventh day of Passover Eighth day of Passover Isru Ḥag (the day after a holiday ends) Sheni vaḤamishi veSheni* First day of Shavuot Second day of Shavuot Seventeenth of Tammuz Tisha b’Av Days of Seliḥot before Rosh Hashanah Erev Rosh Hashanah First day of Rosh Hashanah Second day of Rosh Hashanah Ten Days of Repentance Shabbat Shuvah Erev Yom Kippur

Holiday Kol Nidrei Yom Kippur First day of Sukkot Second day of Sukkot Ḥol ha-mo‘ed of Sukkot Hoshana Rabbah Shemini Atzeret Simḥat Torah Ḥanukkah Tenth of Tevet Shabbat Shekalim Shabbat Zakhor Fast of Esther Purim Shushan Purim Shabbat Parah Shabbat haḤodesh A wedding A circumcision

Psalm 104 95 105 66 78 18 114 118 33 68 29 79 137 89 98 81 47 10 32 107

Psalm 99 65 76 66 97 88 65 147 30 74 49 109 22 7 60 51 77 19 12

Psalms for Parshiyot (Weekly Torah Readings) Parashah Bere’shit Noaḥ Lekh Lekha Va-yera’ Ḥayyei Sarah Toledot Va-yetse’ Va-yishlaḥ Va-yeshev Mikkets Va-yiggash Va-yeḥi Shemot Va-’era’

Psalm 139 29 110 11 45 36 3 140 112 40 48 41 99 46

Parashah Bo’ Be-shallaḥ Yitro Mishpatim Terumah Tetsavveh Ki Tissa’ Va-yakhel Pekudei Va-yikra’ Tsav Shemini Tazria‘ Metsora‘

Psalm 77 66 19 72 26 65 75 61 45 50 107 128 106 120

Parashah ’Aḥarei Mot Kedoshim ’Emor Be-har Be-Ḥukkotai Be-midbar Naso’ Be-ha‘alotekha Shelaḥ-Lekha Koraḥ Ḥukkat Balak Pinḥas Mattot

Psalm 26 15 42 112 105 122 67 68 64 5 95 79 50 111

Parashah Psalm Mas‘ei 49 Devarim 137 Va-’etḥannan 90 ‘Ekev 75 Re’eh 97 Shofetim 17 Ki Tetse’ 32 Ki Tavo’ 51 Nitsavim 81 Va-yelekh 65 Ha’azinu 71 Ve-zo’t Ha-berakhah 12

Source: Seligman Baer’s edition of the Psalter (1860). * Sheni vaḤamishi veSheni is a custom of visiting the grave of a great sage on a Monday, then Thursday, and then the next Monday.

xl

THE COMMENTARY TO PSALMS 120–150

Psalm 120: Introduction The speaker called upon God to save him from the deceptive and dangerous speech of his opponents, a common theme in psalms (Psalms 12, 52:4, 57:5, 59:8, 64, 140). This psalm especially resembles Psalm 64. “Enemies,” never specifically identified in psalms, are most likely not foreign combatants but are the speaker’s adversaries within his own society who speak against him or whose position is antithetical to his. The speaker feels socially isolated, metaphorically expressed as dwelling on the periphery of the civilized world among militant barbarians (Meshech and the clans of Kedar, v. 5). One can only imagine the social or political situation that lurks between the lines of the psalm. War metaphors are dominant. The opponents’ stance is called “war,” and the speaker’s is “peace,” indicating how he views the outcome of each position. This is the first of a set of fifteen psalms, each labeled as a “song of ascents.” Among these are several others that call on God in time of trouble and/or thank Him for saving the speaker (e.g., Psalms 123, 124, 130). The term ‫שלום‬, a key term in this psalm, is also found in 122:6,8, 125:5, and 128:6, where the hope is for peace for Jerusalem and Israel.

120 A song of ascents. In my distress I called to the Lord and He answered me. 2 O Lord, save me from treacherous lips, from a deceitful tongue!

‫ׁ ֗ ִשיר ַה ַּֽ֫מעֲ ל֥ וֹ ת‬

‫קכ‬

‫ֶאל־י֭ הוה ַ ּב ָ ּצ ָ ֣ר ָתה ִּל֑י‬ ‫אתי וַ ֽ ּיַעֲ נֵ ֽנִי׃‬ ִ ‫֝ ָק ָ ֗ר‬ ‫ת־ש ֶ֑קר‬ ֶ ׁ ‫ יֽ הו֗ ה ַה ִ ּצ֣ילָ ה ַ֭נ ְפ ׁ ִשי ִמ ּ ְשׂ ַפ‬2 ‫ִמ ָּל ׁ ֥שוֹ ן ְר ִמ ָ ּי ֽה׃‬

1. A song of ascents  See “Excursus: Songs of Ascents” (pp. 183–188). I called. . . . ​He answered me  The verbs are in the past tense. There are two ways to understand the relationship of this verse to the rest of the psalm. (1) The speaker knows from his past experience that calling upon God elicits a response. Therefore, when he asks God to save him now (v. 2), he feels sure that God will again respond to this present request. (2) The speaker is giving a summary statement in verse 1—that he called on God and received a response. And then he provides the body of his request, the words that he addressed to God. In either case, verse 1 provides an implicit resolution to the request at the beginning of the psalm, but there is no resolution at the end. 2.  The source of distress is the treacherous organs of speech, lips, and tongue, which are addressed directly in verse 3. The enemies become their offending organs of speech; these organs are synecdoches for the people who use them.1 The words ‫לשון רמיה‬, literally “tongue, deceitfulness,” are in apposition. In this construction the second noun describes the quality or character of the first noun, yielding “deceitful tongue,” as in ‫אמרים‬ ‫אמת‬, “words, truth” = “truthful words” (Prov. 22:21).2

3

Psalms 120:3 

‫תהלים כק‬

3 W hat can you profit, what can you gain, O deceitful tongue? A warrior’s sharp arrows, 4  with hot coals of broom-wood. 5 Woe is me, that I live with Meshech, that I dwell among the clans of Kedar.

‫ ַמה־ ִ ּי ֵּת֣ן לְ֭ ָך‬3 ‫ו ַּמה־ ּי ִֹס֥יף ֗ ָל ְך‬ ‫לָ ׁ ֥שוֹ ן ְר ִמ ָ ּי ֽה׃‬ ‫ ִח ֵ ּצ֣י גִ ֣ ּבוֹ ר ׁ ְשנ ּו ִנ ֑ים‬4 ‫ִ֝ ֗עם ַ ּג ֲחלֵ ֥י ְר ָת ִ ֽמים׃‬ ֭ ָ‫ ֽאוֹ י‬5 ‫ה־לִ י ִּכי־גַ ֣ ְר ִּתי ֶמ ׁ ֶ֑ש ְך‬ ‫ם־א ֳהלֵ ֥י ֵק ָ ֽדר׃‬ ָ ‫֝ ׁ ָש ַ֗כנ ְִּתי ִ ֽע‬

3. What can you profit, what can you gain  Literally “What can He [God] give to you [as punishment], what more can He add?” or “What can be given to you; what more can be added?” The language resembles an oath formula: “may God do this and more” (e.g., 2 Sam. 3:9; Ruth 1:17). This rhetorical question, directed to the organs of speech, is answered in the following verse. 4. A warrior’s sharp arrows, with hot coals of broom-wood  This verse is generally interpreted as the punishment, measure for measure, that awaits the false lips and tongue. Lying lips and deceitful tongues are often compared to arrows or sharp weapons (Prov. 25:18; Jer. 9:7; Ps. 52:4, 57:5, 64:4), but here these organs will suffer from the burning-hot, sharp arrows that attack them. The word rendered as “sharp,” ‫שנונים‬, means “sharpened, whetted”; it occurs in a verbal form, also in connection with organs of speech compared to weapons, in 64:4 and 140:4. The wood of the broom tree is hard and retains its heat for a long time ( Job 30:4). Arrows were tipped with points made of hard material, like flint, bone, bronze, or iron, which could be heated or ignited (Ps. 7:14). Most interpreters understand the image here as an arrow with a sharp arrowhead that was as hot as broom-­ wood coals, or perhaps the metal arrowhead was forged in a very hot flame to make it extra sharp. Zenger, however, sees two separate weapons or techniques of warfare: arrows for shooting at the enemy and fire for burning settlements and buildings.3 He also considers the possibility of a single image—of flaming arrows shot at defensive works and houses to set them afire (cf. 7:14; Prov. 26:18; Isa. 50:11). 5. Woe is me  The word ‫אויה‬, a lengthened form of ‫אוי‬, “woe,” is a cry of anguish. I live . . . ​I dwell  More precisely, the word ‫ גרתי‬means, “I lived as a foreigner”; and ‫שכנתי‬, “I dwelled insecurely.” The root ‫ שכן‬may have the sense of “an endangered existence” or “a temporary settlement.” 4 The usual term for “live, dwell,” ‫ישב‬, is not used here. The speaker’s dwelling in these faraway places is precarious. Meshech . . . ​clans of Kedar  Two militant peoples on the northwestern and southeastern peripheries of Israel. Meshech is in the far northwest, in Asia Minor below the Black Sea, near Phrygia. In the seventh and eighth centuries b.c.e. this independent kingdom, along with others in Anatolia, was ravaged by internecine war, Assyrian conquest, and invasion by Cimmerians from South Russia.5 Meshech is listed in Gen. 10:2 among the sons of Japheth, residents of Anatolia and the Aegean islands.6 Ezekiel 32:26 refers to Meshech as a people who spread terror and also identifies Gog, the object of God’s wrath,

4

Psalms 120:6  6 Too long have I dwelt with those who hate peace. 7 I am all peace; but when I speak, they are for war.

‫תהלים כק‬

ָּ ‫ ַ֭ ר ַ ּבת ׁ ָשֽכְ נ‬6 ‫שי ִ֝ ֗עם שׂ וֹ ֵנ ֥א ׁ ָשלֽ וֹ ם׃‬ ֑ ִ ׁ ‫ָה־ל ּ֣ה נ ְַפ‬ ‫ִי־שלוֹ ם‬ ָ֭ ׁ ‫ ֲֽאנ‬7 ‫וְ כִ ֣י ֲא ַד ֵ ּב֑ר‬  ‫ֵ֝ ֗ה ָּמה לַ ִּמלְ ָח ָ ֽמה׃‬

as the prince of Meshech and Tubal (38:2–3; 39:1–3). The Targum reads ‫אוסאיי‬, “Usites” (probably for ‫ ;)מוסאיי‬Herodotus 3.94 and 7.78 mention the Moschoi. The clans (literally “tents”) of Kedar (or Qedar) are among the descendants of Ishmael (Gen. 25:13) who wandered as nomads in the desert areas to the south and southeast of Israel, in the northwestern part of the Arabian peninsula. These nomadic raiders were known for their bowmanship (Isa. 21:16–17). The Targum and Ibn Ezra call them Arabs, as do some Assyrian sources contemporaneous with the Qedarites, which also refer to their incursions.7 Taken together, the two locations symbolize militant barbarian peoples on the northwestern and southeastern fringes of the civilized world—from the perspective of Israel. The speaker feels as if he lives, metaphorically, among these faraway, militant people (as is made clear in v. 6); he is alienated from his own society. David Kimḥi, reflecting a trend found elsewhere in the medieval exegesis of psalms, equates these two ancient nations with Edom (Rome, or the Christian world) and Ishmael (the Islamic world) of his own day, the two domains where the Jews resided “in exile.” The equation with Edom is found already in the Targum of verse 6, which says, “More than (with) them, has my soul dwelt with Edom who hates peace.” 6. Too long have I dwelt  The syntax is similar to Ps. 123:4. The unusual form ‫רבת‬, rendered as “Too long,” may be an Aramaism. have I dwelt Rendering ‫שכנה לה נפשי‬. The preposition lamed, sometimes called the “ethical dative,” is a type of “lamed of interest” that marks the subject as having found his own place by disassociating himself from his surroundings. It is used with verbs of motion and, as in our case, with attitudes of mind. See also Jer. 7:4, “Do not trust [‫אל‬ ‫ ]תבטחו לכם‬in deceptive words.” 8 those who hate  The Hebrew noun is singular, but there is support for the plural in some manuscripts and in the context (v. 7). By design, NJPS renders contextually, so here it construes the singular with collective force. 7.  The opponents’ position, equated with war or strife, is contrasted with the speaker’s position, equated with peace. The independent pronouns, rendered as “I” and “they,” emphasize the contrast. I am all peace  Or “I am for peace.” Literally “I am peace.” The same construction occurs in Ps. 109:4, ‫אני תפילה‬, literally “I am prayer” (NJPS: “and I must stand judgment”), and in 110:3, ‫עמך נדבת‬, literally “Your people are voluntary offerings” (NJPS: “Your people come forth willingly”). but when I speak  When the speaker makes known his position, his opponents, in defiance, take the opposite stance. This verse captures the speaker’s distress and frustration. For “to speak for peace,” see Ps. 35:20, 122:8; and Esther 10:3.

5

Psalms 120:1–7

‫תהלים כק‬

Ritual and Liturgical Uses This psalm is the first in the collection known as Songs of Ascents (‫שירי המעלות‬, Psalms 120–134). In the Ashkenazic, Sefard-Hasidic, and Italian rites, these fifteen psalms are read each Sabbath afternoon for one half of the year, starting on the first Sabbath after Sukkot and continuing through the Sabbath immediately before Passover. This reading takes place between the Afternoon and Evening Services, and it is preceded by Psalm 104. During the rest of the year one reads the mishnaic tractate Avot instead of the psalms in that time slot. This custom is attested for the first time by the glosses to Shulḥan Arukh by the sixteenth-century scholar Rabbi Moses Isserles (see Oraḥ Ḥayyim 292:2). He provides no explanation for this custom. The Songs of Ascents also played a role in the varied and flexible liturgies of the Land of Israel in the Gaonic period and the early Middle Ages (roughly from the eighth through the thirteenth centuries). In a few versions of the daily liturgy, worshipers recited the Songs of Ascents, or selections from them, toward the beginning of the Morning Service. More frequently, worshipers recited these psalms during the Morning Service specifically on Shabbat. Some manuscripts from the Cairo Genizah directed worshipers to continue with Psalms 135–150; other manuscripts directed worshipers to continue with Psalms 144–150. This psalm constituted the third blessing added to the Amidah on days when a court instituted a public fast because of a drought (M. Ta‘an. 2:3). This bless-

ing concluded with the phrasing, “May the One who answered Samuel at Mizpah answer you and hear the sound of your weeping this day. Blessed are You, O Lord, who hears those who weep” (M. Ta‘an. 2:4, with reference to 1 Sam. 7:5–9). This psalm is designated for recitation on the Sabbath of Parashat Metsora‘ (Lev. 14:1–15:33) in a custom of the Ḥevrat Tehillim (Psalms Society) in medieval Ashkenazic communities and in the Italian rite. That parashah includes laws concerning leprosy (Leviticus 14–16), and many midrashim for the opening verse of Parashat Metsora‘ view leprosy as a punishment for slander and evil gossip (see, e.g., Lev. Rabbah 16). This likely explains the connection between Parashat Metsora‘ and Psalm 120, which begins by mentioning “treacherous lips” and “a deceitful tongue” (v. 2). Shimmush Tehillim suggests saying this psalm seven times to be saved from a scorpion or a snake, probably following the midrashim (such as Exod. Rabbah 3:12) that describe the snake in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:1) as the first slanderer. Some collections of segullot state briefly that this psalm can be used “for peace with one’s friend,” probably following the concluding verse of the psalm: “I am all peace . . . ​ they are for war.” This is one of four psalms recommended for reading “in times of tragedy” in the Conservative Siddur Lev Shalem (along with Psalms 121, 130, and 140); so also in Va’Ani Tefillati, an Israeli Conservative siddur (along with 121).

6

Psalm 121: Introduction God’s constant guardianship is the main theme—the root ‫שמר‬, “to guard, watch,” occurs six times. Scholars who think the Songs of Ascents are pilgrimage songs identify the speaker as a pilgrim making his way to Jerusalem. Though the way may be difficult and fraught with danger, the speaker encourages himself and others that God will protect them. But the psalm speaks in very general language, lacking any specific mention of the Temple or other location. If, indeed, a difficult journey is implied, the psalm may be expressing hope or gratitude for the long journey from Babylonia to Judah, that is, for the return from exile. Others read the psalm more generally as referring to God’s protection throughout the vicissitudes of life. Less accepted nowadays is the idea that this is a preexilic psalm, originally relating to the king’s role as leader in battle, that was later associated with pilgrimage.1

121 A song for ascents. I turn my eyes to the mountains; from where will my help come?

‫ׁ ֗ ִשיר לַ ַּֽ֫מעֲ ל֥ וֹ ת‬

‫קכא‬

‫ל־ה ָה ִ ֑רים‬ ֶ ‫ֶא ּ ָשׂ ֣א ֵ֭עינַי ֶא‬ ‫ֵ֝מ ַ֗איִ ן יָ ֹ֥בא ֶעזְ ִ ֽרי׃‬

1. A song for ascents  See “Excursus: Songs of Ascents” (pp. 183–188). The superscription here, ‫שיר למעלות‬, diverges slightly from the other Songs of Ascents, although no difference in meaning is discernible. The large Psalms scroll from Qumran, 11QPsa, reads ‫ המעלות‬here and ‫ למעלות‬at 123:1. I turn my eyes to the mountains  Literally “I lift my eyes to the mountains.” Compare Ps. 123:1, in which the speaker raises his eyes to the heavens, where God is enthroned. If this is a pilgrim’s song, recited while the pilgrim ascends to Jerusalem or perhaps while he is in Jerusalem preparing to return home, the mountains are those surrounding Jerusalem. “Mountains” have been interpreted both positively—high places are traditionally associated with the deity—and negatively, as dangerous and threatening places, or even the abode of other gods or mythological forces of evil. If this is a song about the return from exile, the mountains presented obstacles along the difficult road to return (cf. Isa. 40:4, where valleys are raised and mountains lowered to level the mountainous terrain from Babylonia to Jerusalem for a smooth passage). S. D. Goitein suggests that the speaker is looking up toward the horizon, seeking human help or seeking a herald announcing the coming deliverance (cf. Isa. 52:7), but, seeing none, realizes that his help comes from God.2 from where will my help come?  This may be a question or a statement. The word ‫ מאין‬may function as an interrogative particle, “from where, whence,” or as the beginning of a relative clause (as in Josh. 2:4, “I didn’t know where they were from”). If a question—“Where does my help come from?”—the answer is provided immediately following in verse 2: “From the Lord.” If it is a statement—“from where my help comes”—as construed in KJV, then verse 2 is a further elaboration of who the helper is.

7

Psalms 121:2 

‫תהלים אכק‬

2 My help comes from the Lord, maker of heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot give way; your guardian will not slumber.

‫ ֶ֭עזְ ִרי ֵמ ִע֣ם יהו֑ ה‬2 ‫֝עֹ ֗ ֵשׂ ה ׁ ָש ַמ֥יִ ם וָ ָא ֶֽרץ׃‬ ָ‫ַאל־יִ ֵּת֣ן לַ ּ֣מוֹ ט ַרגְ לֶ ֑ך‬ 3 ‫ל־י ֗נוּם ׁש ְֹמ ֶ ֽר ָך׃‬ ָ ֝ ‫ַא‬

2.  God is here called “maker of heaven and earth” rather than the God of Israel or its ancestors. In that context, not only are “the mountains” actual topographical features, that is, the mountains surrounding Jerusalem or on the road to return, but they also become the symbol of the creation of the cosmos, the land mass that rose up from the waters (Ps. 104:6–8) and that rose out of the water as the Flood receded and the world was created anew (Gen. 8:4–5). Indeed, it is the vigilance and protection of God as creator that the speaker wants to evoke. “Maker of heaven and earth” is a liturgical phrase found three times in the Songs of Ascents (here, 124:8, 134:3) and twice outside them (115:15, 146:6). It is likely that this divine epithet became popular in postexilic times (see 2 Chron. 2:11). 3.  God will prevent the traveler from stumbling on the mountain ascent, reinforcing the scenario of a long, rugged journey by foot. This rugged journey may be a pilgrimage from elsewhere in the Land of Israel or the difficult passage from Babylonia to Jerusalem, the return from exile. God, who is labeled here as “your guardian,” becomes “Israel’s guardian” in verse 4, and is called by His proper name in verse 5. He will not let your foot give way  Compare Ps. 66:9, where the idiom is parallel to “grant life.” The expression may be used in a general sense of keeping one secure, but here, in the context of a journey, it is even more concrete. The psalm opens with a first-person speaker, “I turn my eyes,” and here another persona is introduced, addressed in the second-person masculine singular, “you,” who remains present through the rest of the psalm. Some scholars see a dialogue between the speaker (“I” in v. 1) and someone else, variously identified as a pilgrim and his son or companion, or a priest and a pilgrim. Some suggest that the “I” responding in verse 2, saying, “My help comes from the Lord,” is a second persona addressing the first, providing the answer to his question, “From where will come my help?” I prefer to see the same speaker throughout the psalm, in dialogue with a “you,” the addressee who never speaks but who represents the community. The presence of this “you,” felt more strongly here than in other psalms with first-person speakers, permits an escalation of the speaker’s points about God as a guardian. The negative particle ‫ אל‬preceding the verbs indicates that they should be understood as if they were jussive, to express volition: “may he not,” or with strong conviction, “he will not.” On the other hand, the verbs are in the indicative form. Translations vary; some opt for the jussive and others for the indicative.3 NJPS “will not” is ambiguous, since NJPS uses “will” for both jussive and indicative (see vv. 6–7). I understand it as a jussive, a wish for the “you” persona that God will protect him.

8

Psalms 121:4 

‫תהלים אכק‬

4 See, the guardian of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps! 5 The Lord is your guardian, the Lord is your protection at your right hand. 6 By day the sun will not strike you, nor the moon by night.

‫יש֑ן‬ ָ ׁ ִ‫ ִה ֵּנ ֣ה ֹֽלא־יָ֭ נוּם וְ ֣ל ֹא י‬4 ‫ׁ֝שוֹ ֵ֗מר יִ שְׂ ָר ֵאֽל׃‬ ‫ יהו֥ ה ׁש ְֹמ ֶ ֑ר ָך‬5 ‫יהו֥ ה צִ֝ ְּל ָ֗ך‬ ‫ַעל־יַ ֥ד יְ ִמינֶ ֽ ָך׃‬ ‫ יוֹ ָ֗מם ַה ׁ ּ ֶש ֶ֥מ ׁש ֹֽלא־יַ ֶּ֗כ ָּכה‬6 ‫וְ יָ ֵר ַ֥ח ַ ּב ָּלֽיְ לָ ה׃‬

4. See Rendering ‫הנה‬, an emphatic or intensifying particle, which here strongly affirms the idea in the preceding verse that God never sleeps.4 The intensification of this verse continues in that the verbs are clearly indicative, not jussive—the particle ‫ לא‬is used here instead of the particle ‫ אל‬in verse 3. And “not slumber” becomes “neither slumbers nor sleeps,” while “your guardian” becomes “the guardian of Israel.” This is a strong absolute statement: Israel’s guardian certainly does not ever slumber or sleep. neither slumbers nor sleeps  The idea that non-Israelite gods do sleep occurs in Mesopotamian texts and, mockingly, in 1 Kings 18:27. Psalm 44:24 asks why God is asleep when He should be taking action to save Israel (35:23 also asks God to rouse Himself). Psalm 78:65 compares God’s springing into action to waking from sleep. The image of God sleeping is used as a metaphor for standing by, doing nothing. The call to rouse God is a plea for God to take action. Our psalm insists that God never sleeps (cf. Isa. 40:28, where God never gets weary); that is, God is ever vigilant, always on guard to protect Israel. 5. your protection  The noun ‫צל‬, literally “shade, shadow,” is a common metaphor in the ancient Near East for the protection provided by gods and kings (e.g., Ps. 91:1).5 It takes on a more literal sense in verse 6, where it blocks the sun (and moon). at your right hand  God is close by, at your side, to fight off danger or malevolent forces (Ps. 16:8, 110:5). The combination of “shade” and “right hand” is unique, combining two different metaphors for protection: God is your shade (and God is) at your right hand. Generally, the entire person is in God’s shade, or protection (17:8, 63:8, 91:1), so to say that God is the shade over (or: upon, on) your right hand is strange (KJV, RSV, Hossfeld and Zenger). NJPS fudges the problem nicely by arranging the phrases in this verse into three lines (all the other verses have two lines), hinting at the possibility that there are three separate statements here.6 The gist of verses 5–6 is “God is your guardian. He stands at your side like a shadow, protecting you day and night.” 6.  Because God is the maker of heaven and earth (v. 2), no object in heaven or earth, like the sun or the moon, can do harm of its own volition. The sun’s rays are dangerous, especially to the traveler (if this is a pilgrim song); God will provide shade (v. 5). In what sense does the moon strike? Many commentators refer to an ancient belief that the light of the full moon could cause illness (cf. “moon-struck”), but this is a postbiblical idea. The destructive nature of the moon, or moon-god, depicted as a knife, is mentioned

9

Psalms 121:7 

‫תהלים אכק‬

7 The Lord will guard you from all harm; He will guard your life. 8 The Lord will guard your going and coming now and forever.

‫ל־רע‬ ֑ ָ ‫ יֽ הו֗ ה יִ ׁ ְש ָמ ְר ָ ֥ך ִמ ָּכ‬7 ‫֝ ִי ׁ ְש ֗מֹר ֶאת־נ ְַפ ׁ ֶש ָֽך׃‬ ‫את ָ ֥ך וּבוֹ ֶא ָ֑ך‬ ְ ֵ‫ יֽ הו֗ ה יִ ׁ ְש ָמר־צ‬8  ‫ֵ֝מ ַע ָּ֗תה וְ ַעד־עוֹ לָ ֽם׃‬

in a few Egyptian texts.7 However, it seems unlikely that this idea lies behind our verse. In the absence of supporting biblical evidence that the moon was considered dangerous, many scholars have reasoned that the parallelistic structure generated the mention of the moon in order to parallel the sun, without reference to the moon’s harmful influence. In any case, the parallelism of sun (day) and moon (night) forms a merismus that includes all times of day and all natural elements. God protects the person at all times from the forces of nature. Interpreted in the context of the Babylonian exile, the sun and moon may represent major Babylonian deities, who may have been perceived as wishing harm to Israel, but who are rendered harmless by God. 8. going and coming  Everything you do, daily work (Deut. 31:2; 2 Kings 11:8). Those who read the psalm as being about life in general see here the daily agricultural activities of going out to the fields and coming back home (although Ps. 126:6, which clearly depicts such actions, uses ‫ הלך‬rather than ‫)יצא‬. In a military context, the phrase means going out to and returning from battle. If this is a pilgrimage song, it refers to starting out and returning home from the journey to the Temple. now and forever  A liturgical phrase (Ps. 113:2, 115:18, 125:2, 131:3; Isa. 9:6, 59:21; Mic. 4:7) that projects the thought into the continuous future so that it becomes permanent.8

Ritual and Liturgical Uses This psalm is the second of the fifteen Songs of Ascents (‫שירי המעלות‬, Psalms 120–134). On the uses of these psalms as a group, see the discussion on Psalm 120 above. Psalm 121 is one of the most famous and frequently used psalms in all rites, probably due to its simple language, its encouraging theme, and its wide applicability. Its reference to the moon and nighttime (v. 6) explains its appearance in the Blessing of the Moon ceremony (‫ )ברכת הלבנה‬in all five rites and as a part of the conclusion of the Evening Service in the Eidot Hamizraḥ, Yemenite, and Sefard-Hasidic rites. In those three rites, this psalm, together with Psalms

122–124, is recited on Sabbath mornings before Pesukei deZimra. In the Eidot Hamizraḥ rite, one also recites this psalm on Purim after reading the Scroll of Esther. This use acknowledges God’s help to the people of Israel in all times, especially at night (Esther 6:1; see our psalm, vv. 4, 6b, 8). The recitation of this psalm when embarking on a journey and, in the Italian rite, after the reading of the Shema before retiring for the night attests to its popularity and use in times of worry, uncertainty, and liminality. It is frequently recited today in synagogues during times of crisis, often at the end of the formal services; usually the prayer leader recites a verse, and the

10

Psalms 121:1–8 congregation repeats the verse, and this responsive reading continues through all eight verses. Similarly, this is one of four psalms recommend for reading “in times of tragedy” in the Conservative Siddur Lev Shalem (along with Psalms 120, 130, and 140); so also in Va’Ani Tefillati, an Israeli Conservative siddur (along with 120). Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox rabbinic manuals recommend it for recitation during an illness, at a funeral, when accompanying a coffin to burial in a cemetery, or at the unveiling of a tombstone. It is recommended for use in a house of mourning in the Reform Gates of the House and is included in the Yizkor (memorial) service in Mishkan T’filah, an American Reform siddur. A Modern Orthodox rabbinic manual recommends reading Psalms 121, 130, and 91 in the presence of a dying person, followed by the Yigdal and Adon Olam hymns. The Italian rite designates this psalm for recitation on the Shabbat of Parashat Tazria‘. The reason for the connection is not clear. The parashah begins with a reference to childbirth, a dangerous event for the mother, and the psalm describes God’s protection to those in danger; admittedly, however, this is a very broad connection. The Italian rite also designates this psalm for recitation when taking the Torah from the ark at the Morning Service on Mondays and Thursdays. Perhaps the reference to God’s help coming toward the speaker from a hilltop in the first verse connects to the Torah coming out of the ark on the bimah into the congregation; the reference to going out and coming back in the last verse may also recall the exit of the ark at this point in the service and its return only shortly thereafter. This psalm constituted the fourth blessing added

11

‫תהלים אכק‬ to the Amidah on days when a court instituted a public fast because of a drought (M. Ta‘an. 2:3). That blessing concluded with the phrasing “May the One who answered Elijah at Mount Carmel answer you and hear the sound of your weeping today. Blessed are You, O Lord, who hears prayer” (M. Ta‘an. 2:4, referring to 1 Kings 18:36). Rashi, in his commentary to the Mishnah, points out the connection between the opening verse of our psalm, which mentions mountains, and Elijah’s prayer on Mount Carmel. A book of prayers for a married woman from eighteenth-century Italy directs a woman to recite this psalm when she walks to a mikveh shortly after nightfall. The choice of this psalm may relate to the danger of walking at night, especially in a world without streetlamps. It may also relate to the hope that the woman will become pregnant later that same night (when she and her husband will resume sexual relations after her immersion in the mikveh), since pregnancy and childbirth are not only hoped for and joyous but also filled with peril, especially in the premodern world. The woman recites this psalm again when dressing after immersing herself in the mikveh, immediately before she returns home. A Modern Orthodox rabbinic manual suggests reading Psalms 121, 122, and 126 at a bat mitzvah ceremony. Shimmush Tehillim suggests saying this psalm seven times when leaving home alone at night, since the psalm affirms that God never sleeps and always guards His people (vv. 3–4); therefore no one will be struck by the moon (v. 6), since “God shall guard your going out and your coming in, from this time forth and forever” (v. 8).

Psalm 122: Introduction This postexilic psalm transports the reader to Jerusalem, the Jerusalem of the past. It describes the city as the speaker imagines it to have been before the destruction and exile, when it was the site of the (First) Temple, the capital of the united kingdom, and the seat of the Davidic monarchy (vv. 1–5). A wish for the well-being of Jerusalem, that is, for the Temple community, forms the climax of the psalm (vv. 6–9). This wish for well-being is for the postexilic city, the Jerusalem of the time when the psalm was written, which the speaker hopes will be like the Jerusalem of old.1 The name “Jerusalem” echoes throughout the psalm, in the triple repetition of the name and in the sounds of the letters of the name, ‫ש־ל־מ‬, especially in verses 6–9 in the words ‫שלום‬/‫שלוה‬. The apostrophe to Jerusalem, the rhetorical device in which the speaker addresses the city (in vv. 2, 7–9), makes the pre-destruction city’s presence seem more immediate to the audience. “The House of the Lord” (the Temple) frames the poem, with the addition of “our God” in the last verse, which strengthens and personalizes the speaker’s connection with the Temple. Verbs of motion—“to go, to stand, to ascend, to sit”—provide movement to and within the city (cf. Ps. 1:1: “go, stand, sit”). The psalm dates from the Persian period. One sign of its late date is the use of postexilic language, Late Biblical Hebrew (see vv. 3–4). In addition, it would seem, from the mention of going to the Temple (v. 1) and even more so from the hope for the well-being of the Temple (v. 9), that the Second Temple had already been rebuilt. But perhaps the Temple had not yet been rebuilt and this is all a hope for the future.2 Kimḥi says, “This psalm quotes the exiles, who in their great desire to build the Temple, remembered Israel’s pilgrimages, and spoke about their ancestors at the time that the Temple was standing.” Many modern interpreters understand Psalm 122 as an eyewitness account by a pilgrim to the Second Temple. They see him joining a group of pilgrims and then standing in Jerusalem, on the Temple Mount, pointing out, like a tour guide, where pilgrims from earlier times came and where the royal court of justice used to hold session. They disagree (based largely on the interpretation of the verbal form in v. 2) about whether the pilgrim is speaking while still at the Temple, giving a play-by-play description of what he sees before him, or whether, after having arrived home, he is looking back on what he had seen in Jerusalem. This “eyewitness” scenario comes from taking verse 1 literally, as an event that actually occurred; and it is bolstered by the assumption that because this is a Song of Ascents, the psalm must be a pilgrim song, that is, a song that was actually sung by pilgrims going to Jerusalem. My interpretation is rather different. I do not read this psalm as an account of an actual Second Temple pilgrimage. (I also question whether the Songs of Ascents were actually sung by pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem; see “Excursus: Songs of Ascents,” pp. 183–188.) Although I think the psalm was written close to or during the Second Temple period, I agree with Kimḥi that the gist of the psalm is about “remembering” visits to the Temple Mount at the time that the First Temple was standing (although unlike Kimḥi, I see this

12

Psalms 122:1

‫תהלים בכק‬ as a “constructed memory,” not a real one). The speaker is not joining a group going to the Second Temple; rather, he is imagining himself going to the First Temple, giving the reader a virtual tour of what he “sees.” (The imagined description of the First Temple is extensive in the Book of Chronicles, which retrojects features of the Second Temple onto the First Temple. Our psalm is not retrojecting the Second Temple onto the First, but imagining more freely what preexilic Jerusalem looked like.) In truth, the poem is not about a pilgrimage experience at all. Where are the noisy throngs of people, the festive mood, the courts of the Temple, and the awe they inspire? The psalm is not about ritual; it is about the architecture or the city plan of Jerusalem—Jerusalem as it once was or as it is idealized to have been. Two aspects of the old Jerusalem are singled out: it was the site to which all the tribes ascended (v. 4), that is, the capital of the united monarchy; and it was the seat of the Davidic kings (v. 5). This is the Jerusalem of old, or, more correctly, the idealized Golden Age of Jerusalem when it was the capital of the united kingdom ruled by the Davidic dynasty. By means of this virtual tour, the psalm conveys to a Second Temple audience the hopes for the complete restoration, still unfulfilled, that anticipates the reunification of the Northern and Southern Kingdoms, with a Davidic king on its throne. Jerusalem symbolizes these hopes for the future, just as it symbolizes the rebuilt Temple and the Temple community of the psalm’s present.

122 A song of ascents. Of David.

‫שיר ַה ַּֽמעֲ ֗לוֹ ת לְ ָ ֫דוִ ֥ד‬ ִ֥ ׁ

I rejoiced when they said to me, “We are going to the House of the Lord.”

‫קכב‬

‫שָׂ֭ ַמ ְח ִּתי ְ ּבא ְֹמ ִ ֣רים לִ ֑י‬ ‫ֵ ּב֖ית יהו֣ ה נֵלֵ ְֽך׃‬

1.  The speaker is told that people are going, or plan to go, to the (Second) Temple, and he is glad to hear this. It evokes in his mind how visiting the (First) Temple used to be, in the good old days before it was destroyed. A song of ascents  See “Excursus: Songs of Ascents” (pp. 183–188). Of David  Lacking in the Targum and the Septuagint. I rejoiced when they said to me  NJPS and many other translations take ‫ באמרים‬as equivalent to the infinitive ‫ב ָא ְמ ָרם‬.ּ ְ It is better to recognize that the preposition -‫ ב‬regularly follows the verb ‫ שמח‬to indicate the source of joy; the sense is “I rejoiced that they say to me” or “I took joy in those saying to me.” 3 The speaker is happy to hear that people are going to the Temple. Moreover, “rejoice” is a term often relating to Temple worship, as in Isa. 56:7, “I will bring them to My sacred mount, / And let them rejoice in My house of prayer.” In fact, this postexilic Isaianic prophecy is in concord with our psalm.

13

Psalms 122:2 

‫תהלים בכק‬

2 Our feet stood inside your gates, O Jerusalem, 3 Jerusalem built up, a city knit together,

‫ ֭עֹ ְמדוֹ ת ָהי֣ ּו ַרגְ לֵ ֑ינ ּו‬2 ‫ִ֝ ּב ׁ ְשעָ ַ ֗ריִ ְך ירושלם יְ רו ׁ ָּשלָ ֽיִ ם׃‬ ‫ ירושלם יְ רו ׁ ָּשלַ ֥יִ ם ַה ְ ּבנוּיָ ֑ה‬3 ָּ ‫ְ֝ ּכ ִ ֗עיר ׁ ֶש ֻח ְ ּב ָר‬ ‫ה־ל ּ֥ה יַ ְחדָּ ֽ ו׃‬

2. Our feet stood Rendering ‫עמדות היו רגלינו‬. The verb ‫ היה‬plus a participle here indicates a past progressive tense, “were standing, would stand, used to stand.” 4 Compare Jer. 26:18, “Micah used to prophecy”; Neh. 6:19, “they would say . . . ​they would bring forth.” While the grammar permits the meaning “our feet used to stand and are still standing now” (the verbal form can also be future progressive or jussive progressive5), the following verses emphasize how things were in the past, not in the present, so the action of the feet was also in the past: “our feet used to stand.” Reading the psalm as a description of a long-ago pilgrimage, “our feet” are not the feet of the Second Temple pilgrims in verse 1, but rather the feet of past pilgrims with whom the speaker identifies. He has, as it were, joined those earlier pilgrims. inside your gates  Inside the city, perhaps referring to the multiple gates in Second Temple Jerusalem (nine, according to Nehemiah 3; twelve in the future—named for each of Israel’s tribes—according to Ezek. 48:31–34). This might be another case of an anachronistic description of pre-destruction Jerusalem. Or alternatively, the speaker is between the inner and outer gates of the city, in a courtyard-like area, a public gathering place where justice was dispensed and legal transactions took place (2 Sam. 18:24, 19:9; Amos 5:10,12,15; Ruth 4:1; see below v. 5). This understanding may be behind the Septuagint’s reading “in your courts” here and also “court” or “courtyard” for “(king’s) gate” numerous times in Esther. 3. built up  The way Jerusalem was before it was destroyed. “Built” (‫ )בנה‬is a term that, when used of Jerusalem, generally means “rebuilt,” as in various passages in Ezra and especially in Jer. 30:18 (which bears a striking resemblance to our psalm), 31:38, and Isa. 44:28. Some commentaries translate “rebuilt,” but they take it as referring to Nehemiah’s Jerusalem because they interpret this as a Second Temple pilgrimage. I think that the speaker is describing the pre-destruction Jerusalem but is using postexilic terminology. He does this again in verse 4, “the tribes of Yah” (see below). In fact, this type of terminological anachronism is not uncommon and may often be a clue to dating a psalm. See Psalm 137. a city knit together  The word ‫( ֻח ְ ּב ָרה‬this form occurs only here) has been explained in two different ways, and perhaps both are intended: (1) as an architectural term—the city is built up with the appearance of a compact block of buildings—or “built up,” in the sense of being well-designed and having a surrounding protective wall to shelter its inhabitants;6 or (2) as a reference to the bond between all the tribes and the city as the capital of the united monarchy (see v. 4). The Septuagint’s “shared in common” seems to support the second meaning. The particle -‫כ‬, correctly left untranslated in NJPS, is a kaf veritatis, “in truth” signaling emphasis rather than a comparison (“built up like a city”).

14

Psalms 122:4 

‫תהלים בכק‬

4 to which tribes would make pilgrimage, the tribes of the Lord, as was enjoined upon Israel— to praise the name of the Lord. 5 There the thrones of judgment stood,

‫ ׁ ֶש ׁ ּ ֨ ָשם ָעל֪ ּו ׁ ְש ָב ִ֡טים‬4 ‫ׁ ִשבְ ֵטי־יָ֭ ּה‬ ‫ֵע ֣דוּת לְ יִ שְׂ ָר ֵא֑ל‬ ‫לְ֝ הֹד֗ וֹ ת לְ ׁ ֵש֣ם יהוֽ ה׃‬ ‫ ִּכ֤י ׁ ֨ ָש ָּמה ׀ יָ ׁ ְש ֣ב ּו כִ ְס ֣אוֹ ת לְ ִמ ׁ ְש ּ ָפ֑ט‬5

Psalm 133 has a similar structure to our verses 3–5 in the sequence of phrases beginning with -‫כ‬, followed by -‫ש‬, followed by ‫שמה‬/‫כי שם‬. 4. to which Rendering ‫שם‬, which in the next verse is rendered as “There.” The use of the particle -‫ ש‬instead of ‫ אשר‬is typical in Late Biblical Hebrew. the tribes of the Lord  An unusual expression meaning the tribes who are the Lord’s possession—the tribes of Israel. A similar designation for Israel or Judah is found in other exilic or postexilic writings: “the tribe of Your inheritance” ( Jer. 10:16, 51:19; Ps. 74:2), that is, God’s allotted tribe (see Deut. 32:8–9). Isaiah 63:17 has the plural: “tribes of Your inheritance.” See also Isa. 49:6, “to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel.” Here the reference is to the tribes at the time of the monarchy, but the terminology is postexilic. as was enjoined upon Israel Rendering ‫עדות לישראל‬, “a decree to Israel.” The word ‫עדות‬, often “testimony,” also means “laws” or “legal provisions,” or “treaty/covenant.” It is related to Akkadian adê, Aramaic ‫עדי‬.7 This alludes to the Torah’s command that Israel appear in God’s presence at specific (festival) times (Exod. 23:14–17, 34:23; Deut. 16:16; so Ibn Ezra). Giving the phrase a different twist, Amos Hakham relates ‫ עדות‬to the ‫אהל‬ ‫מועד‬, suggesting that the Temple was the equivalent of the Tent of Meeting in the desert where the tribes gathered to be in God’s presence. Qumran Psalms scroll 1QPsa reads ‫עדת ישראל‬, “the assembly of Israel,” apparently referring to the tribes. This phrase is in apposition to ‫שבטי יה‬. to praise the name of the Lord  To worship at the Temple. This phrase occurs interchangeably with “to praise the Lord” in psalms. 5. thrones of judgment  An important function of the king in Israel and throughout the ancient Near East was to dispense justice, which he did while seated on a chair or throne.8 In Solomon’s palace complex was “the throne portico, where he was to pronounce judgment—the Hall of Judgment” (1 Kings 7:7).9 Justice is associated with the Davidic monarchy in 2 Sam. 8:15 (= 1 Chron. 18:14), which says that David ruled over all Israel and executed righteous justice, and also in Isa. 9:6; 16:5; and Jer. 21:12. In 2 Sam. 15:2–6, Absalom wants to take this role for himself when he tries to displace David as king. He stands on the road to the city gate to intercept people coming to have their cases adjudicated. The psalm’s emphasis on the thrones of judgment, glossed as the thrones of the Davidic kings, along with the gates in verse 2 (if the gates are the site of judgments), strongly suggests that the psalm is promoting the return of the Davidic monarchy. NJPS does not translate ‫כי‬, the first word, because it functions as an emphatic particle, rather than meaning “because.” stood  The verb is ‫ישבו‬, “sat,” rather than “stood,” which reflects English idiom.

15

Psalms 122:6 

‫תהלים בכק‬

thrones of the house of David. 6 Pray for the well-being of Jerusalem; “May those who love you be at peace. M ay there be well-being within your ramparts, 7  peace in your citadels.”

‫ִ֝ ּכ ְס ֗אוֹ ת לְ ֵב֣ית דָּ ִוֽד׃‬ ‫ ׁ ַ֭ש ֲאל ּו ׁ ְשל֣ וֹ ם ירושלם יְ רו ׁ ָּשלָ ֑יִ ם‬6 ‫֝ ִי ׁ ְש ֗ ָלי ּו א ֲֹה ָבֽיִ ְך׃‬ ‫י־של֥ וֹ ם ְ ּב ֵחילֵ ֑ ְך‬ ָ ׁ ‫ יְ ִה‬7 ְ‫֝ ׁ ַשלְ ָ֗וה ְ ּב ַא ְר ְמנוֹ ָ ֽתיִ ך׃‬

Normally, the verb ‫ ישב‬applies to humans or God, not to objects like thrones, but it is used in reference to the Ark staying or remaining in a place in 1 Sam. 5:7, 7:2; 2 Sam. 6:11; and 1 Chron. 13:14. thrones of the house of David  The plural “thrones,” according to Kimḥi, refers to the thrones of past and future Davidic kings. 6–9.  These verses move out of the imagined past into the real present. The speaker wants his audience to seek the welfare of Jerusalem here and now. 6–7.  The sounds of the name of Jerusalem, ‫ש־ל־מ‬, reverberate most loudly here, with the A-B-B-A pattern of ‫ שלום‬and the root ‫ו‬/‫שלי‬. The word ‫שאל‬, “ask,” adds to the consonance. NJPS and many others understand verses 6b–7 as the words to be spoken on behalf of Jerusalem. These verses single out people and physical structures, as do verses 8–9. Pray for the well-being of Jerusalem  Literally “Ask for peace for Jerusalem.” A rhetorical turn to an unnamed (plural) audience. Many readers see here a prayer, but the term “pray” does not occur, and the words of the “prayer” (vv. 6b–7) are addressed not to God but rather to Jerusalem. This is a wish, or a blessing for Jerusalem, that the city and the people who love it will be secure. On seeking the peace or welfare of a city, see Jer. 29:7, where Jeremiah urges the exiles to seek the welfare of the city (Babylon) and pray for her. May . . . ​be at peace  The verb ‫ ישליו‬is an archaic form of the root ‫ו‬/‫שלי‬. Such archaic forms are mostly limited to poetry.10 It echoes the sound of ‫“( שאלו‬ask”) in the previous line. those who love you  The people loyal to Jerusalem; see also Isa. 66:10. This may refer to one faction within the Judean community, as opposed to “those who hate Zion” (Ps. 129:5). They may be the speaker’s “kin and friends” of verse 8, the group with which he associates himself. They would also seem to be people who would plan a pilgrimage to Jerusalem (v. 1). 7. ramparts . . . ​citadels  Visual symbols of the city’s strength and glory in Ps. 48:13–14 and the structures that were destroyed in Lam. 2:5,7–8. These terms evoke pre-destruction Jerusalem. Is the speaker blessing Jerusalem of old or Jerusalem of his own time? The description forms a bridge between the idealized past and the hoped-for present. He wants the Jerusalem of his time to be like the Jerusalem of the past.

16

Psalms 122:8 

‫תהלים בכק‬

8 For the sake of my kin and friends, I pray for your well-being; 9 for the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I seek your good.

‫ לְ֭ ַמ ַען ַא ַח֣י וְ ֵרעָ ֑י‬8 ְ‫ֲא ַד ְ ּב ָרה־ ָּנ ֖א ׁ ָשל֣ וֹ ם ָ ּבֽך׃‬ ‫ לְ֭ ַמ ַען ֵ ּבית־יהו֣ ה ֱאל ֵֹה֑ינ ּו‬9  ‫ֲא ַב ְק ׁ ָש֖ה ֣טוֹ ב לָ ְֽך׃‬

8–9.  Both the community and the Temple are dependent on the city’s well-being. I pray  The word “pray” does not occur in the Hebrew, which literally says “let me speak” (just as the Hebrew of v. 6 is “ask,” not “pray”). “To speak peace” means to advocate for peace on behalf of someone, as in Ps. 35:20, 120:7; and Esther 10:3. NJPS does not construe this phrase as containing direct discourse, but some interpreters do, as in NRSV: “I will say, ‘Peace be within you.’ ” This makes the words addressed to Jerusalem a quotation of the peace greeting, as they were in verses 6b–7.11 9. house of the Lord our God  This phrase forms an inclusio with “House of the Lord” in verse 1 but is strengthened and personalized by the addition of “our God.”

Ritual and Liturgical Uses This psalm is the third of the fifteen Songs of Ascents (‫שירי המעלות‬, Psalms 120–134). On the uses of these psalms as a group, see the discussion on Psalm 120 above. In the Eidot Hamizraḥ, Yemenite, and Sefard­-­ Hasidic rites, this psalm—together with all of Psalms 121–124—is recited on Sabbath mornings before Pesukei deZimra. This psalm is designated for recitation on the Sabbath of Parashat Be-midbar (Num. 1:1–4:20) in a custom of the Ḥevrat Tehillim (Psalms Society) in medieval Ashkenazic communities, probably because the psalm mentions “tribes of the Lord” (v. 4), while the parashah lists the tribes and their families. In the Eidot Hamizraḥ rite, this psalm is recited at the end of the Evening Service of the three pilgrimage festivals (though on Passover some recite Psalm 114 instead), no doubt because it speaks about

17

the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. It is recommended for recital for an actual pilgrimage to Israel in the Reform Gates of the House and in a Conservative rabbinical manual. It is recommended as an addition to any service on Yom Yerushalayim (the twenty-eighth of Iyyar) in Va’Ani Tefillati, an Israeli Conservative siddur. It begins the service for Yom ha’Atzma‘ut (Israeli Independence Day) in Mishkan T’filah, an American Reform siddur. A Modern Orthodox rabbinic manual suggests reading Psalms 121, 122, and 126 at a bat mitzvah ceremony. Shimmush Tehillim suggests reciting this psalm thirteen times before meeting a powerful person, to ensure that “you will be accepted by him in favor.” This source then adds, “Recite it in the synagogue and you will be blessed.”

Psalm 123: Introduction This psalm echoes Psalm 120 in its tone, contents, and form of expression. Both seek God’s help from opponents whose contrary speech causes distress. The psalm opens with the speaker speaking for himself in the first-person singular, but soon moves to the plural, where the speaker speaks for the community or where they join him in prayer. (This shift from singular to plural is found in a number of psalms.) Two late linguistic features, the form ‫( רבת‬v. 4) and the pseudo-archaizing form ‫( הישבי‬v. 1), date the psalm to the exilic or postexilic period.1 The situation addressed in the psalm is vague, but it fits the strained hopes for restoration in the face of foreign and Judean factional disputes.

123 A song of ascents. To You, enthroned in heaven, I turn my eyes. 2 As the eyes of slaves follow their master’s hand, as the eyes of a slave girl follow the hand of her mistress, so our eyes are toward the Lord our God, awaiting His favor.

‫ׁ ֗ ִשיר ַה ַּֽ֫מעֲ ל֥ וֹ ת‬

‫קכג‬

‫ת־עי ַנ ֑י‬ ֵ ‫֣אתי ֶא‬ ִ ָׂ‫ֵ֭אלֶ ָיך נָש‬ ‫ַ֝ה ּי ׁ ְֹש ִ֗בי ַ ּב ׁ ּ ָש ָ ֽמיִ ם׃‬ ‫ֵיהם‬ ֶ֗ ‫ ִה ֵּנ֨ה כְ ֵעי ֵנ֪י עֲ ָב ִ ֡דים ֶאל־יַ ֤ד ֲֽאדוֹ נ‬2 ‫ְּכ ֵעי ֵנ ֣י ׁ ִש ְפ ָח ֮ה ֶאל־יַ ֪ד ְ ּג ִ֫ב ְר ָּת ּ֥ה‬ ‫ֵּכ֣ן ֵ֭עינֵינ ּו ֶאל־יהו֣ ה ֱאל ֵֹה֑ינ ּו‬ ‫ַ֝ ֗עד ׁ ֶש ְ ּי ָח ֵּנ ֽנוּ׃‬

1. A song of ascents  See “Excursus: Songs of Ascents” (pp. 183–188). enthroned in heaven  The definite article in ‫ הישבי‬signals the vocative. The -y ending also occurs in Ps. 113:5–6 and 114:8. That God dwells in heaven is a common idea in Psalms (11:4, 14:2, 73:25, 115:3,16). The idea appears in Deuteronomy (4:36, 26:15), which insists that God does not actually reside in the Temple; see also Isa. 66:1. The expected phrase is ‫היושב בשמים‬, as in Ps. 2:4. The form here, ‫הישבי‬, resembles forms in 113:5–6 (‫המגביהי‬ and ‫ )המשפילי‬and 114:8 (‫)ההפכי‬. The -y ending is called ḥirek compaginis, whose origin is unknown (a popular explanation is that it is the remnant of an old case ending). Its use in late texts would seem to be an archaizing feature, which might have been a nice touch in poetry. However, a form with ḥirek compaginis and the definite article is unknown in early poetry or in Classical Biblical Hebrew; it is found only in late texts like Ezek. 27:3 and the psalms cited above. These forms are, therefore, not imitations of early forms but are pseudo-classicisms or pseudo-archaisms.2 I turn my eyes  As in Ps. 121:1, the speaker raises his eyes imploringly to the place where God is. Here the gesture is likened to servants imploring their master. 2.  The relationship of servant to master is the relationship of Israel to God. (“Servant” is a better translation than NJPS “slave,” for these were not slaves in the modern

18

Psalms 123:3 

‫תהלים גכק‬

3 Show us favor, O Lord, show us favor! We have had more than enough of contempt. 4 Long enough have we endured

‫ ָח ֵּנ ֣נ ּו יהו֣ ה‬3 ‫ָח ֵּנ ֑נ ּו‬ ‫י־רב שָׂ ַב ְ֥ענ ּו ֽבוּז׃‬ ֗ ַ ֝ ‫ִּכ‬ ָּ ‫ ַר ַ ּב ֮ת שָׂ ֽבְ ָע‬4 ‫ה־ל ּ֪ה ַנ ְ֫פ ׁ ֵש֥נ ּו‬

sense.) A servant follows the commands of the master and expects to be granted favor for his obedience and loyalty. The master indicates his command and the granting of his favor with his hand, or more concretely, his hand distributes food. Servants are dependent upon their master for sustenance, but at the same time they expect that the master will treat them well. The bond between master and servant is reciprocal although their status is unequal. The parallelism is constructed on gender and number—‫עבדים‬, male servants (plural) // ‫שפחה‬, female servant (singular): ‫אדוניהם‬, their masters (masculine plural; “masters’” would be more literally correct than NJPS “master’s”) // ‫גברתה‬, her mistress (feminine singular). This effectively makes both men and women servants of God. God is sometimes characterized by female imagery, especially maternal imagery, for example Isa. 42:14, “I will scream like a woman in labor,” and Hos. 11:3–4, where God pampered Ephraim and took them in His arms (see also the second Comment to 131:2; Comment to 139:13–16).3 But the image of God as a mistress in charge is novel. One such mistress is portrayed in Proverbs 31, especially verse 15, where she “supplies provisions for her household, the daily fare of her maids,” and here that is metaphorically applied to God, who provides for Israel. The word ‫הנה‬, “behold,” at the beginning of the verse (untranslated in NJPS) may be emphasizing the speaker’s address to God,4 or ‫ הנה‬may also signal a change in perspective, as it does in prose narrative.5 In verse 1, the singular speaker addresses God; in verse 2 the speaker addresses the community, drawing them into his act of looking toward God—“so our eyes.” The speaker’s eyes become the reader’s eyes, so that the reader, too, like the speaker, is looking up at God, the Master/Mistress.6 awaiting His favor  Literally “until He will show us favor.” The expectation of God’s favor precedes the request for it. 3. Show us favor  Compassion (showing favor; ‫ )חנון‬is a divine attribute (e.g., Exod. 34:6; Joel 2:13; Ps. 116:5). The psalm asks God to act according to His nature. And it is certain that He will. At the same time, the language is deferential. We have had more than enough  Literally “we have been too much satiated.” Compare the English expression “we are fed up.” The negative image in verses 3–4 of being filled up with contempt and scorn contrasts with the positive image in verse 2 of servants awaiting their sustenance. 4. Long enough have we endured  The free NJPS translation hides the repeated phrase in verses 3–4, literally “we have been too much satiated” and “ourself [our ‫ ]נפש‬has been too much satiated.” The syntax of verses 3b–4a is the same as 120:5b–6a.

19

Psalms 123:4 

‫תהלים גכק‬

the scorn of the complacent, the contempt of the haughty.

‫ַה ַּל ַ֥עג ַה ׁ ּ ַש ֲֽא ַנ ִּנ ֑ים‬  ‫ַ֝ה ֗ ּבוּז לגאיונים לִ גְ ֵא֥י יוֹ ִנֽים׃‬

complacent  The word ‫שאנן‬, “complacent, at ease, indulgent,” is often a pejorative (Amos 6:1; Zech. 1:15; Isa. 32:9,11). The words rendered as “the scorn” and “the complacent” are in apposition, a construction that Hebrew uses more frequently than English and that is often rendered as though it were a construct chain or an adjectival genitive: “the scorn of the complacent.” Compare Ps. 120:2–3, “a deceitful tongue,” which is two nouns in apposition: “tongue, deceitfulness.” 7 haughty  Arrogant people who are sure that they are right. The ketiv (one word) is preferable to the kerei (two words), which yields little sense. In most other cases the kerei is preferable to the ketiv. Moreoever, the lamed of ‫ לגאיונם‬makes the syntax of this phrase different from the previous phrase that has two nouns in apposition, each preceded by the definite article -‫ה‬. Generally in the apposition of nouns, both have the same preposition, or the first has it but the second lacks it.8 I know of no case where the first lacks the preposition and the second provides it. Moreover, the kerei vocalization lacks the definite article for “[the] haughty.” These irregularities suggest that something has gone awry in the transmission of this last phrase.

Ritual and Liturgical Uses This psalm is the fourth of the fifteen Songs of Ascents (‫שירי המעלות‬, Psalms 120–134). On the uses of these psalms as a group, see the discussion on Psalm 120 above. In Eidot Hamizraḥ, Yemenite, and Sefard-­Hasidic rites, this psalm—together with all of Psalms 121– 124—is recited on Sabbath mornings before Pesukei deZimra. Shimmush Tehillim suggests using this psalm to recapture a runaway slave. The psalm should be en-

graved on a leaden plate together with the name of the master and its slave, promising his return. This use is probably motivated by verse 2, which mentions slaves and masters; indeed, the third through fifth words of that verse, taken out of context, could be understood as alluding to the return of “slaves to the hand of their masters.” Whether there is any actual historical setting for this use is unclear. Concerning escaped slaves in biblical law, see further Deut. 23:15–16.

20

Psalm 124: Introduction Israel has been spared from its assailants and acknowledges God’s help. The assailants are graphically portrayed as trying to swallow up Israel alive and to tear her to pieces like prey. The metaphors of drowning and being hunted are used in conventional but complex ways (see below). Although the assailant is human, the narrowly averted threat of national annihilation is cosmic. Swallowing the victim alive is the action of Sheol, and the torrential waters are the primordial waters of chaos—both represent the netherworld, underneath the earth. Elsewhere in the Bible, the destruction of the Temple and the exile of the people of Judah to Babylonia are considered a cosmic catastrophe, equivalent to the undoing of Creation and the return to the waters of chaos (the Flood), and this psalm shares that perspective. But thanks to God’s help, the nation survived the event that could have meant its demise. For that, God is to be praised.

124 A song of ascents. Of David. Were it not for the Lord, who was on our side, let Israel now declare, 2 were it not for the Lord, who was on our side when men assailed us,

‫שיר ַה ַּֽמעֲ ֗לוֹ ת לְ ָ ֫דוִ ֥ד‬ ִ֥ ׁ

‫קכד‬

‫לוּלֵ ֣י י֭ הוה ׁ ֶש ָ ֣היָה לָ ֑נ ּו‬ ‫ר־נ֗א יִ שְׂ ָר ֵאֽל׃‬ ָ ֝ ‫ֹאמ‬ ַ ‫י‬ ‫ לוּלֵ ֣י י֭ הוה ׁ ֶש ָ ֣היָה לָ ֑נ ּו‬2 ‫ְ ּב ֖קוּם ָעלֵ ֣ינ ּו ָא ָ ֽדם׃‬

1. A song of ascents  See “Excursus: Songs of Ascents” (pp. 183–188). Were it not for the Lord, who was on our side  Were it not for God, who was there for us, who acted on our behalf. NJPS construes “who was on our side” as a nonrestrictive modifier of “the Lord.” Alternatively, NRSV renders restrictively, “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side.” That is, had it been a different, less powerful god, he would not have been able to save us. The construction . . . ‫ אזי‬. . . -‫ ש‬. . . ‫​ לולי‬is a sign of Late Biblical Hebrew.1 let Israel now declare  A phrase bidding the congregation to recite the words of the psalm, which was known by its opening words “Were it not for the Lord.” Such liturgical instructions are found in later prayers, such as the Kaddish prayer, “Say ‘Amen’”; and at the end of ‫יקום פורקן‬, “Let us say ‘Amen.’ ” The Barekhu prayer opens with a call by the leader to “bless the Lord, the blessed one,” followed by the congregation’s response blessing the Lord: “Blessed is the Lord, the blessed one, for ever and ever.” Compare Ps. 118:2–4, 129:1, and 135:20–21. 2.  The assailant is human, as opposed to God, who is divine. But the assailant is not named, not even called “the enemy,” as in many psalms. In the theology of the exile, God is ultimately responsible for the destruction, for the enemy can do nothing if God does not will it; but this psalm removes all hint of blame from God by making the attacker human.

21

Psalms 124:3 

‫תהלים דכק‬

3 they would have swallowed us alive in their burning rage against us; 4 the waters would have carried us off, the torrent would have swept over us; 5 over us would have swept the seething waters. 6 Blessed is the Lord, who did not let us be ripped apart by their teeth. 7 We are like a bird escaped from the fowler’s trap; the trap broke and we escaped.

‫ ֭ ֲאזַ י ַח ִ ּי֣ים ְ ּבלָ ֑עוּנ ּו‬3 ‫ַ ּב ֲח ֖רוֹ ת ַא ּ ָפ֣ם ָ ּבֽנוּ׃‬ ‫ ֭ ֲאזַ י ַה ַּמ֣יִ ם ׁ ְש ָטפ֑ וּנ ּו‬4 ‫֝ ַנ ְ֗חלָ ה ָע ַב֥ר ַעל־נ ְַפ ׁ ֵשֽנוּ׃‬ ‫ ֭ ֲאזַ י ָע ַב֣ר ַעל־נ ְַפ ׁ ֵש֑נ ּו‬5 ‫ַ֝ה ַּ֗מיִ ם ַה ֵ ּזידוֹ ִנֽים׃‬ ‫ ָ ּב ֥רו ְּך יהו֑ ה ׁ ֶש ֹ֥לּ א נ ְָת ָנ ֥נ ּו‬6 ‫ֵיהֽם׃‬ ֶ ‫ֶ֝ ֗ט ֶרף לְ ׁ ִש ּנ‬ ‫שים‬ ֥ ִ ׁ ‫ נ ְַפ ׁ ֗ ֵשנ ּו ְּכצִ ּ ֥פוֹ ר נ ְִמלְ ָט ֮ה ִמ ּ ַפ֪ח י֫ וֹ ְק‬7 ‫ַה ּ ַפ֥ח נ ׁ ְִש ָ֗ ּבר וַ ֲא ַנ ְ֥חנ ּו נ ְִמלָ ְֽטנוּ׃‬

3. swallowed us alive  As Sheol (the earth or underworld) swallows its victims (Prov. 1:12; Num. 16:30,32). “Swallow” is commonly used for an enemy’s destruction of Israel (Hos. 8:7–8; Ps. 35:25; Jer. 51:34), but “swallowed alive,” while it is used metaphorically for human action, as in Proverbs 1:12, has a more cosmic significance. So although the enemies are human, they can cause cosmic damage. burning rage  This phrase introduces the notion of heat or even perhaps fire, another destructive element, into this picture of water. 4–5.  The imagery moves from the earth swallowing its victims to the waters washing over Israel. There are three escalating terms for the waters: waters washing over; a torrential stream; and seething waters. ‫נחלה‬, like ‫נחל‬, is a wadi that can suddenly fill up with rainwater and flood the surrounding area. This occurs in the Negev wadis during heavy rains and can cause an almost instant torrent of water strong enough to sweep people away. (Modern hikers are warned about this phenomenon and a few are injured every year.) ‫זידונים‬, literally “insolent,” describes waters that refuse to be controlled. A form of this word in Jer. 50:29,31 characterizes Babylonia. A more extensive description of being overtaken by water, which is synonymous with the Deep and the Pit, is in Ps. 69:2,16. 6. ripped apart by their teeth  The psalm moves now to hunting imagery. This verse may refer to a wild animal catching its prey or to the human hunter implied in verse 7.2 7. the fowler’s trap  A pit covered with a net is a common image (Ps. 31:5, 35:7–8, 91:3; Prov. 7:23). The combination of drowning and being trapped like a bird may appear strange, but the same combination is found in Lam. 3:52–54, “My foes have snared me like a bird. . . . ​They have ended my life in a pit. . . . ​Waters flowed over my head.” The relationship between Lamentations and our psalm is unknown, but the occurrence of this double metaphor in Lamentations in the context of describing the exile hints that our psalm is also speaking about the exile. Both images give the sense of being caught in a subterranean pit—in the ground or in the water, Sheol or the grave—without the possibility of escape.

22

Psalms 124:8 

‫תהלים דכק‬

8 Our help is the name of the Lord, maker of heaven and earth.

‫ ֶ֭עזְ ֵרנ ּו ְ ּב ׁ ֵש֣ם יהו֑ ה‬8  ‫֝עֹ ֗ ֵשׂ ה ׁ ָש ַמ֥יִ ם וָ ָא ֶֽרץ׃‬

8. maker of heaven and earth  A liturgical phrase that scholars associate with the Jerusalem tradition. It occurs with the mention of God’s help (Ps. 121:2, 146:6) and God’s blessing (115:15, 134:3).

Ritual and Liturgical Uses This psalm is the fifth of the fifteen Songs of Ascents (‫שירי המעלות‬, Psalms 120–134). On the uses of these psalms as a group, see the discussion on Psalm 120 above. In the Eidot Hamizraḥ, Yemenite, and Sefard-­ Hasidic rites, this psalm—together with Psalms 121–123—is recited on Sabbath mornings before Pesukei deZimra. One recites this psalm on weekdays

23

before the psalm of the day in the Eidot Hamizraḥ and Sefard-Hasidic rites. One also recites it in Eidot Hamizraḥ and Yemenite rites after reading the Megillah on Purim both night and day. Shimmush Tehillim suggests using this psalm before crossing a river or while sailing in a boat, probably because the psalm mentions God’s help to people facing “seething waters” (v. 5).

Psalm 125: Introduction This psalm’s message is that God maintains and protects those who trust in Him. Verses 1–2 state the premise that those who trust in God are secure and protected; verses 3–5, the prayer that derives from the premise, hopes that God will now, in the present moment, protect the righteous from the wicked and that He will prosper the righteous and remove the wicked. The psalm calls upon the common psalmic themes of Zion and the contrast between the fate of the righteous and of the wicked, but this is neither a so-called Zion song nor a wisdom poem. Mount Zion and Jerusalem are not the main subjects but are used as cosmic metaphors of security and protection for Israel. Nor is this a teaching about the righteous and the wicked. It is, rather, a hint that God will protect Israel from those who would control her. In the postexilic political context, the psalm’s message is that despite Persian rule, Israel remains under the eternal aegis of God and, in a cosmic sense, the Land of Israel is Israel’s possession (given by God). The emphasis throughout is on the people of Israel, and the psalm ends with a blessing for Israel’s well-being. The idea that Zion has been established forever, a preexilic idea that this postexilic psalm adopts for its own purpose and builds upon (see Comment to v. 1), contributes to the focus on Zion that is found throughout the Songs of Ascents. Late Biblical Hebrew usages show that the psalm is postexilic: ‫למען לא‬, “that . . . ​not”; verse 4, ‫ישרים בלבותם‬, “the upright in heart”; verse 5, ‫שלום על ישראל‬, “May it be well with Israel.” 1

125 A song of ascents. Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion

‫ׁ ֗ ִשיר ַה ַּֽ֫מעֲ ל֥ וֹ ת‬

‫קכה‬

‫ַהבּ ְֹט ִ ֥חים ַ ּביהו֑ ה‬ ‫ְּכ ַֽהר־צִ ּי֥וֹ ן‬

1–2.  These verses compare God’s people, those who trust in God, to Mount Zion and to Jerusalem; like Mount Zion, they are permanently fixed and cannot be moved, and like Jerusalem, they are surrounded by God’s protection. The comparison may at first seem inapt, for here the city and the Temple are symbols of stability and protection, yet they had been destroyed in the not-distant past. The psalm, however, is not looking to history for its imagery but rather to mythic cosmology. As part of the battle against chaos, when God created the world, He created Zion/Jerusalem as the seat of His rule. It is, in the cosmic sense, eternal and immovable, just as God’s reign is eternal (cf. Psalms 48 and 93).2 For the people living in and around Jerusalem in difficult postexilic times, for whom the psalm was presumably designed, to hear that they have been established as permanent fixtures in the cosmos, fixtures associated with God’s eternal reign, must have been very encouraging.

24

Psalms 125:2 

‫תהלים הכק‬

that cannot be moved, enduring forever. 2 Jerusalem, hills enfold it, and the Lord enfolds His people now and forever.

‫ֹא־י ּ֗מוֹ ט‬ ִ֝ ‫ל‬ ‫לְ עוֹ לָ ֥ם יֵ ׁ ֵשֽב׃‬ ‫ ירושלם ְיֽרו ׁ ָּש ֗ ַליִ ם ָה ִרי ֮ם ָסבִ ֪יב ֫לָ ֥ ּה‬2 ֹ‫וַ֭ יהוה ָס ִב֣יב לְ ַע ּ֑מו‬ ‫ֵ֝מ ַע ָּ֗תה וְ ַעד־עוֹ לָ ֽם׃‬

1. A song of ascents  See “Excursus: Songs of Ascents” (pp. 183–188). trust in the Lord  The Bible advocates not abstract beliefs, but specific behaviors or actions. To trust in God means to conduct one’s life in a correct manner (see Psalm 15 for a list of dos and don’ts). Those who trust in God are the righteous (v. 3) and the good (v. 4). The idea of trusting in God continues the theme of the preceding psalm and is found also in other psalms, such as Psalm 121, where God is the guardian of Israel. Compare also 32:10, 37:3–4; Prov. 16:20, and 29:25. cannot be moved  Just as in Ps. 15:5, the person who acts rightly cannot be moved. The root is ‫מוט‬, which NJPS renders “shaken” in 15:5 and “toppled” in 46:6. Those who trust in God are sure to be protected; they are as steady, as unbreakable, as permanent as Mount Zion, the cosmic mountain established at Creation by God as the place of His throne. As 93:1–2 says, the world and God’s throne stand firm, fixed for eternity, and cannot be moved. (Cf. also 46:5–6.) This is not the preexilic assumption that God would never permit Jerusalem to be physically conquered and destroyed; rather, the verse reflects a postexilic emphasis on the cosmic dimension of Zion, namely, that notwithstanding its physical destruction, Zion remains, in a cosmic sense, forever the site of God’s throne. This cosmic thinking was maintained even in the face of destruction, as in Lam. 5:18–19, “. . . Mount Zion, which lies desolate. . . . ​But You, O Lord, are enthroned forever, Your throne endures through the ages.” We cannot date Psalm 125 precisely, but if the Temple had been rebuilt by the time it was written, then this cosmic thinking would have been reinforced by the presence of the physical Temple. 2.  The cosmic mountain image of verse 1 moves to the physical topography of Jerusalem. The mountains that surround the city form a protective wall, blocking access by invaders. The mountains are a metaphor of God’s surrounding the people of Israel to protect them (Ps. 34:8; Zech. 2:9). Close to our verse is Ps. 32:10, “He who trusts in the Lord shall be surrounded with favor [‫]חסד‬.” Even today one sees mountains surrounding Jerusalem, like the Mount of Olives and Mount Scopus, but in biblical times Jerusalem (consisting of the Temple Mount and some of the area below it) was a much smaller—and lower—city than it is now, and the sense of being surrounded by mountains was even stronger. now and forever  A liturgical refrain, giving closure to verses 1–2 and projecting the thought onto the next part of the psalm, where it serves to undergird the request for God’s action. See Comment to 121:8.

25

Psalms 125:3 

‫תהלים הכק‬

3 The scepter of the wicked shall never rest upon the land allotted to the righteous, that the righteous not set their hand to wrongdoing. 4 Do good, O Lord, to the good, to the upright in heart. 5 But those who in their crookedness act corruptly,

‫ש ֶבט ָה ֶ ֗ר ׁ ַשע‬ ֤ ֵ ׁ ‫ ִּכ֤י ֹ֪לא יָ ֡נו ַּח‬3 ‫יקים‬ ֥ ִ ּ‫ַע ֮ל גּוֹ ַר֪ל ַה ַ ּֽצ ִ ֫ד‬ ‫לְ ַ֡מ ַען ל ֹא־יִ ׁ ְשלְ ֖ח ּו ַה ַ ּצדִּ ִ֨יקים ְ ּב ַעוְ ֬ ָל ָתה יְ ֵד ֶיהֽם׃‬ ‫֣יבה י֭ הוה לַ ּטוֹ ִב֑ים‬ ָ ‫ ֵה ִיט‬4 ‫יש ִ ֗רים ְ ּבלִ בּ וֹ ָ ֽתם׃‬ ָ ׁ ִ‫ְ֝ול‬ ‫ וְ ַה ַּמ ּ ִט֤ים עֲֽ ַקלְ ַקלּ וֹ ָ֗תם‬5

3–5.  The contrast between the righteous and the wicked has prompted some scholars to identify this as a wisdom teaching (like Psalm 1), but our psalm is not giving instructions about proper behavior. It is encouraging the community to remain steadfast in its trust of God, and it is encouraging God to take just measures against the wicked. 3.  This verse’s meaning is uncertain [Transl.]. The scepter of the wicked  Or “the scepter of wickedness,” which means the rule of wickedness, an unjust governmental power. This is perhaps a reference to foreign occupiers or to the Persian Empire, which governed Judah. In contrast to the scepter of the wicked, God’s scepter is just (Ps. 45:7, which also says that God’s throne is eternal). the land allotted  The word ‫גורל‬, “lot, allotment,” refers to God’s allotting the Land of Israel to the people of Israel (the righteous). One of the uses of casting lots was to divide up property. In Num. 26:55–56 and Josh. 14:2 (cf. also Joshua 18–20), lots were cast in order to determine the assigned land holdings for the tribes. The general sense here is that the wicked foreign ruler cannot undermine the ancient and divine allotment of the land of Judah to the Judeans. That is, although it is no longer an independent country, the land of Judah belongs to the people of Judah, or to the community returning from exile—in an existential sense, if not in a political sense. Another possibility is that ‫גורל‬ here means “group of people, community,” as it does in Qumran Hebrew.3 that the righteous not set their hand to wrongdoing  The precise meaning is unclear, although the gist seems to be that the limitations on the wicked will prevent the righteous from adopting their behavior. Perhaps, drawing on the first part of the verse, this clause relates to the buying and selling of property (family or individual holdings) that would remove it from its ancestral owners. “Wrongdoing” (‫)עוְ לָ ה‬ ַ may refer more generally to political or economic oppression (2 Sam. 7:10; Ps. 89:23). 5.  God will cause those who act corruptly to go the way of evildoers, or more literally, He will lead them away with the evildoers (NRSV). Those who act corruptly are equated with evildoers, ‫פעלי און‬, a term used twenty-three times in the Bible, primarily in Psalms, and sometimes parallel with other terms for wicked or impious people.4 But those who in their crookedness act corruptly  Meaning of Heb. uncertain [Transl.]. | The first two words of the verse are literally “Those who cause to turn aside [or cause to err], their crookedness.” The sense is that these people, in their crookedness,

26

Psalms 125:5 

‫תהלים הכק‬

let the Lord make them go the way of evildoers. May it be well with Israel!

ּ ‫יוֹ לִ יכֵ ֣ם י֭ הוה ֶא‬ ‫ת־פֹעֲ לֵ ֣י ָה ָא֑וֶ ן‬  ‫֝ ׁ ָש ֗לוֹ ם ַעל־יִ שְׂ ָר ֵאֽל׃‬

cause the righteous to err or cause others to turn aside (from the right way) toward their crookedness. The crookedness of the corrupt contrasts with those who are “upright [= straight] in their heart” in verse 4. make them go the way of evildoers  Evildoers, like the wicked in Ps. 1:6 and the sinners and the wicked in 104:35, cannot continue to exist in God’s perfect world. No specific punishment is mentioned; the corrupt people will simply be removed. In 1:6 and 104:35 the wicked just disappear, as if automatically, but here their removal is expressed more actively: God causes them to go. When they are gone, there will be no danger that “the scepter of the wicked” will “rest upon the land allotted to the righteous” (v. 3). There will no longer be conflict between the righteous and the corrupt people, and all will be well for Israel. May it be well with Israel!  A formulaic expression, also in Ps. 128:6, where it is, as here, linked with blessing and prosperity (“good,” ‫ )טוב‬that emanate from Zion and Jerusalem. Compare 122:6–9 for the hope of the well-being of Jerusalem. This expression is found in the famous Byzantine (sixth to seventh century c.e.) synagogue at Jericho, where it is incorporated into a mosaic below a menorah (candelabrum) flanked by a shofar (ram’s horn) and a lulav (palm frond).

Ritual and Liturgical Uses This psalm is the sixth of the fifteen Songs of Ascents (‫שירי המעלות‬, Psalms 120–134). On the uses of these psalms as a group, see the discussion on Psalm 120 above. Shimmush Tehillim suggests reciting this psalm

27

seven times (while holding some salt in one’s hand) on meeting an enemy on the road, to ensure that no harm will befall the believer. It seems that the general topics of this psalm—trusting God and asking for His help—justify this popular use.

Psalm 126: Introduction This psalm is about the return from exile and the rejoicing that accompanied it, although whether the return has already occurred or lies in the future is an interpretive crux. Many medieval and modern commentators have read this as a pre-restoration psalm, looking forward hopefully to the return, but the trend among recent interpreters, with which I concur, is to see the return as having already begun, although in the psalm’s view it has not yet been completed.1 The psalm is asking God to act for Israel’s benefit in the current time of trouble as He did when He restored them from the Babylonian exile. During the period of exile (586–539 b.c.e.), the restoration was conceptualized as the renewal of or the continuation of the covenant between God and Israel as demonstrated by the restoration of the preexilic situation: the return of the people to their independent country with its monarchy and its Temple. During the exile this hope became an ideal to yearn for, so idealized that when the historical restoration under the Persians actually took place and the Temple stood once again, the restoration seemed incomplete: not all the Judeans returned to Judah, Judah did not become an independent monarchy with a Davidic king, and new internal political and economic woes arose. Because reality did not meet the expectations of the idealized return, the actual return in 539 b.c.e., which historically marked the end of the exile, was then eclipsed by the notion that the exile had not yet ended but still continued and that its end would come in the future. In later Second Temple literature, this concept of an ongoing exile became quite powerful and developed even further. Ultimately it was transformed into the idea of the messianic age.2 The psalm is a plea for God to complete the restoration. Verses 1–3 speak about what God did in the past, the restoration of His people and the joy that it brought. Verses 4–6 address themselves to the present, a time of trouble after the return, when—in the time of Haggai, Zechariah, Ezra, and Nehemiah—the returning Judeans had difficulty in rebuilding Jerusalem and were beset by internal and external strife. These verses are a prayer that God will bring a new “return,” the completion of the idealized return.

126 A song of ascents. When the Lord restores the fortunes of Zion —we see it as in a dream—

‫ׁ ֗ ִשיר ַה ַּֽ֫מעֲ ל֥ וֹ ת‬

‫קכו‬

‫ת־ש ַיב֣ת צִ ֑ ּיוֹ ן‬ ִ ׁ ‫ְ ּב ׁ ֣שוּב י֭ הוה ֶא‬ ‫ָ֝ה ִ֗יינ ּו ְּכחֹלְ ִ ֽמים׃‬

1. A song of ascents  See “Excursus: Songs of Ascents” (pp. 183–188). This verse is the syntactic counterpart of Ps. 114:1, “When Israel went forth from Egypt . . . , Judah became. . . .” In our psalm the return of the exiles, like the Exodus (to which the return is sometimes likened), stands for God’s primary past act of deliverance of His people Israel, the event that defines Israel’s relationship to God.

28

Psalms 126:2 

‫תהלים וכק‬

2 our mouths shall be filled with laughter, our tongues, with songs of joy.

‫ ָא֤ז יִ ָּמלֵ ֪א שְׂ ֡חוֹ ק ּ ִפינ ּ ֮ו‬2 ‫וּלְ ׁשוֹ נֵ ֪נ ּו ִ ֫ר ָּנ ֥ה‬

When the Lord restores  Although many medieval exegetes (but not Isaiah of Trani) and modern interpreters take this as referring to the future, when God will restore, it is better to understand it as having happened in the past: “When the Lord restored.” This reading is consistent with the end of verse 1 and with verse 3, with the past-tense verbs ‫היינו‬, signifying completed actions, “we were/became like dreamers” and “we were/ became joyful.” The verbs in verse 2 should also be read as past tense (see below). restores the fortunes  The phrase ‫ שיבת ציון‬. . . ‫ בשוב‬is tenseless; literally “to return [or: in returning] the return of Zion,” meaning “to restore Zion to the way it was.” The word ‫שיבת‬, understood as “captivity” in older explanations, occurs in the Sefire inscription (an Aramaic inscription from the eighth century b.c.e.), where it means “fortunes,” as it does in our verse (see Comment to v. 4). Although “restoring of fortunes” is a general expression, it is hard to imagine what other restoration, other than the return from Babylonian exile, is being alluded to. The historical return is usually dated from 539 b.c.e., when Cyrus, king of Persia, conquered Babylonia. Actually, though, the return was accomplished in several waves over a period of time, and many Jews remained in the Babylonian diaspora. we see it as in a dream  Literally “we became like dreamers,” we could hardly believe it was happening. After years of hope, the actual return must have seemed unreal or incredible (Ibn Ezra). A different interpretation is offered by David Kimḥi, in the name of his father, Joseph, and also by Isaiah of Trani and Menaḥem haMeiri, who suggest that at the time of the restoration, the troubles of the exile will seem like a passing dream. In ancient Israel, dreams were considered a form of divine revelation (1 Sam. 28:6), but they were also used in similes to signify something that passes quickly or is insubstantial ( Job 20:8; Ps. 73:20). Perhaps both senses of dreaming are in play here: those who had experienced the restoration had received, as it were, a divine revelation, a preview of things to come, but at the same time this vision was fleeting, not yet complete or permanent. The Ancient Versions have quite different readings for “like dreamers.” The Targum says “like the sick who are cured,” taking ‫ חלמים‬from the root ‫חלם‬, “to be healthy” (cf. Isa. 38:16). This reading may be reflected in the Qumran Psalms scroll 11QPsa ‫כחלומים‬. The Septuagint reads “like people comforted.” 3 2. our mouths shall be filled . . . ​Then shall they say  These phrases are grammatically similar and best construed in the past tense: “Then our mouths were filled . . .” and “Then they said.” The word ‫ אז‬followed by a yiqtol verb often has a perfect (past) meaning, as Kimḥi recognized.4 Examples are ‫אז ישיר משה‬, “Then Moses sang” (Exod. 15:1), and ‫אז‬ ‫יקהל שלמה‬, “Then Solomon assembled” (1 Kings 8:1; see also 1 Kings 3:16, 16:21). The words “mouth,” “tongue,” and “say” emphasize the verbal reactions to the return. Israel sings praise for God, presumably in the Temple, and the other nations, acting as witnesses, recount His great deed. “Songs of joy” is an apt translation of ‫רנה‬, used three times in this short poem (vv. 5–6).

29

Psalms 126:3 

‫תהלים וכק‬

Then shall they say among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them!” 3 The Lord will do great things for us and we shall rejoice. 4 Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like watercourses in the Negeb.

‫ֹאמ ֣ר ּו ַבגּוֹ יִ ֑ם‬ ְ ‫ָ֭אז י‬ ‫ם־א ֶּֽלה׃‬ ֵ ‫ִהגְ דִּ ֥ יל י֝ הו֗ ה לַ עֲ ֥ ׂשוֹ ת ִע‬ ‫ ִהגְ דִּ ֣ יל י֭ הוה לַ עֲ ֥ ׂשוֹ ת ִע ָּ֗מנ ּו‬3 ‫ָהיִ ֥ינ ּו שְׂ ֵמ ִ ֽחים׃‬ ‫ ׁשו ָּב֣ה י֭ הוה ֶאת־שבותנו ׁ ְש ִב ֵית֑נ ּו‬4 ‫יקים ַ ּב ֶּנֽגֶ ב׃‬ ֥ ִ ‫ַּכ ֲא ִפ‬

The Lord has done great things for them!  The nations of the world have seen what a great deed God did for His people in restoring them, and the nations therefore acknowledge God’s greatness. That the other nations take note of what God does, both His acts of destruction and of deliverance, is a common trope in psalms. In this way God’s reputation is promoted throughout the world. (See also Ps. 67:3–5, 79:10, 98:2, 115:2, 117:1.) ‫הגדיל לעשות‬, a perfect verb followed by an infinitive, is an adverbial construction, literally “he acted greatly.” Compare ‫ברא לעשות‬, “he did in regard to creation,” Gen. 2:3; also Gen. 31:28; for similar adverbial constructions, see Exod. 2:18; Deut. 4:35). 3. will do great things . . . ​we shall rejoice  Better, as before, to translate in the past tense: “The Lord has done great things for us, [and] we rejoiced.” The people of Israel repeat, thereby confirming, the words of the nations. Rejoicing is not simply an emotional or psychological state, but rather a way of saying that the people are now celebrating in God’s presence. The implication is that the Temple has been rebuilt. Just as the destruction of the Temple is a cause for national mourning, so its reestablishment is a cause for national rejoicing. 4. Restore our fortunes  Moving from the past to the present, the psalm asks that Israel’s fortunes be again restored as they were before. ‫ שביתנו‬. . . ‫שובה‬, or, in the ketiv (written form), ‫שבותנו‬, derives from the idiom ‫שוב שבות‬. Scholars explain ‫ שבות‬as deriving either from ‫ש־ב־ה‬, “captivity,” hence “return our captivity” (this is the usual medieval explanation), or, as more commonly accepted now, from ‫ש־ו־ב‬, “to return our return,” meaning “to bring about a return.” 5 The idiom is used frequently in reference to national exile and occasionally for other unspecified misfortunes, as in Ps. 14:7 = 53:7, 85:2; and Job 42:10. Commentators who take the agricultural imagery of planting and harvesting literally suggest that our psalm may be referring to a drought, as Psalm 85 is thought to be doing. On the other hand, the idiom ‫ שוב שבות‬is used in Jer. 48:47, 49:6,39; and Ezek. 29:14 in an eschatological sense referring to the restoration of other nations (Moab, Ammon, Elam, Egypt). It is best to understand the idiom here in its most common meaning of return from national exile, in this case from the Babylonian exile. This may be a distant eschatological hope, although more likely the psalm looks forward to the end of the exilic condition in the near future. At the least, it points to the idea that the exile, figuratively if not literally, continues even after the return. This idea of an ongoing exile is found in a number of postexilic biblical sources (e.g., Neh. 9:32; Dan. 9:24–27) and also in postbiblical literature. Indeed, as the postexilic period progressed, the notion of the ongoing exile continued to develop until finally its end became an eschatological hope for the future.

30

Psalms 126:5 

‫תהלים וכק‬

5 They who sow in tears shall reap with songs of joy. 6 Though he goes along weeping,

‫ ַה ּז ְֹר ִע֥ים ְ ּב ִד ְמ ָ ֗עה‬5 ‫ְ ּב ִר ָּנ ֥ה יִ ְק ֹֽצרוּ׃‬ ‫ ָ֘הל֤ וֹ ְך יֵ ֵ֨ל ְך ׀ ו ָּבכֹ ֮ה‬6

like watercourses in the Negeb  A metaphor for the return from exile. Ibn Ezra and Kimḥi liken the Negev region—hot, dry, and lacking water—to the exile. Rashi notes that just as the water revives the land and makes it fertile, so God’s restoration will enable the people to thrive. The wadis (riverbeds) in the Negev are empty of water during the summer and refill during the winter rains, so the image here implies the renewal of life-giving water. Moreover, the Negev wadis, in contrast to wadis elsewhere in the Land of Israel, fill suddenly and gush strongly, often overflowing their courses and starting new rivulets in all directions. So the image is one of an especially strong and fast return of the people, flowing into all parts of Judah.6 The image of the wadi and other watercourses can also be used negatively, signifying destruction (cf. Ps. 124:4–5). See also Job 6:15, “My comrades are fickle, like a wadi,” where the unpredictability of the water flow in a wadi is a metaphor for the unreliability of Job’s friends. 5–6.  Another cyclical image, the agricultural cycle of sowing and reaping. The cycle begins in sadness but ends in joy; though the present may be troubled, the future will be happy. Water imagery—tears—represent sadness and trouble, the opposite of joy. ‫רנה‬, “songs of joy,” is associated with the completed restoration in the future, as it was in verse 2 when speaking of the actual return from exile. Verse 5 is formulated in the plural, while verse 6 is in the singular, a fairly typical alternation in biblical poetry (cf. Psalm 1, where the first half of the psalm is in the singular and the second half in the plural). 6.  An extended parallel to verse 5, enhancing the imagery in greater detail, pictures the sower crying as he walks with the seed-bag to plant the seeds, and the reaper singing as he returns, holding the sheaves. The verbs are also given more weighty forms, slowing down and intensifying the action of going out and coming back. Though he goes along weeping  “Though” is lacking in the Hebrew; NJPS inserted it to express the implied contrast between the two parts of the verse. The word ‫ בכה‬means “to cry aloud, to make a sad sound.” Its grammatical form, infinitive absolute, has an adverbial sense, modifying the main verb, “to go.” For other occurrences of crying while walking, in the context of mourning a death or a loss, see 2 Sam. 3:16; Jer. 41:6, and 50:4. The verbal phrases ‫ הלוך ילך‬and ‫ בא יבוא‬are constructed of infinitive absolute + finite verb, signaling intensification; in verbs of motion, intensification often conveys repetition or continual activity: “time after time” or “regularly.” 7 In the present context it means that those who began the process of replanting the land (= restoration) amid constant difficulty will sing for joy, over and over, when they see their enterprise completed successfully. Like many psalms that call on God for help, this one ends on a note of assurance that God will respond.

31

Psalms 126:6 

‫תהלים וכק‬

carrying the seed-bag, he shall come back with songs of joy, carrying his sheaves.

‫־ה ָּ ֥ז ַרע‬ ַ֫ ‫נֹשֵׂ ֪א ֶמ ׁ ֶש ְך‬ ‫בּ ֹא־יָ ֹ֥בא בְ ִר ָּנ ֑ה‬  ‫ֹ֝נ ֗ ֵשׂ א ֲאלֻ ּמ ָ ֹֽתיו׃‬

seed-bag  The word ‫משך‬, which is uncommon, is related to the Akkadian, Aramaic, and Arabic terms for “leather” or “pouch made of leather.” Compare Job 28:18, “A pouch of wisdom is better than [a pouch of] rubies”; and Amos 9:13, where a denominative verbal form (a participle) appears: ‫במ ֵֹש ְך הזרע‬,ּ ְ “Him who holds the [bag of] seed.” The medieval Jewish exegetes, who interpret the agricultural imagery as a metaphor for the exile and the return, explain that the sower is crying because he is in the exile, in the dry lifeless land (the Negev = Babylonia) that yields little produce; and the reaper is a returnee from exile, happy because now God has brought water to ensure the plentiful harvest. The metaphoric planting and harvesting may be viewed as taking place in Judah, the “planting in sadness” at the beginning of the restoration and the “reaping in joy” when the restoration will have been completed. The desolate land of Judah (likened to the Negev in its dry infertility) will be revived with water, and the planting begun under social and economic difficulties (early in the Persian period, when the psalm was probably composed) will result in joyful prosperity. The image of revival resembles Isaiah’s (51:3) vision of the restoration, where Zion is a desert wilderness soon to become a lush Edenic garden: Truly the Lord has comforted Zion, Comforted all her ruins; He has made her wilderness like Eden, Her desert like the Garden of the Lord. Gladness and joy shall abide there, Thanksgiving and the sound of music.

32

Psalms 126:1–6

‫תהלים וכק‬

Ritual and Liturgical Uses This psalm is the seventh of the fifteen Songs of Ascents (‫שירי המעלות‬, Psalms 120–134). On the uses of these psalms as a group, see Psalm 120. In the Ashkenazic and Sefard-Hasidic rites, this psalm is recited before the Grace after Meals on days when Taḥanun (a group of penitential prayers at the end of the Morning and Afternoon Services) is not recited, such as Shabbat and holidays. Otherwise, one recites Psalm 137. According to Baer’s Seder Avodath Yisrael, the custom of saying a psalm before the Grace after Meals derives from the Mishnah’s statement that “when three eat at one table and speak words of Torah, it is as though they have eaten from the table of God” (M. Avot 3:3), and a psalm can be considered as a word of Torah. The choice of Psalm 137 for this purpose on non-festive days reflects a commitment to recalling the destruction of the Temple each time people enjoy God’s blessings, such as a meal, since that psalm speaks about the exile from Zion. That psalm was likely considered inappropriate for joyous occasions, and so Psalm 126 is recited instead, as it speaks about the redemption of Israel from the exile. On Israel’s Day of Independence, this psalm

33

is said at the beginning of the Evening Service in Ha‘Avodah shebaLev, an Israeli Reform siddur, or at the end of the Evening Service in contemporary Ashkenazic and Eidot Hamizraḥ Orthodox siddurim. On the Ninth of Av in the Yemenite and Italian rites, this psalm is recited toward the end of the Afternoon Service as a promise for times in which happiness will replace mourning. A Conservative rabbinic manual recommends reciting Psalm 126, along with 137:5, upon leaving the Land of Israel. A Modern Orthodox rabbinic manual suggests reading Psalms 121, 122, and 126 at a bat mitzvah ceremony. The redemptive tone of the psalm may explain the suggestion of Shimmush Tehillim to write this psalm on a parchment—with some names of the angels Senoy, Sansenoy, and Semangelof—and to put it in the corners of the house of a woman who loses her children in birth, in order to save her from a similar event in the future. This suggestion probably builds on the last two verses of the psalm, which, invoking the theme of fertility and seed, speak of a movement over time from tears to joy.

Psalm 127: Introduction This psalm sounds proverb-like, and the “Solomon” superscription adds to its link with the Book of Proverbs and also with ideas in Ecclesiastes (traditionally attributed to Solomon). Indeed, the psalm is didactic, addressed to a human audience (a male audience, to judge by vv. 4–5) rather than to God. And the Book of Proverbs has verses close to the psalm’s message that God controls all human efforts: Prov. 16:9, “A man may plot out his course, / But it is the Lord who directs his steps”; 19:21, “Many designs are in a man’s mind, / But it is the Lord’s plan that is accomplished”; 21:31, “The horse is readied for the day of battle, / But victory comes from the Lord.” But upon further reflection, we observe a notable difference between the thrust of our psalm and most of Proverbs. Whereas Proverbs generally teaches that proper conduct will lead to a good life and therefore advocates specific types of behavior, our psalm does not urge particular actions but instead stresses that all accomplishments are achieved solely by God’s will. There is a certain passiveness in the psalm regarding human actions; things happen when God wills them to happen. Having many children, usually a reward for proper behavior (e.g., Ps. 1:3; Job 1:2), is here a divine bequest, bestowed at God’s will. These points raise doubts about whether the poem is a “wisdom psalm,” as it has been labeled, although it may be drawing on wisdom style to frame its message. Moreover, its inclusion among the Songs of Ascents, a postexilic collection with a strong Zion theme, suggest that this psalm, like Psalms 128 and 133, despite the familial imagery, is not about everyday life or the benefits of family, but is addressing the issues of the Temple and Jerusalem that were of major concern in postexilic Judah. While Zion is not mentioned overtly here, “house” and “city” in verse 1 are best understood as references to the Temple and Jerusalem (see below). And the mention of Solomon may be alluding to his building of the Temple, at least as much as to his wisdom. The psalm is, then, saying to a postexilic audience that without God’s will and help, the Temple cannot be rebuilt and the city cannot be guarded. Yet, even though God has not yet let these things be accomplished as the people had wished, God will see to it that the community increases in size; a young generation will come into being and will defend the community against its enemies or opponents. Then in the future, we may infer, God will enable the rebuilding of the Temple and secure the safety of the city. This is a message of consolation and hope to the Judean returnees, who had experienced failed or disrupted attempts to rebuild the Temple—once in the time of Cyrus (see Ezra 3:8–4:4) and again in the time of Darius (Ezra 5:1–6,16; Haggai 1:1–2:9)—and who felt threatened internally and externally by opposition to their efforts. They must bide their time, but eventually their position will triumph.1 The psalm has two parts (vv. 1–2 and 3–5; so printed in NJPS), as many psalms do. Many commentators see an abrupt change of topic in verse 3. The relationship between these parts is a vexed question. For commentators who espouse the “wisdom psalm” label, these two parts are often thought of as two separate sayings. Some earlier scholars posited that the parts were originally two separate psalms, but few take that position nowadays. Most commentators now see the poem as a unity, although the precise correlation of the parts is still much discussed. I will argue at verse 3 that the break between the two parts is not as great as many think.

34

Psalms 127:1

‫תהלים זכק‬ Several features support the poem’s unity.2 One is the assonance of ‫בנה‬, “build,” in verse 1 and ‫בנים‬, “sons,” in verse 3, linking the two parts. The same words occur in several passages recalling that God told David that he would not “build the house” but that his “son will build it” (1 Kings 5:19, 8:19; 1 Chron. 22:10–11, 28:6).3 This subtle connection with David and his son Solomon and Temple building is particularly apt in a psalm that opens with “Unless the Lord builds the House [= Temple].” (This wordplay may reinforce the reason for the Solomonic superscription.) Other support for compositional unity may be found in a Sumerian hymn, “A Royal Hymn of Ishbi-Erra to the Goddess Nisaba.” 4 This hymn, like our psalm, emphasizes God’s will over human efforts; its refrain is “Nisaba, when your heart is truly inclined.” And, in phrases reminiscent of our psalm, it credits the goddess with, among other things, the building of cities and palaces and the fertility of nature and of people. Here are excerpts: Nisaba—the place which you do not establish, (There) mankind is not established, cities are not built, The palace is not constructed, the king is not elevated. (lines 22–24)  . . . . You place good semen in the womb, You enlarge the foetus in the womb, In order that the mother may love her son. (lines 49–51) Later in the hymn Nisaba is responsible for growing the honey-plant in the steppes and the barley, for causing the fish to carry their seed, and for providing a good harvest for the people.

127 A song of ascents. Of Solomon. Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain on it;

‫שיר ַה ַּֽמעֲ ֗לוֹ ת לִ ׁ ְש ֫ל ֹ ֥מֹה‬ ִ֥ ׁ

‫קכז‬

‫ִאם־יהו֤ ה ׀ ל ֹא־יִ בְ ֶנ֬ה ַ֗ביִ ת‬ ֹ‫שוְ א ָע ְמל֣ ּו בוֹ ָנ ֣יו ֑ ּבו‬ ָ֤ ׁ

1. A song of ascents  See “Excursus: Songs of Ascents” (pp. 183–188). Solomon  This superscription appears also in Psalm 72, a psalm with several links to the narratives about Solomon in the Book of Kings. The editor who provided our psalm’s superscription likewise linked it to Solomon—apparently to his building of the Temple. Medieval Jewish exegetes, including Rashi, Ibn Ezra, and Kimḥi, ascribe this psalm to David (the traditional author of the Book of Psalms)—who wrote it about Solomon, who built the Temple. Some scholars find an echo of Solomon in “His loved ones” (see Comment to v. 2). Another suggestion is that the “Solomon” superscription points to an ancient reading of the psalm as pertaining to the Davidic dynasty; “sons” in verse 3 constitute “house” (i.e., dynasty) in verse 1, and Solomon is the fulfillment of the dynastic promise to David.5 the house  This may be a private house, the Temple, the dynasty, or the family line

35

Psalms 127:2 

‫תהלים זכק‬

unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman keeps vigil in vain. 2 In vain do you rise early and stay up late, you who toil for the bread you eat; He provides as much for His loved ones while they sleep.

‫ר־עיר‬ ֗ ִ֝ ‫ִאם־יהו֥ ה ל ֹא־יִ ׁ ְש ָמ‬ ‫שוְ א ׀ ׁ ָש ַ ֬קד ׁשוֹ ֵ ֽמר׃‬ ָ֤ ׁ ֽ ֵ ‫שוְ א לָ ֶ֨כם ַמ ׁ ְש ִּכ‬ ‫֪ימי ֡קוּם‬ ָ֤ ׁ 2 ‫י־ש ֶבת‬ ֶ ֗ ׁ ‫ְמ ַא ֲח ֵר‬ ‫֭אֹכְ לֵ י לֶ ֶ֣חם ָהעֲ צָ ִב֑ים‬ ‫ֵּכ֤ן יִ ֵּ ֖תן לִ ִיד ֣ידוֹ ׁ ֵש ָנ ֽא*׃‬ * This unusual spelling with ‫א‬, rather than with ‫ה‬, is traditional here.

(for ‫ בנה בית‬meaning “to build the family line,” see Deut. 25:9; Ruth 4:11). In conjunction with “the city,” the Temple is the most likely meaning. “House” and “city” are consistently used together when the topic is the Temple and Jerusalem (e.g., Jer. 26:6,9,12; 1 Kings 8:44,48; 2 Kings 23:27). The combination of house and city referring to a temple and its city is also known from Mesopotamian texts, where the god and his city are closely linked, as the God of Israel is linked with Jerusalem.6 This meaning, evoking the Zion theme, makes the best sense in the Songs of Ascents. At the same time, the secondary sense, “to build a house/family line,” resonates with the second part of the psalm. watches over the city  Guarding it to keep it safe. Human watchmen cannot protect the city unless God is protecting it. The theme of guarding Jerusalem, and the need to build its walls, is postexilic (see Neh. 2:17–20, 4:1–16, dated somewhat later). The Nehemiah account also notes the weakness of the returning Judeans, the hard work they did, and their dependence on God’s favor to accomplish their purpose. 2. In vain  This wording occurs three times in two verses, emphasizing that all the hard human work—laboring to build the Temple, vigilant guarding the city, and working long hours to make a living—is fruitless if God does not wish the project to be done. “Rise early” and “stay up late” forms a merismus, meaning the entire day, all day long (cf. Isa. 5:11, where the prophet chastises those who drink liquor all day long). Long hours of human toil are pointless, for God provides for His loved ones even while they are asleep. The last part of this verse is unintelligible. The phrase rendered “toil for the bread you eat” recalls Gen. 3:17,19, “By toil shall you eat of it. . . . ​By the sweat of your brow shall you get bread to eat.” It caps the idea of hard human labor. His loved ones  The word ‫( ידידו‬singular in the MT) has been seen as a reference to Solomon, who was named Yedidiah, “Beloved of God,” because God loved him (2 Sam. 12:24–25). The plural form, “His loved ones,” is found in a few Hebrew manuscripts and in the Septuagint, Vulgate, and Syriac; it accords better with the plurals that precede it. sleep  As indicated in the Masoretic note translated above, the spelling of this word is unusual. This spelling (perhaps an Aramaism), along with the general unintelligibility (or corruption) of the phrase in which it occurs, has spawned various alternative construals, but none has been widely accepted. The literal sense is “He grants sleep to His loved ones,” and it is so rendered in the Targum, Septuagint, Vulgate, and most English

36

Psalms 127:3 

‫תהלים זכק‬

3 Sons are the provision of the Lord; the fruit of the womb, His reward.

‫ ִה ֵּנ֤ה נ ֲַחלַ ֣ת יהו֣ ה ָ ּב ִנ ֑ים‬3 ‫֝שָׂ ָ֗כר ּ ְפ ִ ֣רי ַה ָ ּב ֶֽטן׃‬

translations. This is generally understood to mean that people need not toil early and late, when they should be sleeping. Being able to sleep is a sign of security and lack of worry (cf. Prov. 3:24; Eccles. 5:11).7 But I agree with the NJPS rendering that what God gives His loved ones is not sleep, but provisions (food) while they are asleep.8 As Ibn Ezra explains, “Everything is ordained from heaven, and God will give everything when He ordained [it]; not according to human ideas or desires or efforts or plans.” 9 3.  The masculine, military imagery in the next verses suggests a male perspective, a man and his sons. The verse begins with ‫( הנה‬untranslated in NJPS, and rendered “indeed” in NRSV). ‫ הנה‬is a discourse marker, a particle (such as “oh,” “well,” “now”) that directs or redirects the flow of the discourse without adding any new meaning.10 The crux is whether this marker indicates a sharp break or just a slight transition between the two parts of the psalm. I opt for the latter; I see more of a logical sequence or continuation of the argument than a sharp break. provision  The word ‫( נחלה‬heritage, patrimony) is used metaphorically here to mean that children belong to God and He bequeaths them to their parents as permanent possessions. The following verses imply that the sons will carry out the activities of building the house (Temple), guarding the city, and providing for the community’s needs. fruit of the womb Rendering ‫פרי בטנך‬, literally “your womb-fruit,” or “your offspring,” the children that your wives give birth to. Both ‫בנים‬, “sons, children,” and ‫פרי‬ ‫בטן‬, “(human) offspring,” are gender-neutral, although given the context in this psalm and in the biblical worldview more generally, it is likely that male children are indicated. These terms are paralleled also in Isa. 13:18; in Mic. 6:7, “womb-fruit” (NJPS: “fruit of my body”) is paralleled with “first-born.” The idiom “womb-fruit” may sound “feminine,” as opposed to the “masculine-sounding” wording in 2 Sam. 7:12, “your seed after you, that came out of your loins” or just “seed” (1 Chron. 17:11; 1 Kings 8:19; Ps. 89:5,30). But “womb-fruit” simply indicates fertility and is used for the offspring of men also in Deut. 7:13, 28:4,11,18,53, and 30:9 (where it is listed with livestock and agricultural produce) and in Ps. 132:11 (NJPS: “One of your own issue”); it refers to a woman’s (Rachel’s) offspring or fertility in Gen. 30:2. It does not ascribe a womb to a man. NJPS and other translations wisely render “the fruit of the womb” rather than “the fruit of your womb.” The grammar of the Hebrew should be parsed not as “the fruit of your womb” (with “your” modifying only the last word of the phrase), but as “your womb-fruit” (“your” modifies the entire phrase), just as ‫ הר קדשו‬does means not “the mountain of his holiness” but “his holy mountain.” 11 Human offspring is often referred to as “seed” and less often as “fruit,” calling to mind the two forms of vegetal reproduction in Gen. 1:11–12: seed-bearing and fruit-bearing. His reward  The boon or benefit (‫ )שכר‬that God gives to His loved ones. The possessive pronoun “His” is lacking in the Hebrew, but several translations (KJV, NIV) include it, based on the parallel with “the provision of the Lord.” Others (NRSV, NASB) render “the fruit of the womb is a reward.” The idea that children are a reward for proper

37

Psalms 127:4 

‫תהלים זכק‬

4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are sons born to a man in his youth. 5 Happy is the man who fills his quiver with them; they shall not be put to shame when they contend with the enemy in the gate.

‫ ְּכ ִח ִ ּצ֥ים ְ ּביַ ד־ ִ ּג ֑ ּבוֹ ר‬4 ‫ֵ֝ ּ֗כן ְ ּב ֵנ ֣י ַה ּנְעו ִ ּֽרים׃‬ ‫ת־א ׁ ְש ּ ָפ ֗תוֹ ֵ֫מ ֶה֥ם‬ ַ ‫שר ִמ ֵּל ֥א ֶא‬ ֤ ֶ ׁ ‫ ַא ׁ ְש ֵר֤י ַה ֶ֗ ּג ֶבר ֲא‬5 ‫ֹֽלא־יֵ ֹ֑ב ׁש ּו‬  ‫ִּכֽי־יְ ַד ְ ּב ֖ר ּו ֶאת־אוֹ יְ ִב֣ים ַ ּב ׁ ּ ָש ַֽער׃‬

behavior is found, for example, in Ps. 1:3 and Job 1:2, but here children are a bequest, or benefit, from God without reference to the parents’ behavior. Note that they are God’s reward, not the man’s reward. The word is parallel to God’s ‫נחלה‬. God’s ‫ שכר‬is mentioned in Isa. 40:10 and 62:11 and, according to some, in Gen 15:1, where it does not have the sense of payment or wages or recompense, as ‫ שכר‬usually does. 4–5.  The imagery is masculine and military (“warrior,” ‫“ ;גבור‬man,” ‫)גבר‬.12 Sons are like arrows—sharp, piercing weapons. These verses point to the future, to the younger generation, who will be able to defend their father’s position.13 But the military imagery should not be taken literally, for arrows are often a metaphor for strong speech (see Comment to v. 5, “contend with the enemy”; see also 120:4). In view here is a war of words. a man in his youth  Often understood to mean that by the time the father is old, the sons are mature and ready to carry on the father’s project. 5. they shall not be put to shame  The subject is the sons; the verbs are plural. A few Septuagint manuscripts and the Vulgate have the singular, referring to the father; NRSV renders, “He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.” contend with the enemy  The root ‫דבר‬, “to speak,” has a range of connotations, both positive and negative. A homonymous root means “to turn one’s back, to drive away” (Ps. 18:48, 47:4). Both meanings may be in play, since “arrows” may be taken literally or figuratively. If literally, in a military context, “to drive away” may be the better choice. But “arrows” should probably not be taken literally; no actual battle may be envisioned. “Arrows” occurs several times as a metaphor for strong speech; words (evil words or prophetic words) are sharp and pierce like arrows (Isa. 49:2; Ps. 64:4, 120:4: Prov. 25:18, 26:18–19). And “enemy” in Psalms is often a political opponent. The verse would then mean that sons will mount a successful verbal defense against opponents in a public debate, at the (city) gate. In a postexilic historical context, the psalm is saying that while the party in favor of rebuilding the Temple may now not be “winning,” in the future, in God’s good time, they will convince others of the rightness of their cause. in the gate  Some scholars, following the Targum’s “gate of the courthouse,” interpret “the gate” in verse 5 as reflecting a legal dispute (legal cases were adjudicated at the city gate). But there is little evidence here for a legal proceeding; the open area around the city gate was the location of various public forums, as public squares and plazas are today.

38

Psalms 127:1–5

‫תהלים זכק‬

Ritual and Liturgical Uses This psalm is the eighth of the fifteen Songs of Ascents (‫שירי המעלות‬, Psalms 120–134). On the uses of these psalms as a group, see the discussion on Psalm 120 above. Rabbinic sources that discuss the Yom Kippur ritual in the Temple report that the High Priest was prohibited from falling asleep on the night of Yom Kippur. According to T. Yoma 1:9, young Levites kept the High Priest awake by snapping their fingers and singing Psalm 127 to him. The choice of this psalm may reflect its reference to the house (understood

39

as “Temple”) in verse 1. This choice may also play ironically on the reference to sleep and wakefulness in verse 2. A Modern Orthodox rabbinic manual recommends this psalm, along with the next one, for recitation at a baby naming celebration for a girl. Shimmush Tehillim suggests writing this psalm and hanging it over the bed of a newborn child for protection against any danger. This use was probably motivated by the references both to God as a watchman (v. 1) and to youngsters (vv. 3–4).

Psalm 128: Introduction This psalm opens like Psalm 112 and also like Psalm 1, “Happy is the person who . . . ,” and the reader may therefore expect a wisdom teaching that advocates proper conduct for the individual—to fear the Lord and follow His ways—and describes the blessings that will accrue to such a person. Indeed, the psalm begins that way and has certain “wisdom” elements, but at its end it moves overtly to a national level, with the expectation that the God-fearing person (the singular is used throughout the psalm) will share in the prosperity of Jerusalem, from whence blessing emanates. In fact, there are signs even earlier in the poem that this is not merely a picture of prosperity for the family but that family and nation are welded together. The nexus between the personal and the national is accomplished by splitting up the two parts of the traditional ideal of the life well-lived: having many children and living for many years. Having children is here ascribed to the man in his private domain, within his home (vv. 2–3), while living a long life is bestowed on him as a member of Israel or the Temple community (vv. 5–6). Long life, or continuity into the indefinite future, both for the individual and for the nation, can be achieved, implies the psalm, if people are God-fearing. Jon D. Levenson’s study of the biblical conception of death and resurrection sheds light on the psalm’s meaning. Levenson argues that in biblical thought, death is not always perceived as final because God can rescue his worshipers from death. This does not mean that people will live forever, but they will be spared an early or agonizing death and their memory will not be cut off. One locus of this escape from death is the Temple, which symbolizes life, the antipode of Sheol, the realm of the dead. Another locus is descendants, through whom a person’s continuity flows (even after physical death). Family lineage extends into national lineage, or what Levenson calls the “larger lineage that is the people Israel.” Levenson says, “The boundary between individual subjects and the familial/ethnic/ national group in which they dwelt, to which they were subordinate, and on which they depended was so fluid as to rob death of some of the horror it has in more individualistic cultures.” 1 Levenson views Psalm 128 as a quintessential example of the combination of both these antipodes to Sheol, the family lineage and the Temple. Understood in this way, the psalm is much more theologically fraught than a wisdom instruction about how to have a prosperous life. It is saying that the God-fearer, through family continuity and the Temple, will overcome the finality of death. This psalm is also a prayer for the future of the community. As the comments on verses 2–4 explain, the imagery of agricultural produce, the vine and the olive saplings, is suggestive of the language of restoration from exile. So, while this imagery is applied to the individual, the nexus between the individual and the nation in this psalm lets us apply it equally to the nation. This is a prayer that the restored nation, no less than its individual God-fearing members, be granted long life and prosperity: “May all be well with Israel!”

40

Psalms 128:1

‫תהלים חכק‬

128 A song of ascents. Happy are all who fear the Lord, who follow His ways. 2 You shall enjoy the fruit of your labors;

‫ׁ ֗ ִשיר ַה ַּֽ֫מעֲ ל֥ וֹ ת‬

‫קכח‬

‫ַ֭א ׁ ְש ֵרי ָּכל־יְ ֵר֣א יהו֑ ה‬ ‫ַ֝הה ֗ ֵֹל ְך ִ ּב ְד ָרכָ ֽיו׃‬ ‫ יְ גִ ַ֣יע ַ֭ ּכ ּ ֶפ ָיך ִּכ֣י תֹאכֵ ֑ל‬2

1. A song of ascents  See “Excursus: Songs of Ascents” (pp. 183–188). The psalm opens with a general statement that those who fear the Lord are declared to be in a happy or advantageous state, well positioned to have a good life (that is the sense of ‫)אשרי‬. A parallel phrase, in verse 4, forms an inclusio for the first part of the psalm, where the person who fears the Lord, described in verses 2–3 as the head of a household, is declared blessed. Happy  The declaration ‫( אשרי‬sometimes called a macarism or a beatitude) has no easy English equivalent. It means “to be in a good state, to be deemed worthy of God’s blessing.” ‫ אשרי‬often occurs in conjunction with ‫טוב‬, “good,” as in verse 2. It does not refer to an emotional or psychological state, as the translation “happy” may imply, nor is it a matter of luck, as “fortunate” might suggest. It is probably to be distinguished from ‫ברוך‬, “blessed,” although the two words have overlapping or complementary meanings; the two verbs occur in a parallelism in 72:17 and in the framing verses (1 and 4) of our psalm. The term is sometimes thought to designate wisdom discourse (it occurs several times in Proverbs and Job), but it occurs more often in Psalms than in any other biblical book—1:1, 2:12, 32:1–2, 33:12, 40:5, 41:2, 84:6,13, 94:12, 112:1, 119:1–2, 127:5, 128:1–2, 137:8, 144:15. Some, but not all, of these psalms are thought to be wisdom psalms; indeed, the notion of “wisdom psalm” as a genre is currently being questioned. A number of psalms employ elements from wisdom discourse, but that does not mean that their purpose was solely edification. Rather, they are promoting religious teachings in a liturgical form and perhaps a liturgical context. As some scholars opine, ‫ אשרי‬appears to be a liturgical cry associated with the Second Temple. The ending of Psalm 127, with its ‫ אשרי‬phrase and its emphasis on the merits of having children, forms a connection to Psalm 128. who fear the Lord  Those who show reverence and loyalty to God and keep His commandments (to follow in His ways). Fear of the Lord is a central principle in wisdom literature (see Prov. 14:2, 31:30). It is found frequently in Psalms (e.g., 15:4, 22:24, 25:12, 61:6, 115:11,13, 118:4, 135:20). Here it is a general designation, but in Psalms 115, 118, and 135 it may refer to a specific subgroup (see Comment to 135:20). 2. the fruit of your labors  The products that derive from agricultural and animal husbandry activity. Compare Gen. 31:42; Haggai 1:11; and Ps. 78:46 (where it is clearly agricultural produce and is followed in v. 47 by vines). See also Josh. 24:13, where God gave Israel a land where they did not work the soil, build towns, or plant vineyards or olive trees, yet they can enjoy all these things. This is an encouraging statement to a people whose agricultural enterprise was constantly threatened by drought, plague, and war. Moreover, postexilic Judah was part of the Persian Empire, with its heavy burden of taxes. Children and produce, that is, the fertility of the family and the land, are normally the signs of God’s blessing, as in Deut. 7:13 and 28:4. They are inverted in the curses of Deut.

41

Psalms 128:3 

‫תהלים חכק‬

you shall be happy and you shall prosper. 3 Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine within your house; your sons, like olive saplings around your table.

‫ַ֝א ׁ ְש ֶ ֗ר ָיך וְ ֣טוֹ ב לָ ְֽך׃‬ ‫ ֶא ׁ ְש ְּת ָך֤ ׀ ְּכגֶ ֶ֥פן ּפ ִֹר ָ ּי ֮ה ְ ּביַ ְר ְּכ ֵת֪י ֵ֫ב ֶית ָ֥ך‬3 ָ ‫ָ֭ ּבנ‬ ‫יתים ָ֝ס ִ֗ביב לְ ׁ ֻשלְ ָחנֶ ֽ ָך׃‬ ֑ ִ ֵ‫ֶיך ִּכ ׁ ְש ִתלֵ ֣י ז‬

28:38–40, which warns of the failure of seed planting, vineyards, olive trees, and human offspring. All the terms in verses 2–3 of our psalm—seed planting, vine, olive saplings, and children—are the efforts that, according to Deut. 28:38–41, would fail to come to fruition because of the destruction and exile (cf. Mic. 6:15: planting seeds, pressing olives, making wine). The psalm draws on and nullifies the imagery of exile, bringing back divine blessing. Isaiah 65:20–23 also expresses the restoration in terms of the reversal of Deuteronomy 28: the people will all be long-lived, they will build and plant for themselves and not for others, and they will be a people (a seed) blessed by God and their children with them. Our psalm also partakes of this vision of restoration but indirectly, through metaphors likening the wife to a vine and the children to olive trees. The psalm’s picture of restoration is largely portrayed as the growth of the human population. While the blessing of many children is common in Wisdom Literature, here its context suggests that it too hearkens back to another aspect of the Deuteronomic picture of destruction and restoration, itself based on the promise of great progeny to Abraham, where those once great in number will be reduced to a few survivors and then, when restored, will surpass their previous numbers (Deut. 28:62, 30:5). 3.  The vine (‫)גפן‬, or vineyard (‫)כרם‬, and olive tree are commonly listed together, sometimes along with the fig ( Judg. 9:8–15; Hab. 3:17) or in the form of their products, wine and oil (Ps. 104:15), and also in the context of inheriting the Promised Land (Deut. 6:11; Josh. 24:13; Neh. 9:25). Their metaphoric use to describe the wife and children here is distinctive but apt. The fruitful vine is an image of fertility; the wife will bear children. The vine is also used as an image of female sexuality in Song 1:6,14, 7:8, and 8:11–12. within your house  This phrase—literally “in the innermost part of your house,” often with the sense of being remote or inaccessible (Amos 6:10; Jon. 1:5; Jer. 6:22)—and “around your table” signify the man’s private domain. The woman’s physical location within the house may have been the kitchen, in a corner on the first floor of ancient Israelite houses (an image of the woman’s domestic work in the home), or a bedroom (an image of the sexual relationship between a man and his wife). sons  Or “children,” as in verse 6. olive saplings  Olive trees are generally grown not from seed but from cuttings or shoots from older trees, hence the children are likened to olive shoots ready to grow into new trees. Compare Ps. 144:12, where the sons are young plants, ‫נטעים‬, not ‫שתילים‬, “transplanted plants,” as here (although NJPS translates both as “saplings”). The idea of having many children is one half of the traditional ideal of success and divine blessing. The other half, living a long life, is found in verse 6.

42

Psalms 128:4 

‫תהלים חכק‬

4 So shall the man who fears the Lord be blessed. 5 May the Lord bless you from Zion; may you share the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life, 6 and live to see your children’s children. May all be well with Israel!

‫ ִה ֵּנ ֣ה כִ י־כֵ֭ ן יְ ֹ֥ב ַר ְך ָ֗ ּג ֶבר יְ ֵר֣א יהוֽ ה׃‬4 ‫ יְ ָב ֶרכְ ָ ֥ך יהו֗ ה ִמ ִ֫ ּצ ּי֥וֹ ן‬5 ‫ּ֭ו ְר ֵאה ְ ּב ֣טוּב ירושלם יְ רו ׁ ָּשלָ ֑יִ ם‬ ‫֝ ֗כּ ֹל יְ ֵמ֣י ַח ֶ ּי ָֽיך׃‬ ‫ֽה־ב ִנ ֥ים לְ ָב ֶנ ָ֑יך‬ ָ ‫ ו ְּר ֵא‬6  ‫֝ ׁ ָש ֗לוֹ ם ַעל־יִ שְׂ ָר ֵאֽל׃‬

4. the man Rendering ‫גבר‬. The man is a husband and father (v. 3), that is, the head of a household. See also 127:5. The psalm is addressed to him; the wife and children stand in relation to him. 5.  The focus zooms out from one family to the nation with the mention of Zion and Jerusalem. With the Lord’s return to Zion and the rebuilding of the Temple, Zion/ Jerusalem is once more the locus of God’s blessing, in which the individual God-fearer shares. Here the blessing is a long and prosperous life. The name of Jerusalem is echoed in a sound-play involving ‫( ירא‬fear) and ‫( ראה‬see) and then ‫שלום‬.2 (See Psalm 122 for other echoes of the name of Jerusalem.) For other psalmic conclusions in which Zion is the locus of blessing, see 133:3, 134:3, and 135:21. 6. children’s children  The blessing of long life and progeny are rolled into one. May all be well with Israel  The phrase ‫( שלום על ישראל‬also in 125:5) sounds like a coda or perhaps a congregational response. On praying for the well-being of Jerusalem, see 122:6–9.

43

Psalms 128:1–6

‫תהלים חכק‬

Ritual and Liturgical Uses This psalm is the ninth of the fifteen Songs of Ascents (‫שירי המעלות‬, Psalms 120–134). On the uses of these psalms as a group, see the discussion on Psalm 120 above. According to both the Italian rite and a custom of the Ḥevrat Tehillim (Psalms Society) in medieval Ashkenazic communities, this is the psalm designated for recitation on Shabbat Parashat Shemini (Leviticus 9–11). The parashah includes the laws of kashrut, which may link up with the reference to enjoying (lit. “eating”) the fruit of one’s labors in verse 2. In addition, perhaps the dedication of the Tabernacle in the desert (Lev. 9:22–24) connects to the theme of pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem in the Songs of Ascents, a theme that comes to the fore in this psalm’s reference to Zion and Jerusalem in verse 5. This psalm enjoyed popularity in other contexts as well. In the Ashkenazic and Sefard-Hasidic rites, it is recited at the end of the collection of biblical verses (beginning with ‫ ויתן לך‬from Gen. 27:28) that follows the Evening Service at the conclusion of Shabbat, as a preparation for the working week; see verse 2,

which mentions enjoying the fruits of one’s labor. In the Ashkenazic, Sefard-Hasidic, and some versions of the Italian rites, it is recited as a part of bedtime reading of the Shema. The Yemenite and Italian rites include Psalm 128 in the circumcision ceremony. In some Eidot Hamizraḥ communities, the psalm is sung at the end of both the circumcision ceremony and the Zeved haBat ceremony that welcomes a new baby girl. In contemporary Jewry, the Zeved haBat has become more common among other Jews as well; thus Tefillat Nashim (ed. Aliza Lavie, 2005; translated into English as A Jewish Woman’s Prayer Book, 2008) includes a Zeved haBat ceremony that concludes with Psalm 128. These uses reflect the psalm’s last verse, which speaks about seeing one’s progeny. Shimmush Tehillim suggests writing this psalm on a parchment (taken from a kosher animal) and hanging it on pregnant women for protection. This use is based probably on the mention of a fruitful wife and children in verse 3 and the reference to grandchildren in verse 6.

44

Psalm 129: Introduction Like the psalm that precedes it, this psalm moves from an individual figure who stands for all Israel to Zion as a whole. It calls for the destruction of those who hate Zion—a negative way to express the hope for Zion’s well-being (which is generally expressed positively). Like many psalms, this one falls into two parts. The first part, verses 1–4, recounts that in the past God rescued an individual (who represents the nation of Israel) from enemy assaults. Its dominant image is of plowing. The second part, verses 5–8, focuses on the haters of Zion and what will happen to them. They are likened to withering grass, not harvestable, transient, and useless. Agricultural imagery, frequent in the Songs of Ascents psalms, is especially vivid, unusual, and extensive here. The message is the hope that God will rescue Zion from its opponents now as He has done in the past. The psalm’s general theme resembles Psalm 124—the narrow escape of a group or an individual rescued from enemies by God. And both psalms open with “Let Israel now declare.” The psalm ends with a blessing, actually the opening and the response of a greeting exchanged by passersby, which the Zion-haters will never hear. But the last line serves double duty, implying a blessing in God’s name upon the community. (A blessing frequently concludes psalms, as in Psalms 128, 129, 133, and 134.)

129 A song of ascents. Since my youth they have often assailed me, let Israel now declare, 2 since my youth they have often assailed me,

‫ׁ ֗ ִשיר ַה ַּֽ֫מעֲ ל֥ וֹ ת‬

‫קכט‬

‫ַ֭ ר ַ ּבת צְ ָר ֣ר ּונִי ִמ ּנְעו ַ ּ֑רי‬ ‫ר־נ֗א יִ שְׂ ָר ֵאֽל׃‬ ָ ֝ ‫ֹאמ‬ ַ ‫י‬ ‫ ַ֭ ר ַ ּבת צְ ָר ֣ר ּונִי ִמ ּנְעו ָ ּ֑רי‬2

1. A song of ascents  See “Excursus: Songs of Ascents” (pp. 183–188). 1–4.  These verses feature a first-person singular speaker, “I,” and a plowing image. This section resembles an individual prayer of thanksgiving or praise for God’s help in time of trouble. But the psalm is not about an individual; it is about the nation. The model of an individual prayer has been utilized to compose a communal prayer for the well-being of Zion. The speaking “I” stands for the community, Israel, and indeed Israel is bidden to recite the words: “let Israel now declare.” By virtue of reciting the words, those who recite them become the speaking individual. let Israel now declare  Let the congregation recite the words that follow. As in 124:1 (see Comment there), the community is prompted to recite the words of the psalm, known by its opening words, “Since my youth they have often assailed me.” they have often assailed me  The root ‫ צרר‬is a military term for an enemy or hostile force. Are these assailants to be taken literally, as a foreign enemy, or metaphorically,

45

Psalms 129:3 

‫תהלים טכק‬

but they have never overcome me. 3 Plowmen plowed across my back; they made long furrows. Th 4  e Lord, the righteous one, has snapped the cords of the wicked. 5 Let all who hate Zion fall back in disgrace.

‫֝ ַ ּ֗גם ל ֹא־יָ ֥כְ ל ּו ִלֽי׃‬ ‫שים‬ ֑ ִ ׁ ‫ל־ ּג ִ ּבי ָח ְר ׁ ֣ש ּו ח ְֹר‬ ַ֭ ‫ ַע‬3 ֽ ָ ‫ֶ֝ה ֱא ִ ֗ריכ ּו למענותם לְ ַמעֲ נ‬ ‫ִיתם׃‬ ‫ יהו֥ ה צַ דִּ ֑ יק‬4 ‫ִ֝ק ֵ֗ ּצץ עֲ ֣בוֹ ת ְר ׁ ָש ִ ֽעים׃‬ ‫ יֵ֭ ב ֹׁש ּו וְ יִ ּ֣ ֹסג ּו ָא ֑חוֹ ר‬5 ‫֝ ֗כּ ֹל שׂ ֹנ ְֵא֥י צִ ֽ ּיוֹ ן׃‬

as often in psalms, as internal opposition? The assailants are identified only by a pronoun until the end of verse 4, where they are called “the wicked,” and in verse 5, “haters of Zion.” The attempts against the speaker have been continuous (“often”) and over a long period (“from my youth”) but the opponents were not able to prevail (“overcome,” ‫יכל‬, is another verb with military connotations; cf., e.g., 13:5). 3.  This verse is difficult, perhaps corrupt, as seen already by the ancient attempts to make sense of it. The word rendered as “plowmen,” ‫חרשים‬, is taken as ‫רשעים‬, “wicked” or “sinners,” in the Septuagint and in the large Psalms scroll from Qumran (it was either original or was influenced by “the wicked” at the end of v. 4). The Septuagint reads verses 3–4, “The sinners were practicing their skill on my back; they prolonged their lawlessness [reading ‫עונותם‬, “their sins,” instead of ‫מעניתם‬, “their cord”]. The righteous Lord cut up the necks of sinners.” This reading, which omits completely the plowmen metaphor, makes no better sense than the Masoretic Text. While most modern commentators retain the Masoretic Text, the image of plowmen making long furrows on a person’s back, found only here, is not easily explained. It is a brutal image of submission and oppression. Hakham says that Israel was forced down to the ground and the opponent, trodding on him, plowed upon his back (see Isa. 51:23; Ibn Ezra). Zenger proposes that the image is of the yoke placed on the animal who pulled the plow—if the yoke was not attached properly, it would chafe the animal’s back.1 This is an image of subservience and mistreatment; Israel is that mistreated animal. To be under the yoke, to be treated like an animal made to work under harsh conditions, is a metaphor for being forced into servitude to a foreign power.2 4. snapped the cords  God cut the cord that held the plowshare to the wooden plow or the cord that held the plow to the animal’s yoke (cf. Jer. 2:20), thereby preventing the wicked from continuing their oppression. “Cords” is perhaps to be read in the singular, “cord.” 5.  NJPS reverses the Masoretic Text’s order of the lines in verse 5. all who hate Zion  Opponents of those who wished to rebuild Zion; residents of Judah or areas adjacent to it. Scholars do not agree on whether this reflects internal disputes or external threats. Compare 2 Chron. 19:2, where “the wicked” and “those who hate the Lord” refer to internal opposition. fall back in disgrace  The assailants (cf. v. 1) will be confounded in their attempts

46

Psalms 129:6 

‫תהלים טכק‬

6 Let them be like grass on roofs that fades before it can be pulled up, 7 that affords no handful for the reaper, no armful for the gatherer of sheaves, 8 no exchange with passersby: “The blessing of the Lord be upon you.” “We bless you by the name of the Lord.”

‫ יִ֭ ְהי ּו ַּכ ֲחצִ ֣יר ַ ּג ֑ ּגוֹ ת‬6 ‫ׁ ֶש ַ ּק ְד ַ ֖מת ׁ ָשלַ ֣ף יָ ֵב ֽׁש׃‬ ‫ ׁ ֶש ֹ֤לּ א ִמ ֵּל֖א כַ ּ ֥פוֹ קוֹ ֵ֗צר‬7 ‫וְ ִחצְ נ֥וֹ ְמ ַע ֵּ ֽמר׃‬ ‫ וְ ֹ֤לא ָא ְמר֨ וּ ׀ ָהעֹבְ ִ ֗רים‬8 ‫ִ ּב ְר ַּכֽת־יהו֥ ה ֲאלֵ יכֶ ֑ם‬  ‫ֵ ּב ַ ֥רכְ נ ּו ֶ֝א ְת ֶ֗כם ְ ּב ׁ ֵש֣ם יהוֽ ה׃‬

to cause harm and will turn back from their attack. The image is military—retreating troops (cf. 44:8). 6–7.  Those who hate Zion are wishfully likened to grass, a common metaphor for transient growth that fades quickly and has no agricultural value. In this case, the grass is a weed that dies on its own before it can be harvested; that is, it cannot sustain itself at all. Compare similar imagery in Isa. 40:24, where God blows away and dries up the rulers of the earth when they are barely planted and sown; and in Ps. 1:4, where the wicked are like chaff that blows away. grass on roofs  Grass that sprouts spontaneously on the flat roofs of mud houses, like a weed; its roots are shallow and it withers quickly (2 Kings 19:26; Isa. 37:27: “grass of the roofs that is blasted” is an image of dire helplessness). This grass dies on its own before it can be pulled up. A few manuscripts read ‫גנות‬, “gardens,” instead of ‫גגות‬, “roofs,” since nun and gimel are easily confused.3 7. handful for the reaper  Zenger describes the harvesting process as portrayed on a harvest scene from an Egyptian tomb painting: “The ‘reaper’ grasps the grain stalks with the left hand, below the heads, squeezes them into a bundle, cuts it with the sickle, and lays the handful of cut stalks on the ground. The handfuls are then picked up by the ‘gatherer,’ collected in his or her garment, and bound into a sheaf.”4 But here, of course, there is nothing to reap or to gather; it does not produce even a handful. armful for the gatherer of sheaves  The word ‫ חצן‬means “fold of a garment,” into which the cut grass would have been placed. The modern equivalent would be a pocket, but pockets did not exist in ancient clothing. The word ‫( מעמר‬pi‘el of ‫ )עמר‬is the one who gathers the cut grain. The verse literally means that the harvester cannot fill his hand and the gatherer cannot fill his “pocket.” 8.  Normally, the harvesters would exchange greetings with each other or with passersby, invoking God’s name (see next Comment), but since there is no harvesting of this grass, there are no harvesters’ greetings. The haters of Zion are thus deprived of God’s blessing, which constitutes the greeting—“The blessing of the Lord be upon you.” “We bless you by the name of the Lord”  This is the response to the first part of the greeting, “The blessing of the Lord be upon you.” The dialogue presented here, wherein the first greeter opens with a blessing and the second responds with a complementary

47

Psalms 129:8

‫תהלים טכק‬ blessing, is reminiscent of Ruth 2:4. Boaz greets the reapers, “The Lord be with you,” and the reapers respond, “The Lord bless you.” See also Ps. 118:26. But the Zion-haters never receive this greeting, for there is no harvest and thus no harvesters. They are thereby denied God’s blessing. Yet, by ending the psalm with this phrase, it is as if those who recite the psalm are exchanging blessings. They are the lovers of Zion, the opposite of the Zion-haters, and they will receive God’s blessing. Despite its previous negativity, the psalm ends on a positive note (cf. 125:5, 128:6, 134:3).

Ritual and Liturgical Uses This psalm is the tenth of the fifteen Songs of Ascents (‫שירי המעלות‬, Psalms 120–134). On the uses of these psalms as a group, see the discussion on Psalm 120 above. Shimmush Tehillim suggests reciting this psalm “against the wicked,” probably picking up on the vocabulary of verse 4. Some versions of Shimmush

Tehillim suggest saying it daily when performing any one of the commandments. The connection of this practice to the psalm is unclear, but its last verse, which mentions blessing “by the name of the Lord,” may be connected to the formula blessings recited before performing a commandment: “Blessed are You, Lord.”

48

Psalm 130: Introduction This psalm and Psalm 131, which follows, urge Israel to wait for the Lord, that is, to look hopefully for God’s response. Both psalms begin with a speaker speaking about himself, and they culminate with an address to the community, “O Israel, wait for the Lord.” Psalm 130 presents itself at first as a plea to God to forgive sins, but it is better understood as an encouragement to Israel to maintain the belief that God will indeed, in His own time, forgive their sins and redeem them from exile. The psalm is postexilic, written after the return from exile, as all the Songs of Ascents are, so the exile that is implied is likely not the Babylonian exile in a real historical sense, but the concept of the ongoing exile that arose after the restoration, when the ideal conditions that were expected upon the restoration failed to materialize. The psalm moves from the personal to the national, as other psalms do, for example, 129 and 131. In verses 1–4, a supplicant addresses God directly, as “You.” Then, in verses 5–6, he speaks about God, “He/Him.” This switch from second person to third person is typical of many psalms. In the last two verses (7–8) the speaker addresses Israel; this is the climax of the psalm, the message it wants to convey. The scenario portrays an individual who calls upon God for help. The plea is unusually brief, and the danger is unspecified; no generic “enemies” or sickness is invoked—the speaker’s situation is not dramatized at all. The implicit assumption is that the difficulty the speaker finds himself in is the result of sin, but he never admits guilt. In fact, the plea is boilerplate; this is not a “real” lament or petition of a person in trouble. The poet has adapted a familiar type of psalmic discourse in order to construct his argument. The call to God offers the opportunity for the speaker to contemplate God’s nature as a forgiving God and to model, as if through personal experience, how to wait with confident longing for God’s response. This becomes the basis for generalizing this confident waiting to the situation of Israel as a whole. The psalm conveys a sense of hope in troubled times, the expectation that God will redeem Israel, and it thereby encourages the community to maintain their faith that God will act on their behalf. The emphasis is on waiting expectantly (the verbs ‫ קוה‬and ‫יחל‬, “to hope” and “to wait,” occur four times) for God, who is certain to forgive the sins that led to the exile because that is His nature and because of His covenant loyalty (‫ )חסד‬to Israel. This psalm resonates with other postexilic biblical discourse that offers hope for restoration from exile (see below). Because of its theme of divine forgiveness of sin, this psalm was taken into the liturgy for Yom Kippur (in the Morning Service) and in some communities for all of the Ten Days of Repentance and Hoshana Rabbah. In Christian liturgy it is the sixth of the seven penitential psalms.

49

Psalms 130:1

‫תהלים לק‬

130 A song of ascents. Out of the depths I call You, O Lord. 2 O Lord, listen to my cry; let Your ears be attentive to my plea for mercy. 3 If You keep account of sins, O Lord,

‫שיר ַה ַּֽמעֲ ל֑ וֹ ת‬ ִ֥ ׁ

‫קל‬

‫את ָיך יהוֽ ה׃‬ ֣ ִ ‫ִמ ַּמעֲ ַמ ִ ּ ֖קים ְק ָר‬ ‫ ֲאדֹ ָנ ֮י ׁ ִש ְמעָ ֪ה בְ ֫קוֹ לִ ֥י‬2 ָ ‫ִּת ְהיֶ ֣ינָה ָ֭אזְ נ‬ ‫ֶיך ַק ׁ ּ ֻשב֑ וֹ ת‬ ‫לְ֝ ֗קוֹ ל ַּת ֲחנ ּו ָנ ֽי׃‬ ‫ ִאם־עֲ וֹנ֥וֹ ת ִּת ׁ ְש ָמר־יָ ּ֑ה‬3

1. A song of ascents  See “Excursus: Songs of Ascents” (pp. 183–188). Out of the depths  Where the speaker feels farthest from God; the nadir of the earth, as opposed to the heavens. Depth symbolizes despair and death—the pit, grave, Sheol, drowning in the watery chaos under the ground (Ps. 69:3,15, 88:4–7; Isa. 51:10; Ezek. 27:34; Jon. 2:3–7). A lamenter often presents himself as on the brink of death. These same associations are used to refer to the exile (Lam. 3:55), the implicit topic of the psalm. By placing the word “out of the depths” first in the sentence, the speaker emphasizes the crisis. 2. O Lord  The word is ‫אדֹנָי‬,ֲ Adonai, not ‫יהוה‬, YHVH (Lord), as in verse 1. A better rendering is “My Lord,” making the supplication more personal.1 listen to my cry  The idiom ‫( שמע בקול‬not ‫שמע קול‬, which is simply “to hear”) means “to listen to, heed, obey.” 2 It is used for humans in the sense of “Do what X says,” as in 2 Sam. 13:14, in reference to Amnon and Tamar: “But he would not listen to her” (see also Gen. 21:12; 1 Sam. 28:21). It is most often used to mean “Do what God says,” to indicate obedience to God and His commandments (e.g., Exod. 23:21–22; Deut. 4:30). It is highly unusual to ask God to do what a person says (usually psalms ask that God “hear,” not “listen to,” a person’s voice, as in Ps. 27:7); in our verse it is a strong plea by the speaker that God should heed him, attend to his words, and take appropriate action. let Your ears be attentive  An anthropomorphism that vividly pictures prayer entering divine ears that are ready to receive it. A similar idea is found in Ps. 10:17, 55:2–3, 86:6, and elsewhere, in different wording. Only 2 Chron. 6:40 and 7:15 employ the same phrase as our psalm, reinforcing the dating of the psalm as postexilic. The listening ears of the deity is a common motif in ancient Near Eastern prayers and illustrated on Egyptian temple steles, where the petitioner raises his hands (a gesture of prayer) to large disembodied ears, sometimes many of them.3 Contrast Lam. 3:40–44, where God is accused of blocking out the prayer of the petitioner so that it cannot get through to Him. my plea for mercy  Literally “my voice/cry [‫ ]קול‬for mercy,” thereby repeating and extending the word “cry” (‫ )קול‬in the previous phrase. 3. If You keep account of sins  If God were to preserve the record of sins without forgiving or discounting them, no one would ever be deemed innocent, and all would deserve punishment. The metaphor behind this verse is that God keeps an account of sins and metes out punishment or prosperity to individuals according to their record of sins.4

50

Psalms 130:4 

‫תהלים לק‬

Lord, who will survive? 4 Yours is the power to forgive so that You may be held in awe.

‫ֲ֝אדֹ ָנ֗י ִ ֣מי יַ עֲ ֽמֹד׃‬ ‫ֽי־ע ְּמ ָ ֥ך ַה ְּסלִ ָיח֑ה‬ ִ ‫ ִּכ‬4 ‫לְ֝ ַ֗מ ַען ִּת ָ ּו ֵ ֽרא׃‬

A number of interpreters mistakenly think that this verse implies that God does not keep an account of sins or that His account is inaccurate, which would contradict other biblical passages (Hos. 13:12). But this verse agrees with other passages. Indeed, God does keep an account, but sins can be erased, struck from the record, or “forgotten” (Ps. 109:13–15; Isa. 44:27). When God “remembers” (‫)זכר‬, keeps in mind, or counts sins, He holds them against the sinner and will punish him. But if He chooses to “not remember” (i.e., to ignore) sins, to delete them from the record, that means He forgives them ( Jer. 14:10; Ps. 79:8). The word ‫ שמר‬in our verse is equivalent to the more usual ‫ זכר‬and means “to keep, preserve.” 5 These terms are sometimes used in parallelisms and at other times substitute for one another, as in “remember [‫ ]זכור‬the sabbath day” (Exod. 20:8) and “keep [‫ ]שמור‬the sabbath day” (Deut. 5:12); “remember the covenant” (Lev. 26:45) and “keep the covenant” (Gen. 17:10). The speaker is saying that although God keeps an accurate record of sins, because of His forgiving nature He ignores them (or nullifies them) so that they do not count against the sinner.6 In fact, to “not remember sins” = “to forgive” ( Jer. 31:34b, “For I will forgive their iniquities, / And their sins I will not remember anymore”). Interestingly, the word “forget” (‫ )שכח‬is never used in place of “not remember” in this expression. who will survive?  Literally “who would stand?” Who could withstand God’s power or endure if God opposes him (Ps. 76:8, 143:2; Jer. 49:19, 50:44; Ezra 9:15)? If God did not write off a sinner’s sins, then he would have no chance to survive the divine punishment he deserved. The word “will” is better rendered “would,” and the first part of the verse is better rendered “If You would retain sins,” for the question is contrary to fact, since the speaker believes that God is forgiving and therefore does not count every sin against the sinner. 4. Yours is the power to forgive  Literally “With You is forgiveness.” The same construction is found in verse 7, “with the Lord is steadfast love.” The noun ‫סליחה‬, “forgiveness, pardon,” is found only in postexilic texts (Neh. 9:17; Dan. 9:9). Other psalms that speak of God as forgiving sins are 25:11, “As befits Your name, O Lord, pardon my iniquity though it be great,” and 103:3, “He forgives all your sins.” Closest to the wording of verses 4–5 is 39:8–9a, “What, then, can I count on, O Lord? In You my hope lies. Deliver me from all my transgressions.” so that You may be held in awe  Reverence for God derives from His forgiveness; this is His outstanding attribute (see 1 Kings 8:38–40). Nehemiah 1:11 also links God’s forgiveness of sins with awe for Him; it resembles other phraseology in our psalm: “Let your ear be attentive . . . ​to the prayer of Your servants who desire to hold Your name in awe.” The sins in this passage are the national sins that led to the exile (see Comment to vv. 7–8).

51

Psalms 130:5 

‫תהלים לק‬

5 I look to the Lord; I look to Him; I await His word. I am more eager for the Lord 6  than watchmen for the morning, watchmen for the morning. 7 O Israel, wait for the Lord; for with the Lord is steadfast love and great power to redeem.

‫ ִק ִ ּו ִ֣יתי י֭ הוה‬5 ‫שי‬ ֑ ִ ׁ ‫ִק ְ ּו ָת֣ה נ ְַפ‬ ‫ְוֽלִ ְד ָב ֥רוֹ הוֹ ָחֽלְ ִּתי׃‬ ‫שי לַ אדֹ ָנ ֑י‬ ֥ ִ ׁ ‫ נ ְַפ‬6 ‫ִמ ׁ ּש ְֹמ ִ ֥רים לַ֝ ֹ֗בּ ֶקר‬ ‫ׁש ְֹמ ִ ֥רים לַ ֽבּ ֹ ֶקר׃‬ ‫ יַ ֵח֥ל יִ שְׂ ָר ֵ֗אל ֶאל־יה֫ו֥ ה‬7 ‫ֽי־עם־יהו֥ ה ַה ֶח ֶ֑סד‬ ִ ‫ִּכ‬ ‫וְ ַה ְר ֵ ּב֖ה ִע ּ֣מוֹ ְפ ֽדוּת׃‬

5. I look . . . ​await  The words ‫ קוה‬and ‫ יחל‬are often used in parallel constructions. They imply trust in God.7 I await His word  His response or decision, His word of forgiveness, or His deliverance. The phrase occurs several times in Psalm 119 (vv. 74, 81, 114, 147), where it either means deliverance or refers to God’s commandments. 6. than watchmen for the morning  The speaker yearns for God to respond more than night watchmen yearn for the morning to come. Behind this metaphoric comparison is the idea that weeping and pleading with God often take place at night, with the expectation that God will respond in the morning (Ps. 30:6; Lam. 3:22–23). So the speaker, who is now in darkness (another association with “depths” of v. 1), looks eagerly to the morning, when his expectations will be fulfilled. The phrase is repeated, for emphasis and also perhaps to conform to the three-line pattern in verses 5 and 7.8 As Weiss explains, verse 5 expresses the object of the speaker’s hope (God), and verse 6 expresses how strong his hope is.9 The language of our psalm is similar to 5:2–4, “Give ear to my speech, O Lord; consider my utterance. Heed the sound of my cry. . . . ​Hear my voice, O Lord, at daybreak; at daybreak I plead before You, and wait.” See also 119:147, “I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope for Your word.” 7–8.  Israel should wait for God with patient expectation, for God’s covenant loyalty to Israel, ‫חסד‬, will move Him, even compel Him, to redeem Israel. “Wait” is imperative, addressing Israel. These are the words of the poet addressing the present audience (Ibn Ezra), not the first-person speaking voice in the rest of the psalm. steadfast love  The word ‫ חסד‬has no exact English equivalent. Here it refers to God’s obligation to Israel by virtue of the covenant He has with them.10 great power to redeem  Literally “there is much redeeming with Him.” Hakham suggests that this means that God has redeemed many times or that He has many ways to redeem.

52

Psalms 130:8 

‫תהלים לק‬

8 It is He who will redeem Israel from all their iniquities.

 ‫ וְ֭ הוּא יִ ְפדֶּ ֣ה ֶאת־יִ שְׂ ָר ֵא֑ל ִ֝מ ֹ֗כּ ל עֲ וֹנ ָ ֹֽתיו׃‬8

8. It is He who will redeem Israel from all their iniquities  The same term, ‫עון‬, occurs in verse 3, where NJPS translates “sins,” and in verse 8, where it translates “iniquities.” What are these sins? They are unspecified, but read in an exilic context, they are the national sins that caused the exile; see 79:8, “Do not hold our former iniquities against us.” The word ‫פדה‬, “redeem, release, ransom, set free,” also suggests an exilic theme. It is often used to refer to God’s redemption of Israel from the bondage of Egypt (Deut. 7:8, 9:26; Ps. 78:42, 111:9; Neh. 1:10), itself a cypher in postexilic literature for the return from exile. Isaiah frequently employs ‫ פדה‬for the redemption from the Babylonian exile (Isa. 1:27, 35:10, 50:2, 51:11; cf. Jer. 31:11). The phrase “to redeem from sin,” however, is odd and otherwise unknown in the Bible.11 One is normally redeemed, or ransomed, from someone or something in control, like an overlord, enemy, or even death. It may make more sense to render “to redeem from punishment” (‫ עון‬can also mean “punishment”). Close to the sense of our verse is Ps. 25:22, “O God, redeem [‫ ]פדה‬Israel from all its distress.” Our verse plays off of the idea in verse 3 that God erases or discounts the sins from Israel’s account so that the people are no longer liable for them, hence no longer deserve punishment. If these sins are the national sins that caused the exile, then the implication is that Israel will be freed from its sins/punishment, that is, released from the exile. This is, then, the climax of the psalm’s argument—that because God is forgiving and will not (or no longer) hold Israel’s sins against her, Israel will be redeemed from the exile. This redemption signals that all the national sins have been paid off and the record is now cleared. A similar idea is in Isa. 40:2, rendered in NJPS as “her iniquity [‫ ]עון‬is expiated,” but the phrase may be understood as “her punishment is accepted” (and will now end).12 Isaiah says that the punishment will end because Israel has already overpaid (paid double) for it. Our psalm is saying that Israel will not be punished for any more sins because they will be canceled. In both cases, the cessation of punishment means that the exile will end.13 The last two verses turn the psalm from a generic, stereotypical petition into encouragement for the nation, that God will likewise forgive their most catastrophic sins, redeem them from the bondage of exile, and reinstate them with a clean slate. The verb form in “It is He who will redeem Israel” is imperfect indicative, signaling a future action; it is not jussive, hoping or wishing that God will redeem. The idea of the return from exile, in turn, ties in with “out of the depths” in verse 1, for all of the same associations with the pit, death, and the waters of chaos are used in reference to the exile. Indeed, our psalm shares much with a passage in Lamentations, clearly about the hope for the end of the exile: Lam. 3:55–57, “I have called on Your name, O Lord, / From the depths of the pit. / Hear my plea; / Do not shut Your ear / To my groan, to my cry! / You have ever drawn nigh when I called You.” It is also reminiscent of Neh. 1:4–11, where Nehemiah prays to God, confessing Israel’s sins that led to exile, reminding God of His promise to restore Israel after their dispersion, for they are the people He redeemed from Egypt.

53

Psalms 130:8 

‫תהלים לק‬ Some scholars think that the last two verses were added to a preexisting psalm and thus constitute a redactional expansion when the psalm was added to the Songs of Ascents collection. But it is more likely that this was a unified poem from the start. The author constructed a preamble, as it were, made up of a standard formulaic petition that incorporates exactly the ideas and motifs that he needs for his postexilic message—namely, that God hears prayers, that He forgives sins, and that the petitioner should expect God’s response. Therefore, affirms the speaker, Israel must look hopefully to God to bring the exile to an end.

54

Psalms 130:1–8

‫תהלים לק‬

Ritual and Liturgical Uses This psalm is the eleventh of the fifteen Songs of Ascents (‫שירי המעלות‬, Psalms 120–134). On the uses of these psalms as a group, see the discussion on Psalm 120 above. Its subject and its tone—asking for God’s help in time of distress, seeking God’s mercy in light of our sins, and expressing a firm trust in God—explain its varied uses. This psalm is recited during the Ten Days of Repentance before the Barekhu prayer that begins the Morning Service in Ashkenazic, Sefard-Hasidic, and Eidot Hamizraḥ rites. It is also recited in those rites at the end of the Tashlikh service. Soferim 18:11 designates this psalm (along with Psalm 103) for recitation in synagogue for Yom Kippur. The psalm also appears in the Italian rite on Mondays and Thursdays throughout the year as part of the Taḥanun service: after reciting Psalm 25 sotto voce and with one’s head on one’s forearm, one raises one’s head back up and recites Psalm 130 aloud. The psalm is also listed as an alternative to Psalm 6, the usual Ashkenazic text recited six days a week in Taḥanun, in American Conservative siddurim, Siddur Sim Shalom and Siddur Lev Shalem for Weekdays. Psalm 130 is frequently recited today in synagogues during times of crisis, often at the end of the formal services. Typically, the prayer leader recites a verse, and the congregation repeats the verse. This call-and-response continues through the whole psalm. Similarly, this is one of four psalms recommend for reading “in times of tragedy” in the Conservative Siddur Lev Shalem, along with 120, 121, and 140. It is also the seventh and last psalm said at cemeteries when visiting the grave on the anniversary of a person’s death in Ashkenazic, Sefard-Hasidic, Italian, and Eidot Hamizraḥ rites. A Modern Orthodox rabbinic manual recommends it for recitation at a funeral in place of the El Malei Raḥamim prayer on days when Taḥanun is not recited. A book of prayers for a married woman copied in eighteenth-century Italy utilizes Psalm 130 as the opening prayer when one carries out the commandment of ḥallah—that is, when throwing a small piece

55

of dough removed from a loaf into a fire before putting the loaf in the oven. This practice is one of the three commandments specific to women in Rabbinic Judaism. In her English translation of this book of prayers for a married woman, Nina Beth Cardin suggests that Psalm 130 was chosen to introduce the ritual because it uses the verbs ‫ הוחלתי‬and ‫( יחל‬in vv. 5 and 7), which remind us of the word ‫חלה‬. The prayers that accompany this practice conclude with Psalms 25 and 34. This set of three psalms moves from a mood of anxiety and contrition (Psalms 130 and 25) to one of exultation at redemption (34). A Modern Orthodox rabbinic manual recommends reading Psalms 121, 130, and 91 in the presence of a dying person, followed by the Yigdal and Adon Olam hymns. A recent Conservative rabbinic manual recommends reading verses 5–7 on the birth of an exceptional child, a child with a disability, special need, or challenge, as a reminder that God’s love for human beings relates not to our prowess or agility but to our ‫“( חסד‬steadfast love,” v. 7). Shimmush Tehillim suggests reciting this psalm “facing all four corners of the world” in order to cause the guards of a city to fall asleep (therefore allowing one to enter the city unseen!). The reference to guards in verse 6 may motivate this use. Some collections of segullot suggest using this psalm while sailing on a boat. This psalm constituted the fifth blessing added to the Amidah on days of a public fast already in the mishnaic period (M. Ta‘an. 2:3). That blessing concludes by mentioning that God answered Jonah’s prayer when he was in the belly of the fish ( Jonah 2)—a prayer that can really be described as coming “out of the depth,” as in our psalm’s first verse, whose opening words, “I call You, O Lord” resembles “I called to the Lord” in Jonah 2:3. The connection with Jonah may stand behind the ruling of Soferim to recite this psalm on Yom Kippur (see above), when the Book of Jonah is read during the Afternoon Service.

Psalm 131: Introduction This is a very short psalm with an enigmatic metaphor and several obscure phrases. The speaker presents himself as entirely humble and grateful for the care that God has bestowed upon him. Implied is the expectation that God will always take whatever action is needed; therefore Israel should look expectantly to God for help. Like Psalm 130 and others, it begins with a first-person singular description and at the end urges the community of Israel to “wait for the Lord.” The nursing metaphor envisions God as a nurturing mother, as does Isa. 49:15; maternal imagery for God is not unusual in the Bible (e.g., Isa. 46:3, 66:13; Num. 11:12) but is less common than picturing God as a father. The nursing metaphor has led many commentators to think that the speaking persona is a woman’s voice or that the psalm is a women’s prayer, and some go as far as saying that a woman wrote the psalm. But the central image in the psalm is a nursing child, and that could be either a boy or a girl. There is, then, no compelling reason to take this psalm as specifically a woman’s prayer, although women may have recited it as well as men.1

131 A song of ascents. Of David. O Lord, my heart is not proud nor my look haughty;

‫שיר ַה ַּֽמעֲ ֗לוֹ ת לְ ָ ֫דוִ ֥ד‬ ִ֥ ׁ

‫קלא‬

‫יהו֤ ה ׀ ל ֹא־גָ ַב ּ֣ה ֭לִ ִ ּבי‬ ‫ֹא־ר ֣מ ּו ֵעי ַנ ֑י‬ ָ ‫וְ ל‬

1. A song of ascents  See “Excursus: Songs of Ascents” (pp. 183–188). my heart is not proud nor my look haughty  Literally “my heart is not high and my eyes are not elevated.” God detests a person with a “high heart” (Prov. 16:5, 18:12) and “elevated eyes” (Prov. 6:17, 30:13). Pride and haughtiness may apply to relationships with other people—especially in wisdom teachings, with which this psalm shares language—but here the focus is on the speaker’s relationship to God (see also Ezek. 28:2,5,17; 2 Chron. 32:25). The speaker does not overreach or act presumptuously vis-à-vis God. As the next part of the verse clarifies, he does not aspire to understand the divine wonders that are beyond him; that is, he does not ponder the divine will or divine actions. The speaker portrays himself as humble and accepting of God’s beneficence. The verb ‫רמה‬, “to elevate,” in conjunction with “eyes” is different from ‫נשא‬, “to raise the eyes,” meaning to look up at someone or something, as in 121:1. Heart and eyes are frequently paired (e.g., 101:2–3; Lam. 5:17) to create a merismus, the totality represented by the internal (the heart) and the external (the eyes). As 1 Sam. 16:7 says, “Man sees only what is visible [lit. to the eyes], but the Lord sees into the heart [lit. to the heart].” The speaker is humble inside and out, through and through. In verse 2 ‫נפש‬, “self ” (or “throat”), is added to the bodily terms through which the speaker describes himself.2

56

Psalms 131:2 

‫תהלים אלק‬

I do not aspire to great things or to what is beyond me; 2 but I have taught myself to be contented like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child am I in my mind.

ִ ‫וְ ֹֽל‬ ‫א־ה ֓ ַּלכְ ִּתי ׀ ִ ּבגְ דֹל֖ וֹ ת‬ ‫וּבְ נ ְִפלָ ֣אוֹ ת ִמ ֶּ ֽמ ּנִי׃‬ ‫שי‬ ֥ ִ ׁ ‫ ִאם־ ֹ֤לא ׁ ִש ִ֨ ּו ִיתי ׀ וְ דוֹ ַ֗מ ְמ ִּתי ַנ ְ֫פ‬2 ֹ‫ְ֭ ּכגָ ֻמל עֲ לֵ ֣י ִא ּ֑מו‬ ‫ַּכ ָ ּג ֻ ֖מל ָעלַ ֣י נ ְַפ ׁ ִ ֽשי׃‬

aspire  The verb ‫ ִה ַּלכְ ּתי‬is the pi‘el of ‫הלך‬, meaning “to occupy oneself with, to deal with.” to what is beyond me  Literally “things too wonderful for me,” that is, divine acts that are beyond human comprehension. See, for example, Ps. 78:4, 105:5; Job 5:9 (paralleled with ‫גדלות‬, as in our verse), and 42:3.3 Unlike Job, our speaker never tried to understand the workings of God. 2. but I have taught myself to be contented  The verse is difficult. NRSV translates, “I have calmed and quieted my soul.” The idiom ‫ אם לא‬means “surely,” as in Isa. 5:9; Ps. 137:6; and Job 1:11 (it also occurs in positive statements in oath formulas). The verb in ‫דוממתי‬, rendered here as “contented,” means “to be quiet, silent.” The Septuagint reads it as ‫רוממתי‬, “I elevated,” confusing the graphically similar dalet and resh. The occurrence of ‫ דמם‬in close proximity to ‫ יחל‬in verse 3 brings to mind Lam. 3:26, “It is good to wait [‫ ]יחל‬patiently [‫ ;דמם‬lit. quietly] / Till rescue comes from the Lord.” In our psalm too, the speaker waits patiently, knowing for sure that God will act. In Lamentations, however, the speaker has already suffered much and is near the end of his rope, whereas in our psalm the speaker has apparently always been cared for by God. like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child am I in my mind The syntax is strange and the image is perplexing. Some scholars, including Rashi, prefer to render “a nursed child” rather than “a weaned child,” interpreting the images as a child who has just finished nursing and is held at his mother’s breast or is carried on her back (as depicted in ancient illustrations), quiet and satisfied.4 That seems to make better sense but stretches the meaning of ‫גמול‬, which generally indicates the cessation of breastfeeding (‫גמולי מחלב‬, “weaned from milk” [Isa. 28:9]), when the child was about three years old (Gen. 21:8, where it occasioned a celebratory feast; 1 Sam. 1:22). If actual weaning is meant, the sense may be that the weaned child has already received the maternal nourishment that he needed when he needed it. Likewise, the speaker received his nourishment from God when he needed it, and he is now satisfied and in a state of equilibrium.5 Whatever the exact nuance is, a feeling of satisfaction, along with motherly love, is being expressed. The root ‫ גמל‬also means “to requite, pay back, treat kindly” (its relation to “to wean” is not clear). The Septuagint renders the first occurrence of the word as “weaned child” and the second occurrence as “requital,” seeing a play on the two senses of the homophonic ‫גמל‬. It translates our verse as “like a weaned child against its mother, it will be like a requital against my soul.” Most commentators, unlike the Septuagint, prefer to render ‫ גמול‬as “nursed” or “weaned” in both instances. But it may be worth noting that Saadiah refers to Prov. 11:17, ‫גומל נפשו‬, “benefits himself,” in relation to our phrase. The root ‫ גמל‬with the

57

Psalms 131:3 

‫תהלים אלק‬

‫ יַ ֵח֣ל יִ֭ שְׂ ָר ֵאל ֶאל־יהו֑ ה‬3  ‫ֵ֝מ ַע ָּ֗תה וְ ַעד־עוֹ לָ ֽם׃‬

3 O Israel, wait for the Lord now and forever.

preposition ‫ על‬occurs a number of times when God bestows good upon someone (Ps. 103:10, 116:7,12, 142:8) but not in connection with weaning. It happens that 2 Chron. 32:25 contains both ‫ גמל על‬and “high of heart”: “Hezekiah made no return for what had been bestowed upon him, for he grew arrogant.” That both these phrases occur in our psalm too may be only a coincidence, but we may wonder if perhaps an echo of the meaning in the Chronicles verse resonates in our psalm. The difficulty in grasping the metaphor is compounded by the verse’s elusive syntax. Earlier scholars often concluded that the text suffered from scribal errors, and they offered emendations, but recent scholars, less eager to emend, attempt to make sense of the given text.6 Many of these attempts are summarized by Zenger, along with his own translation: “Like a nursed child with its mother, like the nursed child with me—so is my soul.” 7 My own sense of the meaning is “Surely I have calmed and quieted myself; like a nursed/weaned child with its mother, so I am myself like a nursed/weaned child.” The construction k-X, k-Y means “like X, so is Y” (see the Comment to Psalm 133:2–3). The speaker, then, is saying that he did not try to fathom God and that he is satisfied, just as a nursed/weaned child is satisfied, to have received nourishment from God, who, like a mother, cares for Her children. 3. wait for the Lord  Israel is encouraged to maintain its expectant hope in God, whose maternal care was just invoked. The same phrase ends Psalm 130, and a similar ending is in 27:14. now and forever  See Ps. 121:8 and 125:2.

Ritual and Liturgical Uses This psalm is the twelfth of the fifteen Songs of Ascents (‫שירי המעלות‬, Psalms 120–134). On the uses of these psalms as a group, see the discussion on Psalm 120 above. Shimmush Tehillim suggests reciting this short

psalm three times a day as a remedy for exaggerated pride. This use is no doubt motivated by the opening verse of this psalm. In this case, Shimmush Tehillim seems to present a practice that is as much self-help as magic.

58

Psalm 132: Introduction A prayer for the restoration of Judah, more specifically for the Davidic dynasty, which the psalm presents as a corollary to building the Second Temple.1 The emphasis is on David and his bringing the Ark to the divinely chosen site in Zion. Sharing the spotlight is God’s promise of the Davidic dynasty. The juxtaposition of the two implies that this dynastic promise was deserved because of David’s Temple-building or Ark-moving activities. Temple and dynasty converge at Zion. The psalm shares ideas and expressions with other postexilic literature, particularly Second Isaiah and Chronicles.2 Chronicles (2 Chron. 6:41–42) knows of this psalm, paraphrasing verses 1, 8, and 10 in its version of Solomon’s prayer for the dedication of the Temple.3 Chronicles’ choice is apt, since the psalm contains several ancient temple-­ building motifs known also from Mesopotamia, including the blessings or requests in verses 15–17.4 So it seems that the Second Temple was already standing when the psalm was written, but of course there was no Davidic king on the throne of Judah. The psalm posits that the two are conjoined. If so, it wonders, how could there be a Temple without a Davidic king? It argues that God should not reject His anointed (v. 10). From Zion, the location of the Temple, He should “make a horn sprout for David” (v. 17). This hope for the restoration of the Judean monarchy is a frequent theme in late psalms. The two central and indivisible elements of the theme—dynasty and Zion—together signify the existence and the distinctive identity of the kingdom of Judah. They may be variously combined. While according to 2 Samuel, David was chosen as king and promised a dynasty before the Temple was built, the order is reversed in 2 Chron. 6:6 (cf. 1 Kings 8:16), where the choice of Zion is mentioned before the choice of David. Similarly in Ps. 78:68–71, God first chose Mount Zion and built His Temple there, and then He chose David to lead His people. Psalm 132 creates a more elaborate scenario with a different sequence of events. Drawing on the narrative traditions of the return of the Ark and its installation in a tent in the City of David, and also upon God’s promise of the Davidic dynasty (1 Sam. 6:21–7:2; 2 Samuel 5–7; reformulated later in 1 Chronicles 13–17), the psalm recasts the tradition to convey its message. Both Samuel and Chronicles stress the return of the Ark and the future building of the Temple, the establishment of the Davidic dynasty in perpetuity, and God’s protection of Israel. The psalm echoes these themes selectively; it emphasizes the choice of David as the Judean dynast and its corollary, the choice of Zion as God’s permanent place. The point, though, is not simply to recount past events, but to convey the hope that these events will be replayed after the exile as the return of God to Zion, the resumption of Temple worship, and the restoration of the kingdom of Judah. The psalm dramatizes the narrative traditions in two scenes. The first, anchored by David’s oath, tells of David’s determination to find the Ark, which had been captured in battle by the Philistines in the time of Samuel, and to bring it to its proper site in Jerusalem (vv. 1–10). The second scene features God’s oath to establish the Davidic dynasty (vv.

59

Psalms 132:1

‫תהלים בלק‬ 11–18). The stark juxtaposition of David’s relocation of the Ark and God’s promise of the dynasty creates a cause-and-effect feeling that David deserved the promise as a reward for his relocation of the Ark. Notice that the promise results not from David’s offer to build the Temple (as in 2 Samuel 7; an offer that was rejected), but from David’s successful transfer of the Ark to Zion, its divinely approved home. The thrust of the psalm is to ask God now to heed David’s deeds (vv. 1, 10), for the favor that prompted God’s promise in the first place should compel Him to honor that promise in the present. Several words and phrases appear in both sections, tying the parts together: “swore,” “David,” “anointed,” “resting-place,” “sit/abode,” “priests.” 5

132 A song of ascents. O Lord, remember in David’s favor his extreme self-denial, 2 how he swore to the Lord, vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob,

‫ׁ ֗ ִשיר ַה ַּֽ֫מעֲ ל֥ וֹ ת‬

‫קלב‬

‫זְ כוֹ ר־יהו֥ ה לְ ָדוִ ֑ד‬ ‫ל־ענּוֹ ֽתוֹ ׃‬ ֻ ‫ֵ֝ ֗את ָּכ‬ ‫ ֲא ׁ ֶש֣ר ִ֭נ ׁ ְש ַ ּבע לַ ֽיהו֑ ה‬2 ‫֝ ָנ ַ ֗דר לַ ֲאבִ ֥יר יַ עֲ ֽקֹב׃‬

1. A song of ascents  See “Excursus: Songs of Ascents” (pp. 183–188). remember in David’s favor  David’s past merit is invoked on behalf of the current generation (v. 10). For -‫זכר ל‬, see Ps. 25:7, 106:45, 136:23; Exod. 32:13; Lev. 26:45; and Deut. 9:27. his extreme self-denial  The verb is the pu‘al infinitive of ‫ענה‬, “to be afflicted, degraded, humiliated.” What was David’s self-denial? In the context of the following verses, David’s self-denial is his refusal to sleep. A king’s depriving himself of sleep until he has built a new temple is a known motif in Egyptian and Mesopotamian literature. (Compare another form of physical self-denial commanded for Yom Kippur in Lev. 23:27,29, understood as fasting; cf. Isa. 58:3.) At the same time, the psalm may be drawing on the tradition that David encountered trouble while transporting the Ark. According to 2 Samuel 6, after Uzzah touched the Ark and died, David was reluctant to continue transporting it to his city and left it at the home of Obed-edom for three months. This incident crops up in 1 Kings 2:26, where Solomon mentions that Abiathar carried the Ark and shared in the hardships (from the root ‫ )ענה‬that David endured. The “affliction” tradition is reinterpreted in 1 Chron. 22:14 by having David say that through deprivation (‫ )ענה‬he gathered the money and building materials for the Temple. Affliction or misery is often invoked to elicit a positive response from God, as in Exod. 3:7; Ps. 9:14; and Lam. 1:9. The Septuagint, Vulgate, and Peshitta interpret altogether differently, reading “his humility,” ‫ענותו‬, from the homonymous root ‫ענה‬, which ties the beginning of our psalm with Psalm 131, whose speaker declares his lack of pride and haughtiness. 2. the Mighty One of Jacob  An epithet for God, thought to be ancient, found in Gen. 49:24 ( Jacob’s blessing to Joseph) and in the postexilic Isa. 49:26 and 60:16, where it is coupled with “your redeemer.” The old notion that ‫ אביר‬means “bull” has been put to rest.6 Perhaps ‫ אביר‬means one who spreads his wing (‫)אברתו‬, a reference to the cherubim

60

Psalms 132:3 

‫תהלים בלק‬

3 “I will not enter my house, nor will I mount my bed, 4 I will not give sleep to my eyes, or slumber to my eyelids 5 until I find a place for the Lord,

‫יתי‬ ֑ ִ ‫ם־אבֹא ְ ּב ֣אֹ ֶהל ֵ ּב‬ ָ֭ ‫ ִא‬3 ‫ם־אעֱ ֗ ֶלה ַעל־עֶ ֥ ֶרשׂ יְ צוּעָ ֽי׃‬ ֶ֝ ‫ִא‬ ‫ם־א ֵּת֣ן ׁ ְש ַנ ֣ת לְ ֵעי ָנ ֑י‬ ֶ ‫ ִא‬4 ‫ְל ַֽע ְפ ַע ּ ַפ֥י ְּתנו ָ ּֽמה׃‬ ‫ד־א ְמצָ ֣א ָ֭מקוֹ ם לַ יהו֑ ה‬ ֶ ‫ ַע‬5

spreading their wings over the Ark (Exod. 25:17–22).7 The Septuagint renders simply “God of Jacob.” 3–5.  David takes a formal oath never to rest until he finds a place for God, that is, for the Ark. No oath is found in Samuel or Chronicles, nor are these words of David known from anywhere else. Psalms routinely fabricate speeches for human characters and for God. See verses 11–12, where God utters an otherwise unrecorded oath. Couched in the form of an oath, uttered in the first person, the words become stronger and more dramatic. Combined with the triple parallelism “I will not go home; I will not go into my bed; I will not shut my eyes,” David’s concern for the Ark is magnified to an extreme. my house  Literally “my tent-house,” a strange way to refer to David’s cedar palace, which 2 Sam. 7:2 contrasts with God’s “curtained” residence, the tent that housed the Ark. Alternatively, “tent” is simply a synonym for “house.” The Targum, here as elsewhere, understands ‫ בית‬as “wife” (talmudic Aramaic ‫דביתהו‬, “the wife,” is literally “the one of his house”). This makes David’s self-denial even more severe. The order of events varies slightly in the narratives about the Ark, as is usual in reworked traditions. According to 2 Sam. 5:11, David first had his palace built and then brought the Ark to Jerusalem (2 Sam. 6:2). However, according to 1 Chronicles 13–16, the Ark was returned in two stages: stage 1 occurred before David’s palace was built, and stage 2 occurred after it had been built. If “tent-house” is referring to David’s non-permanent home before his cedar palace was built, our psalm agrees with Chronicles (it is likely that it informed Chronicles, since the psalm was probably known to the author of Chronicles). David’s eagerness to bring back the Ark is heightened if he did so before he built his own royal palace. In fact, David as Temple planner in this psalm accords with David’s Temple-­ planning activities in Chronicles; in both places Solomon’s Temple-building is eclipsed by David’s planning it. 4.  See Prov. 6:4 for a similar phrase, which may have been a conventional way of expressing sleep. sleep to my eyes  The word rendered “sleep,” ‫שנת‬, looks like a construct form, but it is a primitive feminine ending.8 eyelids  The word ‫ עפעף‬means “eyelid” or “eyelash.” It parallels ‫ ( עין‬Jer. 9:17; Ps. 11:4; Prov. 4:25) or is used as a synonym for “eye” (Prov. 6:25; Job 41:10). 5. until I find a place  A site for the Ark. The psalm omits David’s request to build the Temple, focusing instead on the return of the Ark and its installation at the site of the future Temple. The psalm’s concern is not whether God needed a temporary or permanent structure (as in 2 Samuel 7), but that Zion, the geographic location, is God’s

61

Psalms 132:6 

‫תהלים בלק‬

an abode for the Mighty One of Jacob.” 6 We heard it was in Ephrath; we came upon it in the region of Jaar.

‫ִ֝מ ׁ ְש ָּכנ֗וֹ ת לַ ֲאבִ ֥יר יַ עֲ ֽקֹב׃‬ ‫ֽה־ש ַמעֲ ֥נו ָּה בְ ֶא ְפ ָ ֑ר ָתה‬ ְ ׁ ‫ ִה ֵּנ‬6 ‫ְ֝מצָ א ֗נו ָּה ִ ּבשְׂ ֵדי־יָ ַֽער׃‬

chosen place of residence (v. 13). By virtue of David’s actions, Zion became the ultimate locus of God’s presence. an abode  The word ‫ משכנות‬occurs in the feminine plural (of majesty) in Ps. 43:3 and 84:2 in reference to the sanctuary (Temple). The parallelism of “place” and “abode” may be one idea broken up into two phrases: “until I find a place for the abode/sanctuary of the Lord, the Mighty One of Jacob.” Ark and Temple are melded together throughout the psalm, through overlapping vocabulary (see vv. 8, 14), since both signify the locus of God’s presence. 6–9.  The Ark is found and escorted to its new home in a joyful procession of priests and pious people. The clerical escort is much more detailed in 1 Chronicles 15, which also minimizes the negative aspects of David’s carousing found in 2 Samuel 6. The psalm goes beyond Chronicles by omitting all negativity in the celebration. Some scholars (who search for the ritual occasion behind the psalms) suppose that these verses contain language from an ancient procession of the Ark or from an annual procession,9 but the passage is better understood as the retelling of the earlier tradition of the Ark’s transfer; there is no need to assume an actual procession here. The retelling reimagines the rebuilding of the Temple (i.e., the building of the Second Temple, which had already occurred) as the return of the Ark from the Philistines in the time of David. 6.  The interjection ‫הנה‬, “Oh look!” that opens this verse (untranslated in NJPS) shifts the perspective from David’s oath to the immediate action of retrieving the Ark. This is a typical use of ‫הנה‬, especially in biblical narrative but also in poetry.10 The word ‫ הנה‬also calls attention or conveys emphasis to what follows it.11 This verse then introduces unidentified plural speakers, “we,” who may be those who joined with David to bring the Ark from where it was found, in Kiriath-jearim, to Jerusalem. The direct object rendered as “it” (occurring twice) is feminine singular but lacks a feminine singular antecedent. The logical antecedent is the Ark, but it has not been explicitly mentioned. While ‫ארון‬, “Ark,” is generally masculine, it is feminine in 1 Sam. 4:17 and 2 Chron. 8:11. Less attractive is the suggestion that “it” refers to David’s oath; that may explain what they heard but does not explain what they found. Finally, the third-person feminine singular pronoun may be taken as a neutrum (often in the feminine), referring to some vague or undefined action or circumstance.12 Ephrath  The word ‫ אפרתה‬is generally equated with Bethlehem (Gen. 35:19, 48:7; Mic. 5:1; Ruth 1:2). Ephrathah and Kiriath-jearim are genealogically related in 1 Chron. 2:50–51, where Kiriath-jearim and Bethlehem are great-grandsons of Ephrathah. That suggests that Ephrath is a larger district in which are located Kiriath-jearim and Bethlehem. Jaar  Kiriath-jearim, on the border between the region of Benjamin and Judah,

62

Psalms 132:7 

‫תהלים בלק‬

7 Let us enter His abode, bow at His footstool. 8 Advance, O Lord, to Your resting-place, You and Your mighty Ark!

‫ נָב֥ וֹ ָאה לְ ִמ ׁ ְש ְּכנוֹ ָת֑יו‬7 ‫֝ ִנ ׁ ְש ַּת ֲח ֶ֗וה לַ ֲה ֥דֹם ַרגְ לָ ֽיו׃‬ ָ‫קו ָּמ֣ה י֭ הוה לִ ְמנו ָּח ֶת֑ך‬ 8 ‫ַ֝א ָּ֗תה וַ ֲא ֥רוֹ ן ֻע ֶ ּזֽ ָך׃‬

where the Ark remained for twenty years after the Philistines returned it to Israel (1 Sam. 7:1–2). According to 2 Sam. 6:2, David brought the Ark from Baalei-Judah; there is no mention of Kiriath-jearim. Chronicles harmonizes the geographic names, equating Baalah and Kiriath-jearim: “David then assembled all Israel . . . ​in order to bring the Ark of God from Kiriath-jearim. David and all Israel went up to Baalah, Kiriath-jearim of Judah, to bring up from there the Ark of God” (1 Chron. 13:5–6). Chronicles and our psalm agree, against Samuel, that David and his entourage brought the Ark from Kiriath-jearim. 7. footstool  An allusion to the Temple (Ps. 99:5; Isa. 60:13; Lam. 2:1 [and cf. Ezek. 43:7]) or to the Ark (1 Chron. 28:2; cf. Jer. 3:16–17). This verse anticipates the Temple, with the Ark inside it, even though the surrounding verses picture the Ark before the Temple was built. The Temple is more clearly in sight in verses 13–14. The footstool image is drawn from ancient Near Eastern royal imagery of the king sitting on a throne with his feet resting on a low stool. By bowing to His footstool, the people make obeisance to God, their king. God is envisioned as sitting in heaven with His feet touching the earth at the place where the Temple is located; alternatively, He is sitting on a throne in the Temple, with His feet resting on the Ark. 8. Advance, O Lord  An echo of Moses’s call when the Ark set out in the wilderness: “Advance, O Lord! May Your enemies be scattered, and may Your foes flee before You” (Num. 10:35; cf. Ps. 68:2). But here God and the Ark are advancing toward their permanent home. The battle imagery (“Your mighty Ark”) reminds us that the Ark was taken out to battle (where the Philistines captured it in 1 Sam. 4:11)—see verses 16–18. Here God and the Ark advance like a conquering hero returning home. The word ‫“ ארון‬Ark” appears only here in the Book of Psalms, although references to that portable shrine may be in 47:6, 68:1, and 78:61. In the context of 2 Chron. 6:41, where verses 8–10 occur with slight variation (probably taken from our psalm), the Ark is moved into the Temple. Here in verse 8, too, the Ark seems to be entering the Temple, God’s resting-place. Our psalm conflates the Ark and the Temple as it moves back and forth from the time of David to the time of the speaker. Your resting-place  The Temple or, as in 1 Chron. 28:2, the Ark. “Resting-place” and “footstool” both occur in 1 Chron. 28:2 and Isa. 66:1. “Resting-place” may also connote a permanent place of peace, a haven, in contrast with taking the Ark out to battle. The term harks back to Deut. 12:9, where ‫מנוחה‬, “resting-place,” and ‫נחלה‬, “heritage/inherited land,” represent the settlement in the Land of Israel and the centralization of worship (cf. 1 Kings 8:56).13 You and Your mighty Ark  The Ark and God are closely associated, since the Ark represents God’s presence. “Mighty,” ‫עוז‬, may be used alone to refer to the Ark or the Temple (e.g., Ps. 78:61, 105:4). Or, ‫ עוז‬can mean “glory” (a synonym of ‫ ;כבוד‬see 96:6–7),

63

Psalms 132:9 

‫תהלים בלק‬

9 Your priests are clothed in triumph; Your loyal ones sing for joy. 10 For the sake of Your servant David do not reject Your anointed one. 11 The Lord swore to David a firm oath that He will not renounce,

‫ּ־צ ֶ֑דק‬ ֶ ‫ כּ ֲֹה ֶנ ָ֥יך יִ לְ ְ ּב ׁשו‬9 ‫יד ָיך יְ ַר ֵּנ ֽנוּ׃‬ ֥ ֶ ‫וַ ֲח ִס‬ ָ‫֭ ַ ּ ֽבעֲ בוּר דָּ וִ ֣ד ַעבְ דֶּ ֑ ך‬ 10 ‫ל־ת ׁ ֗ ֵשב ּ ְפ ֵנ ֣י ְמ ׁ ִש ֶיח ָֽך׃‬ ָּ֝ ‫ַא‬ ‫ נ ׁ ְִש ַ ּבֽע־יהו֨ ה ׀ לְ ָד ִ֡וד ֱא ֶמ ֮ת‬11 ‫ל ֹא־יָ ׁ ֪שוּב ִ֫מ ֶּ ֥מ ּנָה‬

referring to the Divine Presence located in the Temple or above the Ark. Kimḥi explains this as the ‫ כבוד‬that appeared at the dedication of the (First) Temple when the Ark was installed in the Holy of Holies. He equates it with the cloud that filled the Temple (1 Kings 8:10). 9.  Temple worship will begin or resume; the priests will don their clerical garb, and the people will sing praise to God. The image evokes both Temple worship and a victory celebration welcoming home God and the Ark. Your priests are clothed in triumph  The word ‫צדק‬, “triumph,” is generally rendered as “righteousness,” but it also means the victory that God brings to His people through His ‫צדק‬. In verse 16 the priests are clothed in victory (‫)ישע‬. For clothing of ‫ ישע‬and ‫צדקה‬, also in the context of victorious rejoicing before God, see Isa. 61:10 (the terms are paralleled also in Isa. 59:17; Ps. 65:6, 98:2, 119:123). Battle imagery is mixed with religious procession, given that the priests marched out to battle with the Ark (cf. v. 16). In 2 Chron. 6:41, the priests are clothed in ‫תשועה‬, closer to the wording of verse 16. Your loyal ones Rendering ‫חסידים‬, which refers to the members of the community, in contrast to the just-mentioned priests (cf. Ps. 30:5, 50:5, 79:2, 148:14, 149:1 and Comment there). Medieval Jewish exegetes identify the ‫ חסידים‬as the Levites. 10.  Most commentaries divide the psalm after this verse, making it and verse 1 a frame around the first part of the psalm, asking God to remember and not reject, for David’s sake. It is equally possible to see this verse as the beginning of the next section, parallel to the prayer in verse 1, for the present verse refers to the dynastic promise, which is the topic of the following verses. Your anointed one  A Davidic king or potential king in the time of the speaker or the future, not David himself. How literal was the hope for the restoration of the dynasty is impossible to know. It may have seemed possible for a time, but when it failed to materialize, it was transmuted into the longer-term aspiration for the coming of the Davidic messiah. The Targum takes “anointed one” as a reference to Solomon, probably because Solomon speaks these words in his dedication of the Temple in 2 Chron. 6:41–42 (they are lacking in Solomon’s prayer in 1 Kings 8). The idea that Solomon brought the Ark into the Temple is also reflected in the midrashic interpretation of Psalm 24. 11. The Lord swore . . . ​  The words of the speaker, immediately confirmed by

64

Psalms 132:12 

‫תהלים בלק‬

“One of your own issue I will set upon your throne. 12 If your sons keep My covenant

‫ִמ ּ ְפ ִ ֥רי ִב ְטנ ָ ְ֑ך ָ֝א ׁ ֗ ִשית לְ כִ ֵּסא־לָ ְֽך׃‬ ָ ‫ִ ֽאם־יִ ׁ ְש ְמר֬ ּו ָב ֶנ‬ ‫֨יך ׀ ְ ּב ִר ִית ֮י‬ 12

the words of God that follow (also in v. 13). Psalms 89:4 contains a similar divine oath regarding David. your own issue Rendering ‫פרי בטנך‬, “your belly/womb fruit,” or “your offspring.” See the Comment to Ps. 127:5, where this idiom also occurs. I will set upon your throne  Literally “I will place on a throne for you”: I will establish a dynasty for you. The throne of David = the Davidic dynasty (1 Kings 2:45; Jer. 13:13, 17:25, 22:2,4,30, 29:16, 36:30; Isa. 9:6). The phrase ‫ לכסא לך‬also occurs in verse 12. The dative particle -‫ ל‬has multiple uses.14 Before ‫כסא‬, “throne,” it means “on,” as in 21:4, “set upon his head.” ‫ לך‬has the “lamed of interest,” or “benefactive dative,” stressing that God’s action is in reference to or for the benefit of David, since this recalls the promise God made to David. 12.  The dynastic promise is here contingent on the future kings’ observance of the Sinai covenant, the commandments given at Sinai. Because the promise in 2 Sam. 7:14–16 (= 1 Chron. 17:12–14) and its reiteration in Ps. 89:30–38 lack this stipulation, some scholars have perceived an inconsistency that they resolve by suggesting either that the issue was contentious in ancient Israel or that the idea evolved over time; it began as unconditional in Davidic times but then was revised as conditional when the monarchy ended with the demise of the kingdom of Judah. Others, more correctly I think, argue that the distinction between a conditional and unconditional promise has been overdrawn and that many biblical texts relate the Davidic promise to the Sinai covenant.15 Even 2 Sam. 7:14 and Ps. 89:31–33, usually seen as unconditional promises, mention the king’s responsibility to obey God. Several passages in Kings point to the conditionality of the Davidic promise. David makes clear in his deathbed speech (1 Kings 2:4) that when the promise of succession has been fulfilled in Solomon, he and his descendants will remain on the throne only if they obey God’s commandments. Solomon reiterates this thought in 1 Kings 8:25, when he becomes king, and again after the dedication of the Temple in 1 Kings 9:4–9, where the punishment for Solomon’s disobedience is not merely the loss of the throne and the dynasty, but the exile of Israel and the destruction of the Temple. This is typical Deuteronomic and postexilic reasoning (parts of Kings are postexilic), and our psalm shares it; the psalm, too, makes the dynastic promise contingent on obedience to the covenant. The loss of the kingship, like the loss of the kingdom (they are two sides of the same coin), is commonly explained in the Bible by the disobedience of king and people to God’s commandments. But just as the loss of the kingdom does not signal the end of God’s covenant with Israel, so the loss of the kingship does not signal the end of God’s promise to David (cf. Psalm 89). With Judah’s return to the observance of God’s commandments, there is hope for the restoration of both the kingdom and its dynasty (Lev. 26:44–45; cf. Deut. 30:1–10). The nexus between the kingdom and its dynasty may seem obvious, but it has not been

65

Psalms 132:13 

‫תהלים בלק‬

and My decrees that I teach them, then their sons also, to the end of time, shall sit upon your throne.” 13 For the Lord has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His seat. 14 “This is My resting-place for all time; here I will dwell, for I desire it.

‫וְ ֵעד ִ ֹ֥תי ז֗ וֹ ֲא ֫ ַל ְּמ ֵד֥ם‬ ‫ֵיה֥ם‬ ֶ ‫ם־בנ‬ ּ ְ ‫ַ ּג‬ ‫עֲ ֵדי־עַ ֑ד‬ ְ‫֝ ֵי ׁ ְשב֗ ּו לְ כִ ֵּסא־לָ ֽך׃‬ ‫י־ב ַח֣ר יהו֣ ה ְ ּבצִ ֑ ּיוֹ ן‬ ָ ‫ ִּכ‬13 ‫ִ֝א ָ֗ ּו ּה לְ מוֹ ׁ ָש֥ב לֽ וֹ ׃‬ ‫ֹאת־מנו ָּח ִ ֥תי עֲ ֵדי־עַ ֑ד‬ ְ ‫ ז‬14 ‫ֹה־א ׁ ֗ ֵשב ִּכ֣י ִא ִ ּו ִ ֽת ָיה׃‬ ֵ֝ ‫ּפ‬

sufficiently appreciated that the dynastic promise came to be used as a code word for the existence of Judah.16 After Solomon, when the principle of Davidic dynastic succession was accepted in the kingdom of Judah, references to the dynastic promise are more about the kingdom than about the king. The question was not who would sit on the throne, but whether there would be a throne to sit on, that is, whether there would be a country to rule. The Davidic promise is the reason given for the preservation of Judah after the division of the monarchy (1 Kings 11:13), and the country was spared from destruction in the time of King Joram of Judah for the sake of the promise (2 Kings 8:19). The Davidic promise was insufficient to spare Judah in the wake of the events of 586 b.c.e. (Ps. 89:39–46), but when Judah will be restored after its destruction, the assumption is that a Davidic king will once again ascend the throne. To explain why the first had occurred and the second had not was beyond the chronological and/or the ideological scope of our psalm; indeed, the psalm’s first audience may well have expected a Davidic ruler in the near future.17 The idea that the dynastic promise equals the existence of Judah explains why it is presented here as conditioned on obedience to the Sinai covenant, for Judah’s existence is, in Deuteronomic and postexilic thought, predicated on obedience to the covenant. My covenant . . . ​My decrees  The covenant at Sinai. These terms, ‫ ברית‬and ‫עדות‬, are used together in Ps. 25:10 and 2 Kings 17:15. In Exod. 25:16 and 40:20, the Pact (the written decrees from God at Sinai) are to be deposited in the Ark. Both terms are used to define the Ark: the Deuteronomist speaks of the “Ark of the Covenant” (‫)ארון הברית‬ and the Priestly source the “Ark of the Testimony” (‫)ארון העדות‬. ‫ עדות‬means “covenant, agreement, treaty” and is related to ‫ עדי‬in Old Aramaic and adê in Assyrian treaties. See also Ps. 19:8b, where the term corresponds to ‫תורה‬, ‫מצוות‬, etc. 13. God’s ‫מושב‬, “seat,” evokes associations with sitting on a throne. Note the play on words in verses 12–14: the descendants of David will sit on the throne, and God will sit on His seat in Zion. At the beginning of the psalm, David chose Zion as the place for God’s seat, but here God chose Zion. David’s choice is God’s choice. 14.  God’s own words confirm those of the narrator/speaker.18 Just as the dynastic promise is for all time (‫עדי עד‬, v. 12), so is God’s resting-place in Zion, His presence at the Temple Mount. (The dynastic promise is permanent even though individual kings may disobey God and even though the kingdom of Judah had been destroyed. It is precisely

66

Psalms 132:15 

‫תהלים בלק‬

15 I will amply bless its store of food, give its needy their fill of bread. 16 I will clothe its priests in victory, its loyal ones shall sing for joy. 17 There I will make a horn sprout for David; I have prepared a lamp for My anointed one. 18 I will clothe his enemies in disgrace,

‫ צֵ֭ ָיד ּה ָ ּב ֵר ְ֣ך ֲא ָב ֵ ֑ר ְך‬15 ‫֗יה ַאשְׂ ִ ּב֥יעַ ֽ לָ ֶֽחם׃‬ ָ ‫ֶ֝אבְ יוֹ ֶנ‬ ‫ֶיה ַאלְ ִ ּב ׁ֣יש יֶ ׁ ַ֑שע‬ ָ ‫ ֽ֭ ְוכ ֲֹהנ‬16 ‫ַ֝ו ֲח ִס ֶ ֗יד ָיה ַר ֵּנ֥ן יְ ַר ֵּנ ֽנוּ׃‬ ‫שם ַאצְ ִ ֣מ ַיח ֶ ֣ק ֶרן לְ ָדוִ ֑ד‬ ֤ ָ ׁ 17 ‫יחי׃‬ ֽ ִ ‫עָ ַ ֥רכְ ִּתי ֝ ֵנ֗ר לִ ְמ ׁ ִש‬ ‫ ֭אוֹ יְ ָביו ַאלְ ִ ּב ׁ֣יש ֹ֑בּ ׁ ֶשת‬18

because of this that this psalm, and the postexilic community, can hope for a new Davidic king.) The idea that deities find rest in their own temple was known throughout the ancient Near East.19 The concept of Temple as resting-place may be expanded to include the entire Land of Israel, as in 95:11, or the entire world, as in Isa. 66:1 (Isaiah questions whether God could be contained in a physical temple). 15.  When the Ark/Temple is once again in Zion and God is re-enshrined in it, God will act in His divine way: providing sustenance to the country (v. 15), reinstituting Temple worship (v. 16), reestablishing the Davidic dynasty (v. 17), and protecting Israel from its enemies (v. 18). The restoration to Zion brings the blessing of food, as opposed to the famine of the destruction of Jerusalem. From Zion emanates God’s blessing of the country (133:3, 134:3). The Ark is a source of blessing (2 Sam. 6:11–12). God provides for the needy (Ps. 104:27–28, 145:15–16). 16.  The counterpart to verse 9; here God clothes the priests in victory, rather than in the defeat that allowed the Ark to be captured (or the Temple to be destroyed). 17. There I will make a horn sprout for David  “There” in Zion, when the king again takes his place in the capital of Judah. The horn symbolizes strength (e.g., Ps. 18:3, 89:18,25, 112:9, 148:14; 1 Sam. 2:10; Lam. 2:3). Usually the horn is “raised”; only in Ezek. 29:21 does the horn sprout: “I will cause to sprout a horn for the house of Israel.” The root ‫צמח‬, “sprout,” without “horn,” occurs elsewhere to signify the restoration of the dynasty ( Jer. 23:5, 33:15; Zech. 3:8, 6:12; cf. Isa. 11:1 for the idea of sprouting with different wording). a lamp  The lamp (‫נר‬, or elsewhere ‫ )ניר‬signifies the dynastic presence: 2 Sam. 21:17 (David himself is the lamp); 1 Kings 11:36 (Solomon); and 2 Kings 8:19 ( Joram, son of Jehoshaphat). These verses in Kings again suggest that the preservation of the Davidic dynasty means the preservation of the Kingdom of Judah. for David . . . ​for My anointed one  As in verse 10, “David” is parallel to “anointed one,” but here both terms refer to David, including the future Davidic dynasty. 18. I will clothe his enemies in disgrace  The priests will be clothed in victory, and the enemies will be clothed in the shame of defeat. Defeat of enemies is a standard part of the promise to David (2 Sam. 7:9–11; Ps. 89:21–24) and one of the primary reasons for having a king. This motif is typical in postexilic literature, where the defeat of the enemy, which restores the world order to its pre-destruction status, is a prelude to the restoration of Judah (137:7–9, 149:7–9; Lam. 1:22, 3:64–66).

67

Psalms 132:18 

‫תהלים בלק‬

 ‫ְ֝ו ָע ֗ ָליו יָ צִ ֥יץ נִזְ ֽרוֹ ׃‬

while on him his crown shall sparkle.” while on him  On the Davidic king.

his crown shall sparkle  The Davidic king will reign, and the enemies will be defeated. The ‫נזר‬, “diadem,” an emblem of royalty (2 Sam. 1:10), was given to the king at his enthronement (2 Kings 11:12; 2 Chron. 23:11).20 In Ps. 89:40 the desecration of the crown is parallel to the renunciation of the dynastic covenant (along with the removal of the scepter and the hurling down of the throne). The verb ‫יציץ‬, “sparkle/blossom,” may be a wordplay on the blossom-shaped crown of the priests (Exod. 29:6, 39:30; Lev. 8:9), perhaps signifying that the royal crown is holy like the priestly crown. There is no reason to conclude that the king had actual priestly functions (or that the High Priest took over royal attributes in the postexilic period).21 Rather, the echoes of the priestly diadem in the description of the royal diadem underline the nexus between the dynasty and the Temple that has been in play throughout the psalm.

Ritual and Liturgical Uses This psalm is the thirteenth of the fifteen Songs of Ascents (‫שירי המעלות‬, Psalms 120–134). On the uses of these psalms as a group, see the discussion on Psalm 120 above. Shimmush Tehillim suggests that a person who

takes an oath too frequently, but still wishes to keep the oaths, should recite this psalm every day. This use is probably based on the reference to the oaths taken by King David in verse 2 and by God in verse 11.

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Psalm 133: Introduction Like the psalms before and after it, this psalm speaks of Mount Zion, where God ordained the blessing of prosperity for Israel. The psalm is short and enigmatic. I interpret its highly metaphorical picture as describing the restored and reunited Israel, with the Temple on Mount Zion at its center. The psalm is celebrating the restoration, more especially the rebuilding of the Temple, the reconsecration of the priesthood, and the renewal of sacrificial worship, all of which bring prosperity to the restored community. Many scholars view this psalm, as they do all Songs of Ascents, as a song recited by pilgrims as they approached Mount Zion or as they partook of a sacrificial meal at the Temple. In that scenario, this psalm is sometimes interpreted as literally expressing the pilgrims’ pleasure in joining with their countrymen to participate in this festive communal occasion.1 Others suggest that it refers to familial harmony more generally. But I prefer to interpret the picture of brothers dwelling together in verse 1 as representing idealized the reunification of the Northern and Southern Kingdoms. The psalm’s climax is the Temple Mount, called “the mountains [plural] of Zion,” the focal point and symbol of the reunited Israel and the source of divine life-giving blessing.

133 A song of ascents. Of David. How good and how pleasant it is that brothers dwell together.

‫שיר ַה ַּֽמעֲ ֗לוֹ ת לְ ָ ֫דוִ ֥ד‬ ִ֥ ׁ

‫קלג‬

‫ה־טוֹ ב ו ַּמה־ ּנָעִ ֑ים‬ ּ֭ ‫ִה ֵּנ ֣ה ַמ‬ ‫ׁ ֶש ֶ֖בת ַא ִח֣ים ַ ּגם־יָ ַֽחד׃‬

1. A song of ascents  See “Excursus: Songs of Ascents” (pp. 183–188). The poem itself begins with ‫הנה‬, untranslated in NJPS, an interjection meaning “look” (see Ps. 134:1). How good and how pleasant  “Good” and “pleasant” are synonyms that often occur together, as in Gen. 49:15; Ps. 135:3, 147:1; and Job 36:11. that brothers dwell together  Interpretations of this phrase, and hence of the entire psalm, abound.2 Some interpreters take “brothers” in the biological sense and see this as a proverbial reference to harmonious family life. But “brothers” has a broader sense than biological siblings; it often designates members of a group (“kin” in 122:8) or even all Israel (often in Deuteronomy). Indeed, an older and more pervasive interpretation understands “brothers” as a reference to members of the people of Israel. Saadiah Gaon explains that “brothers dwelling together” refers to all Israel at the time of the monarchy.3 In the same vein, the eighteenth-century commentator David Altshuler (‫ )מצודת דוד‬says, “How very good and very pleasant is the thing when the whole house of Israel will dwell on its land. They are called ‘brothers’ for the great affection that is among them. . . . ​And they will be together in one kingship and will not be divided into two kingdoms any more.” The idiom ‫יחדיו‬/‫שבת יחד‬, “to dwell together,” is a legal term for joint tenancy of land,

69

Psalms 133:2 

‫תהלים גלק‬

2 It is like fine oil on the head running down onto the beard, the beard of Aaron, that comes down over the collar of his robe; 3 like the dew of Hermon

‫אש‬ ׁ ‫ל־ה ֹ֗ר‬ ָ ‫ש ֶמן ַה ּ ֨טוֹ ב ׀ ַע‬ ֤ ֶ ּ ׁ ‫ ַּכ‬2 ‫ֽל־ה ָ ּז ָ ֥קן‬ ַ ַ‫י ֵ ֹ֗רד ע‬ ‫ן־א ֲה ֑רֹן‬ ַ ‫זְ ַ ֽק‬ ‫ל־פ֥י ִמדּ וֹ ָ ֽתיו׃‬ ִ ּ ‫֝ ׁ ֶש ּי ֵ ֹ֗רד ַע‬ ‫ל־ח ְר ֗מוֹ ן‬ ֶ ‫ ְּכ ַט‬3

undivided landholdings (Gen. 13:6, 36:7; Deut. 25:5). Here, as Altshuler understood, it is a metaphor for the reunited kingdom, part of the imagery of the idealized return found in postexilic literature, when not only will the Judeans return to Judah, but also the Northern Kingdom, exiled long before, will return, and the two kingdoms will once again form one country, with its capital in Jerusalem.4 Jeremiah speaks of the return of the Northern Kingdom and, after mentioning God’s blessing of Mount Zion, concludes with the return of Judah, also using the idiom “dwell together”: “Judah and its towns shall live there together” (NRSV; Jer. 31:24). Our psalm expresses the same thought, emphasizing that the land is united by the worship of God at the Temple.5 2–3.  NJPS (like many others) analyzes these verses as two similes describing how pleasant living together is: it is like fine oil on the head and like dew on Hermon. But it is better to disconnect the images in verses 2–3 from verse 1 and link them to each other: oil on the head is like dew on Hermon.6 The syntax k-X, k-Y, “like X, like Y,” is a way of equating the two items, as Rashi notes. Other examples are ‫כעם ככהן‬, “layman and priest shall fare alike” (Isa. 24:2) and ‫כחשיכה כאורה‬, “darkness and light are the same” (Ps. 139:12).7 Verses 2 and 3 are also linked through the repetition of ‫ירד‬, “running down, comes down, falls,” and by the pair “oil” and “dew,” terms often found in parallelisms that both signify abundant prosperity (Gen. 27:28,39). While the simile does not refer back to verse 1, the repetition of ‫טוב‬, “good, fine,” ties verses 1 and 2 together, providing cohesion for the psalm as a whole. fine oil on the head . . . ​beard of Aaron  The priestly oil, that is, the reconsecration of the priesthood, is like the dew, a symbol of God’s blessing (see Hos. 14:6; on dew as a figure for renewal after national death, see Isa. 26:19). Oil served as a cosmetic; it was placed on the head and would run down onto the neck. Oil symbolizes festivity (Eccles. 9:7–8) and plenty (Ps. 23:5). But the specific mention of Aaron leads the reader away from the everyday cosmetic use to the oil used for anointing the High Priest (Exod. 29:7, 30:22–30, 37:29; Lev. 8:12, 21:10; Num. 35:25). the collar  The beard and/or the oil is flowing onto the collar. The picture moves from the head to the beard to the neck area; it is a picture of flowing (‫ ירד‬occurs twice). his robe  The word ‫ מדותיו‬is a plural form of ‫מדו‬, referring to the garment worn by priests (Lev. 6:3, “raiment”). 3. like the dew of Hermon  Mount Hermon is a tall mountain, over ninety-two hundred feet high, at the north of the Land of Israel, visible from a great distance and often snow-covered in winter. Dew is the summertime equivalent of rain, a source of

70

Psalms 133:3 

‫תהלים גלק‬

that falls upon the mountains of Zion. There the Lord ordained blessing, everlasting life.

‫ל־ה ְר ֵר֪י ִ֫צ ּי֥וֹ ן‬ ַ ‫ׁ ֶש ּי ֵֹר ֮ד ַע‬ ‫ת־ה ְ ּב ָרכָ ֑ה‬ ַ ‫ִּכ֤י ׁ ֨ ָשם ׀ צִ ָ ּו ֣ה י֭ הוה ֶא‬  ‫ד־העוֹ לָ ֽם׃‬ ָ ‫ַ֝ח ִ֗ ּיים ַע‬

irrigation in ancient Israel. (Therefore in the Amidah prayer, when recited in the summer months, God is called “the One who brings down the dew,” whereas in the winter He is “the One who makes the wind blow and the rain come down.”)8 The mention of Hermon, in the far north, and Mount Zion, in the south, reinforces the idea that the Northern and Southern Kingdoms are pictured as one, with the dew flowing down, figuratively, from the geologically distinctive mountain in the north to the religiously distinctive mountain in the south, covering the entire land with blessing.9 mountains of Zion  The plural is unusual, perhaps referring to a mountain range, the mountains of Judah, or the mountains surrounding Jerusalem (Kimḥi; see Ps. 125:2), as well as the Hermon range (not just one mountain but the Anti-Lebanon range). There the Lord ordained blessing, everlasting life  The Temple is the place from which God’s blessing emanates. The blessing of everlasting life means a long and prosperous life for the community and permanent security for the homeland, much as promised in God’s blessings in Deut. 28:1–12. (It is not about immortality of the individual.) The Temple is the source of life. As Jon Levenson explains, the Temple is associated with Eden (the place of immortality) and with life-giving waters. It is, in a mytho-religious sense, a place where death cannot intrude.10

Ritual and Liturgical Uses This psalm is the fourteenth of the fifteen Songs of Ascents (‫שירי המעלות‬, Psalms 120–134). On the uses of these psalms as a group, see the discussion on Psalm 120 above. In the Italian rite, it is the special psalm for Parashat Pekudei. The reference to Aaron’s robe in verse 2 of the psalm links up with the description of the High Priest’s garments in the parashah, at Exodus 39. The reference to oil on Aaron’s beard also recalls

71

the command to anoint Aaron and his sons with oil in Exod. 40:12–15, a command that is carried out in verse 16 there. Shimmush Tehillim suggests reciting this psalm to strengthen love between lovers and between friends. This use is probably based on verse 1 and perhaps also on the midrashim (e.g., Tanḥuma Shemot 27) that apply verses 1–2 to Moses and Aaron as brothers who loved each other.

Psalm 134: Introduction This last psalm in the Songs of Ascents collection is about blessing—the people’s blessing and God’s blessing. The root ‫ברך‬, “bless,” occurs three times, once in every verse, and God’s four-letter name, YHVH, appears five times. The featured location is the Temple. Zion is the locus of God’s blessing—a major theme in the Songs of Ascents. This psalm appears to be a liturgical dialogue or part of one.1 A more usual form of such a dialogue would be 1 Chron. 29:20, “Now David said to the whole assemblage, ‘Now bless the Lord your God.’ All the assemblage blessed the Lord God of their fathers.” The words of the blessing are not given here, but they are expressed in Jewish liturgy in the Barekhu prayer (in the Morning Service) and in the blessings before the reading of the Torah, when the leader says, “Bless [plural] the Lord,” and the congregation replies, “Blessed is the Lord.” In this psalm, however, verses 1–2 invite the servants of the Lord (either the congregation or the priests) to bless God, but the blessing itself is not spoken. Then, verse 3 comprises the hope that God will bless “you.” Reciprocity is implied; when the people bless God, He will bless them. The parties to the dialogue cannot be clearly identified. Various scenarios have been proposed. According to one scenario, an unidentified speaker bids the people standing in the Temple to bless God. They acknowledge the summons with tacit agreement, by their response, “May the Lord . . . ​bless you” (v. 3).2 Compare Ruth 2:4, where the same response follows a different greeting, in a non-liturgical setting. In a second possible scenario the speaker is a Levite who calls on the people to bless God in verses 1–2. The people’s response is not given, but presumably they follow the Levite’s instructions. Then in verse 3 the Levite continues with a response to the people, bestowing upon them their own blessing.3 According to a third scenario, the congregation is speaking, urging the priests to utter a blessing at the close of worship or at the end of a pilgrimage, as a farewell gesture. The priests do so in verse 3, blessing the people, using a form of the traditional Priestly Blessing, “The Lord bless you and protect you!” (Num. 6:24).4 Whatever scenario is being depicted, the psalm serves as a doxology (a short formula of praise to God, often at the end of a psalm or collection of psalms) that concludes the Songs of Ascents.5 It echoes many of the ideas and terms found in that collection, and like the other doxologies that close books 1–4 of the Book of Psalms (41:14, 72:18–19, 89:53, 106:48), its main idea is blessing God (although it does not conclude with a phrase like “Blessed is the Lord” as the other doxologies do). Whether or not it is a formal doxology, it is a fitting conclusion for the Ascents collection.6 The psalm also has affinities with the beginning and end of Psalm 135, which may account for its placement here.

72

Psalms 134:1

‫תהלים דלק‬

134 A song of ascents. Now bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord who stand nightly in the house of the Lord.

‫ׁ ֗ ִשיר ַה ַּֽ֫מעֲ ל֥ וֹ ת‬

‫קלד‬

‫ִה ֵּנ֤ה ׀ ָ ּב ְרכ֣ ּו ֶאת־י֭ הוה‬ ‫ל־עבְ ֵד֣י יהו֑ ה‬ ַ ‫ָּכ‬ ‫ָהע ְֹמ ִ ֥דים ְ ּב ֵבית־י֝ הו֗ ה‬ ‫ַ ּב ֵּלילֽ וֹ ת׃‬

1. A song of ascents  See “Excursus: Songs of Ascents” (pp. 183–188). Now  The word ‫הנה‬, an interjection that may also be rendered “look, behold,” directs attention toward something. It strengthens the command to bless God. The same word also opens Psalm 133, thereby forming a link between the two psalms. servants of the Lord  This term (Ps. 113:1, 135:1; also “your servants,” 90:13,16 and elsewhere in Psalms) may refer to all God’s worshipers or specifically the Temple personnel. stand  This word may mean simply to be present at the Temple, as all worshipers were, or more specifically to serve or minister, as the priests, Levites, and other Temple personnel did (cf. Deut. 10:8, of the Levites). nightly  The modifying phrase “who stand nightly” makes it more likely that here the reference is to Temple personnel. The only known nighttime Temple activities recorded in the Bible were guarding the Temple and opening the gates in the morning, performed by levitical gatekeepers who spent the night near the Temple (1 Chron. 9:23–27), and the levitical singers were on duty day and night (9:33). Josephus, in Contra Apion (1.22, par. 199–200), quotes Hecataeus of Abdera: “The priests abide therein both nights and days, performing certain purifications, and drinking not the least drop of wine while they are in the Temple.” This statement may derive from 1 Chron. 9:33 and 23:28, where among the Levites’ duties was to look after the purity of all the holy things. Ordinary worshipers would presumably not be present at the Temple at night on a regular basis. No night sacrifice or liturgy is mentioned in the Bible. (Isa. 30:29, “singing / As on a night when a festival is hallowed,” refers to a festival celebration, not a Temple sacrifice.)7 The evening sacrifices were in the evening, ‫ערב‬, not ‫לילה‬, “night,” since they were performed before it was dark (Ps. 141:2; 1 Chron. 23:30–31). These sacrifices are commemorated in rabbinic liturgy by the Minḥah (and not the Ma‘ariv) service. Though the Mishnah (M. Suk. 5:4) records the celebration of Simḥat Beit haSho’eivah (the Water-Pouring ceremony during Sukkot) at night, there is no biblical source for this. The Septuagint moves “nightly” to verse 2, “In the nighttime lift up your hands,” creating a night ritual. in the house of the Lord  The Septuagint adds “in the courts of the house of our God,” as in Ps. 135:2 (it reduces the difference in wording between these two psalms), thereby interpreting God’s servants as the worshipers gathered in the Temple courts.

73

Psalms 134:2 

‫תהלים דלק‬

2 Lift your hands toward the sanctuary and bless the Lord. 3 May the Lord, maker of heaven and earth, bless you from Zion.

‫ שְׂ ֽאוּ־יְ ֵדכֶ ֥ם ֑קֹ ֶד ׁש‬2 ‫ּ֝ו ָב ְרכ֗ ּו ֶאת־יהוֽ ה׃‬ ‫ יְ ָב ֶרכְ ָ ֣ך י֭ הוה‬3 ‫ִמ ִ ּצ ֑ ּיוֹ ן‬  ‫֝עֹ ֗ ֵשׂ ה ׁ ָש ַמ֥יִ ם וָ ָא ֶֽרץ׃‬

2. Lift your hands  A gesture of prayer in Israel and throughout the ancient Near East (Isa. 1:15; Ps. 28:2, 77:3, 141:2, 143:6). The blessing should be uttered while the hands are raised. toward the sanctuary  Toward the direction where God is felt most strongly to be present. The noun ‫קדש‬, “[something that is] holy,” refers to God’s dwelling place (Ps. 150:1), here the sanctuary or the inner part of the Temple complex, whereas “house of the Lord” (v. 1) is the Temple as a whole—perhaps another indication that the priests are being addressed. 3. maker of heaven and earth  The same epithet for God is found in two other Songs of Ascents, 121:2 and 124:8, and also in 115:15 and 146:6. It may be a postexilic liturgical formula (see 2 Chron. 2:11). bless you from Zion  The same phrase occurs in Ps. 128:5. God’s “home” is in Zion (132:13–14), and Zion is the source of blessing (133:3). “You” is singular; the blessing is directed to each individual. “May the Lord bless you” opens the Priestly Blessing in Num. 6:24–26.

Ritual and Liturgical Uses This psalm is the last of the fifteen Songs of Ascents (‫שירי המעלות‬, Psalms 120–134). On the uses of these psalms as a group, see the discussion on Psalm 120 above. The psalm is recited on weekdays as the opening psalm of the Evening Service in the Eidot Hamizraḥ, Yemenite, Italian, and Sefard-Hasidic rites. The phrase “bless the Lord” appearing twice in this short psalm (vv. 1–2) resembles the Barekhu at the beginning of the Evening Service (“Bless the Lord who is blessed”). The reference to blessing God at night

(v. 1) strengthens the connection between the psalm and that service. It is also recited on Saturday night before Maariv in the Italian rite, following Psalms 16, 93, 144, 67, and (in the Roman subrite) 24. Shimmush Tehillim suggests reciting this psalm before studying Torah; one edition specifies that one recite it before studying Torah at night. This may reflect the claim in B. Menaḥot 110a that verse 1’s reference to those “who stand nightly in the house of the Lord” alludes to scholars who study Torah in the nighttime.

74

Psalm 135: Introduction Psalms 135 and 136 are sometimes called “twin” psalms,1 as are Psalms 105–106 and 111–112, because they share a number of phrases and ideas and are ordered consecutively in the Psalter (their resemblance may have been the reason for this ordering).2 These psalms, like Psalms 78, 105, and 106, rehearse Torah traditions about the Creation, the Exodus, and the settlement in the Promised Land.3 The events in Israel’s past, all engineered by God, provide the reasons to praise Him. God is known by His acts, and the public recitation of those acts constitutes praise of God (see, e.g., 105:1–2). By employing allusions or quotations from the Torah (or what was to become the Torah) and also from prophetic writings and other psalms, the psalm links its message to a body of traditional literature with growing authority, connecting itself with Israel’s ancient traditions. Israel can understand its present as a continuation of its past. Allusions both enhance the meaning of the psalm that uses them and at the same time reinforce the authority of the source texts, the traditions that define who Israel is, thereby helping to solidify the postexilic national identity. An allusion can call up an entire passage or episode from its source text even though it cites only a few words. The audience, knowing the source text, will comprehend the allusion’s broader implication.4 Psalms 135 and 136 were written during the Second Temple period (after 516 b.c.e.).5 Verses 2 and 21 of Psalm 135 assume worship at the Temple, and the refrain in Psalm 136, “His steadfast love is eternal,” suggests a recitation in a Temple service. Elements of Late Biblical Hebrew testify to a postexilic date: the particle -‫ש‬, “who, that” (135:2,8,10); the ending ‫כי‬- in ‫בתוככי‬, “against [you,] Egypt” (see Comment at 135:9); and the phrase “house of our God” (135:2).6 Psalm 136:26 employs a form of an epithet for YHVH that occurs in other Persian-period passages. These psalms also share some wording and images with Second Isaiah. Psalm 135 is thought by some scholars to be later than Psalm 136 and to have borrowed from it. The basis for this relative dating is that 135:11 mentions “all the royalty [literally ‘kingdoms’] of Canaan,” apparently referring to the conquest under Joshua, whereas Psalm 136 stops after Sihon and Og, in the Transjordan territories, before the Israelites reached Canaan. A number of scholars reason that this shows that the author of Psalm 136 did not know the Book of Joshua and the author of Psalm 135 did. In addition, the list of events in Psalm 136 is more complete than in 135, so they assume that the author of 135 chose from 136 only what he wanted. I do not find this argument compelling. An author may know a work but choose not to cite it, so the absence of events from the Book of Joshua in Psalm 136 does not prove that its author was ignorant of this book. Nor does the abbreviated sequence of events in Psalm 135 prove that it borrowed selectively from Psalm 136. One psalm may have borrowed from the other, but the direction of the borrowing is uncertain. Alternatively, both psalms may have drawn independently on another source or on stock ideas and expressions.7 Actually, there are only a few verses in the two psalms that are identical or nearly so: 135:10–12 and 136:17–21. The psalms are quite similar yet different in their focus. Both are structured on the

75

Psalms 135:1–21

‫תהלים קלה‬

retelling of the formative traditions about Israel’s past. The past thus becomes a paradigm for the present and future. Indeed, the Creation and the Exodus are commonly invoked in psalms, for the Creation shows God’s power over the entire world and the Exodus shows His relationship to Israel. Moreover, the story of the Exodus does not end once the people have left Egypt; it culminates in the coming to the Promised Land. So Psalms 135 and 136 are typical in their use of these moments in the past. But each psalm selects, arranges, and formulates these past events in a distinctive manner. Many of these differences will be pointed out below, but one general observation stands out: Psalm 135 highlights what God did to Israel’s enemies (Israel is barely present), and by contrast, Psalm 136 focuses on what God did for Israel. Psalm 135 opens with a call (imperative plural) to praise God for choosing Israel as His treasured possession (vv. 1–4). Verse 5 states the main thesis of the psalm: that God is great—indeed He is greater than all other gods. Proof comes in the two major sections of the psalm, one describing God and the other describing other gods. Verses 6–14 review God’s great acts of Creation, the Exodus and wanderings, and the granting of the Promised Land to Israel; these are God’s most important and impressive acts for the world and for Israel. The highly allusive language echoes passages from the Torah and the Prophets, but with poetic flourishes (some original and some found in other psalms), as is common in psalms built upon these traditions. This section ends with a statement about the eternity of God’s name and His protection of His people (vv. 13–14). The second major section, verses 15–18, employs the motif of polemics against idols found mainly in prophetic literature, especially Jeremiah and Second Isaiah, and also in Psalm 115. In contrast to God, the gods of other nations are presented in parody as non-gods, inanimate man-made objects who can do nothing at all. Unlike Israel’s God, they cannot be trusted to deliver on their promises. YHVH, on the other hand, is the real divine power in the world, and He will surely deliver on His word in the future as He has in the past (as illustrated in vv. 7–12). Verses 19–21 form a frame with the opening verses, returning to plural imperatives directing all segments of the congregation to bless (rather than “praise” as in vv. 1–3) God. The psalm’s underlying argument is that God’s power is universal—He is sovereign over the entire world, He is eternal, and He remains Israel’s protector.8 The idea that God’s supreme power endures undiminished was emphasized during the Babylonian exile, when many Jews may have harbored doubts about God’s superiority to the gods whom the Babylonians credited for their victory over Judah. If indeed God rules over the entire world, what is the status of the Babylonian gods? They are merely minor deities, controlled by Israel’s God, and to underscore their insignificance, their images are described as empty representations, human artifacts, devoid of divinity; these foreign gods lack any real efficacy and are thus no match for God (vv. 5, 15–18; on the anti-idol polemic, see the commentary to vv. 15–18). The eternal nature of God’s name and His championing His people (vv. 13–14) imply that God’s covenant with Israel, although strained by their sin and the resultant punishment of exile, is still intact and in effect; God’s relationship with Israel continues after the exile. Just as He has done great favors for Israel in the past, so He will continue to do so now and in the future. This message, especially its implications for the future, continued to encourage the postexilic Judean audience in Second Temple times.

76

Psalms 135:1

‫תהלים הלק‬ Our psalm pictures God as the fighter of Israel’s battles, its defender, the one who smote its enemies—Pharaoh, Sihon, Og, the Canaanite kingdoms—who obstructed Israel’s Exodus from Egypt, its passage through the wilderness, and its settlement in Canaan. The implication, and the main thrust of the psalm, is that just as God overcame ancient peoples who tried to impede Israel from reaching the Land of Israel, so God will overcome in the current situation, when the province of Yehud (roughly equivalent to, although somewhat smaller than, the preexilic kingdom of Judah) is part of the Persian Empire, precluding the reestablishment of Judah as an autonomous nation (symbolized by a Davidic king). Indeed, more than offering praise to God for His past actions, this psalm offers Israel assurance of God’s future actions. The psalm expresses the hope for the end to exile—exile as a concept or metaphor—and the restoration of Israel to the way it was before the exile.9 This theme remained popular and compelling even after the return of many Judeans to Judah and after the rebuilding of the Temple, for the notion of being in exile continues to pervade postexilic thought.

135 Hallelujah.

Praise the name of the Lord; give praise, you servants of the Lord 2 who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God.

‫קלה‬

‫ַה֥לְ לו ָּ֨־י ּה ׀‬ ‫ת־ש֣ם יהו֑ ה‬ ֵ ׁ ‫֭ ַ ֽהלְ ל ּו ֶא‬ ‫֝ ַ ֽהלְ ֗ל ּו ַעבְ ֵד֥י יהוֽ ה׃‬ ‫שע ְֹמ ִדים ְ ּב ֵב֣ית יהו֑ ה‬ ֣ ֶ ׁ֭ 2 ‫ְ֝ ּב ַחצְ ר֗ וֹ ת ֵ ּב֣ית ֱאל ֵֹהֽינוּ׃‬

1. Praise the name of the Lord  After the initial “Hallelujah,” Psalm 113 opens with the same phrases as our psalm but in reverse order. Psalm 134 opens with “Bless the Lord,” while Psalm 135 begins with “praise the name of the Lord” but concludes with “Bless the Lord.” God and His name are one and the same (see also vv. 3, 13). servants of the Lord  All Israel (see v. 14); or more specifically, those present at the Temple. Contrast Ps. 134:1, where the servants of the Lord seem to be the Temple personnel. 2.  The second part of the verse enlarges the picture from the Temple to the Temple courts, and it identifies the divine name, YHVH, as Israel’s God. The link between God and Israel is developed in verse 4. who stand  Our psalm uses the late form ‫שעמדים‬, where 134:1 had the earlier standard, ‫העמדים‬. Psalm 135 may have borrowed and added to the phrase from Psalm 134. house of our God  This phrase—unlike “house of the Lord,” the older form of expression that appears in the first part of this verse—is found only in Late Biblical Hebrew, in several postexilic texts: five times in Ezra (e.g., 8:17,25,30), nine times in Nehemiah (e.g., 10:33–40), and once in Joel 1:16.10

77

Psalms 135:3 

‫תהלים הלק‬

3 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing hymns to His name, for it is pleasant. 4 For the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself, Israel, as His treasured possession. 5 For I know that the Lord is great, that our Lord is greater than all gods.

‫ֽי־טוֹ ב יהו֑ ה‬ ֣ ‫ ַהֽלְ לוּ־יָ֭ ּה ִּכ‬3 ‫זַ ְּמ ֥ר ּו לִ֝ ׁ ְש ֗מוֹ ִּכ֣י נ ִ ָֽעים׃‬ ‫ ִּכֽי־יַ עֲ ֗קֹב ָ ּב ַח֣ר ל֣ וֹ יָ ּ֑ה‬4 ‫֝ ִישְׂ ָר ֵ֗אל לִ ְסגֻ ָּל ֽתוֹ ׃‬ ‫ ִּכ֤י ֲא ִנ ֣י יָ֭ ַד ְע ִּתי ִּכֽי־גָ ֣דוֹ ל יהו֑ ה‬5 ‫ל־אל ִ ֹֽהים׃‬ ֱ ‫ַ֝ו ֲאדֹ ֵנ֗ינ ּו ִמ ָּכ‬

3. is good . . . ​is pleasant  “Good” // “pleasant” is found also in Ps. 133:1 and 147:1. for the Lord is good  Qumran Psalms scroll 4QPsa and Peshitta omit “the Lord” (so also 147:1). it is pleasant  NJPS and most other translations construe “pleasant” as modifying the singing of hymns. Others take it to mean that “He [God] is pleasant” (NRSV; Good News Translation). NJPS is preferred, based on the idea found elsewhere that singing praise to God is good (Ps. 92:2, 147:1).11 God is not described as ‫ נעים‬anywhere else. 4.  God’s goodness is manifest in His choosing Israel as His special possession, set aside for Him alone. “Jacob” is often used in postexilic literature for Judah or, as here, for Israel, since Israel is another name for Jacob (see Ps. 114:1). Compare 105:6, where the descendants of Jacob are the chosen ones. chosen . . . ​treasured possession  The phrase is from Deut. 7:6 and 14:2 (cf. also Exod. 19:5; Deut. 26:18). Each God has its people, and Israel is the Lord’s special people (Deut. 32:8–9). 5.  God’s superiority over all gods is the main idea in the psalm. For I know  A voice speaks in the first person singular, declaring God’s greatness and providing examples to prove it. Rhetorically, this is more effective than a simple statement of God’s greatness by a “narrator” speaking in the third person. The speaker speaks with authority and draws in the community with “our Lord.” In fact, the singular “I” is part of the phrase taken from Exod. 18:11 ( Jethro’s response to hearing about the Exodus). In Jethro’s speech the “I” pronoun occurs as a suffix on the verb; here it stands as an independent pronoun, ‫אני‬, in addition to the verbal suffix, thereby emphasizing the speaker. The same phrase, without “I know,” appears also in Ps. 95:3 (see also 96:4), where, as in our psalm, a description of Creation follows it. In our psalm, both the Creation and the Exodus exemplify God’s superiority. The word rendered “for,” ‫כי‬, is better understood here as an exclamatory or emphatic particle: “indeed, yes.” 12 our Lord  God is defined in relation to the community. The speaker draws in the audience, who are included in “our” and thereby share the speaker’s knowledge of God’s greatness. This verse is the counterpart of verse 4: God chose Israel as His people, and Israel accepts that God is their Lord. At many points the psalm stresses the relationship between God and Israel.

78

Psalms 135:6 

‫תהלים הלק‬

6 W hatever the Lord desires He does in heaven and earth, in the seas and all the depths. H e 7  makes clouds rise from the end of the earth; He makes lightning for the rain; He releases the wind from His vaults.

‫ר־ח ֵפ֥ץ יהו֗ ה ָ ֫עשָׂ ֥ה‬ ָ ‫ ֹ֤כּ ל ֲא ׁ ֶש‬6 ‫ַ ּב ׁ ּ ָש ַמ֥יִ ם ו ָּב ָא ֶ֑רץ‬ ‫ל־תה ֹֽמוֹ ת׃‬ ְּ ָ‫ַ֝ ּב ַ ּי ִּ֗מים וְ כ‬ ‫ ַמעֲ לֶ ֣ה נְשִׂ ִאי ֮ם ִמ ְקצֵ ֪ה ָ֫ה ָא ֶ֥רץ‬7 ‫ְ ּב ָר ִ ֣קים לַ ָּמ ָט֣ר ָעשָׂ ֑ה‬ ‫א־רו ַּח ֵמ ֽאוֹ צְ רוֹ ָ ֽתיו׃‬ ֗ ֝ ֵ‫ֽמוֹ צ‬

greater than all gods  Not only is God great, but He is greater than all other gods. The other gods, in the form of idols, will return in verses 15–18. 6–7.  God’s greatness is demonstrated, in the first instance, by His creation of the universe—a common theme in psalms and elsewhere in the Bible. Here, though, the emphasis is on God’s ongoing control of the entire cosmos. Clouds, lightning, and wind are continually wielded by God for His purpose. The universe as a whole is commonly diagrammed as consisting of the sky, the earth, and the water below the earth (in Ps. 115:16–17, the lowest level is the realm of the dead), here divided into the salt water of the seas and the fresh water of the “depths” (see 148:7). Yair Zakovitch, who sees in this psalm no references to Creation, finds in verses 6–7 connections with the plagues in Egypt and the crossing of the Reed Sea, where sky and meteorologic phenomena are also mentioned (e.g., Exod. 9:8,22–23).13 Indeed, the Creation and the Exodus are sometimes melded together (as in Isa. 51:9–11; Psalm 114), but it seems forced to see references to the Exodus here. Whatever the Lord desires He does  The phrase is a literary borrowing of a legal formula that refers to a monarch’s unlimited power. It occurs in postexilic texts (Ps. 115:3; Isa. 46:10).14 The phrase is in the past tense, referring to Creation, but it may also imply that now, too, as at Creation, God can do as He wills. He is not controlled by or answerable to any other power. 7.  The elements of Creation that are singled out for mention in this verse— clouds, lightning, and wind—are the terror-inspiring ones, as in Jer. 10:13 = 51:16; Ps. 147:15–18; and Job 38:22–30. The emphasis on storm imagery is reminiscent of the Canaanite Baal, a storm god; storm imagery associated with God, thought to have been adapted from Canaanite thought, is found elsewhere in the Bible (e.g., Ps. 29:3). More to the point of our psalm, this verse echoes passages in Jeremiah: Jer. 10:13, “He makes clouds rise from the end of the earth, / He makes lightning for the rain, / And brings forth wind from His treasuries,” uses very similar wording in his polemic against idols, and Jer. 51:16 uses the same polemic in an oracle about the destruction of Babylonia.15 In our psalm, too, the implication is the defeat of Babylonia, just as Pharaoh and other kings subsequent to the Exodus were defeated in the following verses. wind from His vaults  The wind and other meteorologic elements are stored far away and released at God’s will. Job 38:22 mentions vaults for snow and hail and immediately afterward mentions winds and storms. Psalm 104:3 varies the order: clouds, wind, fiery flames (lightning).

79

Psalms 135:8 

‫תהלים הלק‬

8 He struck down the first-born of Egypt, man and beast alike; 9 He sent signs and portents against Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants; 10 He struck down many nations and slew numerous kings— 11 Sihon, king of the Amorites, Og, king of Bashan, and all the royalty of Canaan—

‫ ׁ ֶ֭ש ִה ָּכה ְ ּבכוֹ ֵר֣י ִמצְ ָ ֑ריִ ם‬8 ‫ד־ב ֵה ָ ֽמה׃‬ ּ ְ ‫ֵ֝מ ָא ָ ֗דם ַע‬ ‫ ׁ ָשלַ ֤ח ׀ אוֹ ֣תֹת ּ֭ומ ְֹפ ִתים ְ ּבתוֹ כֵ ֣כִ י ִמצְ ָ ֑ריִ ם‬9 ‫ְ֝ ּב ַפ ְר ֹ֗עה וּבְ כָ ל־עֲ ָב ָ ֽדיו׃‬ ‫ ׁ ֶ֭ש ִה ָּכה גּוֹ יִ ֣ם ַר ִ ּב֑ים‬10 ‫ְ֝ו ָה ַ ֗רג ְמלָ כִ ֥ים עֲ צו ִ ּֽמים׃‬ ‫ לְ ִס ֤יחוֹ ן ׀ ֶמ֤לֶ ְך ָה ֱאמ ִ ֹ֗רי‬11 ‫ּ֭ולְ עוֹ ג ֶמ֣לֶ ְך ַה ָ ּב ׁ ָש֑ן‬ ‫ּ֝ולְ ֹ֗כל ַמ ְמלְ כ֥ וֹ ת ְּכ ָנ ֽעַ ן׃‬

8–12.  This passage, recounting the Exodus, wanderings, and settlement in the Land of Israel, is a shortened version of Ps. 136:10–22, with some variation in the items listed and changes in wording (see commentary to Psalm 136). 8–9.  The Exodus from Egypt is the second great act for which God is renown. The Exodus is alluded to in several psalms (e.g., Psalms 105, 114, 136) in different ways. Verse 8 singles out the last plague, the climactic one that led to the Exodus, which was directed against humans and domestic animals. It echoes a phrase from Exod. 12:12, “I will . . . ​ strike down every first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast,” which adds that it was also directed against the gods of Egypt (see also Exod. 13:15). Verse 9 summarizes the plagues that preceded the last one, in wording that resembles Deut. 34:11 (see also Deut. 6:22, 26:8; Ps. 105:27). This summary is a resumptive statement that tells us that the killing of the first-born is the culminating punishment that God bestowed on Egypt and emphasizes God’s miraculous deeds directed against Pharaoh and his servants. 9. against  Rather than the traditional reading “against you” [Transl.]. | The form ‫ בתוככי‬appears to have a feminine singular suffix, but a direct address to Egypt is out of place here. Therefore, some commentators (Dahood, Allen, Zenger) explain it as an emphatic form in the construct state. NJPS renders the comparable form in 116:19, ‫בתוככי‬ ‫ירושלם‬, in a similar manner. 10–11.  Having mentioned Pharaoh, the psalm continues with God’s defeat of enemy kings encountered by Israel on its march from Egypt to Canaan. There is no mention that God brought Israel out of Egypt! The emphasis is on God’s defeat of Israel’s enemies. Sihon and Og were among the first of these kings defeated by Israel (Num. 21:21–35) and are often mentioned in summaries of God’s great deeds on behalf of Israel in the wilderness (Deut. 1:4, 2:24–3:4, 4:46, 29:6, 31:4; Josh. 2:10, 9:10). They are emblematic of other kingdoms that God will or could destroy. Indeed, Josh. 2:10 and 9:10 sum up God’s reputation as consisting of what He did in Egypt and what He did to Sihon and Og. That is precisely what Psalms 135 and 136 do, too. Even more important, both psalms make the point that God gave the land of Sihon and Og as a heritage “to Israel His people” (135:12) or “to Israel His servant” (136:21–22). all the royalty of Canaan  The Canaanite kingdoms, that is, the inhabitants of Canaan when Israel arrived there. This refers to the conquests in the Book of Joshua,

80

Psalms 135:12 

‫תהלים הלק‬

12 and gave their lands as a heritage, as a heritage to His people Israel. 13 O Lord, Your name endures forever, Your fame, O Lord, through all generations; 14 for the Lord will champion His people, and obtain satisfaction for His servants.

‫ וְ נ ַָת֣ן ַא ְרצָ ֣ם נ ֲַחלָ ֑ה‬12 ‫֝ ַנ ֲח ֗ ָלה לְ יִ שְׂ ָר ֵא֥ל ַע ּֽמוֹ ׃‬ ‫ י֭ הוה ׁ ִש ְמ ָ ֣ך לְ עוֹ לָ ֑ם‬13 ‫י֝ הו֗ ה זִ כְ ְר ָ ֥ך לְ דֹר־וָ ֽדֹר׃‬ ֹ‫ ִּכֽי־יָ ִ ֣דין יהו֣ ה ַע ּ֑מו‬14 ‫ל־עֲ ָב ָ ֗דיו יִ ְתנ ֶָחֽם׃‬ ֝ ‫וְ ַע‬

perhaps specifically to the kings listed in Josh. 12:7–24. It is omitted in Psalm 136, which does not refer to the conquest of Canaan. The direct object preceded by the preposition lamed is a late form, perhaps influenced by Aramaic.16 12.  On verses 11–12, see Deut. 31:3–4, “He, Himself, will wipe out these [Canaanite] nations from your path and you shall dispossess them. . . . ​The Lord will do to them as He did to Sihon and Og, kings of the Amorites, and to their countries, when He wiped them out.” Psalm 135 shows that Deuteronomy’s prediction came true. The continuation of the Deuteronomy passage urges Israel to be resolute and to know that God marches with them and will not forsake them. Just what Psalm 135 wants its audience to hear! and gave their lands  Literally “their land” (singular), but this refers to the lands of Sihon and Og as well as of the Canaanites. On the giving of these lands to Israel, see Num. 21:21–31, Deut. 2:24–3:4. heritage Rendering ‫נחלה‬. In Deut. 29:6–7 the land of Sihon and Og is a ‫ נחלה‬for Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh. Kimḥi sees here a hint of David’s kingdom, which included land to the east of the Jordan River. 13–14.  Having spoken of God’s great acts for Israel in the past, the poem now turns to the present and future, assuring the audience that God’s essential nature is eternal and that He continues to champion His people. 13.  A reuse of Exod. 3:15, “This shall be My name forever, / This My appellation [‫זכרי‬, rendered “fame” by NJPS in our verse] for all eternity [‫לדר ודר‬, rendered “through all generations” by NJPS in our verse].” In the Exodus passage God reveals His name, YHVH, and identifies the God who goes by this name with the God of the patriarchs. Exodus 3:12–13 connects the God of the Patriarchs and His promise to the Patriarchs with the God of Israel in Egypt and the beginning of the fulfillment of His promise. By our psalm’s declaiming this verse, addressed to God (in the second person), the psalm’s audience, the Second Temple community, can see itself as Israel in Egypt and can recognize that the same God who brought them out of Egypt will bring about the new exodus (from the Babylonian exile). 14.  This verse quotes the first part of Deut. 32:36, which says that after their deserved destruction, God will vindicate Israel and take revenge on their enemies. The Deuteronomy passage goes on to say that the enemy gods are powerless and that no god can equal God. This allusion prepares the way for verses 15–18, which illustrate the

81

Psalms 135:15 

‫תהלים הלק‬

15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.

‫ עֲ צַ ֵ ּב֣י ַ֭הגּוֹ יִ ם ֶּכ ֶ֣סף וְ זָ ָה֑ב‬15 ‫ַ֝מעֲ ֗ ֵשׂ ה יְ ֵד֣י ָא ָ ֽדם׃‬

nature of the other gods. But unlike Deuteronomy 32, which spends many verses on the destruction of Israel for its sins, our psalm omits this negative picture. In fact, it stops with the gaining possession of the land and is silent about Israel in its land, for that is where the sin occurred that led to the exile. Our psalm is primarily concerned with ending the exile, not with explaining its cause. 15–18.  Similar to Ps. 115:4–8 (with the omission of 115:7) and probably derived from it. Both are influenced by Jer. 10:1–16. Anti-idol polemics of this type are found also in Isa. 40:19–20, 41:6–7, 44:9–20, 46:1–2,5–8; Hab. 2:18–19; and also in the Apocrypha, or deuterocanonical books, Bel and the Dragon; Epistle (or Letter) of Jeremiah; and Wisdom of Solomon 13–15. Many scholars think that these polemics originated for the benefit of the Judean exiles in Babylonia.17 The passages from Second Isaiah draw on knowledge of an elaborate Mesopotamian ritual (the mīs pî, “washing the mouth” rite) for investing the image with divine origin and with sensory powers. The polemics purposely “misunderstand” or misrepresent the Babylonian ritual in order to make a parody of it, as a way to reassure the exiled community that the God of Israel is superior to Babylonian deities.18 By denigrating the Mesopotamian ritual, the biblical writers reduce the Babylonian deities to inanimate statues that have no divine power. Mesopotamian believers, on the other hand, considered these images to be embodiments of living deities. Mainly, these polemical parodies emphasize that the images are manufactured by humans (in the Mesopotamian ritual, the craftsman declares that he did not make the statue, but a god made it) and that they lack the ability to function (part of the Mesopotamian ceremony brings the image to life, activating its sensory powers). However, the polemics rarely mention specific foreign deities (except Isa. 46:1), and more important, the anti-idol motif is popular in later literature. Its usefulness obviously transcended the needs of the exilic community (if, indeed, it was originally designed for them). What function may it have served to a Second Temple audience? Making fun of other people’s religious practices is not confined to the ancient world. Then, as now, it is a way to denigrate the “other” and to prove one’s own superiority. Our psalm (v. 15) and other anti-idol polemics imply that Israel is superior to all nations that practice idol worship, that is, all nations except Israel. To put it more bluntly, they say that the foreign nations are stupid and that only Israel (= the Judean community) knows the truth about the world order. In Second Temple Judah, where the formation of Jewish identity was at stake and where internal power struggles were common, the anti-idol motif would have bolstered the audience’s nascent identity and assured them that their community and no other (“nations” can easily be transmuted into any opposing group) was in the right.19 The idols of the nations  The nations are not specified. The context may suggest that the nations are those mentioned in the preceding verses, or it designates all other nations. silver and gold  Mesopotamian images were wood (or sometimes metal) plated with silver or gold (Isa. 40:19; Jer. 10:9). Deuteronomy 4:28 speaks of man-made gods

82

Psalms 135:16 

‫תהלים הלק‬

16 They have mouths, but cannot speak; they have eyes, but cannot see; 17 they have ears, but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths. 18 Those who fashion them, all who trust in them, shall become like them.

‫ ּ ֶפֽה־לָ֭ ֶהם וְ ֣ל ֹא יְ ַד ֵ ּב֑ר ּו‬16 ‫ֵעי ַנ֥יִ ם לָ֝ ֶ֗הם וְ ֣ל ֹא יִ ְר ֽאוּ׃‬ ‫ ָאזְ ַנ֣יִ ם לָ֭ ֶהם וְ ֣ל ֹא יַ ֲאזִ ֑ינ ּו‬17 ‫ַ֝ ֗אף ֵאין־יֶ ׁש ֥־רו ַּח ְ ּב ִפ ֶיהֽם׃‬ ‫ ְ֭ ּכמוֹ ֶהם יִ ְהי֣ ּו עֹשֵׂ ֶיה֑ם‬18 ‫ֹ֖כּ ל ֲא ׁ ֶשר־בּ ֵֹט ַ֣ח ָ ּב ֶהֽם׃‬

of wood and stone that cannot see or hear or eat or smell. Wood and stone are ordinary and cheap materials. See also Isa. 44:9–20, which speaks of making idols from wood and iron. Our psalm and the other poems like it describe idols made from the most precious metals with elaborately crafted body parts. But these expensive objects, too, fail to function. 16.  An essential part of the mīs pî rite calls the image to life, making its sensory powers functional so that it may perform its divine duties (smelling the incense, eating the sacrifice, issuing omens, hearing prayers, seeing human deeds, moving from place to place; see Ps. 115:6–7). The psalm, like its prophetic precursors, implies that this rite is ineffective, so much hocus-pocus, so the image never comes to life or acquires divine power. 17. they have ears, but cannot hear  Psalms 115:6a has a different verb for “hear,” ‫ שמע‬rather than ‫אזן‬, although NJPS uses the same English term in both passages. nor is there breath in their mouths  They do not breathe, proof that they are inanimate. According to Ps. 104:30, when God takes away someone’s breath (the breath of life bestowed in Gen. 2:7), he is no longer alive but returns to dust. On the idea that idols have no breath, see Jer. 10:14 and 51:17, a model for this psalm. Compare Ps. 115:6b, “they have noses [‫ ]אף‬but cannot smell [‫]יריחון‬.” Our psalm cleverly reworks that verse. The first word in the second line of our verse, ‫אף‬, is taken from the model in 115:6b, but there it means “nose” whereas here it is used as the particle “even.” There is no “nose” in our passage, but the word for “breath,” ‫רוח‬, sounds like “smell,” ‫יריחון‬, in 115:6b. It would seem that our author intentionally altered that verse, making a play on words, under the influence of Jer. 10:14, “there is no breath in them.” The term ‫אין יש‬, a negative plus a positive, is unusual but ‫ לא יש‬is found in Job 9:33. The belief in the power of images was widespread in the ancient Near East. Edward Bleiberg observed that the large number of Egyptian statues and reliefs with broken noses and other body parts did not suffer accidental damage, but were intentionally defaced in ancient times. Since the ancient Egyptians ascribed power to images in human form, an opponent could deactivate that power by defacing the image. Breaking a statue’s nose prevents it from breathing, thereby “killing” it. Removing the ears from a god’s image prevents the god from hearing prayer. Cutting off the left arm of a human’s statue prevents that person from bringing an offering.20 18.  Those who make idols will become as powerless and ineffective as the idols they make. The point is to undermine the perception that the other nations are powerful.

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Psalms 135:19 

‫תהלים הלק‬

19 O house of Israel, bless the Lord; O house of Aaron, bless the Lord; 20 O house of Levi, bless the Lord; you who fear the Lord, bless the Lord. 21 Blessed is the Lord from Zion, He who dwells in Jerusalem. Hallelujah.

‫ ֵ ּב֣ית יִ֭ שְׂ ָר ֵאל ָ ּב ְרכ֣ ּו ֶאת־יהו֑ ה‬19 ‫ֵ ּב֥ית ַ֝א ֲה ֹ֗רן ָ ּב ְרכ֥ ּו ֶאת־יהוֽ ה׃‬ ‫ ֵ ּב֣ית ַ֭ה ֵּלוִ י ָ ּב ְרכ֣ ּו ֶאת־יהו֑ ה‬20 ‫ִי ְֽר ֵא֥י י֝ הו֗ ה ָ ּב ְרכ֥ ּו ֶאת־יהוֽ ה׃‬ ‫ ָ֘ ּב ֤רו ְּך יהו֨ ה ׀ ִמ ִ ּצ ֗ ּיוֹ ן‬21 ‫שכֵ ֤ן ירושלם ְיֽרו ׁ ָּש ֗ ָליִ ם‬ ֹ ׁ֘  ‫ַהֽלְ לוּ־יָ ּֽה׃‬

19–20.  Compare Ps. 115:9–11 and 118:2–4 (which omit “house of Levi”). In contrast to the idol worshipers of verse 18, all those who worship YHVH should praise Him (whereas in Psalm 115 it is God who blesses Israel). “House of Israel” = Jews (the laity), “house of Aaron” = priests, “house of Levi” = Levites or Temple singers and other Temple personnel. 20. you who fear the Lord  Or, “. . . who revere the Lord” (Mal. 3:16). It is not clear if “the fearers of the Lord” is a general term for all YHWH worshipers or a specific subgroup. Medieval Jewish commentators are also divided on this issue, variously suggesting that the YHVH-fearers were especially pious Jews, proselytes, or righteous gentiles. The term ‫ יראי ה׳‬often signifies a pious person, one who reveres YHVH, rather than a member of a specific group (Ps. 15:4, 22:24, 25:12, 61:6, 128:1). If it has that sense here, it would be a summation of the three groups mentioned before it, “every worshiper gathered there in the temple.” 21 However, the construction here (and also in 115:9–11, 118:2–4) suggests that this is a fourth group, not a summary designation. This group may have consisted of people without Judean ancestry (they do not constitute a “house” as do Israelites, Aaronides, or Levites) who joined the Judean/Jewish community.22 Nehemiah 10:29 reflects a similar listing but with different terms: “the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and all who separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to [follow] the Teaching (‫ )תורה‬of God.” See also Isa. 14:1, 56:6–8; Ezra 6:21; and Esther 9:27 for non-Jews who joined the Jewish community. Even before there was a formal ritual of conversion, some non-Jews allied themselves with the community that worshiped YHVH and accepted His Torah. However, the term “YHVH-­ fearer” is not used in the Hebrew Bible to refer to these proto-proselytes. Rather, they are called “those who follow YHVH.” A similar designation for an upright person is ‫ירא אלהים‬, “God-fearer” or “one who reveres God” (e.g., Exod. 18:21; Deut. 25:18; Ps. 66:16; Job 1:1). 21.  The Jerusalem Temple is the seat of God’s reign. From this location He ordains blessing (Ps. 133:3) and blesses the people from Zion (134:3). Our verse flips the direction of the blessing: God in His Temple is declared blessed by the people. Verses 19–21 form a frame with verses 1–2: at the beginning of the psalm all worshipers are to praise God, and at the end they are to bless Him.

84

Psalms 135:1–21

‫תהלים הלק‬

Ritual and Liturgical Uses This psalm is said in all five rites during Pesukei deZimra on Shabbat and holidays. It served as the song of the day for the first day of Passover according to Soferim 18:3. However, Ashkenazim who follow the practice of the Vilna Gaon recite it instead on the fifth day of Passover (and they recite Psalm 114 on the first day). On its liturgical connection to the Psalm 136, see the sidebar to that psalm. Shimmush Tehillim suggests reciting this psalm af-

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ter the Amidah prayer at the three daily services when one feels the need to fully repent for one’s deeds. The worshiper is promised that a “new spirit will be renewed in him.” Another version of Shimmush Tehillim recommends reciting the psalm each day during the Ten Days of Repentance. Some collections of segullot maintain that this psalm helps one to distance oneself from thinking about idolatry, probably because the psalm mentions the vanity of idols (vv. 15–18).

Psalm 136: Introduction This psalm, like Psalm 135, praises God for His great acts on behalf of Israel in the past, drawing on Torah traditions about the creation of the world, the Exodus, and the journey to the Promised Land. Its agenda is similar to Psalm 135—the hope for an end to the exile and a complete restoration of Judah to the way it was before the exile. (See the introduction to that psalm and the commentary to specific verses.) This psalm ends with words of encouragement that even in times of trouble (exilic and postexilic difficulties), God will continue to protect and care for Israel as He did when they first became a nation. Yet despite their overall similarity, Psalms 135 and 136 differ significantly in their selection of Torah events and in their specific phraseology. The list of God’s acts in Psalm 136 is longer and more detailed than in Psalm 135. Each psalm provides a different view of the Creation and the Exodus (see below). And whereas Psalm 135 ends with an anti-idol polemic, Psalm 136 ends with God as rescuer and provider. In Psalm 136, each major divine act is recounted in several steps, and each step is expressed, for the most part, in a two-line or three-line parallelism. For instance, Creation (vv. 5–9), begins with the heavens and the earth (vv. 5–6) and then moves to the celestial lights (vv. 7–9). The refrain, “His steadfast love [‫ ]חסד‬is eternal,” which may have been recited or chanted by the congregation, is inserted after each line of “narration.” This refrain acknowledges that each discrete element of every divine act is proof of God’s steadfast love (i.e., the manifestation of His loyalty to Israel). By breaking up each step of God’s great deeds into two or three lines, and by inserting a refrain after each line, the poem hammers out multiple acknowledgments of God’s ‫חסד‬, thereby enacting what it instructed the congregation to do in its first and last verses—to praise God. Moreover, concludes the psalm, divine acts of ‫ חסד‬continue to occur in the present. How much of the Torah did the author of Psalm 136 know? Was the Torah complete before this psalm was written? The answer is based on identifying the source texts of the psalm’s allusions. Scholarly opinions vary. The mainstream opinion, with which this commentary agrees, is that Psalm 136 presupposes the completed Pentateuch.1 But not everyone concurs. Yair Hoffman does not think that the “first creation story” as expressed in Gen. 1:1–2:4a (the P account) was authoritative until the time of Ezra (later than our psalm is usually dated), so Psalm 136 would not have known it in its finished form.2 Similarly, Marc Brettler says of Psalm 136 that “contrary to common opinion, it is not heavily influenced by P and may not know the Torah in its complete form.” 3 Taking the opposite position, in concert with most scholars, Anja Klein maintains that Psalm 136 did draw on P’s Creation account.4 So the case for Genesis or P’s account of Creation is unresolved. The present commentary sees strong evidence of P’s account of Creation (see commentary to vv. 5–9). We are on firmer ground for Exodus and Deuteronomy; most scholars find references to these books in our psalms. Reference to Numbers has been questioned; the episode about Sihon and Og is recounted in Numbers 21, but it is reprised several

86

Psalms 136:1

‫תהלים ולק‬ times in Deuteronomy, and most scholars attribute the Sihon-Og reference in our psalm to Deuteronomy. Not surprisingly, there is no reference to Leviticus, given that book’s lack of historiographic narrative. However, those who doubt that P was a source for Psalm 136 have the absence of Leviticus references to strengthen their argument. To sum up, it seems obvious that the psalm is calling upon authoritative Torah passages, but it is not easy to decide how much of the Torah its author actually had before him. He may have known all of it but cited only certain parts.5

136 Praise the Lord, for He is good; His steadfast love is eternal. 2 Praise the God of gods, His steadfast love is eternal. 3 Praise the Lord of lords, His steadfast love is eternal; 4 W ho alone works great marvels, His steadfast love is eternal;

‫קלו‬

‫י־טוֹ ב‬ ֑ ‫הוֹ ֣ד ּו לַ יהו֣ ה ִּכ‬ ‫ִּכ֖י לְ עוֹ לָ ֣ם ַח ְסדּֽ וֹ ׃‬ ‫ ֭הוֹ ד ּו לֵ אל ֵֹה֣י ָה ֱאל ִֹה֑ים‬2 ‫ִּכ֖י לְ עוֹ לָ ֣ם ַח ְסדּֽ וֹ ׃‬ ‫ ֭הוֹ ד ּו לַ ֲאדֹ ֵנ ֣י ָה ֲאדֹ ִנ ֑ים‬3 ‫ִּכ֖י לְ עוֹ לָ ֣ם ַח ְסדּֽ וֹ ׃‬ ֹ‫ לְ ֹ֘עשֵׂ ֤ ה נ ְִפלָ ֣אוֹ ת ְ ּגדֹל֣ וֹ ת לְ ַבדּ֑ ו‬4 ‫ִּכ֖י לְ עוֹ לָ ֣ם ַח ְסדּֽ וֹ ׃‬

1.  Psalms 106, 107, and 118 also open with this verse, and a slight variant of it is found in 100:4–5. According to 2 Chron. 5:13 and 7:3, these words were sung to musical accompaniment in Solomon’s Temple. Since Chronicles retrojects Second Temple practices back to the First Temple, we may conclude that these words were part of the Second Temple liturgy. Praise Rendering ‫הודו‬, “acknowledge, thank, acclaim.” Compare the opening of Psalm 135, ‫הללו‬, “praise,” and the opening of Psalm 134, ‫ברכו‬, “bless.” His steadfast love is eternal  NJPS leaves untranslated the particle ‫ כי‬in this refrain, ‫ ;כי לעולם חסדו‬the particle could mean “indeed” or “for.” The word rendered “steadfast love” is ‫חסד‬, which has a sense of obligation, loyalty, or faithfulness. God does good things for Israel not just because He loves them, but because He made a covenant with them. An alternative translation as “commitment” nicely expresses this idea.6 2–3. God of gods . . . ​Lord of lords  Superlative constructions, like “king of kings” and “song of songs.” God is the supreme God, quoting Deut. 10:17. Whereas in Deuteronomy 10 this phrase introduces a brief retelling of the Exodus, in our psalm it introduces both the Creation and the Exodus. 4. Who alone works great marvels  God alone made great wonders. No other god could perform such marvels. Similar phrases appear in Ps. 72:18, “who alone does wondrous things,” and 86:10, “For You are great and perform wonders; / You alone are God.” Notice that in Psalm 136 there is no comparison with other gods as there is in Psalm 135.

87

Psalms 136:5 

‫תהלים ולק‬

5 W ho made the heavens with wisdom, His steadfast love is eternal; 6 W ho spread the earth over the water, His steadfast love is eternal; 7 W ho made the great lights, His steadfast love is eternal; 8 the sun to dominate the day, His steadfast love is eternal; 9 the moon and the stars to dominate the night, His steadfast love is eternal;

‫ לְ עֹשֵׂ ֣ה ַ֭ה ׁ ּ ָש ַמיִ ם ִ ּב ְתב ּו ָנ ֑ה‬5 ‫ִּכ֖י לְ עוֹ לָ ֣ם ַח ְסדּֽ וֹ ׃‬ ‫ל־ה ָּמ֑יִ ם‬ ַ ‫ לְ ר ַ ֹ֣קע ָ֭ה ָא ֶרץ ַע‬6 ‫ִּכ֖י לְ עוֹ לָ ֣ם ַח ְסדּֽ וֹ ׃‬ ‫ לְ֭ עֹשֵׂ ה אוֹ ִ ֣רים ְ ּגדֹלִ ֑ים‬7 ‫ִּכ֖י לְ עוֹ לָ ֣ם ַח ְסדּֽ וֹ ׃‬ ‫ת־ה ׁ ּ ֶש ֶמ ׁש לְ ֶמ ְמ ׁ ֶש֣לֶ ת ַ ּב ֑ ּיוֹ ם‬ ַ֭ ‫ ֶא‬8 ‫ִּכ֖י לְ עוֹ לָ ֣ם ַח ְסדּֽ וֹ ׃‬ ‫ת־ה ָ ּי ֵר ַ֣ח וְ֭ כוֹ כָ ִבים לְ ֶמ ְמ ׁ ְשל֣ וֹ ת ַ ּב ָּ ֑ליְ לָ ה‬ ַ ‫ ֶא‬9 ‫ִּכ֖י לְ עוֹ לָ ֣ם ַח ְסדּֽ וֹ ׃‬

5–9.  The first four days of Creation, echoing the wording of Gen. 1:1–19, especially verses 6–8 and 14–16. Psalm 135’s Creation section does not allude to the wording of Genesis 1. Both psalms, however, limit the description of Creation to celestial phenomena, as do many other passages that speak of God as the creator. This is an especially effective way to demonstrate God’s supremacy to an exilic or postexilic audience, for the Babylonians and other peoples identified their gods with specific stars and planets. To say that God created the moon is to say that He created the moon-god. Yet, although both psalms describe celestial phenomena, each views them differently. Psalm 135 emphasizes the meteorologic marvels that can be destructive—clouds, lightning, and rain—whereas Psalm 136 reviews God’s ordering of the cosmos with wisdom, distinguishing between heaven and earth and between day and night. Who made the heavens with wisdom  The idea that God created the heavens or the entire cosmos with wisdom, is found in Jer. 10:12 = 51:15 (a text that Psalm 135 makes greater use of); Prov. 3:19; Isa. 40:28; and Ps. 104:24. 6. Who spread the earth over the water  The participle ‫רקע‬, “spread,” alludes to the ‫רקיע‬, “sky, firmament, expanse,” that God formed to separate the upper waters from the lower waters in Gen. 1:6–8. He then moved aside the lower waters to expose the earth. For spreading out the earth, see also Isa. 42:5 and 44:24. The verbal form of ‫ רקע‬is unusual but occurs in Job 37:18. Here we have a poetic retelling of Genesis that assumes the tripartite cosmos—sky, earth, waters below the earth. 7–9.  “The great lights” is obviously a reference to the fourth day of Creation. But, interestingly, in the Genesis passage the terms are not “sun” and “moon,” but “the greater light” and “the lesser light.” The psalm has also shifted the syntax. Genesis 1:16 reads: “the greater light to dominate the day and the lesser light to dominate the night, and the stars.” Do the stars also dominate the night, or are they added because they also appear in the night sky? The psalm clarifies: “the moon and the stars to dominate the night.” 7 Such changes in wording are expected; there are very few actual quotations of any length in the reuse of earlier texts. Rather, the poets and prophets freely adapted their sources, for

88

Psalms 136:10  10 W ho struck Egypt through their first-born, His steadfast love is eternal; 11 and brought Israel out of their midst, His steadfast love is eternal; 12 with a strong hand and outstretched arm, His steadfast love is eternal;

‫תהלים ולק‬

‫ לְ ַמ ֵּכ֣ה ִ֭מצְ ַריִ ם ִ ּבבְ כוֹ ֵר ֶיה֑ם‬10 ‫ִּכ֖י לְ עוֹ לָ ֣ם ַח ְסדּֽ וֹ ׃‬ ‫ וַ ּיוֹ צֵ ֣א יִ֭ שְׂ ָר ֵאל ִמ ּתוֹ כָ ֑ם‬11 ‫ִּכ֖י לְ עוֹ לָ ֣ם ַח ְסדּֽ וֹ ׃‬ ‫ ְ ּביָ ֣ד ֭ ֲחזָ ָקה וּבִ זְ ֣רוֹ ַע נְטוּיָ ֑ה‬12 ‫ִּכ֖י לְ עוֹ לָ ֣ם ַח ְסדּֽ וֹ ׃‬

poetic reasons, for clarification, or to convey a certain interpretation or spin. Sometimes they preserve parts of the original wording, and at other times they just signal in a general way the incident to which they are pointing. God’s acts of creation in Psalm 136 (the sky, earth, sun, moon, stars) are less terrifying than in Psalm 135 (seas, depths, clouds, lightning, wind). Here the retelling of Creation is not designed to show God’s fearsome power, for this psalm contains no polemic against other gods as Psalm 135 does. Psalm 136 portrays God’s wisdom and His acts of loyalty for Israel. For this purpose, the account in Genesis 1 is more appropriate than Psalm 135’s allusions to the Creation myth that depicts the defeat and control of the waters of chaos. 10–22.  The Exodus, wandering in the wilderness, and acquisition of the land. The Exodus is not a complete event in itself, but a prelude to the process whereby Israel acquires the land that God promised to the patriarchs. Like Psalm 135, our psalm mentions only the last of the plagues in Egypt (although Psalm 135 hints at the earlier plagues; Psalms 78 and 105 recall earlier plagues). Unlike Psalm 135, Psalm 136 devotes more of its list of wonders to the escape from Egypt and the crossing of the Sea of Reeds, as well as to the striking down of kings during the journey in the wilderness, showing God as the undisputed supreme power and the protector of Israel against its enemies. 10–12.  A move from Creation to the Exodus. As in Psalm 135, the transition from the creation of the celestial bodies to the killing of the first-born Egyptians seems abrupt. 10.  The killing of the first-born of Egypt is told succinctly; compare the longer description in Ps. 135:8–9, which leads to God’s killing other nations in the wilderness, showing God’s strength in dealing with all of Israel’s enemies. In that psalm, the main characters are God and the other nations. Here, the killing of the first-born is a prelude to God’s taking Israel out of Egypt and bringing them safely through the wilderness to the Promised Land. Israel is here the main character; the psalm is about what God did for Israel, rather than what He did to their enemies. 11. out of their midst Rendering ‫מתוכם‬, paraphrasing Pharaoh’s words in Exod. 12:31, “Up, depart from among (‫ )מתוך‬my people.” 12. a strong hand and outstretched arm  A phrase often describing God’s power at the Exodus (Deut. 4:34, 5:15, 7:19, 11:2, 26:8; Jer. 32:21; Ezek. 20:34). Jeremiah 21:5 reverses the terms: “an outstretched hand and a strong arm.”

89

Psalms 136:13 

‫תהלים ולק‬

13 W ho split apart the Sea of Reeds, His steadfast love is eternal; 14 and made Israel pass through it, His steadfast love is eternal; 15 W ho hurled Pharaoh and his army into the Sea of Reeds, His steadfast love is eternal; W 16  ho led His people through the wilderness, His steadfast love is eternal; 17 W ho struck down great kings, His steadfast love is eternal;

‫ם־סוּף לִ גְ זָ ִ ֑רים‬ ֭ ַ‫ לְ גֹזֵ ֣ר י‬13 ‫ִּכ֖י לְ עוֹ לָ ֣ם ַח ְסדּֽ וֹ ׃‬ ֹ‫ וְ ֶהעֱ ִב֣יר יִ שְׂ ָר ֵא֣ל ְ ּבתוֹ כ֑ ו‬14 ‫ִּכ֖י לְ עוֹ לָ ֣ם ַח ְסדּֽ וֹ ׃‬ ‫ם־סוּף‬ ֑ ַ‫ וְ ִנ֘עֵ ֤ר ּ ַפ ְר ֣עֹה וְ ֵחיל֣ וֹ בְ י‬15 ‫ִּכ֖י לְ עוֹ לָ ֣ם ַח ְסדּֽ וֹ ׃‬ ‫ לְ מוֹ לִ ְ֣יך ַ֭ע ּמוֹ ַ ּב ִּמ ְד ָ ּב֑ר‬16 ‫ִּכ֖י לְ עוֹ לָ ֣ם ַח ְסדּֽ וֹ ׃‬ ‫ לְ֭ ַמ ֵּכה ְמלָ כִ ֣ים ְ ּגדֹלִ ֑ים‬17 ‫ִּכ֖י לְ עוֹ לָ ֣ם ַח ְסדּֽ וֹ ׃‬

13. Who split apart the Sea of Reeds  The word ‫גזר‬, “to cut,” does not appear in other accounts of the Reed Sea (the verb is usually ‫בקע‬, “to split”); moreover, the clause literally reads “who cut the Reed Sea into parts”—a rather different picture from the splitting of the sea to allow the Israelites to pass through, as in Exodus. Cutting up the sea into parts links the events at the Reed Sea with the mythical cutting up of the sea monster, as God subdues the forces of chaos. Isaiah 51:9–11 makes this connection, this melding together of two events, explicit: Awake. . . . ​O arm of the Lord! Awake as in days of old, . . . It was you that hacked [‫ ]חצב‬Rahab [the sea monster]. . . . It was you that dried up the Sea, The waters of the great deep; That made the abysses of the Sea A road the redeemed might walk. It is also a nice touch that God’s outstretched arm, generally associated with the Exodus, appears in the psalm’s preceding verse (v. 12), as if to make the transition to Isaiah’s thought about God’s arm chopping up the sea monster, which is identified with the splitting of the Reed Sea. This intertwining of the waters of Creation and the waters of the Exodus occurs also in Psalm 114 and is implicit in Exodus 15. In exilic and postexilic literature, it blends into the idea of a new exodus, the return from the Babylonian exile (e.g., Isa. 11:15–16).8 15. Who hurled Pharaoh and his army into the Sea of Reeds  Paraphrasing Exod. 14:27, “The Lord hurled Egypt into the sea.” That passage goes on to tell how the waters covered the chariots and the horsemen—Pharaoh’s entire army. 16.  This verse, absent in Psalm 135, makes a transition from the Exodus to the slaying of the kings but gives no other information about the wilderness journey. 17–18.  Slight changes in wording from Ps. 135:10, which speaks of smiting nations as well as kings. A variant version of the events in verses 18–22 is in Neh. 9:22.

90

Psalms 136:18 

‫תהלים ולק‬

18 and slew mighty kings— His steadfast love is eternal; 19 Sihon, king of the Amorites, His steadfast love is eternal; 20 Og, king of Bashan— His steadfast love is eternal; 21 and gave their land as a heritage, His steadfast love is eternal; 22 a heritage to His servant Israel, His steadfast love is eternal; 23 W ho took note of us in our degradation, His steadfast love is eternal; 24 and rescued us from our enemies, His steadfast love is eternal; 25 W ho gives food to all flesh, His steadfast love is eternal.

‫ ֭ וַ ֽ ּי ֲַהרֹג ְמלָ כִ ֣ים ַאדִּ ִ ֑ירים‬18 ‫ִּכ֖י לְ עוֹ לָ ֣ם ַח ְסדּֽ וֹ ׃‬ ‫ לְ֭ ִסיחוֹ ן ֶמ֣לֶ ְך ָה ֱאמ ִ ֹ֑רי‬19 ‫ִּכ֖י לְ עוֹ לָ ֣ם ַח ְסדּֽ וֹ ׃‬ ‫ ּ֭ולְ עוֹ ג ֶמ֣לֶ ְך ַה ָ ּב ׁ ָש֑ן‬20 ‫ִּכ֖י לְ עוֹ לָ ֣ם ַח ְסדּֽ וֹ ׃‬ ‫ וְ נ ַָת֣ן ַא ְרצָ ֣ם לְ נ ֲַחלָ ֑ה‬21 ‫ִּכ֖י לְ עוֹ לָ ֣ם ַח ְסדּֽ וֹ ׃‬ ֹ‫ ַ֭נ ֲחלָ ה לְ יִ שְׂ ָר ֵא֣ל ַעבְ דּ֑ ו‬22 ‫ִּכ֖י לְ עוֹ לָ ֣ם ַח ְסדּֽ וֹ ׃‬ ‫ ׁ ֶ֭ש ְ ּב ׁ ִש ְפלֵ נ ּו זָ ֣כַ ר לָ ֑נ ּו‬23 ‫ִּכ֖י לְ עוֹ לָ ֣ם ַח ְסדּֽ וֹ ׃‬ ‫ וַ ִ ּי ְפ ְר ֵ ֥קנ ּו ִמ ָ ּצ ֵ ֑רינ ּו‬24 ‫ִּכ֖י לְ עוֹ לָ ֣ם ַח ְסדּֽ וֹ ׃‬ ‫ל־בשָׂ ֑ר‬ ּ ָ ָ‫ נ ֵֹת֣ן ֭לֶ ֶחם לְ כ‬25 ‫ִּכ֖י לְ עוֹ לָ ֣ם ַח ְסדּֽ וֹ ׃‬

19–20.  See Ps. 135:11. Our psalm omits the Canaanite kingdoms. On the lands of Sihon and Og as a heritage, see the Comment to 135:12. 22. His servant Israel  Psalm 135:12 has “His people Israel.” 23–24.  The degradation refers to the exile and the rescue to the return from exile. The previous verses refer to Israel in the third person, but here the emphasis is on “us” and “our.” The present audience is brought into the story, the story of Israel, whose past and present are telescoped. The psalm has much in common with the prayer in Nehemiah 9, which has an even more detailed account of Israel’s past and makes the point that in Nehemiah’s time, too, the people were slaves to a foreign king and in need of God’s rescue. took note Rendering ‫זכר‬, “to remember, pay attention to.” Its opposite is “ignore.” When God “remembers” something, it means that He will take action. Similarly, a call on God to remember is a plea for Him to act (Lam. 5:1; Ps. 137:7). In some cases, as here, the person to be remembered is preceded by the preposition -‫ל‬, perhaps suggesting a special relationship to that person (Exod. 32:13; Deut. 9:27; Jer. 2:2; Ps. 25:7, 132:1). This verse may serve as a link to Psalm 137:7, where God is asked to remember the Edomites. 24. rescued  The word ‫ פרק‬has this sense only here and in Lam. 5:8. In Aramaic this is its usual meaning. This may be a case of Aramaic influence, as happens in Late Biblical Hebrew. 25.  God sustains not only Israel but also all the world (Ps. 104:27, 145:15); it is His nature to provide for all His creatures, and He does so in the present, as He did in

91

Psalms 136:26  26 Praise the God of heaven, His steadfast love is eternal.

‫תהלים ולק‬

‫ ֭הוֹ ד ּו לְ ֵא֣ל ַה ׁ ּ ָש ָמ֑יִ ם‬26  ‫ִּכ֖י לְ עוֹ לָ ֣ם ַח ְסדּֽ וֹ ׃‬

the past. This verse frames the poem by returning to the idea of God as creator of the universe. Indeed, as verse 26 says, He is not only Israel’s God but also the God of heaven, the universal God. 26. Praise  Verses 1–3 and this verse form a frame calling on the audience to praise, or thank, God. the God of heaven Rendering ‫אל השמים‬, a unique form of the epithet that is more often “the God [‫ ]אל ֹהי‬of heaven” or “the God of heaven and earth,” which occurs in several Persian-period passages (e.g., Ezra 1:2, 5:11; 2 Chron. 36:23; Jon. 1:9).

Ritual and Liturgical Uses This psalm is said in all five rites in Pesukei deZimra on Shabbat and holidays. It served as the song of the day for the seventh day of Passover (Soferim 18:3). However, Ashkenazim who follow the practice of the Vilna Gaon recite it on the eighth day of Passover (and they recite Psalm 18 on the seventh day). The Conservative Siddur Lev Shalem designates 136 as the psalm for all the days of Passover. The psalm is well-­ known due to its use in the Haggadah for Passover after the conclusion of Hallel (Psalms 115–118) that follows the Grace after Meals. Rabbinic literature mentions a unit called “the Great Hallel” (‫)הלל הגדול‬, which M. Ta‘anit 3:9 describes as a liturgical piece recited when rain arrives after a long drought. According to B. Pesaḥim 118a, one recites the Great Hallel during the Passover Seder

after the (regular) Hallel consisting of Psalms 113–118. The sources differ concerning the components of the Great Hallel, however. According to J. Pesaḥim 5:7, the Great Hallel consists of Psalms 135–136; or, according to other opinions there, it consists of Psalms 113–115. But in T. Ta‘anit 3:8, this term refers only to Psalm 136 by itself. Later rabbinic authorities followed the opinion of T. Ta‘anit, ruling that the Great Hallel consists of Psalm 136 alone; see Shulḥan Arukh, Oraḥ Ḥayyim, 480. Shimmush Tehillim suggests reciting this psalm when one feels the need to atone for sins done with malice and forethought, probably because it mentions God’s grace or love (‫ )חסד‬at the end of each verse.

92

Psalm 137: Introduction The speaker in this psalm is portrayed as one of a group of Temple musicians or singers (singers who accompanied themselves on lyres) who had been exiled to Babylonia. Some earlier interpreters have suggested that this singer is the author of the psalm, recounting his personal experience, but we should recognize that the speaker and the scenario are literary creations. The psalm is not an eyewitness account nor a historical record of an actual event; its speaker and scenario are fictive.1 The psalm’s Temple singers were ostensibly exiled when the First Temple was destroyed, but we lack direct evidence. While we may assume that there must have been professional musicians in the First Temple, nothing about them is known.2 No mention of them occurs in the Torah or in the description of Solomon’s Temple in 1 Kings 6–8 or in the list of exiled professionals in 2 Kings 24–25. We do know that singers and/or musicians (not specifically Temple singers) were among the exiled captives from several nations taken to Assyria or to Babylonia. Reliefs at Nineveh from two Assyrian kings, Sennacherib and Assurbanipal, depict men holding lyres among the captives being deported to Assyria. Sennacherib’s relief illustrating the conquest of Lachish in Hezekiah’s time pictures three lyre players.3 Assurbanipal’s depicts conquered Elamite musicians, including eight harp players. Assyrian inscriptions also mention male and female singers among the booty taken from submissive nations, including Sennacherib’s account of the siege of Jerusalem during Hezekiah’s reign. At the end of a long list of booty are Hezekiah’s “daughters, his palace women, his male and female singers.” 4 Note that Hezekiah’s male and female singers were likely entertainers, probably attached to the royal palace, not to the Temple (since they included women). Ezra 2:65 records 200 male and female singers among the returnees to Judah (Neh. 7:67 puts the number at 245); these singers are distinguished from the Asaphite singers, who are mentioned separately (Ezra 2:41; Neh. 7:44).5 We may conclude, then, that from the perspective of postexilic biblical writings, Temple singers were among the deportees to Babylonia. Because our psalm was obviously written after the exile, most likely in Judah, it is more reasonable to conclude that its view of the First Temple is similar to that found in other postexilic writing—especially Chronicles, which contains the most information about the Temple. In Chronicles, music and psalmody figure prominently in Temple worship, and they are led by levitical lyre-playing musicians (e.g., 1 Chron. 13:8, 15:16,21,28, 16:5, 25:1,3,6).6 While Chronicles purports to describe the First Temple, scholars agree that it is retrojecting the practices of the Second Temple back to the First Temple. Our psalm does the same. Like Chronicles, it imagines that the First Temple had singers like those in the Second Temple.7 This would have seemed quite natural to a postexilic Judean audience. It may seem strange to rehearse the exilic experience for an audience that had returned to Judah and rebuilt the Temple, but the destruction and exile were a decisive and catastrophic event in Jewish history and thought, and it became foundational in the construction of postexilic Judean identity.8 (In some ways it resembles the role of the Holocaust in modern Jewish identity.) The experience of exile is relived and reimagined in many postexilic works, including our psalm.9 The psalm insists on remembering and

93

Psalms 137:1

‫תהלים זלק‬ commemorating this defining moment; one of its key words is ‫זכר‬, “remember, recite.” The remembering also includes the punishing of Israel’s enemies, Babylonia and Edom, the perpetrators of Judah’s destruction; this is the antidote that signals restoration. At first glance the psalm seems like a lament. It shares themes with laments over Jerusalem, like those in the Book of Lamentations and Psalms 74 and 79, including the loss of Jerusalem and the wish for the punishment of the enemy. As is typical in laments, God is addressed but does not respond. But unlike other laments for Jerusalem, the destruction and/or the ruined city is not described. While a feeling of loss and mourning permeates the first part of psalm, the mood turns into a determination to keep the memory of Jerusalem’s destruction alive forever. It climaxes with the idea of Jerusalem’s restoration, expressed indirectly through a wish for the defeat of those who destroyed it. Numerous forms of verbal expression figure in the psalm: to say, to ask or demand, to sing, to recite the memory of or lament, to swear, to declare fortunate. More specifically, the recurring words for remembering or reciting (‫זכר‬, three times, and its opposite, ‫שכח‬, “to forget,” twice) and for singing (‫שיר‬, five times) highlight verbal or auditory acts.10 Indeed, verbal acts structure the psalm. The singers refuse to sing the songs demanded of them, but silence is not their only answer. The singer spokesman nullifies the insult to Jerusalem inherent in the captors’ demand by addressing the city directly, as if Jerusalem is standing before him, and by proclaiming his eternal loyalty to her (vv. 5–6). “If I forget you, O, Jerusalem” is the best-known part of the psalm in Jewish tradition and is at the center of the psalm’s message. It is not just an oath to remember Jerusalem; it is a declaration of God’s eternal sovereignty, despite the exile. At the end, the singer addresses Babylonia, heaping a curse upon her and upon Edom (vv. 7–9), a curse that may be considered a response to the demand to sing Zion songs. The two parts of the psalm (vv. 1–6 and 7–9) are unified by the word “Babylon” that frames the psalm, while “Zion/Jerusalem” stands at the psalm’s center (occurring five times), marking its focal point, as if to portray Jerusalem surrounded, or besieged, by Babylonia. But instead of describing the destruction of Jerusalem, the graphic description of destruction is of Babylonia and Edom.

137 By the rivers of Babylon,

‫עַ ֥ל נ ֲַהר֨ וֹ ת ׀ ָ ּב ֶ֗בל‬

‫קלז‬

1.  The Septuagint adds a superscription “For David” or, in some manuscripts, “For David through Jeremiah.” The link with Jeremiah is apt because according to 2 Chron. 35:25, Jeremiah composed laments, and he is traditionally considered the author of the Book of Lamentations. Moreover, several verses of our psalm share wording with Jeremiah 51. The many vowels with the sound “ah” in this verse echo the sound of sighing or groaning (cf. Job 3:3). By the rivers of Babylon The ‫נהרות‬, “rivers,” are more precisely irrigation canals; compare Akkadian nārtu = “river, canal.” 11 We know from documents found in Babylonia that the exiled Jews were settled along the Euphrates River, from where many irrigation canals drew their water. Ezekiel 1:1 and 3:15 note that the Judean exiles lived near the Chebar

94

Psalms 137:1

‫תהלים זלק‬

there we sat, sat and wept, as we thought of Zion.

‫ׁ ָש֣ם יָ֭ ׁ ַשבְ נ ּו‬ ‫ם־בכִ ֑ינ ּו‬ ּ ָ ‫ַ ּג‬ ‫ְ֝ ּבזָ כְ ֵ ֗רנ ּו ֶאת־צִ ֽ ּיוֹ ן׃‬

Canal. The canals formed a network throughout Babylonia and are emblematic of that country, evoking a sense of place like “the freeways of Los Angeles” or “the skyscrapers of New York.” Jeremiah 51:13 also characterizes Babylonia by its waterways: “you who dwell by great waters.” The great rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, and the canals form a sharp contrast with the Judean landscape, thereby adding to the exiles’ feeling of alienation. This contrast in location correlates with the contrast in mood: the joy of the Temple songs of old, now impossible to sing, juxtaposed with the mournful remembrance of Jerusalem. Lamentations Rabbah captures this contrast when it imagines Jeremiah (who foretold the exile) saying to the singers in our psalm, “Had you been worthy, you would be sitting in Jerusalem and reciting songs and hymns before God. Now since you are not worthy, here you are exiled in Babylonia, reciting laments and woe, namely, ‘By the rivers of Babylon’” (Lamentations Rabbah, Petiḥta 19). Babylon  The name ‫ בבל‬denotes both the city of Babylon and the country of Babylonia. Here “Babylonia” is meant. there  The word ‫שם‬, “there” (also in v. 3), does not imply that the singer is now no longer in Babylonia. It is not the opposite of “here” but is a deictic particle, defining the location just mentioned—“in that place” or “that’s where”—functioning as a pronoun for “Babylonia.” Compare 133:3, “There [in Zion] the Lord ordained blessing,” which does not indicate that the speaker is currently somewhere else. This particle is needed because the opening line is structured to place the emphasis on “Babylonia.” It does not say “We sat by the canals of Babylonia,” but rather “By the canals of Babylonia, that’s where we sat.” The verse begins with “Babylonia” and ends with “Zion,” places that are antipodes. we sat  The verb ‫ ישב‬can mean either “sat” (in the sense of sitting on the ground in mourning; Job 2:13 and Lam. 2:10) or “dwelled”; both meanings may apply here. sat and wept  The Hebrew does not repeat ‫ישב‬, “sat,” but has instead ‫גם‬, an emphatic particle meaning “indeed, moreover.” 12 The word ‫בכה‬, “to cry aloud or wail,” denotes the opposite of singing or rejoicing (Ps. 126:6; Eccles. 3:4). The wailing may be a spontaneous act or a ritualized expression of mourning. Scholars who mistook the scenario for actual practice once proposed that a formal ritual of mourning was conducted near water in Babylonia, based on the association with water, along with fasting, that accompanies a ceremony of confession and repentance in 1 Sam. 7:6 and Ezra 8:21, but this view is no longer widely held. There is no evidence that the exiles in Babylonia commemorated the Temple’s destruction. Ceremonial mourning for the Temple more likely took place at the site of the destroyed Temple ( Jer. 41:5; Zech. 7–8). as we thought of Zion  A key word, ‫זכר‬, here rendered “thought,” also means “to recite, declare, mention” (as in v. 6, as Ibn Ezra explained).13 The sense is that the singers wailed (in contrast to their usual occupation of singing) in commemoration of Zion.

95

Psalms 137:2 

‫תהלים זלק‬

2 There on the poplars we hung up our lyres, 3 for our captors asked us there for songs, our tormentors, for amusement: “Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”

‫ עַ ֽל־עֲ ָרבִ ֥ים ְ ּבתוֹ כָ ּ֑ה‬2 ‫ָ֝ ּת ֗ ִלינ ּו ִּכ ּנֹרוֹ ֵ ֽתינוּ׃‬ ‫י־שיר‬ ִ ׁ֭ ‫ ִּכ֤י ׁ ֨ ָשם ׁ ְ ֽש ֵאל֪ וּנ ּו ׁשוֹ ֵ֡בינ ּו דִּ בְ ֵר‬3 ‫וְ תוֹ לָ לֵ ֣ינ ּו שִׂ ְמ ָח֑ה‬ ‫שיר צִ ֽ ּיוֹ ן׃‬ ֥ ִ ּ ׁ ‫שיר ּו לָ֝ ֗ נ ּו ִמ‬ ִ֥ ׁ

2. poplars The Populus euphratica, Euphrates poplar, grows along watercourses in arid or semi-arid regions. It is a member of the willow family (‫ערבים‬, “willows”). we hung up our lyres  The lyre had a sound box and was shaped with two arms and a yoke, to which the strings, usually five, were attached. Lyres were used throughout the ancient world for both civic and religious celebrations, often to accompany songs. Lyre playing is associated with joy, and its absence with mourning, as in Job 30:31, “So my lyre is given over to mourning, / My pipe, to accompany weepers.” 14 Ezekiel 26:13 warns Tyre, “I will put an end to the murmur of your songs, / And the sound of your lyres shall be heard no more.” Amos 5:23, warning of God’s rejection of Israel’s festival sacrifices, says, “Spare Me the sounds of your hymns, / And let Me not hear the music of your lutes.” Here, too, the hanging up of the lyres, the cessation of music, signals mourning, as well as the singer’s refusal to acquiesce to their captors’ request to sing their songs. 3. for our captors asked us  The Babylonian demand to sing a Zion song is an enemy taunt, the equivalent of the conventional trope in laments whereby the enemy mockingly asks, “Where is your God?” or words to that effect, in order to underscore that, in their eyes, Israel’s God is defeated and powerless (cf. Ps. 79:10, 115:2). The taunt says, in essence, “Sing your Temple songs now that you have no more Temple; praise your God now that the seat of His power is in ruins.” It is like asking the national choir of Judah to sing their national anthem now that their homeland has been devastated. (One is reminded of Jewish musicians in the Holocaust forced to give concerts for their Nazi captors.) The effect goes beyond merely reducing religious songs to profane amusement. The promise to remember Jerusalem in verses 5–6 nullifies the captors’ taunt. tormentors  The noun ‫ תולל‬occurs only here (in the plural), and its meaning is derived from etymology and context. Suggestions include “plunderers” (Targum), “mockers,” “slave-drivers” (those who drive the prisoners).15 The most likely etymology is from the root ‫הלל‬, “to mock,” with a -‫ ת‬prefix in the noun form. (See, e.g., Isa. 44:25; Ps. 102:9. This is not the homophonous root ‫הלל‬, “to praise.”) The word plays on the sound of ‫תלינו‬, “we hung up,” in verse 2.16 songs, . . . ​amusement, . . . ​songs of Zion  Three terms referring to Temple song, moving from least specific to most specific: first ‫דברי שיר‬, then ‫שמחה‬, and finally ‫שיר‬ ‫ציון‬. They culminate with a fourth term in verse 4: ‫שיר ה׳‬, “a song of the Lord.” The first term, ‫דברי שיר‬, “words” or “chants,” denotes the lyrics (cf. Judg. 5:12, “utter [‫ ]דברי‬a song”; Ps. 18:1: “the words of this song”); the second term, ‫שמחה‬, “joy, music” (NJPS: “amusement”), refers to the lyrics’ musical accompaniment. Associated with musical instruments in secular contexts (Gen. 31:27; 1 Sam. 18:6) and in the context of Temple

96

Psalms 137:4 

‫תהלים זלק‬

4 How can we sing a song of the Lord on alien soil?

‫ת־שיר־יהו֑ ה‬ ִ ׁ ‫ָשיר ֶא‬ ֥ ִ ׁ ‫ ֵ֗א ְיך נ‬4 ‫ַ֝ ֗על ַא ְד ַמ֥ת נֵכָ ֽר׃‬

worship (Ps. 149:1–3; 1 Chron. 15:16; 2 Chron. 23:18, 30:21), ‫ שמחה‬appears most often in Psalms, Ezra-Nehemiah, and Chronicles in relation to God or Temple worship.17 The Septuagint renders it as “hymns.” one of the songs of Zion Rendering ‫משיר ציון‬. The prefixed preposition ‫ מן‬has a partitive meaning and may be followed by a singular noun that clearly refers to a plurality, as in 1 Sam. 14:45, ‫משערת ראשו‬, “a hair of his head.” 18 The request is for part of the repertoire of Zion songs. Some commentators think Zion songs are secular songs about Jerusalem, as opposed to “songs of the Lord” (v. 4), which are Temple songs, but others more correctly equate Zion songs and songs of the Lord. There is no reason to identify Zion songs here with the modern form-critical genre by that name (including Psalms 46, 48, 76, 84, 87, 122), as many commentaries do, since there is no evidence that ancient Israel recognized such a genre. That Zion songs are songs of the Lord, or Temple songs, finds support in the parallelism of “Lord” and “Jerusalem” (a frequent parallel to “Zion”) in Jer. 51:50: “Remember the Lord from afar, / And call Jerusalem to mind.” To sing of Zion is to praise God and His dwelling place. In preexilic thought, a Zion song would also promote the idea of the inviolability of Zion, the belief that God would never let Zion, the seat of His power, be destroyed. This makes the Babylonian demand even harder to bear, given that Zion has been destroyed. 4.  No Temple songs can be sung in exile because there is no Temple. Judeans could pray to God in Babylonia or in other diasporas (in fact, this entire psalm is a prayer to God), but they could not engage in Temple worship—sacrifices and the accompanying music. Only in the Land of Israel, specifically at the Temple, could sacrifices, the essential form of religious worship, be performed. In late preexilic and in postexilic Judean thought, as in Rabbinic Judaism, the only legitimate location for the Temple was in Jerusalem; no temple could be built elsewhere.19 This was not the case for the Jews of Elephantine, in Egypt (sixth to fifth centuries b.c.e.), who had their own temple and offered sacrifices in it. How can we sing  This rhetorical question is addressed to God, not to the Babylonian captors; it is not a justification to the Babylonians for the refusal to sing.20 Rather, it calls to God’s attention the plight of the exiled singers: “See, God, now that we are in exile, we can no longer sing [our Temple songs] to You.” This is an implicit plea to God to end the exile and to restore the singers to the Temple, where they can properly praise God. This line of argument is typical of psalms of lament, in which the speaker asks God to reverse a dire situation so that he may praise God. a song of the Lord  A song sung in the Temple with musical accompaniment (2 Chron. 7:6, 29:27). The strongest term in the escalating series is rhetorically apt here, since it invokes God’s name when He is addressed. alien soil  Outside the Land of Israel, where normative sacrificial worship in the Temple, of which music was a part, could not be performed. Jewish tradition understands “alien soil” as “the soil of a foreign god.” The threat that the people will worship foreign

97

Psalms 137:5 

‫תהלים זלק‬

5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither;

‫ם־א ׁ ְש ָּכ ֵח ְ֥ך ירושלם ְיֽרו ׁ ָּש ֗ ָליִ ם‬ ֶ ‫ ִ ֽא‬5 ‫ִּת ׁ ְש ַּכ֥ח יְ ִמי ִנֽי׃‬

gods in exile (Deut. 4:28; Jer. 16:13; Hos. 9:3–4) is another way of warning them that if they continue to disobey God, they will be cut off from the Land of Israel.21 But there is no evidence, in this psalm or elsewhere, that the exiles worshiped foreign gods.22 In fact, this psalm expresses the loyalty of exiles who feel the loss of their ability to worship God properly. The Targum, drawing on midrashic material, renders verses 3–5 as “Because the Babylonians who had taken us captive asked us to say words of songs, and our plunderers for fun (on account of joy) said, ‘Give praise for us from the songs you used to say in Zion.’ Immediately the Levites bit off their thumbs with their teeth saying, ‘How can we sing the praise of the Lord on profane land?’”23 5–6.  The psalm borrows the language of oath taking. The oath formula is “If I do [or do not do] A, let Z happen to me.” The oath in these verses is a performative act—saying the words constitutes the act of commemorating Jerusalem. The wording is symmetrical in an A-B-B-A pattern: forget : right hand :: tongue : remember. The pledge to remember Jerusalem asserts that God’s sovereignty has not been destroyed. Moreover, the singer swears that he should lose the use of his lyre-playing hand (see below) and his singing voice if he fails to remember Jerusalem, and then he could not continue to be a Temple singer. Conversely, by preserving his ability to be a Temple singer, he holds out the hope of resuming his duties in the Temple. For now, though, his duty has become to proclaim or commemorate Jerusalem. If I forget you . . . ​cease to think of you  “Forget” and “remember” (NJPS: “think of ”) mean here “to omit mention of ” and “to mention,” respectively. The singer promises to make a public declaration about Jerusalem. Jerusalem is a metonym for the Temple and/or for God, as in Jer. 51:50, a prophecy about the destruction of Babylonia, to which our psalm may allude: “Remember the Lord from afar, / And call Jerusalem to mind.” See also Ps. 51:20–21, “May it please You to make Zion prosper; / rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. / Then You will want sacrifices offered in righteousness.” So, to “remember” Jerusalem means to remember or proclaim God. Conversely, to forget Jerusalem means to abandon faith in God and to worship other gods (e.g., Deut. 8:19; Ps. 44:21, 106:21; Isa. 65:11; Jer. 2:32, 18:15).24 5. O Jerusalem  The singer addresses Jerusalem directly, using the figure of speech called apostrophe, calling the distant and destroyed city into being. 5–6. let my right hand wither; let my tongue stick to my palate  The lyre was held under the left armpit, and the strings were played with the right hand. So the speaker is saying: Let the hand that plays the lyre atrophy, and let the mouth that sings be unable to produce sound—that is, let me lose my ability to be a Temple singer.25 Oath formulas contain either an explicit or implicit conditional curse that will befall the person who fails to fulfill the oath. Normally, the curse involves death, shortened life, suffering, or harm to one’s family. The curse here is designed specifically for the Temple singer. In addition,

98

Psalms 137:6 

‫תהלים זלק‬

6 let my tongue stick to my palate if I cease to think of you, if I do not keep Jerusalem in memory even at my happiest hour.

‫ ִּת ְד ַ ּבֽק־לְ ׁשוֹ ִנ֨י ׀ לְ ִח ִּכ ֮י‬6 ‫ִאם־ ֹ֪לא ֶ֫אזְ ְּכ ֵ ֥רכִ י‬ ‫ִאם־ ֣ל ֹא ַ֭אעֲ לֶ ה ֶאת־ירושלם יְ רו ׁ ָּשלַ ֑יִ ם‬ ‫אש שִׂ ְמ ָח ִ ֽתי׃‬ ׁ ֹ‫ַ֝ ֗על ֣ר‬

it has a measure-for-measure dimension: let the right hand that is raised to take the oath wither if the oath is not kept, and let the mouth that swore the oath be silenced if the oath is not kept.26 wither  Rather than the traditional rendering “forget its cunning” [Transl.]. | The word ‫תשכח‬, “forget,” can be taken as “forget its cunning,” with its missing object supplied (KJV). Alternatively, with some revocalization, it becomes ‫ת ׁ ּ ָש ַּכח‬,ִּ “be forgotten” (so Septuagint and Vulgate), in the sense of not being felt by the person because it is paralyzed. A second, homophonous root, ‫שכח‬, related to the Ugaritic, means “to be hot, burnt,” from which is derived “to wilt, wither.”27 Ibn Ezra cites an interpretation that ‫תשכח‬, meaning “to dry up,” occurs only here. Compare 1 Kings 13:4, “the arm . . . ​became rigid,” using the usual verb for “dry up,” ‫יבש‬. Less likely is the suggestion of a metathesis (reversing the order of letters) to ‫תכחש‬, “to become lean, lame, crippled,” related to the Aramaic (see Job 16:8). 6. let my tongue stick to my palate  An idiom meaning “unable to make a sound,” as in Ezek. 3:26 (to become dumb); Job 29:10 (to be silenced); and Lam. 4:4 (to be too weak to cry). if I cease to think of you  Literally “If I do not remember/proclaim you.” if I do not keep Jerusalem in memory even at my happiest hour  Literally “if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy” (Septuagint, NRSV, and the 1917 JPS translation). NJPS’s rendering reflects ancient and medieval Jewish interpretation. For example, Kimḥi says, “Whenever I rejoice, I will remember the mourning of Jerusalem, and I will elevate it above my highest joy.” Or, as Isaiah of Trani puts it, “I will remember the destruction of Jerusalem so that I will never make a complete rejoicing.” The midrash in Midrash Tehillim (also known as Midrash Shoḥer Tov) and B. Bava Batra 60b illustrates concrete applications for remembering Jerusalem: “If a person whitewashes his house, he should leave a small area for the remembrance of Jerusalem. . . . ​If a woman is adorning herself with jewelry, she should leave off a bit for the remembrance of Jerusalem, as it is said, ‘If I forget you, Jerusalem. . . .’ ” At traditional Jewish weddings, this verse is recited at the end of the ceremony when the groom breaks a glass, signifying that even on the happiest day of one’s life, one must remember the sadness of the destruction of Jerusalem. The singer is thinking of the destroyed Jerusalem, but did he really intend to recall it at every happy moment? Despite its long tradition, this interpretation does not quite fit the psalm’s context. I propose that the term ‫ שמחה‬be understood here as in verse 3, the music of the Temple. The singer swears that the commemoration of Jerusalem will now be his highest form of Temple music, more important than the songs he sang in the Temple. What, after all, is Temple music? It is a vehicle to proclaim God’s sovereignty. And so, too, commemorating Jerusalem proclaims God’s sovereignty. The best way that our speaker

99

Psalms 137:7 

‫תהלים זלק‬

7 Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem’s fall; how they cried, “Strip her, strip her to her very foundations!”

‫ זְ ֹ֤כר יהו֨ ה ׀ לִ בְ ֵנ֬י ֱאד֗ וֹ ם‬7 ‫ֵא ֮ת י֤ וֹ ם ירושלם ְיֽר֫ ו ׁ ָּשלָ ֥יִ ם‬ ‫ָ֭ה ֣אֹ ְמ ִרים עָ ֤רוּ ׀ עָ ֑ר ּו‬ ‫ַ֝ ֗עד ַהיְ ס֥ וֹ ד ָ ּב ּֽה׃‬

can remain true to his calling as a Temple singer, given that he can no longer sing in the Temple, is to commemorate Jerusalem. And if he fails to do so, he will no longer be fit to be a Temple singer. Thus a better translation would be, “if I do not make Jerusalem the chief topic of my music.” 7–9.  For many readers, these last verses, especially verse 9, are unjustifiably cruel and morally repugnant (some congregations omit them when reciting this psalm). But modern sensibilities differ from ancient ones, and we should try to understand the psalm’s ending in its ancient context (although that may still not justify it to the modern reader).28 God is addressed by name directly for the first time (although I interpret v. 4 as a rhetorical question meant for God). Just as the singer must remember Jerusalem, so God must remember the “day of Jerusalem,” the day that Jerusalem was destroyed. Then a declaration of approval (‫ )אשרי‬is called down upon anyone who will pay back Babylonia and Edom what they deserve. These verses are the opposite of what the Babylonians hoped to hear, for instead of the joyful songs that were demanded, the captors receive a wish for their doom. Similar thoughts of reversing the bad status quo by doing to the enemy what he did to Israel typify laments, especially at their close (Ps. 5:11, 35:4–8, 69:23–28, 79:10; Lam. 1:21–22, 3:64–66, 4:21–22), and were biblical conventions. To be sure, verse 9 is more graphic than these other examples; it is hard to countenance dashing little children against rocks, for not only is this cruel, but also it would seem to go beyond equal repayment of the harm done to the Judeans. Indeed, it is hard to justify this verse, but I think there is something more here than simply a raw desire to inflict horrendous pain upon the enemy. The dashing of children is a literary trope of war, and it is possible that it did not horrify ancient readers as much as it does modern readers, if indeed it was to be taken literally (see below).29 In biblical thought, at the root of all the passages wishing ill on the enemy is the hope for righting the world order, restoring the world to the way it was before the enemy caused damage to Israel. In that sense, the exile is perceived as a break in the natural order, an unstable situation that must be reversed. The first step in that process is the enemy’s defeat. Jon Levenson explains, in a related but slightly different manner, that the biblical belief was that evil acts have their inevitable consequences, and that the Babylonians and the Edomites set in motion their own punishment by their cruelty to Judah. They deserve, and will eventually receive, the same treatment they meted out to others.30 7. against the Edomites  The Edomites are faulted for having urged the complete destruction of Jerusalem. The historical role of Edom during the last days of Judah is unclear, although it may have remained a loyal vassal to Babylonia and not supported Judah’s doomed rebellion in Zedekiah’s time. Whatever the historical facts, many biblical passages blame Edom for aiding the Babylonians, perhaps because Edom is equated with

100

Psalms 137:8 

‫תהלים זלק‬

8 Fair Babylon, you predator, a blessing on him who repays you in kind what you have inflicted on us; 9 a blessing on him who seizes your babies and dashes them against the rocks!

‫ת־ב ֶ֗בל ַה ׁ ּ ְשד֫ ו ָ ּ֥דה‬ ּ ָ ‫ ַ ּב‬8 ְ‫ַא ׁ ְש ֵ ֥רי ׁ ֶשיְ ׁ ַש ֶּלם־לָ ֑ך‬ ‫ֶאת־ ֝ ְ ּגמו ֗ ֵּל ְך ׁ ֶש ָ ּג ַמ֥לְ ְּת לָ ֽנוּ׃‬ ‫ֹאחז וְ נ ּ ִֵ֬פץ ֶאֽת־עֹלָ ֗ ַליִ ְך‬ ֵ֓ ‫ ַא ׁ ְש ֵר֤י ׀ ׁ ֶש ּי‬9  ‫ל־ה ָּסֽלַ ע׃‬ ַ ‫ֶא‬

Esau, the traditional opponent of Jacob/Israel (e.g., Lam. 4:21–22; Jer. 49:7–22; Ezek. 25:12; Obadiah, and others). Strip her  Raze the city to its foundation. 8. Fair Babylon Rendering ‫בת בבל‬, “Lady Babylon” or “poor little Babylon”; an apostrophe to Babylon, the counterpart of the apostrophe to Jerusalem in verse 5. The noun ‫בת‬, literally “daughter,” is an epithet used for cities (personified as women) either as a term of endearment or, in the case of foreign cities, in scorn (Isa. 47:1). Here it nicely parallels ‫בני אדום‬, “Edomites,” literally “sons of Edom,” in verse 7. you predator  Rendering with the Targum—rather than “who are to be destroyed,” as in the 1917 JPS version [Transl.]. | Literally, the one doomed to be destroyed (cf. Isa. 33:1; Jer. 4:30). From the point of view of the scenario within the psalm, Babylonia has not yet been destroyed, but from the point of view of the postexilic audience for whom the psalm was written, it already had been. a blessing  The word ‫ אשרי‬means to be fortunate, happy, or in a favorable condition—and is a way of declaring strong approval. The term is never used of God; one does not declare God to be in a state of approval. The speaker, therefore, is not calling on God to destroy Babylonia. If a human agent of overthrow is implied, perhaps it is the Persian Empire or its king, Cyrus, who was held in high esteem in the Bible. Compare Lam. 3:64, where God is the agent: “Give them, O Lord, their deserts [‫גמול‬, as in Ps. 137:8, “in kind”] / According to their deeds.” Alternatively, the sense is impersonal, approving the fall of the enemy without specifying an agent. who repays you in kind  Who gives you what you deserve. The enemy will reap the consequences of its actions.31 The concept behind ‫שלם‬, “repay, make restitution, restore,” is not revenge, but bringing to completion what was begun earlier. 9. seizes your babies and dashes them against the rocks  Modern readers are rightly repelled by this image, for we view the killing of children (‫ עולל‬is a young child, not a baby; cf. Ps. 8:3; Lam. 2:20) as entirely unwarranted and morally indefensible. But in the ancient view, children (and all civilians) were expected to be victims of war, as in 2 Kings 8:12, when Elisha foresees how Hazael will harm Israel: “you will set their fortresses on fire, put their young men to the sword, dash their little ones in pieces, and rip open their pregnant women.” In fact, the dashing of children is a graphic war motif that occurs also in Isa. 13:16; Hos. 14:1; and Nah. 3:10 and is found also in Homer’s Iliad 22:73–76.32 The verb in the other biblical passages is ‫רטש‬, but here it is ‫נפץ‬, a verb more often used for smashing containers to pieces ( Jer. 48:12) and metaphorically for people ( Jer. 13:14). However, in Jer. 51:20–24, a chapter with affinity to our psalm, the root ‫ נפץ‬occurs ten

101

Psalms 137:9

‫תהלים זלק‬ times in reference God’s use of Babylonia to destroy Judah and ends with God’s requiting Babylonia for its cruelty to Zion.33 the rocks Rather, ‫ הסלע‬means “The Rock,” a proper noun referring to a fortress site (2 Kings 14:7) or mountainous region in Edom or perhaps an epithet for the country of Edom (cf. Jer. 49:16).34 In Chronicles, a verse reminiscent of ours says, “Another 10,000 [Edomites] the men of Judah captured alive and brought to the top of Sela. They threw them down from the top of Sela and every one of them was burst open [‫”]בקע‬ (2 Chron. 25:12).35 Our verse may intend a wordplay equating the name of the fortress with the means of destruction; the protecting rock fortress that exemplifies Edom will be the instrument for their own punishment. It is the Babylonian children who are to be seized, but they will be dashed against the fortress of Edom. The two enemies have been conflated and accorded equal blame. As part of the “repayment in kind,” Babylonia’s Edomite ally will prove to be its downfall.

Ritual and Liturgical Uses According to many Ashkenazic and Sefard-Hasidic birkonim (booklets containing the Grace after Meals) and siddurim, this psalm is recited before the Grace after Meals on weekdays. This custom is attested as early as the sixteenth century. According to Baer’s Seder Avodat Yisrael, the custom of saying a psalm before the Grace after Meals in derived from the Mishnah’s statement that “when three eat at one table and speak words of Torah, it is as though they have eaten from the table of God” (M. Avot 3:3), and a psalm can be considered as a word of Torah. The choice of this psalm for recitation after a meal reflects the wish to remember the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem when people enjoy a blessing from God; see verse 6, “Let my tongue stick to my palate . . . ​if I do not keep Jerusalem in memory even at my happiest hour.” The Zohar, a classic work of Kabbalah dated to the thirteenth century, teaches (Parashat Terumah, 157b) that it is appropriate to recall the destruction of the Temple after one eats. Those who express sadness over the destruction when enjoying a meal, the Zohar goes on to explain, are considered as if they had rebuilt the Temple. Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz (late sixteenth century) quotes this passage from the Zohar when mentioning the custom of saying Psalm 137 before the Grace after Meals (see Shenei Luḥot haBerit,

Sha‘ar ha’Otiyot, 100:170). On more joyous occasions, such as the Sabbath and holidays, one recites Psalm 126 (which speaks about the redemption of Israel) rather than Psalm 137 before the Grace after Meals. According to Soferim 18:4, this psalm, together with Jer. 14:19–22 and Psalm 79, is recited on the Ninth of Av. In the Italian, Eidot Hamizraḥ, and Yemenite rites, one recites this psalm after reading the Scroll of Lamentations in the evening of that fast day. This practice occurs also in Ha‘Avodah shebaLev, an Israeli Reform siddur, which, however, omits the last three verses. One also recites this psalm in the Morning Service of the Ninth of Av in the Italian rite (which designates Psalm 126 for the Afternoon Service). In the Italian rite and in a custom of the Ḥevrat Tehillim (Psalms Society) in medieval Ashkenazic communities, this psalm was designated not only for Tisha b’Av itself, but also for the Shabbat preceding the Ninth of Av, when we read Parashat Devarim. That parashah includes the Torah’s first instance of the word ‫איכה‬, the opening word of Lamentations (and of its second and fourth chapters). Shimmush Tehillim suggests reciting this psalm when one faces hatred in order to abolish it, probably because of the theme of revenge against evil deeds in the final verses.

102

Psalm 138: Introduction Psalms 138–145 have been identified as a subcollection of hymns called the fifth Davidic Psalter because they all have ‫ לדוד‬superscriptions, but we do not know if this subcollection ever existed as an independent unit. These psalms highlight God as protector of the lowly and as king and warrior, defending His people. Psalm 138 opens with a personal prayer by a speaker who praises God for responding to his call (vv. 1–3). It then moves to a universal theme—all the kings of the earth will praise God, recognizing His majesty. God, however, pays attention not only to kings, but also to people of more lowly status, for God is all-knowing and all-seeing (vv. 4–6). In the last three verses, the tone becomes once again personal; the speaker rests assured that God will protect and defend him in times of trouble. The last verse ties together the personal and the universal; God cares for all His creatures. God’s ‫חסד‬, His loyalty to Israel, frames the poem (vv. 2, 8).

138 Of David. I praise You with all my heart, sing a hymn to You before the divine beings; I bow toward Your holy temple 2 

‫לְ ָד ִ֨וד ׀‬

‫קלח‬

‫אוֹ ְד ָ ֥ך בְ כָ ל־לִ ִ ּב֑י‬ ‫ֶ ֖נגֶ ד ֱאל ִֹה֣ים ֲאזַ ְּמ ֶ ֽר ָּך׃‬ ‫ל־היכַ ֪ל ָק ְד ׁ ְש ָ֡ך‬ ֵ ‫ ֶא ׁ ְש ַּת ֲח ֶ֨וה ֶא‬2

1.  As if responding to the command to praise God in Psalm 136, the first-person speaker praises God. Verse 8 also resonates with the refrain of Psalm 136; see below. I praise You  Or, “I give thanks to You, acknowledge You.” The Ancient Versions, the Qumran Psalms scroll 11QPsa, some Hebrew manuscripts, and some modern translations add God’s name, “O Lord,” as a vocative, as in verse 4. the divine beings Rendering ‫אלהים‬, the divine council, God’s heavenly court (Ps. 82:1, 89:6–8, 95:3, 135:5; sometimes called “sons of gods,” as in 29:1; Job 1:6, 38:7). The Septuagint translates “angels,” and in later Jewish thought the divine beings were considered angels. The Targum reads “judges,” as it does in Psalm 82; compare Exod. 22:8. 2. I bow toward Your holy temple  Psalm 5:8 has the same phrase. In this psalm’s scenario, the speaker is standing in God’s heavenly court, joining the divine beings in praising God (v. 1). Similarly, Isaiah (chap. 6) finds himself in God’s presence among the seraphim (also members of the heavenly court), who are declaring God’s holiness. In Ps. 29:1–2 the divine beings are to ascribe glory to God and bow to the Lord. Our speaker is more reticent than Isaiah about saying that he is or hopes to be in God’s presence, but he sets himself in the two places that bring him closest to God: the heavenly court and the Temple. The Temple is the tangible locus of God, His throne, the place where humans stand before Him, where His presence is felt most strongly. On second thought, ‫היכל קדשך‬ may refer to the heavenly palace, God’s heavenly abode, as it does in 2 Sam. 22:7 = Ps. 18:7;

103

Psalms 138:2 

‫תהלים חלק‬

and praise Your name for Your steadfast love and faithfulness, because You have exalted Your name, Your word, above all.

‫ל־א ִמ ֶּת ָ֑ך‬ ַ ‫ת־ש ֶ֗מ ָך ַע‬ ְ ׁ ‫וְ ֘אוֹ ֶד֤ה ֶא‬ ֲ ‫ל־ח ְסדְּ ָ ֥ך וְ ַע‬ ָ‫ל־ש ְמ ָ֗ך ִא ְמ ָר ֶ ֽתך׃‬ ִ ׁ ֝ ‫ל־כ‬ ָּ ‫ֽי־הגְ דַּ ֥ לְ ָּת ַע‬ ִ ‫ִּכ‬

Ps. 11:4; Mic. 1:2; and perhaps in Hab. 2:20 (although not in Ps. 5:8). If so, our speaker places himself in the heavenly realm in both verses. Ibn Ezra notes that this interpretation of ‫ היכל‬has been suggested, but he prefers to understand it as the inner part of the Temple (see 1 Kings 6–7; Ezekiel 41). That meaning is better suited than the “Temple” as a whole, both here and in Ps. 5:8. praise Your name  Praising God and praising God’s name are interchangeable, as in verse 4 and in 9:3, 34:4, 148:5, and 149:3. steadfast love and faithfulness  The words ‫ חסד‬and ‫ אמת‬are a common pair in Psalms and elsewhere. The end of verse 2 is opaque. The words themselves are clear, but their syntactic relationship is puzzling. Literally it reads “Because You have exalted above all Your name [or: above Your whole name] Your word.” The Septuagint, Targum, KJV, and NIV follow the Masoretic Text more or less, understanding the sense to be that God has exalted His word above His name. Septuagint: “you magnified your oracle upon [or: above] every name.” Targum: “you have exalted the words of your praise above all your name.” KJV: “for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.” NIV: “for you have so exalted your solemn decree that it surpasses your fame.” Hakham explains (in the tradition of Rashi) that the speaker is praising God’s name because His word—that is, His promise to the speaker—is greater than anything heretofore known about God’s name. Along the same lines, Frank-Lothar Hossfeld renders “For exalted over your whole Name you have made your word great,” explaining that “the actually experienced word surpasses what has been revealed in the Name, and extends beyond all expectations about God’s kindness and faithfulness.” 1 Alternatively, NRSV (and Allen) thinks that God has exalted both His name and His word above everything else. NRSV has “for you have exalted your name and your word above everything.” NJPS equates God’s name with His word, taking “name” and “word” as synonyms in apposition. NJPS and NRSV do not construe the word ‫כָ ל‬, “all,” as a construct form (vocalized with a kamatz, as in the MT), but as an absolute form ‫כֹֹל‬ (vocalized with a ḥolam).2 The less popular emendation of ‫שמך‬, “Your name,” to ‫שמיך‬, “Your heaven,” yields “You have made Your word great across all Your heavens.” 3 word  Most occurrences of the word ‫( אמרה‬see also v. 4) are in the Book of Psalms, especially Psalm 119. It often means God’s revealed word, His Torah, which may pertain in verse 4 but is not apt here.

104

Psalms 138:3 

‫תהלים חלק‬

3 W hen I called, You answered me, You inspired me with courage. 4 All the kings of the earth shall praise You, O Lord, for they have heard the words You spoke. 5 They shall sing of the ways of the Lord, “Great is the majesty of the Lord!” H igh though the Lord is, He sees the lowly; 6  lofty, He perceives from afar. 7 Though I walk among enemies,

‫אתי וַ ַּֽתעֲ ֵנ֑נִי‬ ִ ‫ ְ ּבי֣ וֹ ם ָ֭ק ָ ֥ר‬3 ‫ַּת ְר ִה ֵ ֖בנִי בְ נ ְַפ ׁ ִש֣י ֽעֹז׃‬ ‫י־א ֶ֑רץ‬ ָ ֵ‫ל־מלְ כ‬ ַ ‫ יוֹ ֣דו ָּך י֭ הוה ָּכ‬4 ‫י־פ ָיך׃‬ ֽ ִ ‫ִּכ֥י ֝ ׁ ָש ְמע֗ ּו ִא ְמ ֵר‬ ‫ וְ֭ יָ ׁ ִשיר ּו ְ ּב ַד ְרכֵ ֣י יהו֑ ה‬5 ‫ֽי־גד֗ וֹ ל ְּכ ֣בוֹ ד יהוֽ ה׃‬ ָ ֝ ‫ִּכ‬ ‫י־רם י֭ הוה וְ ׁ ָש ָפ֣ל יִ ְר ֶא֑ה‬ ֣ ָ ‫ ִּכ‬6 ‫ְ֝וגָ ֹ֗ב ַּה ִמ ֶּמ ְר ָח֥ק יְ יֵ ָ ֽדע׃‬ ‫ם־אלֵ ֤ ְך ׀ ְ ּב ֶ ֥ק ֶרב צָ ָ ֗רה‬ ֵ ‫ ִא‬7

3. You inspired me with courage  Meaning of Heb. uncertain [Transl.]. | The meaning of the root ‫ רהב‬here, rendered as “inspired,” is disputed. It may mean “to press, confuse, give confidence or pride.” 4 Ibn Ezra says “you strengthened me.” 4–5.  All the kings of the world, and with them, by implication, all their subjects, will praise God (cf. Ps. 22:28–29, 66:1–4, 67:4–6, 117:1, 126:2). Here the reason for praise is God’s word; similarly in Isaiah’s vision for the future (Isa. 2:1–3), all the nations will come to the Temple: “For instruction [‫ ]תורה‬shall come forth from Zion, / The word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” the words You spoke  Literally “the words of Your mouth.” Medieval commentators explain that these were the words of the Torah or Prophets. 5. “Great is the majesty of the Lord!”  NJPS understands this phrase as a quotation of the words to be uttered by the kings. Hossfeld extends their quoted words through verse 6. On the other hand, NRSV sees no quotation, only the words of the speaker providing the reason that the kings will praise God: “for great is the glory of the Lord. For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly; but the haughty he perceives from far away.” NRSV translates ‫ כי‬at the beginning of 5b and 6a as “for,” whereas NJPS omits it in 5b. Hossfeld renders it “yes” in both places, taking it as an emphatic adjective, as often is the case for this word in biblical poetry (e.g., 118:10–11).5 6.  From high up in heaven, God looks down and sees the people on earth. Compare Ps. 113:5–7 and Isa. 66:1–3. This psalm may share Deuteronomy’s view that God resides not in the Temple but in heaven. lofty  NJPS takes “lofty” as referring to God, parallel to “high” (so also Hossfeld). KJV, however, and those who follow it (e.g., NRSV) take “lofty” as “haughty [people],” the opposite of “the lowly.” KJV: “Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.” 7.  For a similar idea about God’s protection when a person walks in a dangerous place, see Ps. 23:4. among enemies  Literally “amidst trouble.”

105

Psalms 138:8 

‫תהלים חלק‬

You preserve me in the face of my foes; You extend Your hand; with Your right hand You deliver me. Th 8  e Lord will settle accounts for me. O Lord, Your steadfast love is eternal; do not forsake the work of Your hands.

‫ְּת ַ֫ח ֵ ּי֥נִי עַ ֤ל ַא֣ף ֭אֹיְ ַבי‬ ‫ִּת ׁ ְשלַ ֣ח יָ ֶ ֑ד ָך‬ ‫וְ ֖תוֹ ׁ ִשיעֵ ֣נִי יְ ִמינֶ ֽ ָך׃‬ ‫ יהו ֮ה יִ גְ ֪מֹר ַ֫ ּבעֲ ִ ֥די‬8 ‫י֭ הוה ַח ְסדְּ ָ ֣ך לְ עוֹ לָ ֑ם‬ ָ ‫ַמעֲ שֵׂ ֖י יָ ֶד‬ ֽ ֶּ ‫֣יך ַא‬  ‫ל־ת ֶרף׃‬

Your hand . . . ​Your right hand  “Hand” and “right hand” are commonly paralleled (Ps. 21:9, 89:14,26, 139:10); one continuous action is being described: God stretches out His hand and delivers the speaker. The right hand is associated with victory or deliverance; it is the fighting arm (60:7, 98:1, 108:7; Job 40:14). When God removes His right arm, defeat follows (Lam. 2:3). God’s hand, that is, His action, complements God’s mouth, that is, His speech (words of Your mouth”) in verse 4. 8. settle accounts for me  NJPS translates a similar phrase in Ps. 57:3 as “who is good to me.” The verb ‫ יגמר‬is transitive but lacks an explicit object (see Ibn Ezra); NJPS supplies “accounts.” NRSV has “fulfill his purpose for me.” Your steadfast love is eternal  “Your steadfast love” forms a frame with the same word in verse 2. The idea that God’s steadfast love (‫ )חסד‬is eternal is repeated throughout Psalm 136 in its refrain. do not forsake the work of Your hands  A plea with the implied assurance that it will be done; God will not forsake any of His creatures, including the speaker. “Work of Your hands,” ‫מעשי ידיך‬, or “the things that your hands have made,” refers to all God’s creatures, especially to the speaker. It reconnects with “You extend Your hand” in verse 7. The verb rendered “forsake,” the hif‘il of ‫רפה‬, “to make loose, weak, slack,” often parallels ‫עזב‬, “to leave” (Deut. 31:6,8; Josh. 1:5).6

Ritual and Liturgical Uses Psalm 138 is not used in any current liturgical rite. According to Shimmush Tehillim, this psalm could be used “for love.” Some books of segullot recommend reciting this psalm as a remedy against pride and

vanity, probably because verse 6 speaks about God as the only exalted and lofty one. As in the case of Psalm 131, here Shimmush Tehillim’s practice seems to be as much self-help as magic.

106

Psalm 139: Introduction Abraham ibn Ezra introduced this psalm by saying, “This psalm is very notable in respect to [its description of] God’s ways; there is none like it in all the five books of Psalms.” The psalm describes God as omniscient and omnipresent, but these divine qualities are not presented in abstract philosophical discourse. Rather, they are experienced by the speaker in a personal way. God knows him inside and out, even before his birth, and there is no escape, even at the outermost limits of the cosmos, from God’s penetrating gaze. This all-consuming divine inspection elicits first fear and then praise. At the outset, the speaker fears that God will discern his imperfections, but as the psalm moves forward, fear gives way to praise for a God so all-knowing and ever-present. The tension the speaker feels between himself and God dominates in the first part of the psalm, accentuated by the many “I, me” and “you” pronouns that place God in opposition to the speaker. At the end, though, the divide between divine expectation and human limitation melts away, and the speaker realizes that he is not God’s opponent but God’s creation and ally. The transition comes in the recounting of how God has carefully engineered the speaker’s gestation in the womb, where he was formed according to the divine plan. This means, then, that the speaker, as God’s intentional creation, is on God’s side. Those opposed to God are the wicked, the idolators who fail to acknowledge God’s omniscience. They are God’s enemies and the speaker’s. Now, having made this theological journey, the speaker can welcome God’s close inspection, which he earlier sought to escape, confident that any flaw detected will be divinely corrected by the God who will lead him in the right way forever. The psalm contains a number of unusual words, some explained as Aramaisms, as well as several unintelligible phrases that have suffered textual corruption. The ultra-literary vocabulary and ideas about God are reminiscent of Job. Contemplating God’s nature and His place in the cosmos, and the contrast between human and divine knowledge, is the stuff of Wisdom Literature, and elements of it appear in this psalm. Yet our psalm is not a quest to discover God’s nature or to argue about His power. It is, rather, a contemplation on the speaker’s existence as a manifestation of God’s omniscience and omnipotence. This idea ultimately brings him comfort, makes him comfortable with himself vis-à-vis God, and it constitutes the praise for God—to be sure, an intellectual type of praise—that forms the message of the psalm.1

139 For the leader. Of David. A psalm. O Lord, You have examined me and know me.

‫לַ֭ ְמנ ֵ ַּצ ַח לְ ָדוִ ֣ד ִמזְ ֑מוֹ ר‬

‫קלט‬

‫יהו֥ ה ֲ֝ח ַק ְר ַּ֗תנִי וַ ֵּת ָ ֽדע׃‬

1–4.  God knows all that the speaker does, thinks, and says. Verbs for investigating and knowing abound. These verbs are frequent in wisdom discourse and also convey the image of God as judge. The speaker feels that he is being judged by the all-knowing God. You have examined me and know me  A general statement, developed in detail in

107

Psalms 139:2 

‫תהלים טלק‬

2 W hen I sit down or stand up You know it; You discern my thoughts from afar. 3 You observe my walking and reclining, and are familiar with all my ways. 4 There is not a word on my tongue but that You, O Lord, know it well.

‫ ַא ָּת֣ה יָ֭ ַד ְע ָּת ׁ ִשבְ ִּ ֣תי וְ קו ִ ּ֑מי‬2 ‫ַ ּ ֥בנ ְָּתה לְ֝ ֵר ִ ֗עי ֵמ ָר ֽחוֹ ק׃‬ ‫ ָא ְר ִח֣י וְ ִרבְ ִע֣י זֵ ִ ֑ר ָית‬3 ‫ְוֽכָ ל־דְּ ָרכַ ֥י ִה ְס ַּ ֽכנ ְָּתה׃‬ ‫ ִּכ֤י ֵא֣ין ִ֭מ ָּלה ִ ּבלְ ׁשוֹ ִנ ֑י‬4 ‫ֵה֥ן י֝ הו֗ ה יָ ַ ֥ד ְע ָּת כֻ ָּל ּֽה׃‬

the following verses, which explain what and when God knows. The Hebrew only implies the object after “know” (see v. 23, where the object of “know” is “my mind”). This opening phrase returns near the end of the psalm (v. 23), framing it with the main idea, which has been reshaped by the end. “Know me” is in the perfect tense in the Hebrew, with the sense that God came to know the speaker in the past and continues to know him in the present.2 2. When I sit down or stand up  Whatever I do; at every moment, all the time. This is paralleled in verse 3 by “my walking [literally “my path”] and reclining,” while active or at rest. Deuteronomy 6:7 has similar expressions. The independent personal pronoun “You” at the head of the verse parallels YHVH at the head of the previous verse, emphasizing that it is God who knows. The speaker addresses God directly, in the second person, throughout the psalm (unlike many psalms that alternate between speaking to God in the second person and about God in the third person). You discern my thoughts from afar  The transcendent God in heaven sees everywhere, at great distances (cf. Ps. 138:6), as if He looks into the mind of the speaker through a telescope. Kimḥi takes “afar” as a temporal reference; before the speaker realizes what he is thinking, God already knows it. The idea is similar to Jer. 1:5, “Before I created you in the womb, I knew [NJPS: selected] you.” The word ‫ רעי‬is related to ‫רעיון‬, “thought, idea” (Ibn Ezra). 3.  God knows the speaker’s deeds at all times, when he is in motion and when he is at rest. “Walking and reclining” echoes and intensifies the merism of sitting and standing in verse 2, using less-common terms, as often occurs in parallelism. The terms are reversed: sit down → recline; stand up → walk. The verb ‫רבעי‬, “[my] reclining,” is an Aramaism for ‫רבץ‬, generally used for the crouching down of animals. The word ‫זרית‬, rendered as “you observe,” either derives from the verb ‫זרה‬, “scatter, winnow, sift,” or is a denominative from the noun ‫זרת‬, “a span (the distance from the thumb to the little finger), a small measure of length.” 3 The meaning is “You measure with minute precision every move I make.” The root ‫סכן‬, “to know, be familiar with,” occurs numerous times in Job (15:3, 22:2,21, 34:9, 35:3). 4. There is not a word on my tongue  NRSV and others, following the Septuagint, pick up the idea in verse 2 that God knows the speaker’s thoughts and actions even before he does: “Even before a word is on my tongue.” The Septuagint moves up the first part of verse 5, rendered in NJPS as “before and behind,” to the end of the thought in verse 4, reading “For before a word was on my tongue, O Lord, you knew all things, the last and the first.” word  An Aramaic loanword, ‫ מלה‬is common in wisdom writings.

108

Psalms 139:5 

‫תהלים טלק‬

5 You hedge me before and behind; You lay Your hand upon me. 6 It is beyond my knowledge; it is a mystery; I cannot fathom it. 7 W here can I escape from Your spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence?

‫ ָא ֣חוֹ ר וָ ֶ ֣ק ֶדם צַ ְר ָּ ֑תנִי‬5 ‫וַ ָּ ֖ת ׁ ֶשת ָעלַ ֣י ַּכ ּ ֶפֽכָ ה*׃‬ ‫ פלאיה ּ ְפלִ ָ֣יאֽה ַד ַ֣עת ִמ ֶּ ֑מ ּנִי‬6 ‫ֹא־אוּכַ ֽל לָ ּֽה׃‬ ֥ ‫֝ ִנשְׂ ְ ּג ָ֗בה ל‬ ‫ ָ֭א ָנ ֥ה ֵאלֵ ְ֣ך ֵמרו ֶּח ָ֑ך‬7 ‫ְ֝ו ָ֗אנָה ִמ ּ ָפנֶ ָ֥יך ֶאבְ ָ ֽרח׃‬ * 5. This unusual spelling with ‫ה‬, rather than as ‫כפך‬, is traditional here.

5.  God’s knowledge constrains the speaker. The vocabulary is military. You hedge me  The verb in ‫ צרתני‬may derive from ‫ צרר‬or from ‫צור‬. The lexicons are inconsistent as to how they divide up the semantic territory between these two roots (which may ultimately go back to the same one).4 Meanings include “to wrap, envelop, restrict” (cf. ‫מצור‬, “siege”) and “to confine, bind, enclose.” Some relate it to the root ‫יצר‬, “to form, shape” (also “to create”). Most moderns opt for the sense of “hem in, confine.” But there is apparently an ancient tradition of interpreting “to shape.” The Septuagint renders “shaped me.” David Kimḥi, quoting his father Joseph Kimḥi, cites this meaning. Midrash Tehillim links it with the creation of the first human, who was created Janus-faced, one of their interpretations of “before and behind.” 5 Robert Alter adopts the idea of the forming of a human being (but not two-faced): “from behind and in front You shaped me.” 6 before and behind  The speaker feels closed in from the front and the back, he cannot move in either direction. You lay Your hand upon me  As if God is holding His hand on the speaker so that he cannot move up or down.7 “To lay a hand [palm] on” is found in Job 40:32 in the context of aggression against the Leviathan. 6.  NJPS has taken some liberties in its translation; NRSV is more literal: “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it.” It is beyond my knowledge  Understanding God’s ways is beyond the speaker’s knowledge. Or: God’s knowledge is too wonderous, too unfathomable, for the speaker; he cannot compete against it. It is not clear whose “knowledge” is meant. it is a mystery  The word ‫ פליאה‬is used to describe God’s unknowable name ( Judg. 13:18). I cannot fathom it  Rendering an expression that more often means “I cannot prevail over it” (the verb is ‫יכל‬, e.g., Gen. 32:26; Ps. 129:2). 7–12.  A beautiful description of God’s omnipresence, even at the outermost reaches of the cosmos. The rhetorical questions in verse 7 are answered in the following verses, which sweep from top to bottom (heaven and Sheol) on the vertical plane and from east to west on the horizontal plane, and then move beyond the western horizon to the place of the nighttime darkness. 7.  God’s spirit, ‫רוח‬, and His face, ‫פנים‬, indicate God’s presence.

109

Psalms 139:8 

‫תהלים טלק‬

8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I descend to Sheol, You are there too. 9 If I take wing with the dawn to come to rest on the western horizon, 10 even there Your hand will be guiding me, Your right hand will be holding me fast. 11 If I say, “Surely darkness will conceal me,

‫ם־א ַּס֣ק ׁ ָ֭ש ַמיִ ם ׁ ָש֣ם ָא ָּ֑תה‬ ֶ ‫ ִא‬8 ‫֖יעה ׁ ּ ְש ֣אוֹ ל ִה ֶ ּנֽ ָּך׃‬ ָ ‫וְ ַא ִ ּצ‬ ‫י־ש ַ֑חר‬ ָ ׁ ‫ ֶא ּ ָשׂ ֥א כַ נ ְֵפ‬9 ‫ֶ֝א ׁ ְש ְּכ ָנ֗ה ְ ּב ַא ֲח ִ ֥רית יָ ֽם׃‬ ‫ְחנִי‬ ֑ ֵ ‫ם־שם יָ ְד ָ ֣ך ַתנ‬ ָ֭ ׁ ‫ ַ ּג‬10 ָ‫ֹאחזֵ ֥נִי יְ ִמינֶ ֽך׃‬ ֲ ‫ְ ֽות‬ ‫ וָ֭ א ַֹמר ַא ְך־ ֣חֹ ׁ ֶש ְך יְ ׁשו ֵ ּ֑פנִי‬11

8.  A merismus shows that God is everywhere: the farthest points on the vertical axis, the apex (heaven) and the nadir (Sheol) of the world, including everything between them. Elsewhere in the Bible, the idea is expressed that in Sheol, the realm of the dead below the earth, people are cut off from God (Ps. 6:6, 88:11–13; Job 14:13), but our psalm says that God is present even in Sheol. Sheol here is not so much the place to which the dead are consigned, the place the speaker wants to avoid (and Job wants to attain), but rather an extreme geographic location, as far down as one can imagine, the netherworld. Proverbs 15:11 expresses a similar idea: “Sheol and Abaddon lie exposed to the Lord, / How much more the minds of men,” meaning that humans cannot see into Sheol but God can, just as He can see into the minds of people. See also Amos 9:2; Isa. 7:11; and Job 11:8. The verbs are uncommon: “ascend,” ‫אסק‬, from the root ‫סלק‬, is an Aramaism also used in Mishnaic Hebrew; “descend” means literally “to make my bed in.” The word “if ” that opens this verse is not repeated in verses 9–11 but is understood from the poetic structure. These “if ” statements are hypothetical attempts to escape from God’s presence, which is, of course, impossible. 9.  Literally “[If ] I raise [myself at] the wings/edges of the dawn, [if] I come to rest beyond the [Mediterranean] sea [= west].” Another merismus, the furthest point to the east, where the dawn begins, and the furthest to the west, where the sun sets and darkness begins. As in the previous verse, a verb indicating elevation is followed by a verb for coming to rest. 10.  Even at the edges of the world, God steers the speaker, determines where he can go, and holds him fast so he cannot escape from God’s presence. 11–12.  If he could reach the western horizon (v. 9), where the night begins, the speaker wonders if he could hide in the dark from God, but he realizes that for God there is no difference between light and darkness because God sees equally well in both. 11.  The wording is problematic, although the meaning can be construed from the context. If I say  The speaker makes a hypothetical statement, supposing that he could hide from God in the dark, but immediately realizes that this is impossible.8 will conceal me  The verb in ‫ ישופני‬is rare. Ibn Ezra suggests that it is a denominative from ‫נשף‬, “evening, night,” meaning literally that the dark “will be night for me.” The sense is that the night will cover, or hide, the speaker. Alternatively, the root is ‫שוף‬,

110

Psalms 139:12 

‫תהלים טלק‬

night will provide me with cover,” 12 darkness is not dark for You; night is as light as day; darkness and light are the same. 13 It was You who created my conscience; You fashioned me in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise You, for I am awesomely, wondrously made; Your work is wonderful; I know it very well. 15 My frame was not concealed from You when I was shaped in a hidden place, knit together in the recesses of the earth.

‫ְ֝ו ֗ ַליְ לָ ה ֣אוֹ ר ַ ּבעֲ ֵ ֽדנִי׃‬ ְ ‫ ַ ּגם־ח ׁ ֶֹש ְ ֮ך ל ֹא־יַ ְח ׁ ִש֪יך ִ֫מ ֶּמ ָּ֥ך‬12 ‫וְ֭ לַ יְ לָ ה ַּכ ֣ ּיוֹ ם יָ ִ ֑איר‬ ‫ַ֝ ּכ ֲח ׁ ֵש ָ֗יכה ָּכאוֹ ָ ֽרה׃‬ ‫ֽי־א ָּתה ָק ִנ ָ֣ית כִ לְ י ָֹת֑י‬ ַ֭ ‫ ִּכ‬13 ‫ְ֝ ּת ֻס ֵּ֗כנִי ְ ּב ֶב ֶ֣טן ִא ִּ ֽמי׃‬ ‫ אוֹ ְד ָ֗ך‬14 ‫עַ ֤ל ִּכ֥י נֽוֹ ָר ֗אוֹ ת ִנ ְ֫פלֵ ִ֥יתי‬ ָ ֶׂ‫נ ְִפלָ ִ ֥אים ַמעֲ ש‬ ‫֑יך‬ ‫ְ֝ונ ְַפ ׁ ֗ ִשי י ַ ֹ֥ד ַעת ְמ ֽאֹד׃‬ ‫ ֹֽלא־נִכְ ַח֥ד ָעצְ ִ֗מי ִ֫מ ֶּמ ָּ֥ך‬15 ‫֥יתי ַב ֵּס ֶ֑תר‬ ִ ׂ‫ר־ע ּ ֵש‬ ֻ ‫ֲא ׁ ֶש‬ ‫֝ ֻר ַ ּ֗ק ְמ ִּתי ְ ּ ֽב ַת ְח ִּת ּי֥וֹ ת ָא ֶֽרץ׃‬

“to grip hard, bruise” (Gen. 3:15; Job 9:17), which would yield “darkness will crush me.” 9 Based on the Versions, some commentators emend to ‫)סכך\שכך( יסוכני‬, “to cover, protect.” night will provide me with cover  Meaning of Heb. uncertain [Transl.]. | This rendering understands the verb in the first line to apply also in the second line (so Ibn Ezra), and citing Rashi, it construes the word ‫אור‬, “light,” as an expression of darkness. Ibn Ezra says, “The night will cover the light around me.” Alternatively, NRSV renders, “The light around me (will) become night.” 10 13–16.  From the darkness of the world, the speaker moves to the darkness of the womb, where God created him (a similar transition is in Job 3:11). This is the strongest and most personal proof of God’s intimate knowledge of the speaker. The realization that he himself was fashioned according to divine plan—that his very existence is proof of God’s knowledge—leads the speaker to a new self-realization and forms the turning point of the psalm. If God designed him, what has he to fear from God’s close inspection? The motif of God’s forming a person in the womb signals God’s control over the person and is used for different effect in various passages: in Jer. 1:5 to prove that Jeremiah was destined before birth to be a prophet; in Job 10:8–12 to emphasize, negatively, God’s control over him;11 in Ps. 22:10–11 to show the speaker’s closeness to God. The specific parts of the fetus named here are kidneys (internal organs, v. 13, translated in NJPS as “conscience”), frame (skeleton, v. 15), and unformed limbs (a formless embryo, v. 16). The psalm moves backward in time, from a more-developed to a less-developed fetus. Two of the verbs, “fashion” (v. 13) and “knit” (v. 15), are related to weaving. Weaving and knitting were women’s work, as was the gestation of a child, so here female imagery is ascribed to God (this is not unique; see Comments to 123:2 and 131:2). All was done in secret, in the womb, hidden from human eyes. The gestation of the speaker is one of the mysterious wonders of God that the speaker praises. 15. recesses of the earth  Literally “bottommost part of the earth,” which here

111

Psalms 139:16 

‫תהלים טלק‬

16 Your eyes saw my unformed limbs; they were all recorded in Your book; in due time they were formed, to the very last one of them. 17 How weighty Your thoughts seem to me, O God, how great their number! I count them—they exceed the grains of sand; 18  I end—but am still with You.

ָ ‫ָ ּגלְ ִ ֤מי ׀ ָ ֘ר ֤א ּו ֵעי ֶנ‬ ‫֗יך‬ 16 ָ ‫ֽל־ס ְפ ְר ֮ך ֻּכ ָּל ֪ם יִ ָּ֫כ ֵת֥ב ּו‬ ִ ַ‫וְ ע‬ ‫יָ ִ ֥מים יֻ ָ ּצ֑ר ּו‬ ‫ולא וְ ל֖ וֹ ֶא ָח֣ד ָ ּב ֶהֽם׃‬ ‫ וְ ֗ ִלי ַמה־ ָ ּי ְק ֣ר ּו ֵרעֶ ָ֣יך ֵא֑ל‬17 ‫אש ֶיהֽם׃‬ ֵ ׁ ‫ֶמ֥ה ָ֝עצְ ֗מ ּו ָר‬ ‫ ֶ֭א ְס ּ ְפ ֵרם ֵמ ֣חוֹ ל יִ ְר ֑ ּבוּן‬18 ‫ֱ֝ה ִקי ֹ֗צ ִתי וְ עוֹ ִ ֥די ִע ָּ ֽמ ְך׃‬

parallels “in secret.” The phrase often refers to Sheol (Ps. 63:10; Ezek. 26:20, 32:18,24; Isa. 44:23). Here the referent is the womb, also equated with the grave or Sheol in Job 1:21, “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there.” This seems to be a mythic reference to the creation of humankind from the dust of the earth (cf. also Ps. 90:3; Eccles. 3:20, 12:7). 16. they were all recorded in Your book  God had a blueprint for the speaker’s creation, as He has for everything in the world. This “book” is perhaps related to the Mesopotamian notion of the heavenly book (or tablets) of fate, a record of the pre­ determined lives of humans, not otherwise attested in the Bible. This does not seem to be the same as the “book of life” in Jewish tradition, wherein is a list of those destined for continued life, although the two ideas overlap; compare also the Mesopotamian “tablet of life.” 12 to the very last one of them  Meaning of Heb. uncertain [Transl.]. 17–18.  The praise begun in verse 14 comes to a climax here. God’s thoughts are beyond measure, beyond comprehension. The word for the speaker’s thoughts in verse 2, ‫רעי‬, is here used for God’s thoughts, ‫רעיך‬. Whereas God can understand the speaker’s thoughts, the speaker cannot fathom God’s thoughts, yet he esteems them as precious or weighty. 18. I end  The speaker comes to the end of his counting, which is finite, though God’s thoughts and plans are beyond infinity, exceeding the uncountable grains of sand (an image for infinity; see Gen. 32:13 and especially 41:49, where Joseph runs out of numbers to count the grain). The Masoretic Text reads ‫הקיצֹתי‬, “I awoke,” but its meaning is hard to construe, so most commentators, supported by several manuscripts, analyze the verb as a denominative from ‫קץ‬, “end.” However, like NIV, some prefer “I awake.” This may be taken as awaking after an exhausting night of thinking about God or awaking in the sense of coming to perceive God’s presence.13 Another opinion is that the phrase refers to the death of the speaker, who, even in death, will remain with God. The Targum reads, “If I should count them in this world. . . .; I shall awake in the world to come and I shall still be with you.” Perhaps our psalm is hinting at the idea of an afterlife or resurrection (which may accord with v. 8, where God is present in Sheol). The idea of postmortem

112

Psalms 139:19 

‫תהלים טלק‬

19 O God, if You would only slay the wicked— you murderers, away from me!— 20 who invoke You for intrigue, Your enemies who swear by You falsely. 21 O Lord, You know I hate those who hate You, and loathe Your adversaries.

‫ ׀ ר ׁ ָש֑ע‬ ָ ‫ם־ת ְק ֖טֹל ֱאל֥ וֹ ַּה‬ ִּ ‫ ִא‬19 ‫וְ ַאנ ׁ ְֵש֥י ֝ ָד ִ֗מים ֣סוּר ּו ֶ ֽמ ּנִי׃‬ ‫ ֲא ׁ ֶש֣ר ֹ֭י ְמרו ָּך לִ ְמזִ ָּמ֑ה‬20 ‫נָשׂ֖ וּא לַ ׁ ּ ָש֣וְ א עָ ֶ ֽר ָיך*׃‬ ָ ‫א־משַׂ נ ְֶא‬ ‫ה ׀ אשְׂ ָנ ֑א‬ ֶ ֥‫֖יך יהו‬ ְ ֹ‫ ֲהלֽ ו‬21 ָ ‫ּ֝ו ִב ְתקוֹ ְמ ֶ֗מיך ֶא ְתקוֹ ָטֽט׃‬ * 20. This rare word means “your enemies”—not to be confused with a common homonym.

life is more developed in Dan. 12:2, “Many of those that sleep in the dust of the earth will awake [‫]יקיצו‬, some to eternal life.” but am still with You  I still have not come to the end of counting Your wonders. 19–22.  The unexpected introduction of the wicked and the strong antipathy expressed for them have shocked many readers, but the passage need not be seen as an interruption in the psalm. The wicked are not the enemies of the speaker, trying to harm him; rather, they are the enemies of God, those who invoke God falsely or give false testimony about God. The speaker aligns himself with God against such people and hopes that God will kill them for the same reason that Jer. 12:3, also expressing opposition between the wicked and the prophet, hopes that God will slaughter them (cf. Ps. 104:35, which suddenly introduces the wicked in order that they may disappear). If, implies our psalm, there is someone who will fail God’s inspection and will deserve His punishment, it is the wicked, not the speaker. slay  The verb ‫ קטל‬is an Aramaism. you murderers, away from me!  The speaker interrupts his speech to God and addresses the wicked directly, as if they were present, warning them to keep away from him. “Murderers,” ‫אנשי דמים‬, literally “men of blood” (NRSV: “bloodthirsty”), is hyperbolic, often used in contexts of violence, criminal or antisocial actions, and idolatry—actions that do not involve actual murder.14 As here, the context usually involves deceit (Ps. 5:7, 26:9–10, 59:3; Prov. 29:10). The crime of the wicked is not murder but deceitfulness regarding God. 20.  The verse is difficult and there have been varied attempts to interpret it.15 NJPS reflects a widespread understanding that it refers to speaking deceitfully of God; NRSV: “those who speak of you maliciously, and lift themselves up against you for evil!” The phrase ‫נשא לשוא‬, “to swear [by God’s name] falsely,” appears in the Decalogue (Exod. 20:7; Deut. 5:11), meaning “to use God’s name in a false oath,” which is to show contempt for God, who is thereby made a party to a false oath.16 But this meaning does not easily fit the present context. Worthy of consideration is the suggestion that ‫ מזמה‬and ‫ שוא‬refer to idols and that the wicked are invoking false gods or idols.17 The noun ‫מזמה‬, rendered as “intrigue,” may be the same as ‫זמתך‬, “wantonness,” in Ezek. 23:49, where the term parallels ‫גלוליהם‬, “their fetishes” (idolatry). For ‫ לשוא‬as a reference to idols, see Jer. 18:15, “they sacrifice to a delusion.” Close to this proposed meaning is Ps. 24:4, which can be

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Psalms 139:22  22 I feel a perfect hatred toward them; I count them my enemies. 23 Examine me, O God, and know my mind; probe me and know my thoughts. 24 See if I have vexatious ways, and guide me in ways everlasting.

‫תהלים טלק‬

‫ֵאתים‬ ֑ ִ ‫ ַּתכְ לִ ֣ית שִׂ נ ְָא֣ה שְׂ נ‬22 ‫לְ֝ אוֹ יְ ִ֗בים ָה֣י ּו ִלֽי׃‬ ‫ ָח ְק ֵ ֣רנִי ֵ֭אל וְ ַד֣ע לְ ָב ִב֑י‬23 ‫ְ֝ ּב ָח ֵ֗ננִי וְ ַד֣ע שַׂ ְר ַע ּ ָפֽי׃‬ ‫ ו ְּר ֵ֗אה ִאם־דֶּ ֽ ֶר ְך־ ֹ֥עצֶ ב ִ ּב֑י‬24  ‫ּ֝ונ ְֵ֗חנִי ְ ּב ֶד ֶ֣ר ְך עוֹ לָ ֽם׃‬

interpreted as describing those eligible to ascend God’s holy mountain as those who have not ‫נשא לשוא‬, invoked a false god, nor sworn ‫למרמה‬, by Deceit (= by a false god). That the wicked are accused of idolatry in our verse receives further support in that “men of blood” may refer to idolators and also from the mention of idolatry in verse 24, from which the speaker distances himself. That would be consistent with the first verb’s spelling in the majority of reliable Tiberian Masoretic manuscripts, ‫ימרוך‬, if it is taken as from the hif‘il stem of ‫מור‬, meaning “they exchange You for idolatry” (cf., e.g., Jer. 2:11). The NJPS rendering “who invoke You” takes the verb as deriving from the root ‫אמר‬, “to speak,” which is in fact the reading found in the Leningrad Codex: ‫יאמרך‬.18 It would make no sense to take the last word, ‫עריך‬, to mean “your cities” (as elsewhere in the Bible); rather, as the Masoretes noted, it is likely that this word means “your enemies,” an Aramaism for Hebrew ‫צריך‬. 23–24.  Echoing the phrase in verse 1, with a new twist, the speaker is now eager for God to examine his mind and thoughts, more confident that they will be approved. And echoing the word ‫נחה‬, “to guide,” in verse 10, where the speaker resented God’s guidance, the speaker now hopes that God will guide his path forever. my thoughts Rendering ‫שרעפי‬, “my anxious thoughts” (cf. Ps. 94:19). God has known the speaker’s thoughts all along (v. 2), but now the speaker wants God to know that he is anxious to pass God’s inspection, to be deemed righteous and not wicked. 24. vexatious ways  Implying idolatry or false worship (cf. Isa. 48:5; Ps. 106:38, 135:15), like the wicked of verses 19–22, from whom the speaker distinguishes himself. Here and in the next phrase, the Hebrew for “way/path” is singular. The one wrong path is the polar opposite of the one right path. in ways everlasting  In the way that is permanent, that lasts forever, that is, in God’s way, not in the way of the wicked, which cannot endure (cf. Ps. 1:6). Gone is the desire to escape from God; now the speaker seeks permanent closeness to God.

114

Psalms 139:1–24

‫תהלים טלק‬

Ritual and Liturgical Uses Psalm 139 is not used in any current liturgical rite, but a custom of the Ḥevrat Tehillim (Psalms Society) in medieval Ashkenazic communities designates it for Shabbat Bereshit, whose Torah reading (Gen. 1:1– 6:8) narrates the creation of the first human. Choosing this psalm—which includes the statement “I was shaped in a hidden place, knit together in the recesses

115

of the earth; Your eyes saw my unformed limbs” (vv. 15–16)—was motivated by the midrashic tradition that it was composed by Adam; see Gen. Rabbah 24 and Rashi to B. Bava Batra 14b. According to Shimmush Tehillim, this psalm should be said in order “to enhance love between man and wife.”

Psalm 140: Introduction The psalm opens with a plea for God to save the speaker from evil and from lawless people who plot to entrap him. The imagery is taken from the worlds of hunting and war (similar weapons are used in both), though the danger comes from the opponents’ words, not from physical aggression. Psalm 120 contains a similar complaint with similar imagery. Here, as there, the subtext seems to be a strong difference of opinion on an important issue of the day. This is a war of words. The speaker strongly disagrees with the position expressed by his opponents, presumably members of an opposing faction, and wants to silence them. The hoped-for punishments for the evildoers are vividly described in the second part of the psalm. The psalm focuses on the first-person speaker for the most part, but in the last two verses it enlarges its scope, as many psalms do, to include all the righteous. The refrain selah, a musicological term of uncertain meaning, divides the psalm into sections. A number of linguistic oddities appear in this psalm, either due to erroneous transmission and/or because the poet chose to employ unusual terms.

140 For the leader. A psalm of David. 2 Rescue me, O Lord, from evil men; save me from the lawless, 3 whose minds are full of evil schemes, who plot war every day.

‫לַ ְמנ ֵ֗ ַּצ ַח ִמזְ ֥מוֹ ר לְ ָד ִוֽד׃‬

‫קמ‬

‫ ַח ְּלצֵ ֣נִי י֭ הוה ֵ ֽמ ָא ָד֣ם ָ ֑רע‬2 ‫ֵמ ִ ֖א ׁיש ֲח ָמ ִס֣ים ִּתנְצְ ֵ ֽרנִי׃‬ ‫שר ָח ׁ ְש ֣ב ּו ָר ֣עוֹ ת ְ ּבלֵ ֑ב‬ ֤ ֶ ׁ ‫ ֲא‬3 ‫ָּכל־י֝ ֗וֹ ם יָ ג֥ וּר ּו ִמלְ ָח ֽמוֹ ת׃‬

2–3.  The evildoers are first presented in the singular, in verse 2, but the verbs in verses 3–4 are plural. The same singular-plural alternation occurs throughout the psalm; perhaps the singular represents the leader and the plural stands for the group. evil men . . . ​the lawless  NJPS construes in collective terms the singular expressions ‫אדם רע‬, “an evil person,” and its parallel ‫איש חמסים‬, “a person of violence/wrongdoing.” Both ‫אדם‬, “human,” and ‫איש‬, “person, individual,” are gender-neutral and may include women as well as men, but the author likely had men in view.1 On ‫איש חמסים‬, see also 2 Sam. 22:49 and Ps. 18:49. The evil plans originate in the mind (‫לב‬, “heart”) and are then spoken aloud (v. 4). 3. plot war  They cause disputes within the community or against the speaker. See Ps. 120:7 for a similar idea. The verb ‫גור‬, “plot,” occurs parallel to ‫ חשב‬also in 56:6–7. See also 59:4 for the verb in a similar context.2 every day  The phrase ‫ כל יום‬is anomalous in this context. It probably stands for ‫כל היום‬, “all day long,” a more common expression in psalms of lament (Ps. 38:7, 42:4, 44:16,23, 56:2,3,6, 88:18, 102:9).3 NRSV: “continually.”

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Psalms 140:4 

‫תהלים מק‬

4 They sharpen their tongues like serpents; spiders’ poison is on their lips.   Selah.

‫ש ְנ ֣נ ּו לְ ׁשוֹ ָנ ֮ם ְּכֽמוֹ ־ ָנ ָ֫ח ׁ֥ש‬ ָ֥ ׁ 4 ‫ֲח ַמ֥ת ַעכְ ׁ ֑שוּב ַּ ֖ת ַחת שְׂ ָפ ֵת֣ימוֹ ֶ סֽלָ ה׃‬

5 O Lord, keep me out of the clutches of the wicked; save me from lawless men who scheme to make me fall. 6 Arrogant men laid traps with ropes for me; they spread out a net along the way; they set snares for me.   Selah.

‫ ׁ ָש ְמ ֵ ֤רנִי יהו֨ ה ׀ ִ֘מ ֵיד֤י ָר ׁ ֗ ָשע‬5 ‫ֵמ ִא ׁ֣יש ֲח ָמ ִס֣ים ִּתנְצְ ֵ ֑רנִי‬ ‫ֲא ׁ ֶש֥ר ָ֝ח ׁ ְשב֗ ּו לִ ְד ֥חוֹ ת ּ ְפ ָע ָ ֽמי׃‬ ‫ ָט ְ֥מ ֽנ ּו גֵ ִ֨אים ׀ ּ ַ֡פח ֗ ִלי‬6 ‫ד־מ ְע ָ ּג ֑ל‬ ַ ַ‫וַ ֲח ָב ֗ ִלים ָּפ ְ֣רשׂ ּו ֶ֭ ר ׁ ֶשת לְ י‬ ‫מ ְֹק ׁ ִ ֖שים ׁ ָשתוּ־לִ ֣י ֶ סֽלָ ה׃‬

4.  Snakes and spiders also occur together in Isa. 59:5, where speakers of falsehood are said to hatch adder’s eggs and weave spider’s webs. They sharpen their tongues like serpents  The English expression “to speak with forked tongue,” also calling on serpent-tongue imagery, means to deliberately say one thing and mean another, to be hypocritical. Here, though, the sense is to say dangerous or hurtful things; they speak poisonous words. Just as serpents were thought to kill with their tongues (“The tongue of the viper kills him,” Job 20:16), so do those who plot evil. The tongues are weapons; the evil men sharpen (‫ )שנן‬them like swords and like arrows (Ps. 64:6; Jer. 9:7). The back-and-forth motion of sharpening a blade is likened to the flicking motion of a serpent’s tongue as it seeks its prey.4 On sharpening the tongue combined with heat, see also Ps. 120:3–4. spiders’ poison  The word ‫ חמה‬means “heat, wrath, poison.” For “poison/venom,” see Deut. 32:24,33 and Ps. 58:5. The sense of “heat” resonates in verses 10–11, where the mischief of the opponents’ lips will cover them and they will be burnt with hot coals. “Spiders” renders ‫עכְ ׁשוּב‬.ַ Its usual spelling, ‫עכביש‬, occurs in our verse in Qumran Psalms scroll 11QPsa. Interestingly, the same reversal of the letters shin/sin and bet is found within the Masoretic Text in ‫כבש‬, “lamb, young ram,” which sometimes occurs as ‫כשב‬. The Septuagint renders “asp,” making a more synonymous parallelism with “serpents” in the preceding line. HALOT 2:824b identifies this snake as the horned adder. Various modern translations read “viper’s venom” or the like. on their lips  Literally “under their lips.” The usual expression is “under the tongue” (Ps. 10:7, 66:17; Song 4:11). 5. make me fall  Literally “push my feet” [Transl.]. 6.  Traps with nets were used in hunting and also in war and are often used metaphorically (cf. Ezek. 19:4,8–9; Hos. 5:1; Amos 3:5; Ps. 35:7, 57:7, 141:9, 142:4; Prov. 29:5; Job 18:8–10; Lam. 1:13). As Moshe Greenberg explains, the trap is made of two frames with nets attached to it and hidden in the ground. The trap has a lure (called a “snare” in Amos 3:5). A rope or ropes are drawn from the trap to the ambush where the trappers wait. When the birds gather around the bait in the trap, the trappers pull the rope(s) to close the trap.5

117

Psalms 140:7 

‫תהלים מק‬

7 I said to the Lord: You are my God; give ear, O Lord, to my pleas for mercy. 8 O God, my Lord, the strength of my deliverance, You protected my head on the day of battle. 9 O Lord, do not grant the desires of the wicked; do not let their plan succeed, else they be exalted.   Selah.

‫ ָא ַמ ְ֣ר ִּתי לַ֭ יהוה ֵא֣לִ י ָא ָּ֑תה‬7 ‫ַה ֲאזִ ֥ינָה י֝ הו֗ ה ֣קוֹ ל ַּת ֲחנ ּו ָנ ֽי׃‬ ‫ יהוה ֱאל ִֹה֣ים ֭ ֲאדֹנָי ֣עֹז יְ ׁשו ָּע ִ ֑תי‬8 ‫ֹאשי ְ ּבי֣ וֹ ם ָנ ׁ ֶֽשק׃‬ ִ ֗ ׁ ‫ַסכּ ֹ֥ ָתה לְ֝ ר‬ ‫ל־ת ֵּת֣ן י֭ הוה ַמ ֲאוַ ֵ ּי ֣י ָר ׁ ָש֑ע‬ ִּ ‫ ַא‬9 ‫ל־ת ֵ֗פק‬ ּ ָ֝ ‫זְ ָמ ֥מוֹ ַא‬ ‫יָ ֥רוּמ ּו ֶ סֽלָ ה׃‬

7. I said  So also KJV and NASB (which tends to be literal).6 But it is better to render “I say,” as do NRSV, RSV, NAB, NIV, and many commentators.7 The verb, in the suffix (perfect) form, is here to be understood as a performative in the present, meaning “I hereby declare.” 8 This is typical of psalms of supplication; see also 16:2, 31:15, and 142:6 (where NJPS has “I say”). In these cases, the speaker is pledging allegiance to God, declaring loyalty to the liege Lord (to employ a feudal usage). The effect of this declaration, or “self-quotation,” is to highlight the speaker’s faith in God, as opposed to the lawless and arrogant opponents, and to emphasize the speaker’s trust in God and therefore the expectation of God’s positive response.9 The extent of the declaration is not indicated. It is most likely “You are my God,” but opinions vary, with some including the entire verse or several verses.10 8. O God, my Lord  Here, as indicated in the Hebrew text, the first word is written with the consonants ‫ י־ה־ו־ה‬but vocalized as Elohim rather than Adonai because the second word is ‫אדני‬, spelled out (not YHVH vocalized as Adonai). The usual order of the terms is “O Lord, my God.” But the present phrase is not a declaration that the speaker acknowledges YHVH as his God (he did that in v. 7); rather, he is saying that God is his Master.11 The Septuagint reads “Lord, Lord.” You protected my head  More commonly, God is a shield, but here He is a helmet that protects the speaker from enemy weapons. If understood as having happened in the past (the verb is in the perfect), this suggests that God’s past acts of deliverance make similar future acts more likely. Alternatively, this is a general statement that God protects the speaker (NIV). battle  Literally “arms” [Transl.]. 9–12.  These verses are syntactically difficult and the vocabulary is unusual, even unique, making it challenging to ascertain the precise meaning of some terms. Nevertheless, the general sense emerges. The punishments in verses 10–12 have a measure-for-measure relationship to the harm done by the opponents. In verse 4 they have poisonous (hot) lips, and in verses 10–11 they will be beset by the mischief of their lips and hot coals will fall on them; in verse 6 they set traps and snares, and in verses 11–12 they themselves will be ensnared and captured. else they be exalted  The word ‫ ירומו‬seems to stand by itself; its relation to the surrounding phrases is not clear. NJPS follows Kimḥi’s explanation. This verb, in the plural

118

Psalms 140:10 

‫תהלים מק‬

10 May the heads of those who beset me be covered with the mischief of their lips. 11 May coals of fire drop down upon them, and they be cast into pits, never to rise again. 12 Let slanderers have no place in the land; let the evil of the lawless man drive him into corrals.

‫אש ְמ ִס ָ ּב֑י‬ ׁ ֹ‫ ֥ר‬10 ‫עֲ ַ ֖מל שְׂ ָפ ֵת֣ימוֹ יכסומו יְ כַ ֵּסֽימוֹ ׃‬ ‫ ימיטו יִ ּ ֥מוֹ ט ּו עֲ לֵ ֶ֗יהם ֶ ּג ָ֫חלִ ֥ים ָ ּב ֵא ׁ֥ש‬11 ‫יַ ּ ִפלֵ ֑ם ְ֝ ּב ַמ ֲהמֹר֗ וֹ ת ַ ּבל־יָ ֽקוּמוּ׃‬ ‫ ִ ֥א ׁיש לָ ׁשוֹ ֮ן ַ ּבל־יִ ּ֪כוֹ ן ָ֫ ּב ָא ֶ֥רץ‬12 ‫־ח ָמ֥ס ָ ֑רע ֝ ְיצו ֶ ּ֗ד ּנ ּו לְ ַמ ְד ֵח ֽפֹת׃‬ ָ ‫ִא ׁיש‬

(“the wicked” and “his plan” are in the singular although rendered in the plural), has been interpreted in the sense of “exalted, raised up,” as in NJPS and elsewhere, or negatively, as in the Targum, “let them be removed.” The Septuagint construes the verse rather differently: “Do not hand me over, O Lord, to a sinner as a result of my desire; they schemed against me; do not abandon me, that they not be exalted.” Several modern translations reverse ‫סלה‬ and ‫ירומו‬, thus placing ‫ ירומו‬at the beginning of the following phrase (v. 10); for example, NRSV: “Those who surround me lift up their heads.” 10.  Meaning of Heb. uncertain [Transl.]. the heads of those who beset me  God will protect the speaker’s head (v. 8), but the heads of the wrongdoers will suffer. “Beset” = “surround.” 11. May coals of fire drop down upon them  The Masoretic Text accents suggest dividing the phrases as “May coals drop [or: be dropped] upon them; may they be cast into fire—into pits, never to rise.” NIV, which tends to be literal, follows this Masoretic Text phrase division, but NJPS and many other modern translations follow the line division in BHS. For a punishment of hot coals for a speaker of deceit, see also 120:3–4. pits  The word ‫ מהמרות‬occurs only here in the Bible. In Ugaritic it has associations with the underworld; HALOT 2:553: “makeshift grave” and in our verse “bottomless pits.” NIV has “miry pits,” and Hossfeld and Zenger, “caves full of water” (based on an Arabic cognate). The Targum makes the association with the underworld explicit in its expansive and theologically loaded translation: “Let burning coals from heaven come upon them; and may he make them fall into the fire of Gehenna with the sparks of debris, so that they may not rise to everlasting life.” 12 12. slanderers Rendering ‫איש לשון‬, “a speaker of evil,” namely, those who have the venom of vipers on their tongues (v. 4).13 no place in the land  No place in society. Compare Ps. 101:7, “He who deals deceitfully shall not live in my house; he who speaks untruth shall not stand before my eyes.” corrals  The word ‫ מדחפת‬is otherwise unknown. Based on the method of hunting by driving animals into an enclosure, reflected in -‫צד ל‬, “to hunt into” (instead of “to hunt” plus direct object), and on the archaeological remains of enclosures called “desert kites,” Moshe Greenberg deduced the meaning “corrals.”14 Others, however, interpret as “to hunt down the violent.” 15

119

Psalms 140:13 

‫תהלים מק‬

13 I know that the Lord will champion the cause of the poor, the right of the needy. 14 Righteous men shall surely praise Your name; the upright shall dwell in Your presence.

‫ ידעת יָ ַ ֗ד ְע ִּתי ִּכֽי־יַ עֲ שֶׂ ֣ה י֭ הוה‬13 ‫דִּ ֣ ין ָע ִנ ֑י ִ֝מ ׁ ְש ּ ַ֗פט ֶאבְ יֹ ִנֽים׃‬ ָ‫ַא ְ֣ך צַ֭ דִּ ִיקים יוֹ ֣ד ּו לִ ׁ ְש ֶמ֑ך‬ 14 ָ ּ  ‫ת־פ ֶנ ֽיך׃‬ ָ ‫יֵ ׁ ְשב֥ ּו ֝ ְי ׁ ָש ִ ֗רים ֶא‬

13–14.  A call for divine justice. In the speaker’s eyes, he is in the right. God is on his side. He and others like him will ultimately triumph and will remain in God’s presence, where they will continue to praise God. By implication, the evildoers will be cut off from God’s presence. In light of the associations in verses 11–12 with the underworld, the psalm is hinting that the evildoers will meet an unfortunate death, and as in 6:6, 88:11–13, and 115:17–18, they will be unable to praise God. I know  The speaker is secure in his knowledge that God will do right. poor . . . ​needy  Common terms for the speaker and his community. This does not indicate economic status, but people who feel in need of God’s protection.

Ritual and Liturgical Uses Psalm 140 is not used in any current liturgical rite, but a custom of the Ḥevrat Tehillim (Psalms Society) in medieval Ashkenazic communities designates it for Shabbat Va-yishlaḥ, whose Torah reading (Genesis 32–36) describes the meeting of Jacob and Esau upon Jacob’s return to the Land of Israel. Choosing this psalm—which opens, “Rescue me, O Lord, from evil men; save me from the lawless”—for this Shabbat

was motivated by the negative image of Esau in Jewish tradition. Midrash Tehillim connects this verse explicitly with Esau. On the other hand, according to Shimmush Tehillim, this psalm should be said to abolish hatred “between man and wife.” This is one of four psalms recommended for reading “in times of tragedy” in the Conservative Siddur Lev Shalem, along with Psalms 120, 121, and 130.

120

Psalm 141: Introduction Like Psalm 140, this is a prayer for protection against wrong speech or the speech of opponents. It hopes that the wicked will fall into their own nets, using the metaphors of hunting and war weapons and the principle of talion (measure for measure), as the previous psalm does. Here, however, the speaker is not so much endangered by his opponents’ speech as he is fearful that he will be seduced into their way of speaking. He asks God to guard his mouth, to make sure that he continues to speak proper words. The idea of promoting correct speech and avoiding wrong speech is common in wisdom teachings (Prov. 4:24, 18:21, 21:23) and in psalms (34:14, 39:2). This psalm contains a number of unique terms, difficult phrases, and puzzling linguistic constructions. While its general sense is clear, several parts are not fully intelligible.

141 A psalm of David. I call You, O Lord, hasten to me; give ear to my cry when I call You. 2 Take my prayer as an offering of incense, my upraised hands as an evening sacrifice. 3 O Lord, set a guard over my mouth,

‫ִמזְ ֗מוֹ ר לְ ָ ֫דוִ ֥ד‬

‫קמא‬

‫את ָיך ֣חו ׁ ָּשה ִּל֑י‬ ִ ‫יהו֣ ה ְ֭ק ָר‬ ְ‫ַה ֲאזִ ֥ינָה ֝קוֹ ֗ ִלי ְ ּב ָק ְר ִאי־לָ ֽך׃‬ ‫ ִּת ּ֤כוֹ ן ְּת ִפ ָּל ִ ֣תי ְק ֣טֹ ֶרת לְ ָפ ֶנ ָ֑יך‬2 ‫ת־ע ֶֽרב׃‬ ָ ‫ַ ֽמשְׂ ַא֥ת ַ֝ ּכ ּ ַ֗פי ִמנ ְַח‬ ‫ ׁ ִש ָית֣ה י֭ הוה ׁ ָש ְמ ָ ֣רה לְ ִפ֑י‬3

2.  The speaker asks God to accept his prayer just as He accepts the sacrifices that are offered to Him. This does not mean that the psalm sees prayer as a replacement for sacrificial rites, as was the case in Rabbinic times and afterward, when the Second Temple had been destroyed and it was no longer possible to offer sacrifices. On the contrary, here sacrifice and prayer go together, as in Ps. 54:8. If this psalm dates from Second Temple times, as seems likely, the audience would have been familiar with the actual practice of offering sacrifices. In any case, sacrifice is the classic way to worship God and therefore an apt metaphor for prayer. upraised hands  A gesture of prayer. See Ps. 134:2 with comment. incense . . . ​evening sacrifice  The incense is burnt and its smoke and smell rise up to God. The speaker imagines his prayer rising up to God in a similar manner. “Sacrifice” and “incense” are also parallel in Isa. 1:13. The evening sacrifice is mentioned in Dan. 9:21 and Ezra 9:4–5; in the latter passage, after the evening sacrifice Ezra spreads out his hands and speaks words of prayer to God. 3–4.  The speaker asks God to prevent him from wrongful speech and actions and from associating with those who engage in them (see Psalm 26). These concerns appear in several psalms and are even more pronounced in Proverbs. In Ps. 140:3–4 the progression was heart–tongue–lips, and here it is mouth–lips–heart.

121

Psalms 141:4 

‫תהלים אמק‬

a watch at the door of my lips; 4 let my mind not turn to an evil thing, to practice deeds of wickedness with men who are evildoers; let me not feast on their dainties. 5 Let the righteous man strike me in loyalty, let him reprove me; let my head not refuse such choice oil. My prayers are still against their evil deeds. 6 May their judges slip on the rock, but let my words be heard, for they are sweet.

‫֝ ִנ ְ ּצ ָ ֗רה ַעל־דַּ ֥ ל שְׂ ָפ ָ ֽתי׃‬ ‫֪ר ׀ רע‬ ֡ ָ ‫ל־תט־לִ ִ֨ ּבי לְ ָד ָב‬ ַּ ‫ ַא‬4 ‫לְ ִה ְתע֘ וֹ לֵ ֤ל עֲ לִ ל֨ וֹ ת ׀ ְ ּב ֶ ֗ר ׁ ַשע‬ ‫י־א֑וֶ ן‬ ָ ֵ‫ישים ּפֹעֲ ל‬ ֥ ִ ׁ ‫ת־א‬ ִ ‫ֶא‬ ‫ל־אלְ ַ֗חם ְ ּב ַמנ ְַע ֵּמ ֶיהֽם׃‬ ֶ֝ ‫ו ַּב‬ ‫ יֶ ֶ֥הלְ ֵ ֽמנִי צַ ִ ֨דּ יק ׀ ֶ֡ח ֶסד‬5 ‫ְוֽיוֹ כִ ֵ֗יחנִי‬ ‫ֹאשי‬ ֑ ִ ׁ ‫אש ַאל־יָ ִנ ֣י ר‬ ׁ ֹ‫ׁ ֶש ֶ֣מן ֭ר‬ ‫ִּכי־ע֥ וֹ ד ּ֝ו ְת ִפ ָּל ִ֗תי ְ ּב ָרעוֹ ֵת ֶיהֽם׃‬ ‫י־סלַ ע ׁש ְֹפ ֵט ֶיה֑ם‬ ֶ ֭ ‫ נ ׁ ְִש ְמ ֣ט ּו ִ ֽב ֵיד‬6 ‫וְ ׁ ָש ְמע֥ ּו ֲ֝א ָמ ַ ֗רי ִּכ֣י נָעֵ ֽמוּ׃‬

door Rendering ‫דל‬, apparently the same as ‫דלת‬. It is found in Phoenician inscriptions.1 4. men  The noun ‫ אישים‬is an unusual form of the plural for ‫ איש‬but occurs also in Isa. 53:3 and Prov. 8:4. feast on their dainties  The speaker worries that he will be tempted by the fine food of the wicked, that is, the benefits that the wicked enjoy. He does not want to be associated with them, and eating with them is a primary sign of association. “Feast,” ‫אלחם‬, is a denominative verb from ‫לחם‬, “bread, food.” 5–7.  The Hebrew is largely unintelligible. The righteous are contrasted with the wicked. 5.  Chastisement from righteous people is preferable to indulgences from wicked people (an idea also found in Proverbs). choice oil  Perhaps the balm of chastisement. Another interpretation: oil on the head (see Ps. 23:5) is a luxury cosmetic used at banquets, so the meaning may be that the speaker prefers to banquet with the righteous (to enjoy their luxuries) rather than to dine on delicacies with the wicked. NRSV interprets the oil as belonging to the wicked; it goes along with their dainties. their  I.e., the evildoers of verse 4 [Transl.]. 6.  The judges of the wicked, the leaders of the speaker’s opponents, should come to a quick bad end so that their wrongful words will not be heard. In contrast, the speaker’s correct words will be heard. slip  Or “be thrown down.” on the rock Rendering ‫בידי־סלע‬, “by the hands of a rock.” Some commentators take “rock” as a reference to God (as in Ps. 18:3, 42:10, and elsewhere). The exact meaning is unclear; it brings to mind the dashing of children against the Rock (‫ )הסלע‬in 137:9.

122

Psalms 141:7 

‫תהלים אמק‬

7 As when the earth is cleft and broken up our bones are scattered at the mouth of Sheol. 8 My eyes are fixed upon You, O God my Lord; I seek refuge in You, do not put me in jeopardy.

‫ ְּכ ֤מוֹ פֹלֵ ַ֣ח ּוב ֵ ֹ֣ק ַע ָ ּב ָא ֶ֑רץ‬7 ‫נ ְִפזְ ֥ר ּו ֝עֲ צָ ֵ֗מינ ּו לְ ִפ֣י ׁ ְש ֽאוֹ ל׃‬ ‫ ִּכ֤י ֵא ֶ֨ל ָיך ׀ יהוה ֱאל ִֹה֣ים ֲאדֹ ָנ ֣י ֵעי ָנ ֑י‬8 ‫ל־תעַ ֥ר נ ְַפ ׁ ִ ֽשי׃‬ ְּ ‫ְ ּבכָ ֥ה* ָ֝ח ִ֗ס ִיתי ַא‬ * 8. This unusual spelling with ‫ה‬, rather than as ‫בך‬, is traditional here.

7.  The verse seems at first to be a continuation of 6a, referring to the fate of the aforementioned judges. The rock image would then be extended to the breaking up of the earth, which in turn leads to the earth splitting open so that a person falls into Sheol (Num. 16:32–33; Isa. 5:14). However, “our bones are scattered” does not seem to refer to the judges but rather to the speaker and his group, who feel endangered, close to death (as the following verses seem to confirm). Qumran Psalms scroll 11QPsa reads “my bones.” Some emend to “their bones,” referring to the judges, based on some Greek manuscripts and the Peshitta (so NRSV). NIV avoids emending by making these words a quotation in the mouths of the wicked: “They will say, ‘As one plows and breaks up the earth, so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of the grave.’ ” The scattering of bones may mean that the dead (the wicked) will not receive a proper burial or that God rejects and destroys the wicked (Ps. 53:6). 5b–7.  A new suggestion. Though the text is beyond full reconstruction, it seems to resemble two other biblical passages. In 2 Chron. 25:12, the enemy is thrown (‫)השליך‬ from the top of the rock (or, the Rock) and bursts open (‫ ;נבקעו‬the same root as in our v. 7). In 2 Kings 9:33–37, they throw (‫ ;שמט‬same verb as in our v. 6) Jezebel from a window, and when they go to bury her, they find only her skull, feet, and hands; Elijah’s prophecy that dogs would devour Jezebel’s flesh has come true. The same type of punishment seems to be imagined here—the throwing down and bursting of the enemy, and the bones scattered instead of a proper burial. I would therefore offer an alternative interpretation, moving verse 6b to the end of verse 5.

I would translate:

‫ִּכי־עוֹ ד ו ְּת ִפ ָּל ִתי ְ ּב ָרעוֹ ֵת ֶיהם‬ :ּ‫וְ ׁ ָש ְמע ּו ֲא ָמ ַרי ִּכי נ ֵָעמו‬ ‫י־סלַ ע ׁש ְֹפ ֵט ֶיהם‬ ֶ ‫נ ׁ ְִש ְמט ּו בִ ֵיד‬ ‫ְּכמוֹ פֹלֵ ַח ּוב ֵֹק ַע ָ ּב ָא ֶרץ‬ :‫נ ְִפזְ ר ּו ֲעצָ ֵמינ ּו לְ ִפי ׁ ְשאוֹ ל‬

My prayers are still against their evil deeds So let my words be heard, for they are sweet. May their judges be thrown by means of (from?) a rock As one plows and breaks up the earth2 Their [our?] bones will be scattered at the mouth of Sheol.

123

Psalms 141:9 

‫תהלים אמק‬

9 Keep me from the trap laid for me, and from the snares of evildoers. 10 Let the wicked fall into their nets while I alone come through.

‫ ׁ ָש ְמ ֵ ֗רנִי ִ ֣מ ֵידי ֭ ַפח יָ ְ֣ק ׁש ּו לִ ֑י‬9 ‫ּ֝ומ ְֹק ׁ ֗שוֹ ת ּ ֣ ֹפעֲ לֵ י ָאֽוֶ ן׃‬ ‫ יִ ּ ְפל֣ ּו בְ ַמכְ מ ָ ֹ֣ריו ְר ׁ ָשעִ ֑ים‬10  ‫ֽד־אעֱ ֽבוֹ ר׃‬ ֶ ַ‫יַ ַ֥חד ָ֝אנ ִֹ֗כי ע‬

9–10.  Measure-for-measure retribution. As in the previous psalm, the evildoers will be entrapped by the very means they planned to use against the speaker. For various types of snares and traps, see 35:7–8 and 140:6, with comment. 10. into their nets  Literally “into his nets,” meaning “each into his own net.” The singular suffix with the plural noun has a distributive meaning.3 alone  The word ‫ יחד‬may derive from the same root as ‫אחד‬, “to be one” (compare ‫יחיד‬, “single, unique, individual”). It has a range of related meanings; while its usual meaning is “together,” it may also mean “alone.” 4 In Ezra 4:3 it clearly means “alone”: “we alone will build it.” It may possibly have this sense in Job 10:8 and 16:10, but those verses are difficult. The related word ‫ יחדו‬means “together but apart from anyone else.” In 1 Kings 3:18, the story of Solomon and the two harlots and their babies, one mother says, “We were ‫ ;יחדו‬there was no outsider with us in the house.” NJPS reads “We were alone; there was no one else with us in the house.” 5 The same obtains in Amos 3:3, ‫הילכו שנים יחדו בלתי‬ ‫אם נועדו‬, which means “Can two walk together [as a unit] separately from anyone else without having arranged it?” Others, however, differ from NJPS (and NRSV) in their understanding of ‫ יחד‬in verse 10 and render “all of them together,” referring to the wicked.6 while . . . ​come through  Some translations add “safely” to clarify that the speaker will not fall into the nets of the wicked. The preposition ‫ עד‬sometimes means “while” or “during the time that something else is happening.” 7

Ritual and Liturgical Uses This psalm and the following one are recited in the Yemenite rite—“only if time allows”—after the daily Afternoon Service. This use is probably motivated by the word ‫ מנחה‬in verse 2 (here rendered “evening sacrifice”), which was understood (already in J. Ber. 4:1) as referring to the Afternoon Service. For the same reason, verse 2 is recited in the Eidot Hamizraḥ rite at the beginning of the Afternoon Service. According to Shimmush Tehillim, this psalm

should be recited by people who suffer heartache. Verse 4 mentions “my heart,” and this may be the reason for this suggestion, but it is not clear whether this relates to physical or to emotional suffering. Since the next three psalms are designated, according to Shimmush Tehillim, as remedies for various physical illnesses, it seems plausible that this applies also to our psalm.

124

Psalm 142: Introduction The speaker appeals to God to save him from pursuers who wish to ensnare him. He feels alone, weak, and trapped. The imagery, typical of complaint or lament psalms, reflects social isolation or alienation (v. 5) and desperation from the actions of one’s opponents (v. 7). Here, as elsewhere in Psalms, a precise historical situation cannot be pinpointed, but in an exilic context, the opponents may be the Babylonians (see Comment to v. 8), or in a postexilic context, they may be those within Judean society who hold views antithetical to the speaker’s and to the “righteous” with whom he apparently wants to be associated (v. 8). The dominant images are a path and a trap; the speaker’s path is ensnared, he is trapped, he cannot escape (the “trap” image occurs in the preceding psalms, 140:6 and 141:9). Only God can help him, since he has no human ally. Similar themes—being pursued, desperately calling on God, seeking the right path—are developed even further in Psalm 143. The speaker asks God to rescue him so that he can praise God’s name, a common thought in such psalms. The publication of God’s deeds brings glory to God.

142 A maskil of David, while he was in the cave.

A prayer.

2 I cry aloud to the Lord; I appeal to the Lord loudly for mercy. I pour out my complaint before Him; 3  I lay my trouble before Him

‫ַמשְׂ ִּכ֥יל לְ ָדוִ ֑ד ִ ּ ֽב ְהיוֹ ֖תוֹ ַב ְּמעָ ָ ֣רה ְת ִפ ָּלֽה׃‬

‫קמב‬

‫ ֭קוֹ לִ י ֶאל־יהו֣ ה ֶאזְ עָ ֑ק‬2 ‫֝קוֹ ֗ ִלי ֶאל־יהו֥ ה ֶא ְת ַח ָ ּנֽן׃‬ ‫יחי‬ ֑ ִ ִׂ‫ ֶא ׁ ְש ּ ֣ ֹפ ְך לְ ָפ ָנ ֣יו ש‬3 ‫צָ֝ ָר ִ֗תי לְ ָפ ָנ ֥יו ַא ִ ּגֽיד׃‬

1.  The term ‫ משכיל‬presumably indicates a type of psalm; the term is sometimes associated with the wisdom tradition, but its meaning is unknown. The superscription links this psalm with the episode in 1 Samuel 24 when Saul, in pursuit of David, enters a cave where David and his men have taken refuge, unbeknownst to Saul. The reference to “pursuers” in verse 7 resonates with Saul’s pursuing David. A prayer  So also Ps. 17:1 and 86:1, “A prayer of David”; 90:1, “A prayer of Moses”; and 102:1, “A prayer of the lowly man.” Psalm 72:20 closes book 2 with “End of the prayers of David son of Jesse.” 2–3.  The Hebrew lines are more closely parallel than the translation: literally “my voice [‫]קולי‬, to the Lord I cry out; my voice to the Lord I plead.” The idea recurs in verse 6. The word ‫ קול‬indicates calling loudly. Verses 2–4 resemble 77:2–4 and 102:1. Verse 2 repeats “to the Lord,” and verse 3 repeats “before Him,” thereby underscoring that the plea is directed to God. Four different verbs of pleading are used, suggesting that the speaker is trying in every possible way to ensure that God will hear him.

125

Psalms 142:4 

‫תהלים במק‬

4 when my spirit fails within me. You know my course; they have laid a trap in the path I walk. L ook at my right and see— 5  I have no friend; there is nowhere I can flee, no one cares about me. S o 6  I cry to You, O Lord; I say, “You are my refuge,

‫ ְ ּב ִה ְת ַע ּ ֵ֬טף ָע ַ֨לי ׀ רו ִּ֗חי‬4 ‫וְ ַא ָּת ֮ה יָ ַד ְ֪ע ָּת ְנ ִֽת ָ֫יב ִ ֥תי‬ ‫ְ ּב ֽאֹ ַרח־ ֥ז ּו ֲא ַה ֵ ּ ֑ל ְך ָט ְמנ֖ ּו ַפ֣ח ִלֽי׃‬ ‫ ַה ֵ ּב֤יט יָ ִ֨מין ׀ ו ְּר ֵא ֮ה‬5 ‫וְ ֵאֽין־לִ ֪י ַ֫מ ִּכ֥יר‬ ‫ָא ַב֣ד ָמנ֣וֹ ס ִמ ֶּ ֑מ ּנִי‬ ‫ֵא֖ין דּ וֹ ֵר ׁ֣ש לְ נ ְַפ ׁ ִ ֽשי׃‬ ‫ זָ עַ ְ֥ק ִּתי ֵא ֗ ֶל ָיך יה֫ו֥ ה‬6 ‫ָ֭א ַמ ְר ִּתי ַא ָּת֣ה ַמ ְח ִס֑י‬

4. when my spirit fails within me  NJPS makes this phrase the third line of the parallelism that begins at the beginning of verse 3, although in the Masoretic Text it opens verse 4. Indeed, a number of verses in this psalm contain more than two poetic lines. The idea of calling on God when one’s own strength ebbs is found also in 107:5, where the same idiom of one’s spirit failing refers to those lost in the wilderness, suffering from hunger and thirst, who are rescued by God. See also 143:4. You know my course  God knows where the speaker goes; or, God knows that the speaker walks in the correct path. (In Ps. 143:8 the speaker asks that God teach him the right path.) But the opponents place a trap in that path, seeking to make the speaker stumble, to harm him, or to divert him from the right path. they have laid a trap  The pronoun “they” has no antecedent. The pursuers are not mentioned until verse 7. The emphasis here is on the speaker, the object of the action, rather than on those who performed it. trap  The word ‫ פח‬denotes a triggered net used to snare birds. It is used metaphorically for harm caused by an enemy or an evildoer (Ps. 119:110, 124:7, 140:6, 141:9).1 5. Look at my right  An ally stands at the right side of a person (e.g., Ps. 121:5). The Masoretic Text has “look” and “see” in the imperative, meaning God should look and see. The Septuagint, Targum, Vulgate, Peshitta, and Qumran Psalms scroll 11QPsa all read “I look at my right and I see”; that is, the speaker himself looks for a human protector but sees none. no friend  Literally “no one who recognizes me”; that is, “no one who takes notice of me” (NRSV) to protect or aid me (as in Ruth 2:10,19). The meaning is clarified in the parallel phrase “no one cares about me.” 6. So I cry  This connects with verse 1, but there the verbs were in the prefix form (indicating a present or future tense) and here they are in the suffix form (indicating a past tense). Hossfeld and Zenger therefore renders “I have cried.” NJPS captures the implicit resumptive sense better by adding “So.” There is no real passage of time within the psalm; the speaker reiterates that he is crying out to God.

126

Psalms 142:7 

‫תהלים במק‬

all I have in the land of the living.” 7 Listen to my cry, for I have been brought very low; save me from my pursuers, for they are too strong for me. 8 Free me from prison, that I may praise Your name. The righteous shall glory in me for Your gracious dealings with me.

‫ֶ֝חלְ ִ֗קי ְ ּב ֶא ֶ֣רץ ַה ַח ִ ּיֽים׃‬ ‫י־מ ֥אֹד‬ ְ ‫ֽי־ד ּ֪לוֹ ִ֫ת‬ ַ ‫ֽל־ר ּנ ִָת ֮י ִּכ‬ ִ ‫֤יבה ׀ ֶא‬ ָ ‫ ַה ְק ׁ ִש‬7 ‫ַה ִ ּצילֵ ֥נִי ֵמר ְֹד ַפ֑י‬ ‫ִּכ֖י ָא ְמצ֣ ּו ִמ ֶּ ֽמ ּנִי׃‬ ‫ ֘הוֹ צִ ָ֤יאה ִמ ַּמ ְס ֵ֨ ּגר ׀ נ ְַפ ׁ ִש ֮י‬8 ‫ת־ש ֶמ ָ֥ך‬ ְ ֫ ׁ ‫לְ הוֹ ֪דוֹ ת ֶא‬ ‫֭ ִ ּבי יַ כְ ִּ ֣תר ּו צַ דִּ ִ ֑יקים‬  ‫ִּכ֖י ִתגְ ֣מֹל ָעלָ ֽי׃‬

all I have in the land of the living  Literally “my portion in the land of the living.” God is, metaphorically, the speaker’s allotted land possession. God is all that he can call his own, the only “home” or safe place he has, since he has no human allies. Similar contexts provoke this metaphor in Ps. 16:5–6, 73:26; and Lam. 3:24. Psalm 73:26 is especially close to our verse: “My body and mind fail; but God is the stay of my mind, my portion forever.” While our speaker is referring to God as his portion during his lifetime, the Jewish prayer for the deceased, El Malei Raḥamim, says of the dead that the Lord is their portion (since they no longer have a place among the living). For “the land of the living” as the antithesis of the realm of death or the waters of chaos, see also 27:13, 52:7, 116:9; and Job 28:13. 8.  The speaker will praise God when God has dealt with him graciously, that is, has rescued him. This is a common formula in psalms of complaint or lament (e.g., 138:1–3, 140:13–14), for God’s acts of deliverance show how great He is. The expression occurs with ‫ גמל‬in 13:6, “I will sing to the Lord, / for He has been good [‫ ]גמל‬to me,” and 103:2, “Bless the Lord, O my soul / and do not forget all His bounties [‫]גמוליו‬.” Free me from prison  From the ensnarement of the opponents. The midrash, and medieval commentators who echo it, equate “prison” (lit. “enclosed place”) with the cave that David was in when he recited this psalm (according to its superscription in v. 1). The root ‫סגר‬, from which the word “prison,” ‫מסגר‬, derives, occurs several times in 1 Samuel 23, when David learns that Saul is planning to kill him, just before the incident in the cave (although the word “prison” itself does not occur there). On the other hand, Isa. 42:7 speaks of God rescuing captives from prison, referring to the return from exile, and it is likely that our psalm draws on this association of “prison” as well.2 In addition, “prison” may be a metaphor for death.3 In that case, our speaker is asking God to save him from death so that he can praise God. The nexus of “pursuers” (v. 7) and “prison” (v. 8) brings together two standard metaphors for danger from which the speaker cannot escape without God’s help. The righteous shall glory in me  Rendering an obscure clause. We expect that it should connect with the phrases that precede and follow it, that the speaker will praise God when God deals graciously with him. Hence we may suppose that the righteous will participate in some way in marking God’s gracious acts. The verb ‫ יכתרו‬has multiple

127

Psalms 142:8

‫תהלים במק‬ interpretations, deriving from three homonymous ‫ כתר‬verbs:4 (1) a denominative of ‫כתר‬, “crown” (Prov. 14:18, as noted in the Masorah), as in the Targum, “on my account the righteous will make for You a crown of praise” (Kimḥi explains that “the righteous will be glorified and will make me a crown for their heads”; NJPS chooses this option); (2) “to wait,” as in the Septuagint, “The righteous are waiting for me” (cf. Job 36:2); and (3) “to surround” (Hab. 1:4; Judg. 20:43; Ps. 22:13), as in NRSV, “The righteous will surround me.” 5 Hakham agrees with this interpretation, explaining that the righteous will march around the speaker in celebration when God comes to his aid. Alternatively, the speaker will now be surrounded by the righteous in the sense of no longer being alone and friendless, as he was in verse 5.

Ritual and Liturgical Uses This psalm is recited, along with Psalm 141, in the Yemenite rite—“only if time allows”—after the daily Afternoon Service, probably just as a continuation of the previous psalm; see the sidebar on the reason for choosing Psalm 141. According to Shimmush Tehillim, this psalm should be recited by people who suffer pains in their

thighs, probably because the psalm mentions walking (v. 4) and chasing (v. 7). See also the previous psalm and the next two, which Shimmush Tehillim designates as remedies for other physical illnesses. Amos Hakham (Da‘at Mikra, 560) records a tradition according to which this psalm and the next one should be recited by persons on their deathbed.

128

Psalm 143: Introduction Psalm 143 shares with Psalm 142 the central idea—calling upon God for rescue from foes—and many of the same themes. The poem is better developed, with more extended images and a clearer structure. The frame highlights the main point—God’s ‫ אמונה‬and ‫( צדקה‬NJPS: “faithfulness and beneficence”) in verse 1 and His ‫ צדקה‬and ‫( חסד‬NJPS: “beneficence and faithfulness”) in verse 12. These divine attributes are what the speaker counts on to elicit God’s help. The poem falls into two parts: verses 1–6 (selah, probably a musical notation of uncertain meaning, marks the break) and 7–12. Each part opens with a plea to God to “answer me” (v. 1) and, with more urgency in verse 7, “answer me quickly.” The argument reaches its climax in the last verse, where the sense of noblesse oblige is invoked most overtly—God, a beneficent deity by nature, should feel obliged to act with beneficence to His servant, the supplicant.

143 A psalm of David. O Lord, hear my prayer; give ear to my plea, as You are faithful; answer me, as You are beneficent. 2 Do not enter into judgment with Your servant, for before You no creature is in the right.

‫ִמזְ ֗מוֹ ר לְ ָ ֫דוִ ֥ד‬

‫קמג‬

‫יהו֤ ה ׀ ׁ ְש ַ֬מע ְּת ִפ ָּל ִ֗תי‬ ‫ל־ת ֲחנ ּו ַנ ֑י‬ ַּ ‫ַה ֲאזִ ֥ינָה ֶא‬ ‫ֶ ּב ֱא ֻמ ָנ ְֽת ָ ֥ך ֝עֲ ֵ֗ננִי ְ ּבצִ ְד ָק ֶ ֽת ָך׃‬ ‫ת־עבְ דֶּ ֑ ָך‬ ַ ‫ל־ת ֣בוֹ א ֭בְ ִמ ׁ ְש ּ ָפט ֶא‬ ָּ ‫ וְ ַא‬2 ‫ל־חֽי׃‬ ָ ָ‫ִּכ֤י ֹֽלא־יִ צְ דַּ ֖ ק לְ ָפ ֶנ ָ֣יך כ‬

1–2.  The speaker calls out for God’s help because, by His nature, God is a reliable source of help, not because the speaker deserves that help, for no human can measure up to God’s standard. NJPS and others, echoing the Septuagint, have adjusted the phrase division of the last part of verse 1. The KJV, following the Masoretic Text accents, has “Hear my prayer, O Lord, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness.” On the other hand, NRSV (similar to NJPS) has “Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my supplications in your faithfulness; answer me in your righteousness.” faithful . . . ​beneficent  God’s faithfulness, ‫אמונה‬, means His steadfastness or reliability. God’s beneficence, ‫צדקה‬, or “righteousness/right-ness,” occurs frequently in the context of God’s intervention on behalf of humans. The two terms occur together in reference to the future Davidic king in Isa. 11:5, “Justice shall be the girdle of his loins, / And faithfulness the girdle of his waist.” Psalm 33:4–5 contains five terms for God’s attributes from this legal or quasi-legal semantic range: ‫ישר‬, ‫אמונה‬, ‫צדקה‬, ‫משפט‬, ‫חסד‬. They often occur in various combinations of two or three, but our psalm employs all five terms, in different forms, in verses 1–2 (‫אמונה‬, ‫צדקה‬, ‫ )משפט‬and 10–12 (‫מישור‬, ‫צדקה‬, ‫ ;חסד‬this does not emerge clearly in the NJPS translation). The point is that God acts rightly, justly, and with loyalty. He is dependable; He does the right thing. 2.  No living being can win a lawsuit against God (cf. Job 9:2,32). The speaker’s appeal is based not upon his own merit, but upon God’s beneficence.

129

Psalms 143:3 

‫תהלים גמק‬

3 My foe hounded me; he crushed me to the ground; he made me dwell in darkness like those long dead. 4 My spirit failed within me; my mind was numbed with horror. 5 Then I thought of the days of old; I rehearsed all Your deeds, recounted the work of Your hands. 6 I stretched out my hands to You, longing for You like thirsty earth.   Selah.

‫ ִּכ֥י ָ ֘ר ַד֤ף אוֹ ֵ֨יב ׀ נ ְַפ ׁ ֗ ִשי‬3 ‫דִּ ָּכ֣א לָ֭ ָא ֶרץ ַח ָ ּי ִ ֑תי‬ ‫הוֹ ׁ ִש ַ ֥בנִי בְ֝ ַמ ֲח ׁ ַש ִּ֗כים‬ ‫ְּכ ֵמ ֵת֥י עוֹ לָ ֽם׃‬ ‫ וַ ִּת ְת ַע ּ ֵט֣ף ָעלַ ֣י רו ִ ּ֑חי‬4 ‫ְ֝ ּבתוֹ ִ֗כי יִ ׁ ְש ּתוֹ ֵמ֥ם לִ ִ ּ ֽבי׃‬ ‫ ָ֘זכַ ֤ ְר ִּתי יָ ִ֨מים ׀ ִמ ֶ ּ֗ק ֶדם‬5 ‫ל־פעֳ לֶ ֑ ָך‬ ָ ּ ָ‫ָהגִ ִ֥יתי בְ כ‬ ָ ‫ְ ּ ֽב ַמעֲ שֵׂ ֖ה יָ ֶד‬ ‫֣יך ֲאשׂ וֹ ֵח ַֽח׃‬ ‫ ּ ֵפ ַ ֣רשְׂ ִּתי יָ ַד֣י ֵאלֶ ָ֑יך‬6 ‫נ ְַפ ׁ ֓ ִשי ׀ ְּכ ֶא ֶרץ־עֲ יֵ ָפ֖ה לְ ָ ֣ך ֶ סֽלָ ה׃‬

3.  The foe pursued the speaker and crushed him to the ground, as if squeezing the life out of him. NJPS “hounded me” is literally “pursued my soul [‫“ ;”]נפש‬crushed me” is literally “crushed my life [‫]ח ָ ּי ִתי‬. ַ ” The use of “my soul” and “my life,” rather than just the pronoun “me,” strengthens the notion that the speaker’s very being is at risk. For ‫ נפש‬and ‫ חיים‬in parallelism, see also Ps. 146:1–2. he made me dwell in darkness like those long dead  The foe brought the speaker close to death. The same phrase appears in Lam. 3:6, where God, acting as an enemy, has brought the speaker close to death. Darkness = death. “Long dead” is better rendered “eternally dead”; ‫ עולם‬means “eternal.” The issue is not whether the death occurred long ago or recently, but that the dead are dead forever, permanently, with no possibility of living again. (This idea occurs repeatedly in Psalms, although other biblical passages may not agree with it. The idea of resurrection became widespread in Judaism in a later period.) The speaker portrays himself as if he is already dead; that is, his situation is hopeless and he is on the brink of death. See also Ps. 88:1–7 and Jonah 2. 4–6.  Just at the moment that he is psychologically and mentally overcome, the speaker thinks of God’s past acts, reciting them to himself, and this gives him hope, so he stretches out his hand to God, in the standard gesture of beseeching and praying (see Comment to Ps. 134:2 and also 141:2). For “My spirit failed within me,” see Comment to 142:4. 6.  The speaker longs for God like parched land longs for water, meaning that he needs God in order to survive. For a similar image in different words, see Ps. 42:2. thirsty earth  Compare Isa. 32:2, translated there by NJPS as “a languishing land”; see also Ps. 63:2, “a parched and thirsty land.” The word ‫ עיף‬has a range of meanings, including “tired, hungry, and thirsty”—the last also in Jer. 31:25 and Prov. 25:25. When Esau comes home famished and gives away his birthright to Jacob for some “red stuff,” the word for “famished” is ‫( עיף‬Gen. 25:30).

130

Psalms 143:7 

‫תהלים גמק‬

7 Answer me quickly, O Lord; my spirit can endure no more. Do not hide Your face from me, or I shall become like those who descend into the Pit. 8 Let me learn of Your faithfulness by daybreak, for in You I trust; let me know the road I must take, for on You I have set my hope. 9 Save me from my foes, O Lord; to You I look for cover. T each me to do Your will, 10  for You are my God. Let Your gracious spirit lead me on level ground. F or 11  the sake of Your name, O Lord, preserve me; as You are beneficent, free me from distress.

‫ ַ֘מ ֵה֤ר עֲ ֵ֨ננִי ׀ יהו ֮ה‬7 ‫ָּכלְ ָת֪ה ר֫ ו ִ ּ֥חי‬ ָ ‫ל־ת ְס ֵּת֣ר ּ ָפ ֶנ ֣יך ִמ ֶּ ֑מ ּנִי‬ ַּ ‫ַא‬ ‫ְ֝ונ ְִמ ׁ ֗ ַשלְ ִּתי ִעם־יֹ ְ֥ר ֵדי ֽבוֹ ר׃‬ ‫ ַה ׁ ְש ִ֘מ ֵיע֤נִי ַב ֹ֨בּ ֶקר ׀ ַח ְסדֶּ ָ ֮ך‬8 ‫ִּכֽי־בְ ָ ֪ך ָ֫ב ָט ְ֥ח ִּתי‬ ‫הוֹ ִד ֵ ֗יענִי דֶּ ֽ ֶר ְך־ ֥ז ּו ֵאלֵ ֑ ְך‬ ‫֥אתי נ ְַפ ׁ ִ ֽשי׃‬ ִ ָׂ‫י־א ֗ ֶל ָיך נָש‬ ֵ֝ ‫ִּכ‬ ‫ ַה ִ ּצילֵ ֖נִי ֵמאֹיְ ַב֥י ׀ יהו֗ ה‬9 ‫ֵאלֶ ָ֥יך כִ ִּ ֽס ִתי׃‬ ‫ לַ ְּמ ֵ ֤דנִי ׀ לַ ֥עֲ שׂ֣ וֹ ת ְרצוֹ נ ָ ֶ֮ך‬10 ‫ֽי־א ָּת֪ה ֱא ֫לוֹ ָה֥י‬ ַ ‫ִּכ‬ ָ ‫רו ֲּח ֥ך טוֹ ָב֑ה ַ֝ ּתנ ְֵ֗חנִי‬ ֽ ׁ ‫ְ ּב ֶא ֶ֣רץ ִמ‬ ‫ישוֹ ר׃‬ ָ ‫ן־ש ְמ ֣ך יהו֣ ה ְּת ַח ֵ ּי֑נִי‬ ִ ׁ ‫ לְ ַמ ַע‬11 ‫ְ ּבצִ ְד ָק ְת ָ֓ך ׀ ּתוֹ ִצ֖יא ִמ ָ ּצ ָ ֣רה נ ְַפ ׁ ִ ֽשי׃‬

7.  The speaker urgently repeats his plea for God’s response, again mentioning his near-death feeling, but the following verses focus on God’s nature rather than on the speaker’s predicament, thereby offering a more positive outlook. Do not hide Your face  Do not ignore the supplicant; look upon him with favor. If God hides His face, the supplicant will be cut off from Him, as the dead are. the Pit  The grave; death. 8.  Morning is traditionally when God responds to prayer, as in Ps. 30:6, 90:14; and Lam. 3:22–23. Based on this verse, some scholars proposed that the psalm was part of a night vigil at the Temple, but no evidence supports this suggestion. the road I must take  Compare Ps. 142:4. 9. to You I look for cover  The phrase is difficult. The context suggests that the speaker takes refuge in God or looks to God for protection.1 10. on level ground  Without obstacles (cf. Isa. 40:3–4). “Ground” renders ‫ארץ‬ in the Masoretic Text, but NRSV reads “on a level path,” based on some manuscripts and on Ps. 27:11, “Show me Your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path [‫]בא ַֹרח ִמ ׁישוֹ ר‬. ְּ ” 2 Hosea 14:10 expands the thought: “For the paths [‫ ]דרכי‬of the Lord are smooth; / The righteous can walk on them, / While sinners stumble on them.” 11.  God should keep the supplicant alive for His name’s sake, to uphold His reputation as a loyal and beneficent deity, not because the suppliant deserves it. This is

131

Psalms 143:12  12 As You are faithful, put an end to my foes; destroy all my mortal enemies, for I am Your servant.

‫תהלים גמק‬

‫ ֽ ּובְ ַח ְסדְּ ָ ֮ך ַּתצְ ִ ֪מית ֫אֹיְ ָב֥י‬12 ‫שי‬ ֑ ִ ׁ ‫ֽ֭ ְו ַה ֲא ַב ְד ָּת ָּכל־צ ְֹר ֵר֣י נ ְַפ‬  ‫ִ֝ ּ֗כי ֲא ִנ ֣י ַעבְ דֶּ ֽ ָך׃‬

common reasoning when asking for God’s help. And just as God is loyal to the suppliant, so the suppliant is the loyal servant of God. Noblesse oblige—God’s sovereignty obliges him to act honorably and generously to His servant.

Ritual and Liturgical Uses Psalm 143 is not used in any current liturgical rite. According to Shimmush Tehillim, this psalm should be recited by people who suffer pains in their arms. See also the previous two psalms and the next one, which Shimmush Tehillim designates as remedies for other

physical illnesses. Verse 6, “I stretched out my hands to You,” may be seen as the justification for this use. Amos Hakham (Da‘at Mikra, 560) records a tradition according to which this psalm and the previous one should be recited by persons on their deathbed.

132

Psalm 144: Introduction The first-person speaker, in the persona of a Davidic king, opens by blessing God, the divine warrior and protector who prepares the king for battle. He then beseeches God to grant the king victory over his enemies, a victory that will provide peace and prosperity for the country. God’s protection is expressed in military terms—rock, fortress, shield— portraying God as a warrior (as He is portrayed elsewhere), in this case a cosmic warrior in contrast to the earthly warrior who is the human king. In comparison to God, humans, including the king, are weak, lowly, and transient, while God, the creator of the universe, is a cosmic force, able to defeat the forces of chaos. The military tone and imagery give way, in verses 12–14, to a picture of family (= society) and economic stability and security, spoken in the first-person plural. The psalm’s two themes, victory to the king and national prosperity, are often linked in ancient Near Eastern royal ideologies, which the Bible shares.1 The psalm contains a number of elements of Late Biblical Hebrew (Aramaisms, ‫נטעים‬, ‫זוית‬, ‫זן‬, -‫)אשרי ש‬, dating it to the exilic or postexilic period.2 It clearly draws on earlier psalms, including Psalms 8, 33, and most notably Psalm 18 (= 2 Samuel 22), a preexilic royal psalm (a psalm recited by or on behalf of the king), which seems to have served as its model (in three instances in vv. 2 and 6, the wording is closer to 2 Samuel 22 than to Psalm 18). This model was freely adjusted to suit the new message appropriate for a later situation.3 While Psalm 18 describes God’s past actions, our psalm uses imperatives to request God’s actions in the present. Psalm 18 celebrates the completion of a victory; Psalm 144 looks forward to liberation in the future. When our psalm was composed, there was no king of Judah; it is a “royal” psalm in the absence of a king. The psalm is expressing a hope for the return of the Davidic monarchy and the resulting prosperity it would bring to Judah.4

144 Of David. Blessed is the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for battle,

‫לְ ָד ִ֨וד ׀‬

‫קמד‬

‫ָ֘ ּב ֤רו ְּך יהו֨ ה ׀ צו ִ ּ֗רי‬ ‫ַה ְֽמלַ ֵּמ֣ד יָ ַד֣י לַ ְק ָ ֑רב‬

1.  The poem is framed by the phrases “Blessed is the Lord” and “happy the people whose God is the Lord.” God is blessed because He grants the victory that enables His people to be in a state of well-being. The speaker is a fictional persona taking on the role of a descendant of the house of David who would be king if the Judean monarchy were restored.5 This potential king presents himself as a leader in battle who, with God’s help, subdues the enemy and brings prosperity to his nation. The Septuagint adds “concerning Goliath” to the superscription. The Targum refers to the sword in verse 10 as Goliath’s. This tradition of linking this psalm with Goliath is part of a larger effort to find a specific occasion in the life of David with which to associate individual psalms (cf. Ps. 142:1). The killing of Goliath (1 Samuel 17) is David’s most famous battle victory. who trains my hands for battle  See Ps. 18:35. Leading the troops in battle was

133

Psalms 144:2 

‫תהלים דמק‬

my fingers for warfare; 2 my faithful one, my fortress, my haven and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take shelter, who makes peoples subject to me. 3 O Lord, what is man that You should care about him,

‫ֶ֝אצְ ְ ּבעוֹ ַ֗תי לַ ִּמלְ ָח ָ ֽמה׃‬ ‫ ַח ְסדִּ ֥ י ו ְּמצו ָּד ִת ֮י‬2 ‫ִמשְׂ ַ ּג ִ ּב֪י ֽ ּו ְמ ַפלְ ִ֫טי־לִ ֥י‬ ‫֑יתי‬ ִ ‫ָ֭מגִ ּנִי ו ּ֣בוֹ ָח ִס‬ ‫ָהרוֹ ֵ ֖דד ַע ִּ ֣מי* ַת ְח ָּ ֽתי׃‬ ‫ה־א ָדם וַ ֵּת ָדעֵ ֑ה ּו‬ ָ֭ ‫ יֽ הו֗ ה ָ ֽמ‬3 * 2. The absence of ‫ ם‬at the end (to mark a plural) is traditional here, even though its presence might seem more correct.

one of the duties of a king (1 Sam. 8:20), but in the exilic or postexilic situation it is unlikely that an actual war against Babylonia or Persia was envisioned. The enemies here are probably opposing parties in Judah; see verses 7–8. 2.  God’s protection is described in military terms. See Ps. 18:2–3 for similar descriptions of God. God as warrior is a common metaphor.6 my faithful one  God is faithful to His covenant with David. God’s loyalty, ‫חסד‬, occurs here in connection with God’s power to protect His people and deliver them from harm as warrior, as also in Ps. 31:17, 59:17–18, 62:12–13, 89:25, and 119:41.7 who makes peoples subject to me  The word ‫עמי‬, “my people,” is the Masoretic Text reading, as is the Septuagint’s. But most modern exegetes prefer to read ‫עמים‬, “peoples,” referring to other nations. They find support in Qumran Psalms scroll 11QPsa and the Targum, which read “peoples.” (See also the tenth-century commentator Saadiah Gaon [Transl.].) The similar phrases in Ps. 18:48, ‫וַ ַ ּי ְד ֵ ּבר ַע ִּמים ַּת ְח ָּתי‬, “and made peoples subject to me,” and in 2 Sam. 22:48, ‫ ּומ ִֹריד ַע ִּמים ַּת ְח ֵּתנִי‬, “And made peoples subject to me,” support “peoples” in our verse. Nevertheless, the Masoretic note ‫( סבירין‬rendered above in English idiom) seeks to preserve the Masoretic Text spelling here and also in 2 Sam. 22:44 and Lam. 3:14.8 Compare Ps. 18:44–45 for more on conquering foreign peoples. 3.  In Ps. 8:5 similar phrasing celebrates the idea that humans have been highly placed in the hierarchy of God’s creatures, just below the divine beings. In our psalm it emphasizes the transience of human life in contrast to God’s eternity. Job 7:17 opens with a similar expression, “What is man, that You make much of him,” but unlike our psalm and Psalm 8, where God’s attention is welcome, Job wishes God would not pay so much attention to him. Our psalm makes clear that the king is not divine (unlike the idea of king in Egypt and to a lesser extent in Mesopotamia) but is all too human and powerless without God’s help. Even God’s promise that a Davidide would always reign in Judah does not lessen the king’s dependence on God. How much more so is the impermanence of the king relevant in the postexilic period, when the kingship itself had been shown to be impermanent.

134

Psalms 144:4 

‫תהלים דמק‬

mortal man, that You should think of him? 4 Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow. O Lord, bend Your sky and come down; 5  touch the mountains and they will smoke.

‫ן־אנ֗וֹ ׁש וַ ְּת ַח ׁ ּ ְש ֵבֽהוּ׃‬ ֱ֝ ‫ֶ ּב‬ ‫ ָ֭א ָדם לַ ֶה ֶ֣בל דָּ ָמ֑ה‬4 ‫֝ ָי ָ֗מיו ְּכצֵ ֣ל עוֹ ֵבֽר׃‬ ָ ‫ט־ש ֶמ֣יך וְ ֵת ֵ ֑רד‬ ָ ׁ ‫ י֭ הוה ַה‬5 ‫ַ ּג֖ע ֶ ּב ָה ִ ֣רים ְוֽיֶ עֱ ׁ ָשֽנוּ׃‬

4. a breath . . . ​a passing shadow  The human life span is brief and transient compared with God’s eternalness. Human life is metaphorized as a breath and a shadow, things that are ephemeral, have no substance, hence no permanence. On the fleetingness of life, see also Eccles. 6:12, which also uses “breath” and “shadow”; Ps. 39:6–7, 78:39; Job 8:9, 14:2, and 17:7. In Job 7:7–9, Job compares his life to the wind and clouds. “Shadow” is often a metaphor for protection, but in later biblical literature, especially Wisdom Literature, it is also a metaphor for transience.9 a passing shadow  Not only does a shadow lack substance, but it disappears at nightfall. 5–7.  The battle between the speaker and his opponents is given cosmic proportions in a blend of Creation and theophany imagery. God is a cosmic force wielding the natural phenomena—mountains, lightning—as weapons against the foe. The foe is likened to the waters of chaos, “the mighty waters,” and then characterized as the foreigner and the one who speaks lies. These are conventional labels for opponents (cf. Ps. 27:12); the historical referent is unclear. In the postexilic period, the enemy is likely political opponents in Judah (see Comment to v. 7). bend Your sky and come down  Compare Ps. 18:10 for a fuller description of Creation cum Revelation. Psalm 18 puts the description in the past tense; here (vv. 5–7) the speaker asks for God to do it again, to descend to earth to reenact the cosmic battle.10 Behind this plea to re-create the world is the idea that the destruction of the Temple was like the destruction of the cosmos, and the restoration will be like a new creation. Various biblical images portray God as looking down from heaven (104:32, 113:5–6) or coming down from heaven (Exod. 19:18). More dramatically, Isa. 63:19 asks God to tear open the heavens and come down. bend  The root ‫ נטה‬is used in descriptions of the creation of the sky, meaning “to spread the sky” (Isa. 40:22 and passim; Jer. 10:12, 51:15; Ps. 104:2 and elsewhere). Allen translates “spread apart Your heavens,” as one spreads apart curtains to make an opening in them. TDOT 9:383 and HALOT, 693, render “bow your heavens,” based on the meaning “to bend one’s shoulders to a burden” in Gen. 49:15 (so also NRSV). But ‫ נטה‬in other contexts means “to bend, incline” (as in “to bend an ear”), so it is not necessary to link it with the expression for spreading the sky in Creation. Hakham explains the image as bending the sky to make it like a ladder or a ramp for God to descend.

135

Psalms 144:6 

‫תהלים דמק‬

6 Make lightning flash and scatter them; shoot Your arrows and rout them. 7 Reach Your hand down from on high; rescue me, save me from the mighty waters, from the hands of foreigners, 8 whose mouths speak lies, and whose oaths are false.

‫ ְ ּב ֣רוֹ ק ָ֭ ּב ָרק ו ְּת ִפיצֵ ֑ם‬6 ‫ׁ ְשלַ ֥ח ִ֝ח ֶ֗ ּצ ָיך ו ְּת ֻה ֵּ ֽמם׃‬ ‫ ׁ ְשלַ ֥ח יָ ֶ ֗ד ָיך ִמ ָּ֫מ ֥רוֹ ם‬7 ‫ּ ְפצֵ ֣נִי וְ֭ ַה ִ ּצילֵ נִי ִמ ַּמ֣יִ ם ַר ִ ּב֑ים‬ ‫ִ֝מ ַ֗ ּיד ְ ּב ֵנ ֣י נֵכָ ֽר׃‬ ‫ר־ש֑וְ א‬ ָ ׁ ‫ ֲא ׁ ֶש֣ר ֭ ּ ִפ ֶיהם דִּ ֶ ּב‬8 ‫ִ֝ו ִימי ָנ֗ם יְ ִ ֣מין ׁ ָש ֶֽקר׃‬

6. Make lightning flash and scatter them  Along with the military imagery, Creation and theophany imagery blend together, as in Ps. 18:15, where Creation and theophany images are more explicit. God reveals Himself amid thunder and lightning, as in Exod. 19:16–19 and Job 38 (where Creation and theophany are also combined). Your arrows  Bolts of lightning. God is portrayed as an armed warrior; the things He created are used as weapons against the foe. 7.  The mighty waters of chaos are equated with foreigners who speak falsely, not merely enemies as in Ps. 18:17–18. Reach Your hand down  The Hebrew is plural, “hands,” which is unusual. In verse 5, God was to come down from the sky; here He is to remain in the sky but reach down His hand(s) to save the supplicant from the mighty waters, as one reaches out to grasp a drowning man (Hakham). rescue me  The verb within ‫ ;פצה( ּ ְפצֵ נִי‬also in v. 10) generally means “to open (the mouth)”; but in our psalm, where it is an Aramaic loanword, it means “to free, rescue,” perhaps with the sense of “to draw out.” 11 foreigners, whose mouths speak lies  Some interpreters take “foreigners” as a reference to a foreign power, imperial Persia, from whom the speaker would like to be free. Indeed, ‫בני נכר‬, generally considered a postexilic term for non-Israelites or non-Jews, appears in Ps. 18:45–46 in that sense; but it is unlikely that Persia would be characterized as speaking lies and swearing falsely. Rather, “speak lies” is a typical designation for internal opponents (27:12, 120:2). In this case, in the postexilic period, it probably refers to those residing in Judah, of both Judean and/or non-Judean descent, who were not considered to be part of the community of returnees. (A similar mentality is found in Ezra-Nehemiah, where the only “real” Jews are ‫בני הגולה‬, the community that returned from exile.) By calling them ‫בני נכר‬, the psalm is excluding them from the Jewish community.12 8. whose oaths are false  Literally “and their right hand is a lying right hand.” The parallelism of “mouth” and “right hand” suggests words and gestures—uttering an oath and raising the hand. Raising the (right) hand signifies swearing in Gen. 14:22; Ezek. 17:18; and Ps. 137:5. Several medieval commentators take “right hand” as the strength of the enemy—their words, or threats, are empty and their power is phony.

136

Psalms 144:9 

‫תהלים דמק‬

9 O God, I will sing You a new song, sing a hymn to You with a ten-stringed harp— t o the One who gives victory to kings, 10  who rescues His servant David from the deadly sword. 11 Rescue me, save me from the hands of foreigners, whose mouths speak lies, and whose oaths are false.

‫ ֱֽאל ִֹ֗הים ׁ ִש֣יר ֭ ָח ָד ׁש ָא ׁ ִש ָ֣ירה ָ ּ ֑ל ְך‬9 ּ ָ ‫ְ ּבנֵ ֥בֶ ל ָ֝עשׂ֗ וֹ ר ֲאזַ ְּמ ָר‬ ‫ה־ל ְֽך׃‬ ‫ ַהנּוֹ ֵת֥ן ְּת ׁשו ָ ּ֗עה לַ ְּמ ֫ ָלכִ ֥ים‬10 ‫ַ֭ה ּפוֹ צֶ ה ֶאת־דָּ וִ ֥ד ַעבְ ֗ ּדוֹ ֵמ ֶח ֶ֥רב ָרעָ ֽה׃‬ ‫ ּ ְפצֵ ֥נִי וְ ַה ִ ּצילֵ ִנ ֮י ִמ ַ ּי֪ד ְ ּ ֽבנֵי־ ֵנ֫כָ ֥ר‬11 ‫ר־ש֑וְ א‬ ָ ׁ ‫ֲא ׁ ֶש֣ר ֭ ּ ִפ ֶיהם דִּ ֶ ּב‬ ‫ִ֝ו ִימי ָנ֗ם יְ ִ ֣מין ׁ ָש ֶֽקר׃‬

9. I will sing You … sing a hymn to You  Better translated “let me sing to You . . . ​ let me chant to You.” Psalm 33:2–3 contains similar phrases. a new song  Scholars have pondered what makes a song new—perhaps poetic form, musical accompaniment, or theological thought—but in none of these ways is our psalm or the others that contain the phrase (33:3, 40:4, 96:1, 98:1, 149:1; Isa. 42:10) especially new or different from other psalms (although possibly they were when they were composed). More likely, the speaker feels that this time the situation about which he sings is different from before or that he sees events in a new way. A new era is dawning; a new song of praise is warranted.13 ten-stringed harp  The term ‫ נבל עשור‬is found also in Ps. 33:2 and 92:4.14 10. the One who gives victory to kings  “David” is parallel to “kings,” suggesting that he represents the Davidic dynasty. Or, just as God rescued David, let him rescue “me” (v. 11), namely the speaker, who portrays himself as a descendant of David. His servant David  David’s submission to God is evident throughout the psalm. Psalm 18:51, which underlies our verse, calls David “His anointed,” but that term is lacking here, replaced by “His servant.” “Servant of YHVH” appears frequently in Book 5 of Psalms, referring to Israel as a collective (136:22) or to an individual speaker (116:16, 119:176, 143:12).15 This verse, or a modified form of it, opened the traditional prayer for the government or monarch recited on Sabbath morning first by Sephardic Jews, beginning in the sixteenth century, and then, by the seventeenth century, by Jews throughout the world.16 The classic English translation (deriving from the KJV) is “He who gives salvation to kings.” 11.  The verse repeats the cry for help from verses 7–8, with the omission of “from the mighty waters.” It thereby refocuses on the current enemy rather than on the mythic waters of chaos.

137

Psalms 144:12 

‫תהלים דמק‬

12 For our sons are like saplings, well-tended in their youth; our daughters are like cornerstones trimmed to give shape to a palace. 13 Our storehouses are full, supplying produce of all kinds; our flocks number thousands, even myriads, in our fields;

‫שר ָ ּב ֵנ֨ינוּ ׀ ִּכנ ְִט ִעי ֮ם‬ ֤ ֶ ׁ ‫ ֲא‬12 ‫ְמגֻ דָּ לִ ֪ים ִ ּ ֽבנְעו ֵ ּ֫ר ֶיה֥ם‬ ‫ְ ּבנוֹ ֵת֥ינ ּו כְ זָ וִ ֹ֑ ּית‬ ‫ְ֝מ ֻח ּ ָטב֗ וֹ ת ַּתבְ ִנ ֥ית ֵהיכָ ֽל׃‬ ‫ ְמזָ וֵ ֣ינ ּו ְמלֵ ִאי ֮ם‬13 ‫יקים ִמ ַ֗ ּזן ֶ֫אל־זַ ֥ן‬ ֥ ִ ‫ְמ ִפ‬ ‫צֹאו ֵנ ֣נ ּו ַ֭מ ֲאלִ יפוֹ ת‬ ‫ְמ ֻר ָ ּבב֗ וֹ ת ְ ּבחוּצוֹ ֵ ֽתינוּ׃‬

12–15.  A picture of prosperity and security (cf. Lev. 26:1–13; Deut. 28:1–14), the antithesis of the descriptions of battle, siege, and starvation in Lamentations and in the curses in Deuteronomy 28. The restoration is envisioned as the reversal of the destruction, with families intact and healthy and the food supply—products of agriculture and livestock—assured. Prosperity is conveyed by mention of sons, daughters, and livestock, as in Job 1:2–3, where, as here, these are a sign of God’s blessing. The speaker uses first person plural. The imagery is unusual, and several of the terms are difficult. For our sons are like saplings  The initial word, the particle ‫אשר‬, “who, that,” has no antecedent. The best suggestion is that it means “in that,” “when,” or “in order that” or that it provides the reason for singing a new song: “because our sons . . .” (Hakham). The sons are like young tree plantings that grow quickly because they are well nourished. Psalm 128:3 describes sons as olive saplings. Psalm 92:13–15 compares the righteous to the date-palm and the cedar, both very tall trees. Here, the trees are generic; the emphasis is on their well-tended growth. our daughters are like cornerstones trimmed to give shape to a palace More literally, “our daughters [are] like a corner pillar carved according to the pattern of a palace.” 17 The comparison is to pillars at the corners of palace walls or flanking the entrance. These pillars were sometimes shaped like women. Most familiar from the Greek caryatids—draped female figures substituting for pillars supporting an entablature—similar figures were known in the Levant, Mesopotamia, and Persia.18 Both the agricultural simile (sons) and the architectural simile (daughters) project an image of height and strength; additionally, the men possess vigor and the women beauty. For another architectural simile applied to a woman, see Song 4:4, “tower of David.” carve.”

trimmed  The root ‫ חטב‬means “to cut (wood)”19 or is a by-form of ‫חצב‬, “to hew,

13.  A picture of plenty; agricultural produce and livestock are abundant and thus the food supply is assured. This is a sign of blessing and the antithesis of the famine of siege warfare. The word ‫זן‬, “kind,” is an Aramaism, probably of Persian origin (see also 2 Chron. 16:14); some take it from the Hebrew word for “food” (‫)מזון‬. The word ‫חוצות‬, “fields” (cf. Prov. 8:26; Job 5:10), sometimes means “streets.” 20 It parallels ‫רחֹבֹת‬, “streets, city squares,” in verse 14.

138

Psalms 144:14 

‫תהלים דמק‬

14 our cattle are well cared for. There is no breaching and no sortie, and no wailing in our streets. 15 Happy the people who have it so; happy the people whose God is the Lord.

‫ ַאלּ ו ֵּ֗פינ ּו ְ ֽמ ֻס ָ֫ ּבלִ ֥ים‬14 ּ ֶ֭ ‫ֵא‬ ‫ֽין־פ ֶרץ וְ ֵא֣ין יוֹ צֵ ֑את‬ ‫וְ ֵא֥ין צְ֝ וָ ָ֗חה ִ ּב ְרחֹב ֵ ֹֽתינוּ׃‬ ֹ‫ ַא ׁ ְש ֵר֣י ָ֭ה ָעם ׁ ֶש ָּכ֣כָ ה ּ֑לו‬15  ‫ַא ׁ ְֽש ֵ ֥רי ָ֝ה ָ ֗עם ׁ ֱשיהו֥ ה ֱאל ָֹהֽיו׃‬

14.  Although several terms are ambiguous, a continuation of the picture of plenty emerges, with the added idea of security. well cared for  Apparently taking ‫ ְמ ֻס ָ ּבלִ ים‬as from the Aramaic root meaning “to sustain.” The Hebrew root means “to be burdened” and has been variously understood as “fattened, laden with produce,” or “heavy with young, pregnant.” no breaching and no sortie, and no wailing in our streets  These terms have been interpreted as referring either to the livestock or to the security of the city. “Breaching,” ‫פרץ‬, may be a break in the city wall or an outbreak of a plague (Ps. 106:29). “Sortie,” ‫יוצאת‬, a feminine participle used as an abstract noun, may refer to surrender and exile, or bovine miscarriage. “Wailing,” ‫צְ וָ ָחה‬, is a human cry in reaction to drought or destruction (Isa. 24:11, 42:11; Jer. 14:2, 46:12), although some apply it to animals (cf. Joel 1:18, although a different verbal root is used). “Streets,” ‫רחבת‬, are the wide places, the town plazas, used for public gatherings. Some interpret the word as “broad meadows,” synonymous with its parallel, ‫חוצות‬, “fields,” in verse 13, but this is forced. Hakham interprets the clause as depicting a peaceful, harmonious society: “breaching” = internal rebellion, “sortie” = divorced women forced to leave their homes,21 and “wailing” = the sound of quarreling. I prefer to see these terms as the antithesis of the destruction of Jerusalem, the three stages of defeat that will not occur: the breach in the walls, going out to surrender to the besieger (cf. 1 Sam. 11:3; 2 Kings 18:31; Amos 4:3) or going into exile, and the public cry of anguish at the defeat. Verses 13–14 present a picture of security and plenty both outside and inside the town.22 The restoration will be a reversal of the destruction. 15.  A coda, summing up the picture of the restoration laid out throughout the psalm and linking it with God’s covenant with Israel. The word ‫אשרי‬, difficult to render in English, means to be declared to be in a favorable condition, a state of well-being; see the Comment to 128:1. who have it so  Who have a king who brings prosperity to the land. the people whose God is the Lord  Israel is fortunate, privileged, to have YHVH as its God, for YHVH will surely restore His people. Some scholars think that the genre of “royal psalm” underlies this poem but that it has been made into a national psalm— democratizing it, as it were. But it is better to understand that here, as elsewhere, the Davidic covenant is linked with a broader idea of the covenant between God and Israel. See the Comment to 132:12. The same God who promised dynastic continuity to David also made a promise to give Israel its land and to protect it from its enemies. All these divine promises echo through this postexilic prayer. The complete restoration will show that all of them are still operative.

139

Psalms 144:1–15

‫תהלים דמק‬

Ritual and Liturgical Uses This psalm is recited as the beginning of the Evening Service on Saturday night in the Ashkenazic, Italian, and Eidot Hamizraḥ rites. Its last verse (along with Ps. 84:5) is attached at the beginning of the following psalm (145) when the latter is used in liturgy as the Ashrei prayer. According to Amos Hakham (Da‘at Mikra, 569), this psalm is to be recited on the Memorial Day for Israeli soldiers, although Israeli Conservative and Reform siddurim instead use Psalm 9 and 2 Sam 1:17–27, respectively. In the flexible liturgies of the Land of Israel in the Gaonic and early medieval eras (roughly, the eighth through the thirteenth centuries), Psalms 144–150 were a main building block of the Morning Service’s

first section. This use of Psalms 144–150 resembles the use of Psalms 145–150 as the main building block of Pesukei deZimra in the more standardized liturgies of Babylonian Jewry, which gave rise to all five of the liturgical rites used by Jews throughout the world today. According to Shimmush Tehillim, this psalm should be recited by people who suffer from a broken hand (see the commentary to the previous three psalms) but also as a protection against all kind of demons and evil spirits. This dual function can be explained on the basis of mentioning hands and fingers (v. 1) and thanking God for being a shield and a shelter (v. 2).

140

Psalm 145: Introduction This is one of the best-known psalms in Jewish tradition because it is recited twice in the Morning Service and once in the Afternoon Service, preceded by Ps. 84:5 and 144:15, which both begin with the word ‫( אשרי‬hence the name by which this prayer is known), and followed by 115:18 (also found in some masoretic manuscripts), in which the community praises God. The liturgical use of this psalm may go back at least as far as the Qumran community, for the large Qumran Psalms scroll (11QPsa) contains the refrain “Blessed is YHVH and blessed is His name forever and ever” after each verse.1 This psalm praises God by saying how to praise God—how, when, and why to praise God. How to praise God? God’s nonhuman creations praise Him by their very existence (see, e.g., Psalm 148), for their existence gives testimony to their creator; but humans praise God verbally and vocally, by broadcasting His deeds and attributes. For that reason the psalm employs many words for speaking, saying, reciting, expressing, and proclaiming, as well as blessing, praising, lauding, and singing joyfully (in a religious context). When to praise God? Always, forever, every day, one generation to another. Why praise God? Because He is praiseworthy, good, great; He has done great deeds; He is sovereign over the world; He is caring and compassionate. Of all these attributes, the kingship of God stands out most; it is magnificent and eternal (especially in vv. 11–13). Who should praise God? The first-person speaker begins the act of praising but soon alternates with an unspecified “they,” later “the faithful ones,” and ultimately “all people.” The psalm is structured most obviously by the alphabetic acrostic, a device found also in Psalms 25, 34, 37, 111, 112, 119 (and a remnant in Psalms 9–10); Prov. 31:10–31; Lamentations 1, 2, 3, 4; Nah. 1:2–8 (partial acrostic); Sirach 51:13–30; and several compositions among the Dead Sea Scrolls.2 Five of the acrostic psalms (34, 37, 111, 112, 119) are considered Wisdom Literature, as are the passages in Proverbs and Sirach, and in wisdom writings the acrostic may be seen as a scribal game or exercise or as a learned technique for structuring a passage. While our psalm is not a wisdom psalm per se, it does employ another feature associated with Wisdom Literature known as the catalog, a listing of many items in a category. Catalogs probably originated in scientific and/or educational circles (encyclopedic lists of animals, plants, stars, places, kings, and the like go back to the Sumerians), but they are also used for literary purposes, including in (non-wisdom) psalms: Psalm 136 is a list of God’s acts (based on the Torah account), and Psalm 150 is constructed on a list of musical instruments used in the Temple service. Psalm 145 might be thought of as a catalog of praise or a catalog of divine attributes, especially since a number of our psalm’s phrases sound conventional and/or are found elsewhere in the Bible.3 Psalm 145 certainly has a didactic cast, instructing the community about praising God. However, acrostics are used for non-didactic purposes as well; they may serve as a mnemonic device and also as a way of representing an infinite number of items, everything from A to Z. This A-to-Z function is even more relevant in our psalm, for it is about infinite praise to God. Though the speaker cannot list all possible words of praise, the structure of

141

Psalms 145:1–21

‫תהלים קמה‬

the alphabet—from which all words are formed—summons all potential words.4 Psalm 145 is a liturgical acrostic catalog of praise, similar in form and function to the liturgical acrostic catalog of sins recited in the liturgy for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The nun verse is missing in the Masoretic Text and also in the Vulgate (Latin). Its absence is noted in B. Berakhot 4b and explained midrashically by the fact that the Bible (Amos 5:2) contains a negative statement about Israel beginning with nun: “Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Why is there no (verse beginning with) nun in Ashrei? Because it contains (an allusion to) the fall of Israel’s enemies [a euphemism for the fall of Israel]. As it is written: ‘Fallen, not to rise again, / Is Maiden Israel’ (Amos 5:2).” The nun verse is present in translation in the Septuagint and Syriac versions, and in Hebrew in the large Qumran Psalms scroll (11QPsa), which reads ‫נאמן אלוהים בדבריו וחסיד בכול מעשיו‬, “Trustworthy is God in His words and faithful in all His works.” We do not know if the nun verse was present originally and then lost in transmission, or if it was added later to make the alphabetic acrostic complete. Those who think that the verse was added later argue that other acrostics associated with David are defective (Psalms 25, 34, 37) and that the second part of the verse, “and faithful in all His works,” is identical to the second part of verse 17, although nowhere else in this psalm does this type of (atypical) duplication occur.5 Moreover, the Qumran scroll has Elohim rather than the tetragrammaton, YHVH, used many times throughout the psalm, suggesting that its nun-verse is a later insertion.6 On the other side, those who argue that the nun verse was originally present but then lost find it easier to explain the loss of a verse than to explain its free creation. In addition, they generally give great weight to the Ancient Versions and the Qumran material, since the extant manuscripts of these texts predate the masoretic manuscripts. To be sure, however, the absence of the nun verse is quite ancient, going back at least to Rabbinic times and perhaps earlier. Based on the Septuagint (which bears greater weight in Christian tradition than in Jewish tradition, even though it was originally a Jewish translation) and on the modern scholarly consensus that the nun verse was original, it has been restored in many modern Christian translations, including RSV, NRSV, NIV, and NAB.7 We might also consider the possibility that two versions of this psalm may have circulated in ancient times, one with the nun verse and one without it. In addition to the cohesion provided by the acrostic, the verses are held together by the repetition of important terms like “all, bless, praise, kingship” and by various recurrences of other words with similar roots or sounds.8 Further cohesion is achieved by the duplication of roots in adjoining verses: verses 1–2, “bless” (‫ ;)ברך‬2–3, “praise” (‫;)הלל‬ 8–9, “mercy” (‫ ;)רחם‬9–10, “works” (‫ ;)מעשה‬11–12, “might” (‫ )גבר‬and “majesty” (‫ ;)כבוד‬and 11–13, “kingship” (‫)מלכות‬. Based on these repetitions, the psalm may be subdivided into sections as follows: The word “bless” appears at the beginning (v. 1), at the end (v. 21), and in verse 10 (approximately the middle) and shows movement from “I bless” to “your faithful ones bless” to “all flesh will bless.” Within these framing verses are God’s attributes: His greatness (vv. 3–6) and His goodness (vv. 7–9); His kingship (vv. 11–13) and His care for His creatures (vv. 14–20).9 Psalm 145 is the last of the psalms from 138–145 that bear a Davidic superscription, and it forms a bridge to the Hallelujah psalms, Psalms 146–150.

142

Psalms 145:1

‫תהלים המק‬

145 A song of praise. Of David. ‫ א‬I will extol You, my God and king, and bless Your name forever and ever. ‫ ב‬2 Every day will I bless You and praise Your name forever and ever. ‫ ג‬3 Great is the Lord and much acclaimed; His greatness cannot be fathomed. ‫ ד‬4 One generation shall laud Your works to another and declare Your mighty acts. ‫ ה‬5 The glorious majesty of Your splendor and Your wondrous acts will I recite. ‫ ו‬6 Men shall talk of the might of Your awesome deeds, and I will recount Your greatness. ‫ ז‬7 They shall celebrate Your abundant goodness, and sing joyously of Your beneficence.

‫ְּת ִה ֗ ָּלה לְ ָ ֫דוִ ֥ד‬

‫קמה‬

‫ֲארוֹ ִמ ְמ ָ ֣ך ֱאלוֹ ַה֣י ַה ֶּמ֑לֶ ְך‬ ‫וַ ֲא ָב ְרכָ ֥ה ֝ ׁ ִש ְמ ָ֗ך לְ עוֹ לָ ֥ם וָ עֶ ֽד׃‬ ‫ ְ ּבכָ ל־י֥וֹ ם ֲא ָב ְֽרכֶ ָּ֑ך‬2 ‫וַ ֲא ַהֽלְ לָ ֥ה ֝ ׁ ִש ְמ ָ֗ך לְ עוֹ לָ ֥ם וָ עֶ ֽד׃‬ ‫ ָ֘ ּג ֤דוֹ ל יהו֣ ה ו ְּמ ֻה ָּל֣ל ְמ ֑אֹד‬3 ‫ְ֝ולִ גְ ֻד ָּל ֗תוֹ ֵא֣ין ֵח ֶֽקר׃‬ ָ ֶׂ‫דּ֣ וֹ ר לְ֭ דוֹ ר יְ ׁ ַש ַ ּב֣ח ַמעֲ ש‬ ‫֑יך‬ 4 ָ ‫וּגְ ֖ב ּור ֶֹת‬ ‫֣יך יַ ִ ּגֽידוּ׃‬ ‫ ֭ ֲה ַדר ְּכ ֣בוֹ ד הוֹ ֶ ֑ד ָך‬5 ָ ‫וְ ִדבְ ֵ ֖רי נ ְִפלְ א ֶֹת‬ ‫֣יך ָא ִ ֽשׂ ָיחה׃‬ ָ ‫וֶ עֱ ֣זוּז נֽוֹ ְרא ֶֹת‬ ‫ֹאמ֑ר ּו‬ ֵ ‫֣יך י‬ 6 ָ ‫וגדלותיך וּגְ ֻד ָּל ְת ֥ך ֲא ַס ּ ְפ ֶ ֽר ּנָה׃‬ ‫ זֵ ֣כֶ ר ַרב־טוּבְ ָ ֣ך יַ ִ ּב֑יע ּו‬7 ‫וְ צִ ְד ָק ְת ָ ֥ך יְ ַר ֵּנ ֽנוּ׃‬

1. A song of praise  The word ‫תהלה‬, ִ “praise,” is a common one, but no other psalm superscription uses it. It forms a frame with the first word of verse 21. Qumran Psalms scroll 11QPsa has ‫תפלה‬, ִ “prayer” (cf. 90:1, “a prayer of Moses”).10 extol  Elevate God’s reputation in the world by praising Him. Many of the verbs of praising may be rendered in the jussive, “Let me extol,” or in the indicative, “I will extol.” my God and king  The definite article -‫ ה‬precedes the noun rendered as “king,” so that it functions as a vocative, “My God, O King” or “O my God, the king” (see also ‫ המלך‬in 1 Sam. 17:55, 24:9). The speaker has a personal relationship with God but also recognizes Him as king, with supreme authority. God as king is emphasized in Psalms 93 and 95–99, sometimes called enthronement psalms. See verses 11–13. Your name  God’s name equals God Himself. The name stands for its bearer. 3. much acclaimed  Or “much to be acclaimed” (cf. Ps. 96:4, 113:3). 4. One generation . . . ​to another  Praise transcends the lifetime of the speaker; it goes on forever, generation after generation. Each generation shows the next how to praise God, presumably by reciting the great deeds He did for Israel, as in Psalms 78, 105, and the like, and as the speaker does in a more general manner in verses 14–20. 5. Your wondrous acts  So the Masoretic Text: ‫דברי נפלאותך‬. Rather than ‫דברי‬, the Septuagint and 11QPsa read ‫ידברו‬, “they will speak,” a verb. (“They” refers to the generations mentioned in verse 4.) The verse is construed as “(Of) the glorious majesty of Your splendor they shall speak, and Your wondrous acts I will recite.” 7.  A literal translation of the first half of the verse is “the fame/mention [‫ ]זכר‬of

143

Psalms 145:8 

‫תהלים המק‬

‫ ח‬8 The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in kindness. ‫ ט‬9 The Lord is good to all, and His mercy is upon all His works. ‫ י‬10 All Your works shall praise You, O Lord, and Your faithful ones shall bless You. ‫ כ‬11 They shall talk of the majesty of Your kingship, and speak of Your might, ‫ ל‬12 to make His mighty acts known among men and the majestic glory of His kingship. ‫ מ‬13 Your kingship is an eternal kingship; Your dominion is for all generations.

‫ ַח ּ֣נוּן וְ ַר ֣חוּם יהו֑ ה‬8 ‫ל־ח ֶֽסד׃‬ ָ ‫ֶא ֶ֥ר ְך ַ֝א ּ ַ֗פיִ ם וּגְ ָד‬ ‫ טוֹ ב־יהו֥ ה לַ ֹ֑כּ ל‬9 ‫ל־מעֲ שָׂ ֽיו׃‬ ַ ‫ל־כ‬ ָּ ‫ְ֝ו ַר ֲח ָ֗מיו ַע‬ ָ ֶׂ‫ל־מעֲ ש‬ ‫֑יך‬ ַ ‫ יוֹ ֣דו ָּך י֭ הוה ָּכ‬10 ‫ַ֝ו ֲח ִס ֶ ֗יד ָיך יְ ָב ְרכֽ וּכָ ה*׃‬ ‫ֹאמ֑ר ּו‬ ֵ ‫ ְּכ ֣בוֹ ד ַמלְ כו ְּת ָ ֣ך י‬11 ‫וּגְ בו ָּר ְת ָ ֥ך יְ ַד ֵ ּבֽרוּ׃‬ ‫ לְ הוֹ ִ ֤ד ַיע ׀ לִ בְ ֵנ ֣י ָ֭ה ָא ָדם ְ ּגב ּור ָֹת֑יו‬12 ‫ּ֝וכְ ב֗ וֹ ד ֲה ַד֣ר ַמלְ כו ּֽתוֹ ׃‬ ‫ ַ ֽמלְ כו ְּת ָ֗ך ַמלְ כ֥ וּת ָּכל־עֹלָ ִ ֑מים‬13 ‫ּ֝ו ֶ ֽמ ְמ ׁ ַשלְ ְּת ָ֗ך ְ ּבכָ ל־דּ֥ וֹ ר וָ ֽדֹר׃‬ * 10. This unusual spelling with ‫ה‬, rather than as ‫יברכוך‬, is traditional here.

Your manifold [‫ ]רב‬goodness they will express.” God’s goodness is not merely the good things that He does, but His very essence, as in Exod. 33:19, when God answers Moses’ request to see His presence: “I will make all My goodness pass before you.” sing joyously  The verb ‫ רנן‬generally refers to rejoicing in a religious context. 8.  On these attributes of God, see Exod. 34:6. Our verse reverses the order of ‫ רחום‬and ‫חנון‬, as do Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2; Ps. 111:4, 112:4; Neh. 9:17,31; and 2 Chron. 30:9. The order in Exodus is found also in Ps. 86:15 and 103:8. The reversed order is more common in Late Biblical Hebrew, and our psalm shares this trend. But the order may have been fluid from early times; see Exod. 33:19, where the root ‫ חנן‬precedes ‫רחם‬. Our verse also departs from 34:6 in substituting ‫גדל חסד‬, “great in kindness,” for ‫רב חסד‬, “abounding in kindness” (this difference is not reflected in NJPS). Our verse also omits the last word of the Exodus phrase, ‫ואמת‬, “and faithfulness.” Quotations and allusions could be freely altered for new contexts yet still retain their resonance. kindness Rendering ‫חסד‬, which has the sense of loyalty bound by obligation. 10. All Your works shall praise You  See Psalm 148. Your faithful ones The ‫ חסידים‬are those loyal to God, either all Israel or the members of the speaker’s community (see also Ps. 148:14; 149:1). In verse 12 they publicize God’s acts to others. 11–13.  These verses stand at the center of the psalm and have been seen as expressing its essence, celebrating the kingship of God. The verses begin with ‫כ‬, ‫ל‬, ‫מ‬, which spells ‫מלך‬, “king,” in inverted order. The word “kingdom” appears four times in these verses.

144

Psalms 145:14  ‫ ס‬14 The Lord supports all who stumble, and makes all who are bent stand straight. ‫ ע‬15 The eyes of all look to You expectantly, and You give them their food when it is due. ‫ פ‬16 You give it openhandedly, feeding every creature to its heart’s content. ‫ צ‬17 The Lord is beneficent in all His ways and faithful in all His works. ‫ ק‬18 The Lord is near to all who call Him, to all who call Him with sincerity. ‫ ר‬19 He fulfills the wishes of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and delivers them. ‫ ש‬20 The Lord watches over all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy.

‫תהלים המק‬

‫ל־ה ּנ ְֹפלִ ֑ים‬ ַ ָ‫ סוֹ ֵמ ְ֣ך י֭ הוה לְ כ‬14 ‫ל־ה ְּכפו ִ ּֽפים׃‬ ַ ָ‫ְ֝וזוֹ ֵ ֗קף לְ כ‬ ָ ‫ עֵ ֽינֵי־֭כֹל ֵאלֶ ֣יך יְ שַׂ ֵ ּב֑ר ּו‬15 ‫ת־אכְ לָ ֣ם ְ ּב ִע ּֽתוֹ ׃‬ ָ ‫וְ ַא ָּת֤ה נֽוֹ ֵתן־לָ ֶה֖ם ֶא‬ ‫ ּפוֹ ֵת ַ֥ח ֶאת־יָ ֶ ֑ד ָך‬16 ‫ל־ח֣י ָרצֽ וֹ ן׃‬ ַ ָ‫ו ַּמשְׂ ִ ּ ֖ב ַיע לְ כ‬ ‫ צַ דִּ ֣ יק י֭ הוה ְ ּבכָ ל־דְּ ָרכָ ֑יו‬17 ‫ל־מעֲ שָׂ ֽיו׃‬ ַ ָ‫ְ֝ו ָח ִ֗סיד ְ ּבכ‬ ‫ ָק ֣רוֹ ב י֭ הוה לְ כָ ל־ק ְֹר ָא֑יו‬18 ‫לְ ֹ֤כל ֲא ׁ ֶש֖ר יִ ְק ָר ֻא֣ה ּו ֶב ֱֽא ֶ ֽמת׃‬ ‫ ְרצוֹ ן־יְ ֵר ָא֥יו יַ עֲ שֶׂ ֑ה‬19 ‫ת־שוְ ָע ָת֥ם ֝ ִי ׁ ְש ַ֗מע וְ יוֹ ׁ ִשיעֵ ֽם׃‬ ַ ׁ ‫ְו ֶֽא‬ ‫ת־כל־א ֲֹה ָב֑יו‬ ָּ ‫ ׁשוֹ ֵמ֣ר י֭ הוה ֶא‬20 ‫ל־ה ְר ׁ ָש ִע֣ים יַ ׁ ְש ִ ֽמיד׃‬ ָ ‫וְ ֵא֖ת ָּכ‬

15–16.  While most of the psalm pertains to humans, verses 15–16 pertain to all living things; see 147:9, where God provides food for domestic animals and birds of prey. There is a nice movement from verse 15 to verse 16: from the eyes of those looking to God, to the hand of God; and from God’s providing food in a timely way, to God’s fully satisfying the desires of every creature. 16. its heart’s content  Whatever it desires. There is some vagueness about whose ‫רצון‬, “desire,” is meant. While most commentaries take it as the creatures’ desire, the Septuagint is somewhat ambiguous: “with/of good pleasure,” glossed by Albert Pietersma as “in which you [i.e., God] are well pleased.” 11 That the desire is God’s is also Amos Hakham’s preferred interpretation: “to every creature You give to satisfy Your desire,” with “desire” referring to God’s blessing, on the basis of Deut. 33:23, where ‫ רצון‬parallels “the Lord’s blessing.” Alternatively, Hakham suggests “willingly,” still attaching the desire to God. Only as his third interpretation does Hakham offer the usual explanation, the creatures’ desire. 17. beneficent . . . ​faithful  The terms ‫ צדיק‬and ‫ חסיד‬are better understood as “righteous” and “loyal,” respectively. God acts with justice and with loyalty, honoring His obligations to all the living beings He created. 18–20.  Although God’s care is universal (cf. Ps. 104:27–28), there is a special relationship between God and those devoted to Him: those who call upon Him, fear (revere) Him, and love Him. God will be near them, heed their cries, and protect them. 20.  In Ps. 104:35 the wicked—those who reject God—are banished from the perfect world that God created, and in 1:4–6 they are deprived of the reward of the righteous. Here, too, God will protect those who are loyal to Him and will destroy the wicked.

145

Psalms 145:21  ‫ ת‬21 My mouth shall utter the praise of the Lord, and all creatures shall bless His holy name forever and ever.

‫תהלים המק‬

‫ר־פ֥י‬ ִ ּ ‫ ְּת ִה ַּל֥ת יהו֗ ה ְי ַֽד ֶ֫ ּב‬21  ‫ל־בשָׂ ר ׁ ֵש֥ם ָק ְד ׁ ֗שוֹ לְ עוֹ לָ ֥ם וָ עֶ ֽד׃‬ ּ ָ֭ ‫וִ ָיב ֵר ְ֣ך ָּכ‬

21.  Praise and blessing frame the psalm. The last verse picks up the term in the superscription (‫ )תהלה‬and returns to the first-person declaration of praise, forming a frame with verse 1. The repetition of “forever and ever” strengthens the framing effect. At the same time, the last verse extends the praise from the individual speaker to all people, as it escalates the reference to God from His name to His holy name: “I will . . . ​bless Your name forever and ever” (v. 1), and “all creatures shall bless His holy name forever and ever” (v. 21). all creatures  The noun ‫בשר‬, “flesh,” can be used to refer to all living creatures, both humans and animals (e.g., Gen. 6:17; Ps. 136:25), but here the phrase refers only to humans (also, e.g., Isa. 40:5, 49:26; Jer. 25:31).12 Likewise Psalm 150:6, “Let all that breathes [‫ ]כל הנשמה‬praise the Lord,” refers to human praise of God (see Comment there). Contrast Psalm 148, where all God’s creations, including natural phenomena and nonhuman creatures, praise Him.

146

Psalms 145:1–21

‫תהלים המק‬

Ritual and Liturgical Uses One of the most well-known and beloved psalms in the liturgy, this psalm is recited three times daily, a practice consistent with a teaching found in printed editions of B. Berakhot 4b: “Whoever recites Psalm 145 three times daily is sure to inherit the world to come.” (Most manuscripts read “once a day,” but the reading found in printed editions of the Talmud, “three times,” became well-known. On the earlier reading found in the manuscripts, see Gilyon haShas ad loc.) The Talmud goes on to provide two reasons for the psalm’s importance: (1) the psalm is an alphabetical acrostic, and (2) it contains a verse that speaks about God’s generosity in supplying the needs of all living things (v. 16). These two characteristics appear together only in this psalm. Psalm 145’s first daily appearance in all rites occurs in Pesukei deZimra in the early part of the Morning Service, where, in all five rites, it is the first of six psalms recited seven days a week. This custom emerges from the statement of R. Jose in B. Shabbat 118b, “May my portion be among those who recite the entire Hallel every day.” The Talmud goes on to note that the title Hallel here refers not to Psalms 113–118 but to the unit called “Verses of Song” (Pesukei deZimra). According to Rashi, this term refers only to Psalms 148 and 150, but Soferim 18:1, followed by many rabbinic authorities, defines Pesukei deZimra as including all six of the final psalms—that is, Psalms 145–150. These can be called Hallel because Psalms 146–150 all begin and end with the word “Hallelujah”; in addition, Psalm 145 is included in this group because the root ‫הלל‬, from which the title Hallel derives, occurs (in the noun ‫ )תהלה‬in its first and last verses. In the flexible liturgies of the Land of Israel in the Gaonic and early medieval era, these six psalms, introduced by Psalm 144, play an analo-

147

gous role in the Morning Service; see the sidebar to Psalm 144. The psalm’s second daily occurrence comes at the end of the Morning Service in all rites. (On mornings when Musaf is recited, one recites Psalm 145 shortly before returning the Torah Scroll to the Ark; in Eidot Hamizraḥ, Italian, and Sefard-Hasidic rites, one recites the psalm before placing the Torah Scroll in the Ark on Mondays and Thursdays as well.) The third occurrence is at the beginning of the Afternoon Service in all rites (except on Yom Kippur, when it is recited before Ne‘ilah rather than before the Afternoon Service in the Ashkenazic and Sefard­-­ Hasidic rites; in the other rites it appears before both the Afternoon Service and Ne‘ilah). Three verses are added to this psalm when it is recited as part of these services, two at its beginning (Psalms 84:5 and 144:15) and one at its end (Psalm 115:18). Psalm 84:5 was probably added following B. Berakhot 32b, “One who says the Tefillah [that is, the Amidah prayer] should wait an hour before his prayer . . . ​because Scripture says, ‘Happy are they that dwell in Your house’ (Ps. 84:5),” where “dwell in Your house” is understood to refer to spending a significant amount of time in synagogue. The addition of 144:15—which also begins with “happy are”—still awaits a satisfactory explanation. Psalm 115:8, “But we will bless the Lord now and forever, Hallelujah,” connects this psalm smoothly to the following five psalms, each of which begins with the word “Hallelujah.” According to Shimmush Tehillim, this psalm should be recited (followed by Psalm 91) seven times by people who are seized by fear. Verse 20 (“The Lord watches over all who love Him”) offers an explanation for this use.

Psalm 146: Introduction Psalms 146–150 is often considered to be a subcollection in the Masoretic Text, known as the Hallelujah psalms, because the psalms all begin and end with “Hallelujah.” Although Psalms 146–150 appear together in the Masoretic Text, it is not clear if they ever constituted an independent subcollection. In the large Qumran Psalm scroll, they do not occur together in this sequence at the end of the Psalter but are scattered among other psalms. (The order of many other psalms is quite different in the MT and in the large Qumran scroll.) The main theme of Psalms 146–150 is praise for God; the root ‫הלל‬, “praise,” occurs throughout in both verbal and nominal forms. A prominent theme is the greatness of God the creator, who continues to be present in the world, caring for it, especially for Israel. In Psalm 146 the speaker declares his intent to praise God for his entire life. This intent does not derive from personal favors received from God, but from God’s ever-dependable care for and aid to the physically, economically, and socially disadvantaged, most probably a metaphoric reference to the Babylonian exiles. The last verses of Psalm 145 say that God provides help and support for His creatures; Psalm 146 develops this thought in more detail, focusing on those who most need God’s help. Psalm 145 highlights the kingship of God, and Psalm 146 illustrates His kingly acts, both as the sovereign of the world that He created and by acting like a human king who is responsible for the well-being of his subjects. Psalm 147 becomes even more specific, praising God explicitly for the return of the exiles and the rebuilding of Jerusalem. These psalms, like Second Isaiah, illustrate God’s power by citing His creation of the world. The psalm shares phrases with many other psalms. In addition to its similarities to Psalms 145 and 147, it is close to Psalm 103 in its overall theme and many of its images and phrases.

146 Hallelujah.

Praise the Lord, O my soul! 2 I will praise the Lord all my life, sing hymns to my God while I exist.

‫קמו‬

‫ַהֽלְ לו ָּ֡־י ּה‬ ‫ַהֽלְ לִ ֥י ֝ ַנ ְפ ׁ ֗ ִשי ֶאת־יהוֽ ה׃‬ ‫ ֲא ַהלְ לָ ֣ה יהו֣ ה ְ ּב ַח ָ ּי ֑י‬2 ‫ֲאזַ ְּמ ָ ֖רה לֵ אל ַֹה֣י ְ ּבעוֹ ִ ֽדי׃‬

1–2.  In the opening phrase, the speaker orders himself (his ‫)נפש‬, using an imperative verb, to praise God, and in verse 2 he states his intent to do so, with a cohortative verb. Three parallel terms (all nouns in Hebrew), rendered as “soul,” “life,” and “while I exist,” convey that the speaker will praise God with his entire being, as much as he is able for as long as he is able. Psalm 104:33 has similar wording. “Soul” (‫ )נפש‬and “life” (‫)חיים‬ recall the phrase “living being” (‫ )נפש חיה‬in Gen. 2:7 (see also v. 4, below). Humans were created in order to praise God, but the dead cannot do so (115:17). The word ‫נפש‬, rendered as “soul,” does not indicate a soul-body duality; it means “living creature, person, personhood, vital self.” The word occurs 144 times in Psalms, more than in any other biblical book. Psalms accounts for nearly one-fifth of its occurrences.1

148

Psalms 146:3 

‫תהלים ומק‬

3 Put not your trust in the great, in mortal man who cannot save. 4 His breath departs; he returns to the dust; on that day his plans come to nothing. 5 Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God, 6 maker of heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them; who keeps faith forever;

‫ל־תבְ ְט ֥ח ּו בִ נ ְִד ִיב֑ים‬ ִּ ‫ ַא‬3 ‫ש ֵא֖ין ל֥ וֹ ְת ׁשוּעָ ֽה׃‬ ָ ‫ְ ּב ֶב‬ ֤ ֶ ׁ ‫ן־א ָ ֓דם ׀‬ ֹ‫ ֵּתצֵ ֣א ֭רוּחו‬4 ֹ‫יָ ׁ ֻש֣ב לְ ַא ְד ָמ ֑תו‬ ‫תנ ָ ֹֽתיו׃‬ ֹ ּֽ ‫ַ ּב ּי֥וֹ ם ַ֝ה ֗הוּא ָאבְ ֥ד ּו ֶע ׁ ְש‬ ֹ‫ש ֵא֣ל יַ עֲ ֣קֹב ְ ּב ֶעזְ ֑רו‬ ֤ ֶ ׁ ‫ ַא ׁ ְש ֵ ֗רי‬5 ‫֝שִׂ בְ ר֗ וֹ ַעל־יהו֥ ה ֱאל ָֹהֽיו׃‬ ‫ עֹשֶׂ ֤ ה ׀ ׁ ֘ ָש ַמ֤יִ ם וָ ָ֗א ֶרץ‬6 ‫ר־ב֑ם‬ ּ ָ ‫ל־א ׁ ֶש‬ ָּ ‫ת־ה ָ ּי ֥ם וְ ֶא‬ ַ ‫ֶא‬ ֲ ‫ת־כ‬ ‫ַה ׁ ּש ֵ ֹ֖מר ֱא ֶמ֣ת לְ עוֹ לָ ֽם׃‬

3.  Even princes, leaders, or other affluent and charitable people who give aid during their lives are mortal and therefore cannot be depended upon to help others indefinitely. Compare Ps. 118:8–9. 4.  The first human, created from the earth, became an animate being when God breathed into him the breath of life (Gen. 2:7). And at death he will return to the earth, or dust, from which he was formed (3:19). These ideas are combined and applied to all mortals; upon death, the animating breath will leave their bodies (and return to God) and they will return to the dust ( Job 34:14–15; Eccles. 12:7). This is not a contrast between the spirit or soul and the body, but rather a view of death as the undoing of the creation of the first human. 5.  The psalm, which began with an individual praising God, here moves to a national theme: the God of Israel, the creator and protector, who reigns in Zion (v. 10). Happy  The word ‫ אשרי‬means to be declared to be in a fortunate condition; see the Comment to 128:1. God of Jacob  The term is ‫אל יעקב‬, not the more usual form ‫( אלוהי יעקב‬e.g., Ps. 20:2, 46:8,12, 75:10, 76:7; cf. also 114:7, ‫)אלוה יעקב‬. This apparently ancient epithet for God (Exod. 3:6) is used in postexilic psalms, perhaps because “Jacob” and “house of Jacob” are common postexilic epithets for Israel (especially in Isaiah). for his help  The letter bet before ‫ עזרו‬is the bet essentiae, yielding “as help,” as in Ps. 118:7. hope  The same word as in Ps. 145:15, rendered there as “look expectantly.” 6.  Sky, earth, and sea are the three parts, or levels, of the cosmos (see Exod. 20:11; Ps. 69:35, 96:11; Neh. 9:6). God not only created the cosmos but also keeps it on course forever; He maintains the world order. The verse echoes Exod. 20:11, “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth and sea, and all that is in them.” who keeps faith forever  With His Creation. This may be an allusion to God’s promise after the Flood never to destroy the earth again.2 The eternity of God’s faithfulness contrasts with humans, whose plans end with their death (v. 4).3

149

Psalms 146:7 

‫תהלים ומק‬

7 who secures justice for those who are wronged, gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free; 8 the Lord restores sight to the blind; the Lord makes those who are bent stand straight; the Lord loves the righteous; 9 the Lord watches over the stranger; He gives courage to the orphan and widow, but makes the path of the wicked tortuous.

‫ עֹשֶׂ ֤ ה ִמ ׁ ְש ּ ָ֨פט ׀ לָ עֲ ׁשו ִּ֗קים‬7 ‫נ ֵֹת֣ן ֭לֶ ֶחם לָ ְר ֵע ִב֑ים‬ ‫י֝ הו֗ ה ַמ ִּ ֥תיר ֲאסו ִ ּֽרים׃‬ ‫ יהו֤ ה ׀ ּ ֘ ֹפ ֵ ֤ק ַח ִעוְ ִ ֗רים‬8 ‫י֭ הוה ז ֵ ֹ֣קף ְּכפו ִּפ֑ים‬ ‫י֝ הו֗ ה א ֵֹה֥ב צַ דִּ ִ ֽיקים׃‬ ‫ש ֵמ֤ר ֶאת־ ֵ ּג ִ ֗רים‬ ֹ ֘ ׁ ‫ יהו֤ ה ׀‬9 ‫יָ ֣תוֹ ם וְ ַאלְ ָמ ָנ ֣ה יְ עוֹ ֵ ֑דד‬ ‫וְ ֶ ֖ד ֶר ְך ְר ׁ ָש ִע֣ים יְ עַ ֵ ּוֽת׃‬

7–9.  God rights the wrongs that occur in life, providing for those who have not been adequately or justly provided for by human society. In ancient Near Eastern society, it was the duty of the king to provide for his subjects, to institute and maintain justice, to grant pardons to prisoners (if he chose), and to aid the needy; but in our psalm, all humans, even royalty (v. 3), are inadequate. God is the supreme king. And the wish is that He will be king forever (v. 10). prisoners  This may refer to those held for crimes (often of a political nature, as in the cases of the cupbearer in the Joseph story and of Jeremiah) or to exiled people. 8. the blind  This may refer to those who, literally, have lost their sight or to the physical darkness that characterizes places of imprisonment or exile (Lam. 3:1–6). Compare Isa. 42:7 and 49:9, where the release of the Babylonian exiles is likened to the release of prisoners who will move from darkness to light.4 This interpretation gains support from Ps. 147:2; Psalm 147 continues and expands on many of the ideas in this one. 8–9. the Lord loves the righteous; . . . ​but makes the path of the wicked tortuous  These phrases are parallel, yet there is no need to reposition them (as some earlier scholars suggested); the parallel phrases bind together the two verses, which draw on different examples of vulnerable people. The path, or way in life, of the wicked will not be straight and easy. The psalm hints only indirectly that the wicked will be punished. The same contrast between God’s attitude toward the righteous and the wicked is found in 1:6 (where the path of the wicked is doomed) and elsewhere. 9.  The stranger (‫גר‬, foreigner residing in Israel), orphan, and widow have no Israelite head of household to protect their interests and are therefore economically and socially vulnerable. Israel is therefore commanded to deal charitably with them and not to take advantage of them. The verse echoes Deut. 10:17–18.

150

Psalms 146:10  10 The Lord shall reign forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Hallelujah.

‫תהלים ומק‬

‫ יִ ְמ ֹ֤ל ְך יהו֨ ה ׀ לְ עוֹ ֗ ָלם‬10 ‫ֱאל ַֹה֣יִ ְך ֭צִ ּיוֹ ן לְ ֥דֹר וָ ֹ֗דר‬  ‫ַהֽלְ לוּ־יָ ּֽה׃‬

10.  Zion is addressed (cf. the addresses to Zion and Jerusalem in Ps. 147:12, and to Jerusalem in Psalms 122 and 137). The idea that God will reign forever in Zion assumes or looks forward to the return of God to His Temple in Zion. As in many psalms, the personal becomes the national; the speaker’s God is Zion’s God (as He is Jacob’s God in v. 5).

Ritual and Liturgical Uses This psalm is the second of the six psalms recited daily in all rites in the Morning Service at the end of Pesukei deZimra (see above, Psalm 145).

151

According to Shimmush Tehillim, this psalm should be recited by anyone who has been struck by a sword. The reason for this use is unclear.

Psalm 147: Introduction Praise to God who rebuilds Jerusalem and returns the exiles. Like Psalm 146, with even more detail and clearer references, this psalm celebrates the return from exile that God has brought about through His marvelous power and encourages the people to praise Him for this deed. God’s power derives from and is manifest in His creation of the world, over which He has continuing control. This divine power is specifically invoked for the benefit of Israel, making it secure and prosperous (cf. Psalm 144). In the last part of the psalm, verses 15–20, God’s word, through which He created the world, coalesces with His commandments that He revealed to Israel. (This nexus of Creation and Revelation is found also in Psalm 19 and elsewhere.) The implication is that Judah is restored in order to observe God’s commandments (cf. 105:42–44). More significant, the reference to the Revelation that initiated the covenantal relationship between God and Israel affirms that the postexilic restoration signals the resumption of this covenantal relationship. Psalm 147 shares specific phrases with 145, 146, and 104; Isaiah 40; and Job 38, as well as a number of ideas and themes with these texts, passages in Isaiah, and other psalms.1 It is a good example of how words and ideas became conventional and could be recombined in many different ways. The psalm is typical of postexilic literature in its use of the themes of the return to Zion and God’s care of His faithful people. Its use of the Creation to demonstrate God’s sovereign power over the world is likewise typical. Yet here as elsewhere in Psalms, new ways of reframing accepted thoughts yield a new poetic contribution that, in harmony with others like it, reinforces the main theological and sociopolitical ideas about the power of God and His relationship to Israel that characterize the postexilic period. The Septuagint divides Psalm 147 into two psalms, verses 1–11 and 12–20. Each has its own superscription, “Hallelouia, of Haggaios and Zecharias.” (The Masoretic Text and the Septuagint occasionally have different divisions of the text of Psalms. For instance, Psalms 9–10 in the Masoretic Text are one psalm in the Septuagint. Indeed, there was a certain fluidity in how psalms were collected and arranged. Short ones or parts of longer ones—which were perhaps excerpted for special use—may have been recombined with others. For example, 40:14–18 reappears in Psalm 70, and Psalm 18 is nearly duplicated in 2 Samuel 22.) We may suppose that at one time Psalm 147 was two separate psalms, later combined into the present text preserved in the Masoretic Text. Or, conversely, it is possible that the psalm was originally one poem that was separated into two and made its way in that form into the Septuagint. On the one hand, the psalm appears disjointed at a number of places—between verses 5–6, 9–10, and 14–15—as though the poet was not entirely successful in fusing together the various thoughts and allusions that he drew from other psalms. On the other hand, many psalms seem to fall into two or more sections, and this does not generally mean that they were originally separate compositions.

152

Psalms 147:1

‫תהלים זמק‬

147 Hallelujah.

It is good to chant hymns to our God; it is pleasant to sing glorious praise. 2 The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem; He gathers in the exiles of Israel.

‫קמז‬

‫ַה֥לְ לו ָּ֨־י ּה ׀‬ ‫י־טוֹ ב זַ ְּמ ָ ֣רה ֱאל ֵֹה֑ינ ּו‬ ֭ ‫ִּכ‬ ‫י־נ ִ ֗עים נָאוָ ֥ה ְת ִה ָּלֽה׃‬ ָ ֝ ‫ִּכ‬

‫ בּ וֹ ֵנ ֣ה ירושלם יְ רו ׁ ָּשלַ ֣יִ ם יהו֑ ה‬2 ‫נ ְִד ֵח֖י יִ שְׂ ָר ֵא֣ל יְ כַ ֵּנ ֽס׃‬

1.  The opening declaration that it is good to praise God is an implicit exhortation to offer praise. Here, as elsewhere, speaking about praise is a way to give praise. Subsequent sections of the poem also start with the command to praise: verse 7 is a plural imperative (to the people) to praise, and verse 12 is an imperative addressed to Jerusalem. It is good to chant hymns  That it is good to praise God is also in Ps. 92:2. The word ‫כי‬, which occurs before “it is good” and “it is pleasant,” is untranslated in NJPS. Its usual meaning is “for, because,” but here it is an emphatic particle: “indeed, so, very.” The sense is “indeed it is good” or “it is very good” (see 73:3, 92:5, 133:3). The phrase ‫ כי טוב‬is the same one that appears repeatedly in Genesis 1, when God saw that the light, etc. was good—or how good the light, etc. was. NRSV renders the first part of our verse “How good it is.” The verb ‫זמרה‬, “to sing, singing” (NJPS: “chant”), is a lengthened form of the pi‘el infinitive; compare Lev. 26:18. On the combination of “good” and “pleasant,” see Ps. 133:1 and 135:3. NJPS, correctly I think, takes “it is good” and “it is pleasant” as a parallelism, both referring to singing praise (so Targum), but NRSV translates, “How good it is to sing praises to our God; for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting.” That is, NRSV takes ‫טוב‬, “good,” as a modifier of singing praise but ‫נעים‬, “pleasant/gracious,” as an attribute of God. to sing glorious praise  NJPS inserts “to sing” for clarification. The expression ‫ נאוה תהלה‬is unusual but occurs also in Ps. 33:1: “it is fit that the upright acclaim Him.” The word ‫ נאוה‬may be construed as an adjective, nif‘al form of the root ‫אוה‬, “desirable” (Ibn Ezra), hence “something pleasing”; or from ‫נאה‬, “lovely, pleasing” and also “fitting.” Another possibility is the root ‫נוה‬, a by-form of ‫נאה‬, meaning “to glorify, exalt” (HALOT 2:678; not related to the homonymous word for “settlement, grazing place”). This root may be in play in Exod. 15:2, ‫זה אלי ואנוהו‬, according to Rashbam and Rashi’s second interpretation (also NRSV and other translations), and also in Jer 6:2, and seems to be behind NJPS “glorious praise.” 2. rebuilds  A participle: “the (re)builder of.” God is characterized by several participles throughout the psalm, interspersed with verbs in the imperfect (exceptions are vv. 13 and 20). In English they are generally rendered as verbs in the present tense, but the Hebrew participles, most of which stand at the head of their clauses, may have an even stronger effect: “He is the rebuilder . . . ​He is the healer, etc.” Participles are timeless; God performs these actions not only now in the present but always. God is the one and only actor throughout the psalm (except for the people, who are to offer praise), and He will assuredly restore Jerusalem just as He has created the world. He gathers in the exiles of Israel  The term rendered as “exiles” is not from the usual root ‫ גלה‬but rather ‫נדח‬, “outcasts” (cf. Deut. 30:4; Isa. 11:12, 56:8); the reference is

153

Psalms 147:3 

‫תהלים זמק‬

3 He heals their broken hearts, and binds up their wounds. 4 He reckoned the number of the stars; to each He gave its name. 5 Great is our Lord and full of power; His wisdom is beyond reckoning. 6 The Lord gives courage to the lowly, and brings the wicked down to the dust.

‫ ָ֭הר ֵֹפא לִ ׁ ְש ֣בו ֵּרי לֵ ֑ב‬3 ‫ּ֝ו ְמ ַח ֵ֗ ּב ׁש לְ ַע ְ ּצבוֹ ָ ֽתם׃‬ ‫ מוֹ ֶנ ֣ה ִ֭מ ְס ּ ָפר לַ כּ וֹ כָ ִב֑ים‬4 ‫לְ֝ כֻ ֗ ָּלם ׁ ֵש ֥מוֹ ת יִ ְק ָ ֽרא׃‬ ‫ב־כּ ַח‬ ֹ֑ ‫ ָ ּג ֣דוֹ ל ֲאדוֹ ֵנ ֣ינ ּו וְ ַר‬5 ‫לִ֝ ְתב ּונ ָ֗תוֹ ֵא֣ין ִמ ְס ּ ָפֽר׃‬ ‫ ְמעוֹ ֵד֣ד עֲ נָוִ ֣ים יהו֑ ה‬6 ‫י־א ֶֽרץ׃‬ ָ ‫ַמ ׁ ְש ּ ִ ֖פיל ְר ׁ ָש ִע֣ים עֲ ֵד‬

to those cast out of the Land of Israel. First God will rebuild Jerusalem and then He will bring back the exiles into it. “Gathers,” ‫( יְ ַּכנֵס‬pi‘el; also Ezek. 22:21; and especially Ezek. 39:28, which resembles our verse), occurs only in exilic and postexilic Hebrew.2 It has the sense of gathering people together into some thing or place. Here, the outcasts will be gathered into their land. 3. their broken hearts  The brokenhearted are those who have experienced exile or those who are in mourning for Zion.3 their wounds  These may be physical and emotional. The sick body is a metaphor for the suffering of the people in exile, now healed by God. In Isa. 1:5–6 the injured body represents the sinful people experiencing their punishment. 4–5.  An allusion to Isa. 40:26, with some changes in wording. In both passages the mention of the stars is especially meaningful to the exiles living in Babylonia, where the celestial bodies were revered as gods by the Babylonians, to whom astral worship was important. By saying that God created the stars, the psalm not only credits God with the masterful creation of the world (cf. Job 38:31–32, where God asks Job if he could create the constellations), but also implies that He created the Babylonian gods. And if He created them, then He can control and defeat them. Both Isaiah and our psalm stress that the stars, whose number is so vast that they seem to humans infinite, are to God individually countable and identifiable. The Isaiah verse emphasizes that by virtue of God’s greatness, no star fails to appear where it should be, since He controls them. The psalm contrasts the large but countable (to God) number of the stars with God’s infinite, uncountable wisdom. (Isaiah 40 notes God’s exceptional wisdom in an earlier verse.) 4. to each He gave its name  By giving each star its name, God is calling them into existence. To give a name to someone or something is to have authority over it as a parent has over a child or as God has over the things He created, as in Genesis 1, and as the man (Adam) did, with God’s permission, in Gen. 2:19–23. 6.  This verse returns to the thought in verse 3: God encourages the lowly, that is, the exiles. God’s action to them is contrasted with His action to the wicked, as in many psalms (e.g., 104:35, 145:20).

154

Psalms 147:7 

‫תהלים זמק‬

7 Sing to the Lord a song of praise, chant a hymn with a lyre to our God, 8 who covers the heavens with clouds, provides rain for the earth, makes mountains put forth grass; 9 who gives the beasts their food, to the raven’s brood what they cry for. H 10  e does not prize the strength of horses, nor value the fleetness of men;

‫ עֱ ֣נ ּו לַ ֽיהו֣ ה ְ ּבתוֹ ָ ֑דה‬7 ‫זַ ְּמ ֖ר ּו לֵ אל ֵֹה֣ינ ּו בְ כִ ּנֽוֹ ר׃‬ ‫ ַה ְֽמכַ ֶּ֬סה ׁ ָש ַ֨מיִ ם ׀ ְ ּב ָע ִ֗בים‬8 ‫ַה ֵּמכִ ֣ין לָ ָא ֶ֣רץ ָמ ָט֑ר‬ ‫ַה ַּמצְ ִ ֖מ ַיח ָה ִ ֣רים ָח ִצֽיר׃‬ ‫ נוֹ ֵת֣ן לִ בְ ֵה ָמ֣ה לַ ְח ָמ ּ֑ה‬9 ‫לִ בְ ֵנ ֥י ֝עֹ ֵ ֗רב ֲא ׁ ֶש֣ר יִ ְק ָ ֽראוּ׃‬ ‫ ֹ֤לא ִבגְ בו ַ ּ֣רת ַה ּ֣סוּס יֶ ְח ּ ָפ֑ץ‬10 ‫ל ֹא־בְ ׁשוֹ ֵ ֖קי ָה ִא ׁ֣יש יִ ְרצֶ ֽה׃‬

7.  A call to the people to praise God with words and musical accompaniment, as in Ps. 71:22. Sing  The root ‫ ענה‬as in Exod. 15:21; Num. 21:17; and Ps. 119:172; to be distinguished from the homophonous root meaning “to answer.” 4 song of praise Rendering ‫תודה‬, “Thanksgiving.” 8–9.  God continually cares for all His creatures, here represented by the merismus of domestic animals (“beasts,” ‫)בהמה‬, who eat grass, and wild birds of prey (“the raven’s brood”), who also eat meat. The passage recalls Psalm 104, where the ecological harmony of the Creation is described (the rain makes the vegetation grow, which then provides food for the animals), and Job 38:39–41, wherein God continually cares for even lions and ravens. 10–11.  God will grant victory not to the strong, that is, those with military power, but rather to those who fear (revere) Him and trust in Him—a comforting thought for a small and weak nation. As do other passages that echo this thought (e.g., Ps. 20:8, 33:17–20), these verses encourage the audience to maintain their belief that God will deliver them from trouble even when deliverance may seem impossible. 10.  The mention of horses and men suggests military imagery, for the principal use of the horse was for drawing chariots, from the second millennium b.c.e.; mounted cavalry appear in the first millennium b.c.e. The strength and fearlessness of warhorses is described in greater detail in Job 39:19–25, which notes the horse’s strength (‫גבורה‬, as here) and eagerness in charging forward (see also Jer. 8:6, “Like a steed dashing forward in the fray”) and its ability to withstand the tumult of battle. the fleetness of men  Literally “the thighs of the [male] person.” 5 This refers to the charioteer or the mounted rider (Ibn Ezra). Others prefer “infantry.” The Targum reads, “He does not delight in the might of those who ride on the horse, nor does he take pleasure in the legs of men who run.” In line with the Targum’s “men who run,” Kimḥi, invoking Amos 2:15, explains that God does not want a man who trusts in his legs to flee from battle.

155

Psalms 147:11 

‫תהלים זמק‬

11 but the Lord values those who fear Him, those who depend on His faithful care. 12 O Jerusalem, glorify the Lord; praise your God, O Zion! 13 For He made the bars of your gates strong, and blessed your children within you. 14 He endows your realm with well-being, and satisfies you with choice wheat. 15 He sends forth His word to the earth; His command runs swiftly.

‫ רוֹ צֶ ֣ה י֭ הוה ֶאת־יְ ֵר ָא֑יו‬11 ‫ת־ה ְֽמיַ ֲחלִ ֥ים לְ ַח ְסדּֽ וֹ ׃‬ ַ ‫ֶא‬ ‫ ׁ ַש ְ ּב ִח֣י ירושלם יְ֭ רו ׁ ָּשלַ יִ ם ֶאת־יהו֑ ה‬12 ‫ַהֽלְ ִל֖י ֱאל ַֹה֣יִ ְך צִ ֽ ּיוֹ ן׃‬ ‫ֽי־ח ַ ּזק ְ ּב ִר ֵיח֣י ׁ ְשעָ ָ ֑ריִ ְך‬ ִ ֭ ‫ ִּכ‬13 ְ‫ֵ ּב ַ ֖ר ְך ָ ּב ַנ֣יִ ְך ְ ּב ִק ְר ֵ ּבֽך׃‬ ‫ ַה ּ ָשׂ ם־ ְ ּגבוּלֵ ְ֥ך ׁ ָשל֑ וֹ ם‬14 ‫ֵח֥לֶ ב ִ֝ח ּ ִ֗טים יַ שְׂ ִ ּביעֵ ְֽך׃‬ ‫ ַה ׁ ּשֹלֵ ַ֣ח ִא ְמ ָר ֣תוֹ ָא ֶ֑רץ‬15 ‫ד־מ ֵה ָ ֗רה יָ ֥רוּץ דְּ ָב ֽרוֹ ׃‬ ְ֝ ‫ַע‬

Erich Zenger says that “thighs” is “a play on the armor of cavalry and foot soldiers, especially the much-feared boots of the soldiers.” 6 But, contra Zenger, the word ‫ שוק‬refers to the upper leg, not the lower leg; nor is armor part of the picture. Strong upper legs enable a charioteer to remain upright and stable in a moving chariot, or a mounted rider to remain on his charging horse. To be sure, strong upper legs are also a necessity for foot soldiers.7 But I see the parallelism as focused on the strength of warhorses and the men who deploy them in battle; this was an advanced weapon in ancient warfare. NJPS’s “fleetness,” apparently influenced by the Targum and Kimḥi, misses the mark; the verse is not about speed but rather about military strength and prowess.8 If fleetness were the point, it would have been better associated with horses, which are faster than men. See Jer. 12:5, “If you race with the foot-runners and they exhaust you, / How then can you compete with horses?” Song 5:15 likens male thighs to marble pillars, suggesting that they are a virile attribute signaling strength and stability, not fleetness. 12–14.  Jerusalem, personified as the mother of the people, whom she protects and feeds, is bidden to praise God for the security (vv. 13a, 14a) and the prosperity (vv. 13b, 14b) that He has given her. For apostrophes to Jerusalem/Zion, see also 122:2, 137:5, and 146:10. This is a mini-hymn celebrating the well-being of Zion, similar to elements in Psalms 122, 128, 144, and others. glorify Rendering ‫שבחי‬, “praise,” a relatively rare term in Psalms (see 106:47, 117:1, 145:4), probably reflecting Aramaic influence. 13. made the bars of your gates strong  The city gates were closed and bolted when an enemy threatened to invade. They needed to be strong enough to withstand the attack and keep the inhabitants within safe. 14. choice wheat  The best food supply. 15–20.  God’s word, through which He created the world, is the same divine word that He revealed when He gave His statutes to Israel. He commanded snow and ice

156

Psalms 147:16 

‫תהלים זמק‬

16 He lays down snow like fleece, scatters frost like ashes. 17 He tosses down hail like crumbs— who can endure His icy cold? 18 He issues a command—it melts them; He breathes—the waters flow. 19 He issued His commands to Jacob, His statutes and rules to Israel.

‫ ַה ּנ ֵֹת֣ן ׁ ֶש֣לֶ ג ַּכ ָ ּצ ֶ֑מר‬16 ‫ְ֝ ּכ ֗פוֹ ר ָּכ ֵא ֶ֥פר יְ ַפ ֵ ּז ֽר׃‬ ‫ ַמ ׁ ְשלִ ְ֣יך ַ ֽק ְר ֣חוֹ כְ ִפ ִּ ֑תים‬17 ‫לִ ְפ ֵנ ֥י ֝ ָק ָר ֗תוֹ ִ ֣מי יַ עֲ ֽמֹד׃‬ ‫ יִ ׁ ְשלַ ֣ח דְּ ָב ֣רוֹ וְ יַ ְמ ֵס֑ם‬18 ֽ ָ ‫יַ ׁ ּ ֵש֥ב ֝רו ּ֗חוֹ יִ ְ ּזלו‬ ‫ּ־מיִ ם׃‬ ‫ ַמ ִ ּג֣יד דְּ ָב ָ ֣רו לְ יַ עֲ ֑קֹב‬19 ‫ֻח ָ ּ ֥קיו ּ֝ו ִמ ׁ ְש ּ ָפ ָ֗טיו לְ יִ שְׂ ָר ֵאֽל׃‬

to be formed, and then His command melted the snow and ice—nothing can withstand His command. Just so, He gave His command(s), His Torah, to Israel and to no other nation. By implication, Israel cannot but obey God’s commandments, just as the natural world did. This time Israel will not disobey, as it did before the exile; the covenant between God and Israel is as firmly fixed as it was at Sinai. The sound effect of repeated consonants is especially noticeable in these verses. 15.  In light of the following verses, many medievals interpret God’s word here as referring specifically to His command that rain should fall. runs swiftly  Is swiftly accepted and obeyed. 16–17.  Snow, frost, ice, and hail demonstrate God’s control over the powerful and dangerous aspects of Creation that humans cannot control. God can change them from frozen to melted at will, instantaneously. Compare Job 38:22–30, where similar images are used for the same effect. This section contrasts with the benevolent image of nature in verses 8–9. See also 148:8. 18. He issues a command  An allusion to Creation in Genesis 1, “God said, ‘Let there be.’ ” He breathes  Literally “He causes His breath [or: wind] to blow.” An echo of this phrase is ‫משיב הרוח ומוריד הגשם‬, “who makes the wind blow and brings down the rain,” recited in the Amidah during the winter months, the rainy season in the Land of Israel. 19–20.  Israel alone was chosen to receive God’s commandments. This is the distinctiveness of Israel, which will be recognized by other nations, according to Deut. 4:6–8 (to which our verses may be alluding). 19. His commands  The consonantal text is ‫דברו‬, i.e., without the usual vowel-­ letter ‫ י‬that indicates a plural noun. The vowel marking meanwhile shows a plural, referring to God’s commandments that were given to Israel (Targum). The Septuagint and NRSV construe this word in the singular (as in v. 18). The plural seems to be preferable in light of the rest of verse 19, but the singular form harks back to verse 18, God’s word that brought about the Creation. The juxtaposition of Creation and Torah (God’s commandments) is not accidental, for Creation and the giving of the Torah are the two monumental

157

Psalms 147:20 

‫תהלים זמק‬

‫ ֘ל ֹא עָ ֤שָׂ ה ֵ֨כן ׀ לְ כָ ל־ ֗ ּגוֹ י‬20 ‫ו ִּמ ׁ ְש ּ ָפ ִט֥ים ַ ּבל־יְ ָדע֗ וּם‬  ‫ַהֽלְ לוּ־יָ ּֽה׃‬

20 He did not do so for any other nation; of such rules they know nothing. Hallelujah.

accomplishments of God’s word. Psalm 19 is built entirely on equating Creation and Torah; these are the primary ways that God has revealed Himself to the world and to Israel. Note, however, that the verbs in these phrases in verses 18 and 19 are different, although both are translated as “issues/issued” in NJPS: verse 18, “He will send/He sends [‫;ישלח‬ finite verb] His word”; verse 19, “He tells [‫ ;מגיד‬participle] His word(s).” NJPS makes these parallel phrases sound more similar than they are in Hebrew. This binds together the parallelism even more tightly but loses some of the elegant variation or playfulness of the Hebrew parallelism.9 Jacob  A common postexilic appellation for Israel. 20. He did not do so for any other nation  Because no other nation was God’s people. This is not meant to disparage other nations, but to emphasize Israel’s special relationship to God and its obligation to keep God’s commandments. of such rules they know nothing  The NJPS rendering is perhaps a bit harsh. The Hebrew is literally “and rules, they do not know them.” God did not give statutes and rules—that is, the Torah—to the other nations, so therefore they do not know them.

Ritual and Liturgical Uses This psalm is the third of the six psalms recited daily in all rites in the Morning Service at the end of Pesukei deZimra (see above, Psalm 145). This psalm is designated for recitation on Simḥat Torah in a custom of the Ḥevrat Tehillim (Psalms Society) in medieval Ashkenazic communities. According to Shimmush Tehillim, this psalm should be recited by anyone who was bitten by a snake. This suggestion may be based on a midrash found in B. Sotah 9b and elsewhere based on Gen. 3:14. According to that midrash, God punished the snake who led Eve astray by reversing privileges

God had originally granted him. Instead of walking upright as he had previously, now he has to slither on the ground. Shimmush Tehillim may regard the second half of 147:6 as alluding to this punishment. Further, the midrash in B. Sotah 9b states that originally God intended the snake to eat the same food as humans, but in Gen. 3:14 God decreed that the snake must eat dust. Shimmush Tehillim might regard verse 9 of the psalm as alluding to that punishment: God, who “gives beasts their food,” now allots only dirt to the snake.

158

Psalm 148: Introduction The universe praises God. This psalm epitomizes the Hallelujah collection (Psalms 146–50) with its many repetitions of “Hallelujah” and other forms of ‫הלל‬, “praise.” It is a catalog of God’s creations that praise Him, listing first the heavenly realm and then the earthly realm. Heaven and earth, the two main divisions of the cosmos, together form a merism representing the entire world (Gen. 1:1, 2:4). The speaker first addresses the heavens and their inhabitants (vv. 1–6), then the earthly phenomena (vv. 7–12), including the meteorologic, the topographic, the botanical, and the biological, culminating with various categories of humans. The catalog includes both natural and mythological elements, the wild and the tame, the young and the old. If Psalm 150 is an instrumental symphony of praise, this psalm is the choral counterpart, made up of the voices of the entire cosmos. As often occurs at the conclusion of psalms, the general becomes the specific; the psalm moves from the totality of Creation to the people of Israel (other psalms do likewise; for example, Psalm 29 also begins with imperatives calling on the heavenly beings to praise God and ends with God acting on behalf of Israel). The psalm shares some images and phrases with Psalm 104 and with the many other psalms that depict Creation. The theme of Creation is often used in psalms to convey God’s power over the universe, for which He warrants praise. The theme is developed in any number of ways in different psalms (and other biblical literature), in shorter or longer forms, with the selection of items designed to convey the psalm’s message. While the account in Genesis 1 generally stands behind the theme, allusions to it have been embellished with mythological associations and/or with interpretations that were current at the time of the psalm’s writing. In some psalms the allusions stand out clearly (as in 136:5–9); in others they are more subtle. Our psalm uses wording from Genesis 1 but in a freer manner than Psalm 136. Like Psalm 104, it is structured generally on the sequence in Genesis 1, but with certain departures from the order in Genesis. Verse 2 tells the heavenly beings to praise God; then in verses 3–4 the progression goes from lowest to highest in the heavenly realm: first the celestial bodies (sun, moon, stars), then the “highest heavens,” then the water above the heavens. As for the denizens of the earth, their order begins with the sea and its creatures, the counterpart to the waters above the heavens, and then proceeds from the highest to the lowest: meteorologic phenomena; mountains; trees; animals, creeping things, birds; and people, who are categorized by social status, gender, and age. In order to emphasize that the entire universe praises God, several rhetorical techniques to represent totality are used: the catalog or list (many are found in Job and in other psalms like 136 and 150; see the introduction to Psalm 145); merism, in which an entity is represented by its parts, often the extremes or opposite ends—for example, “from head to toe” means the entire body, and “young and old” means everyone; the whole and its part, or synecdoche, a general category followed by a specific member of the category, such as “heavenly hosts” followed by “sun, moon, and stars” (or the part may precede the whole, expanding the scope instead of narrowing the focus); the word “all,” which appears ten times in our psalm. These rhetorical tropes occur in parallel lines and in series of items within one line. While these tropes are common, this psalm is especially rich in their use.

159

Psalms 148:1

‫תהלים חמק‬ At the end of the psalm, the spotlight shines on Israel, not to charge Israel to praise God, but because God’s special care for Israel is the reason that the rest of the world will praise Him. The psalm provides reassurance for Israel of God’s continuous protection.

148 Hallelujah.

Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise Him on high. 2 Praise Him, all His angels, praise Him, all His hosts. 3 Praise Him, sun and moon, praise Him, all bright stars. 4 Praise Him, highest heavens, and you waters that are above the heavens. 5 Let them praise the name of the Lord, for it was He who commanded that they be created.

‫קמח‬

‫ַה֥לְ לו ָּ֨־י ּה ׀‬ ‫ן־ה ׁ ּ ָש ַמ֑יִ ם‬ ַ ‫ַהֽלְ ל֣ ּו ֶאת־י֭ הוה ִמ‬ ‫֝ ַ ֽהלְ ֗לוּה ּו ַ ּב ְּמרוֹ ִ ֽמים׃‬ ‫ל־מלְ ָאכָ ֑יו‬ ַ ָ‫ ַהֽלְ ל֥ וּה ּו כ‬2 ‫ַ֝הלְ ֗לוּה ּו ָּכל־צְ ָב ָאֽו׃‬ ‫ ֭ ַ ֽהלְ לוּה ּו ׁ ֶש ֶ֣מ ׁש וְ יָ ֵר ַ֑ח‬3 ‫ל־כוֹ כְ ֵבי ֽאוֹ ר׃‬ ּ֥ ‫֝ ַ ֽהלְ ֗לוּה ּו ָּכ‬ ‫ ֭ ַ ֽהלְ לוּה ּו ׁ ְש ֵמ֣י ַה ׁ ּ ָש ָמ֑יִ ם‬4 ‫שר ׀ ֵמ ַ ֬על ַה ׁ ּ ָש ָ ֽמיִ ם׃‬ ֤ ֶ ׁ ‫ְ֝ו ַה ַּ֗מיִ ם ֲא‬ ‫ת־ש֣ם יהו֑ ה‬ ֵ ׁ ‫ ֭ ְ ֽי ַהלְ ל ּו ֶא‬5 ‫ִּכ֤י ֖הוּא צִ ָ ּו ֣ה וְ נִבְ ָ ֽראוּ׃‬

1. from the heavens  The praise will come from the celestial elements that God created. The command to praise God is directed to the beings or entities who will praise Him, through verse 4. The counterpart, “from the earth,” begins in verse 7. 2. His angels . . . ​His hosts  The heavenly beings and/or the celestial bodies of Creation (Gen. 2:1; Neh. 9:6). The “host of heaven” refers to the sun, moon, and especially the stars (e.g., Deut. 4:19, 17:3), as made explicit in verse 3. In Ps. 104:4 the winds are God’s messengers (= angels); in Isa. 40:26 the stars are God’s hosts (His troops). In Ps. 103:20–21 God’s angels, hosts, and works—all that do God’s bidding—bless Him. 3. bright stars Rendering ‫כוכבי אור‬, “stars of light,” meaning “light-giving stars.” Some render “shining stars.” 1 The reference is to Gen. 1:14–17, where God created the lights (‫—)מאורות‬the sun, moon, and stars—to light up the earth.2 4. highest heavens  Literally “the heavens of heavens,” a superlative construction, like “king of kings” and “song of songs”; also Neh. 9:6. waters that are above the heavens  God made the firmament, called the sky or heaven, to separate the waters above it and below it (Gen. 1:6–7). At the time of the Flood, fountains of the great deep were split open and the floodgates of heaven were opened (Gen. 7:11), so that the separation of the upper and lower waters was erased and the watery chaos once again overran the earth, as before Creation. 5–6.  These words are not directed to the beings who offer praise, but tell why they should praise God: because He created them as part of His perfectly and permanently ordered world. See also verse 13. 5. who commanded that they be created  Literally “He commanded and they were created”; a reference to the recurring “And God said” in Genesis 1. The things that

160

Psalms 148:6  6 He made them endure forever, establishing an order that shall never change. 7 Praise the Lord, O you who are on earth, all sea monsters and ocean depths,

‫תהלים חמק‬

‫ וַ ַ ּיעֲ ִמ ֵיד֣ם לָ עַ ֣ד לְ עוֹ לָ ֑ם‬6 ‫ק־נ ַ֗תן וְ ֣ל ֹא יַ עֲ בֽ וֹ ר׃‬ ָ ֝ ‫ָח‬ ‫ן־ה ָא ֶ֑רץ‬ ָ ‫ ַהֽלְ ל֣ ּו ֶאת־י֭ הוה ִמ‬7 ‫ל־תה ֹֽמוֹ ת׃‬ ְּ ָ‫ַ֝ ּת ּנִי ִנ֗ים וְ כ‬

God created praise Him for having created them; or better, the very existence of these things is in itself praise to God. See Ps. 19:2, “The heavens declare the glory of God, the sky proclaims His handiwork.” 6. He made them endure  Literally “He made them stand,” that is, He set them in their place (see Job 34:24, ‫וַ ַ ּי ֲע ֵמד ֲא ֵח ִרים ַּת ְח ָּתם‬, “And sets others in their place”).3 The point is not that the celestial creations will last forever, but that God ordained their permanent places in the cosmos. See Ps. 33:9, which is better rendered “For He spoke and it [the earth] was; He commanded and it stood firm [‫עמד‬, the same verb as here].” While this applies to all of the heavenly realm, it is especially relevant to the last-mentioned item, the waters above the heavens, as is developed in the next part of the verse. In that context, the verb “to make stand” may also mean “to stop, to make stand still”—as in Josh. 3:13, “the waters of the Jordan . . . ​will stand in a single heap,” and 10:13, “the moon halted.” establishing an order that shall never change  NJPS is based on Kimḥi’s interpretation that “their order does not change,” or that the laws of nature (the cosmic order) do not change.4 An alternate interpretation is “He set their limit and it cannot be passed” (NRSV). The word ‫חוק‬, “order, rule,” is used for the limit or boundary that God set at Creation to restrain the waters from once again covering the earth (cf. Gen. 1:9). Similar wording is in Prov. 8:29, “When He assigned the sea its limits, / So that its waters never transgress His command,” and Jer. 5:22, “As a limit for all time, not to be transgressed.” 5 See also Ps. 104:9, “You set bounds [‫ ]גבול‬they must not pass / so that they never again cover the earth.” The rendering “shall never change” misses the mark. The expression ‫לא יעבור‬, as in the just-mentioned verses and also in Esther 1:19, 3:3, 9:27; Dan. 9:11; Job 14:5; and 2 Chron. 24:20, means “shall not be broken, contravened, transgressed.” The point is not that the rules of the cosmos cannot be changed (although that is so), but that God’s decree over the waters cannot be contravened. One may also read a double entendre here: God gave His law, the Torah, which is not to be disobeyed. 7–12.  This section includes the land and the water on earth. The movement then goes from top to bottom, from the air or atmosphere to the mountains; to the trees; to the animals, insects and birds; to humans—echoing the order of Creation in Genesis 1. The section about humans is the most detailed. 7. O you who are on earth  Literally “from the earth,” the counterpart of “from the heavens” in verse 1. Water is the last item mentioned in the heavens and the first item mentioned on the earth. sea monsters and ocean depths  The lower waters, from which came creeping things and birds, and sea monsters, too (Gen. 1:20–21; Ps. 74:13; cf. 104:25–26).

161

Psalms 148:8 

‫תהלים חמק‬

8 fire and hail, snow and smoke, storm wind that executes His command, 9 all mountains and hills, all fruit trees and cedars, 10 all wild and tamed beasts, creeping things and winged birds, 11 all kings and peoples of the earth, all princes of the earth and its judges,

‫ ֵא ׁ֣ש ּ֭ו ָב ָרד ׁ ֶש֣לֶ ג וְ ִק ֑יטוֹ ר‬8 ‫֥רו ַּח ְ֝סעָ ָ ֗רה עֹשָׂ ֥ה ְד ָב ֽרוֹ ׃‬ ‫ ֶה ָה ִ ֥רים וְ כָ ל־ ְ ּג ָב ֑עוֹ ת‬9 ‫ל־א ָר ִזֽים׃‬ ֲ ָ‫עֵ ֥ץ ְ֝ ּפ ִ ֗רי וְ כ‬ ‫ל־ב ֵה ָמ֑ה‬ ּ ְ ָ‫ ַה ַח ָ ּי ֥ה וְ כ‬10 ‫֝ ֶ ֗ר ֶמשׂ וְ צִ ּ ֥פוֹ ר ָּכ ָנֽף׃‬ ‫י־א ֶרץ וְ כָ ל־לְ ֻא ִּ ֑מים‬ ֶ֭ ֵ‫ ַמלְ כ‬11 ‫ל־ש ְפ ֵטי ָא ֶֽרץ׃‬ ֹ ֥ ׁ ָ‫֝שָׂ ִ ֗רים וְ כ‬

8. fire and hail, snow and smoke, storm wind  Meteorological phenomena on earth that are frightening and dangerous; rain and dew are not listed. “Fire” = lightning. “Smoke” (‫ )קיטור‬is a rare term, found only here and in Gen. 19:28 and Ps. 119:83. “Smoke” seems out of place among the meteorological phenomenon, unless it here means “fog” or “mist.” Some interpreters link it with “fire,” and some understand it as frost (NRSV), clouds (NIV and others), or vapor (KJV). Ibn Ezra and Kimḥi say that it is hot and dry like smoke and identify it with the flow or mist that arose from the ground (Gen. 2:6). that executes His command  The participle is feminine singular, referring to the storm wind. The wind is God’s messenger (Ps. 104:4) and blows when God commands it (107: 25). 9. all mountains and hills  Literally “the mountains and all hills.” The word “all” occurs before the second of the paired terms in verses 9–11. “Mountains and hills” represent the land, the dry land, that appeared when the waters were gathered to one place (Gen. 1:9). They are the first to appear when the waters of the Flood recede (Gen. 8:4). Psalm 104:7–9 conveys a similar picture: “They [the waters] fled at Your blast, / rushed away at the sound of Your thunder, / —mountains rising, valleys sinking— / to the place You established for them.” all fruit trees and cedars  Literally “fruit trees and all cedars.” Perhaps a merism for all trees, cultivated and uncultivated, just as “all wild and tamed beasts” in verse 10 stands for all animals. Kimḥi sees a variation on this merism: trees that produce fruit and trees that do not, exemplified by the cedar. I suggest that this may be a synecdochic pairing, a general term for all trees followed by the most spectacular one of them. “Fruit trees” means all trees in Gen. 1:11, which divides vegetation into two categories: seed-bearing plants and fruit-bearing plants (whose seeds are in the fruit)—that is, grasses and trees. Cedars are the epitome of trees, the tallest and most magnificent; they are God’s outstanding creation among the trees (see Ps. 104:16). Other examples of this rhetorical figure are 104:11, “wild beasts” paralleled by “wild asses”; Isa. 44:24, ֹ‫ל־עץ בּ ו‬ ֵ ָ‫יַ ַער וְ כ‬, literally “forest and every tree in it” (NJPS: “O forests with all your trees!”); and Lam. 5:11, “women” // “maidens.” 11–12.  Universal human praise for God. The rulers (kings, princes, judges) and all the peoples of the earth whom they rule will offer praise, in recognition of God’s supremacy (see also Psalms 96 and 98). Even (foreign) rulers and high government officials,

162

Psalms 148:12 

‫תהלים חמק‬

12 youths and maidens alike, old and young together. 13 Let them praise the name of the Lord, for His name, His alone, is sublime; His splendor covers heaven and earth. 14 He has exalted the horn of His people

‫ם־בתוּל֑ וֹ ת‬ ּ ְ ַ‫ ַ ּבחו ִ ּ֥רים וְ ג‬12 ‫֝ ְז ֵק ִנ֗ים ִעם־נ ְָע ִ ֽרים׃‬ ‫ת־שם יהו֗ ה‬ ֵ ֬ ׁ ‫ יְ ַהלְ ל֤ וּ ׀ ֶא‬13 ֹ‫ִּכֽי־נִשְׂ ָ ּג ֣ב ׁ ְש ֣מוֹ לְ ַבדּ֑ ו‬ ‫ל־א ֶ֥רץ וְ ׁ ָש ָ ֽמיִ ם׃‬ ֶ ‫֝הוֹ ד֗ וֹ ַע‬ ֹ‫ וַ ָ ּ֤י ֶרם ֶ ֨ק ֶרן ׀ לְ ַע ּ֡מו‬14

who may think they control Israel, are merely God’s creatures, subject to God’s rule and called upon to praise Him. 12. youths and maidens . . . ​old and young  The former are people of both genders, and the latter, people of all ages (Ibn Ezra). For similarly inclusive lists of people, see Lam. 2:9–12, 4:1–9, and 5:11–14. 13–14.  A summation (v. 13) and a coda (v. 14). In synagogue ritual, these verses are recited when Torah scrolls are returned to the ark. For similar phrases, see, for example, 135:1 and Isa. 2:11,17. Let them praise  See verse 5. Here, the reason to offer praise is not the creation of the world but the greatness of God’s name. His name, His alone, is sublime  God’s name stands for God; it is His essence. His splendor covers heaven and earth  A summation and the climax of the message: the entire cosmos should praise God because His splendor is over all of it. “Covers” renders ‫על‬, “over, above,” and is perhaps influenced by Hab. 3:3, ֹ‫ִּכ ָּסה ׁ ָש ַמיִ ם הוֹ דו‬ ‫ו ְּת ִה ָּלתוֹ ָמלְ ָאה ָה ָא ֶרץ‬, which I would translate “His splendor covers the heaven, and His praise fills the earth.” 6 The Hebrew reads “over earth and heaven” (cf. Gen. 2:4b, where the order is also “earth . . . ​heaven”). NJPS reverses the order in accord with English idiom. The reason for the Hebrew order may be that the text is first referring back to the last-mentioned element, the earth, and then to the earlier-mentioned heaven, as in “the latter and the former.” 14.  Moving from the cosmic picture, the psalm now pinpoints Israel. Israel enjoys a special benefit from God, beyond the benefit enjoyed by the rest of the universe, for Israel has a uniquely close relationship to God. Because of this relationship, God champions Israel. Some see verse 14 as a later editorial addition, but psalms often speak first in general terms and then explicitly about Israel at the end. It is better to see this verse as a coda, an intentional ending that stands outside or beyond the main structure of the psalm. Indeed, this final verse provides the climax of the psalm, grounding the praise of God in history rather than in cosmology. God’s granting victory to Israel is the reason that the world will praise Him. See Isa. 44:23 and 49:13. As in these Isaiah verses, the reference is to the return from exile. He has exalted the horn of His people  “To raise the horn” means to grant victory or honor (1 Sam. 2:10; Ps. 75:5, 112:9; Lam. 2:17). This metaphoric expression is drawn from the animal world, where horns symbolize strength and masculinity. God has made Israel

163

Psalms 148:14  for the glory of all His faithful ones, Israel, the people close to Him. Hallelujah.

‫תהלים חמק‬

‫ל־ח ִס ָ ֗ידיו‬ ֲ ָ‫ְּת ִה ָּל ֤ה ְלֽכ‬ ֹ‫לִ בְ נֵ ֣י יִ֭ שְׂ ָר ֵאל עַ ֥ם ְקרֹב֗ ו‬  ‫ַהֽלְ לוּ־יָ ּֽה׃‬

victorious—a reference to the restoration. It connects this psalm with Psalm 147, which speaks about the rebuilding of Jerusalem and also about God as creator. By focusing in on the triumph of Israel’s restoration after its portrait of the cosmos, the psalm implies that this restoration is like the creation of the world. Indeed, the return from exile is often viewed as a new Exodus and/or a new Creation.7 for the glory of all His faithful ones  “Glory” renders ‫תהלה‬, “praise.” The phrase is laconic. It may mean that God’s faithful ones should praise Him (Kimḥi), which would be consistent with the rest of the psalm. Or it may mean that God’s act on behalf of Israel will garner praise for Israel, restore its reputation in the world, which in turn will restore God’s reputation as a powerful protector of His people. See Zeph. 3:18–20, where ‫תהלה‬ is used in the sense of turning Israel’s disgrace into praise, in the context of restoration. The same term is applied to Israel in Isa. 61:3, 62:7; and Deut. 26:19. A third possibility is that ‫ תהלה‬is used as in Deut. 10:21 in reference to the Exodus: “He is your glory and He is your God.” That is, God is Israel’s ‫תהלה‬. The phrase would then mean “He has exalted the horn of His people; He is the glory of all His faithful ones.” The echo of Deuteronomy is all the more relevant if “exalted the horn” is implying the restoration. A similar phrase is found in Ps. 149:9, which NJPS renders “This is the glory [‫הדר‬, not ‫ ]תהלה‬of all His faithful.” faithful ones  See Comment to 149:1 on this term. This verse forms a nice transition to the next psalm, where the same theme is taken up again.

164

Psalms 148:1–14

‫תהלים חמק‬

Ritual and Liturgical Uses This psalm is the fourth of the six psalms that are said daily in all rites in the Morning Service at the end of Pesukei deZimra (see above, Psalm 145). Its first six verses—which mention the sun, the moon, and the stars—are recited as a part of the Blessing the Moon ceremony in all but the Yemenite version of this ceremony; see further the sidebars to Psalms 121 and 150. These verses encompass the section of Psalm 148 that belongs to the genre of heavenly or angelic praise (on which see commentary to Psalm 29 in volume 1 of the JPS Psalms Commentary). The selection of verses may intimate that this ceremony involves, if only temporarily, the overlap of earthly and heavenly congregations. The practice of hopping or raising oneself up on tiptoes at a particular point during the Blessing of the Moon may relate to this genre; one reason for raising oneself may be to come closer to one’s fellow worshipers on high. (Similarly, when reciting the Kedushah prayer, another heavenly praise ritual in Jewish liturgy, many worshipers raise

165

themselves up on tiptoes as they recite the lines containing the genre’s core vocabulary—‫קדוש‬, ‫ברוך־כבוד‬, ‫—ימלך‬as if to move physically closer to the heavenly congregation they are joining or imitating.) The Reform Gates of the House, however, includes a different selection from Psalm 148 in its version of the Blessing of the Moon ceremony: verses 1, 3, 7–13, then 5b–6a, and finally the last word of 14. This selection downplays the genre of heavenly prayer while stressing universalist themes involving nature and humanity. It highlights references to animals, the kings of all nations, women and men, young and old. This refocusing moves the ritual away from mystical tropes and toward favorite themes of Reform Judaism in a liturgically authentic way. Gates of the House does not include the other psalms as part of the ceremony. Shimmush Tehillim suggests saying this psalm to prevent a fire from causing damage, since “fire” is mentioned in verse 6 as a force that obeys God’s commands (see the next psalm).

Psalm 149: Introduction This postexilic psalm resembles the adjacent psalms in much of its wording and in the theme of the restoration of Judah. The language of rejoicing and praising God in the Temple is combined with elements of a victory song, celebrating God as the hero who vanquishes Israel’s foes. The psalm looks forward to the eschatological victory over Israel’s enemies, who will then receive the justice they deserve. A threefold repetition of “the faithful” (‫ ;חסידים‬vv. 1, 5, 9) emphasizes Israel’s loyalty to God. The praise that the ‫חסידים‬ offer to God will bring about this final victory.

149 Hallelujah.

Sing to the Lord a new song, His praises in the congregation of the faithful. 2 Let Israel rejoice in its maker; let the children of Zion exult in their king.

‫קמט‬

‫ַה֥לְ לו ָּ֨־י ּה ׀‬ ‫ׁ ִש֣יר ּו ֭לַ ֽיהוה ׁ ִש֣יר ָח ָ ֑ד ׁש‬ ‫ְ֝ ּת ִה ָּל ֗תוֹ ִ ּב ְק ַה֥ל ֲח ִס ִ ֽידים׃‬ ‫ יִ שְׂ ַמ֣ח יִ שְׂ ָר ֵא֣ל ְ ּבעֹשָׂ ֑יו‬2 ‫ְ ּב ֵנ ֽי־צִ֝ ֗ ּיוֹ ן יָ גִ ֥יל ּו בְ ַמלְ ָּכֽם׃‬

1. to the Lord  Or “of the Lord.” 1 a new song  We do not know in what way the song is “new.” As in Ps. 96:1, 144:9, and Isa. 42:10, the context here is a victory granted by God. The expression appears in other psalms (33:3, 40:3, 98:1) in different contexts. Here the victory seems to be in the future, apparently the eschatological future. His praises in the congregation of the faithful  Alternatively, “His glory is in the congregation of the faithful” (cf. Ps. 148:14, where NJPS renders ‫ תהלה‬as “glory”). His praises  The Hebrew is singular: “His praise,” that is, praise of Him. the faithful  The word ‫חסידים‬, referring to those loyal to God, figures three times in this psalm (vv. 1, 5, 9). This plural form is a frequent term in Psalms (4:4, 30:5, 31:24, 37:28, 50:5, 52:11, 79:2, 85:9, 89:20, 97:10, 116:15, 132:9,16, 145:10, 148:14) but is rarely used elsewhere (only in 2 Chron. 6:41, which echoes Ps. 132:9,16; 1 Sam. 2:9 [kerei], which is also a psalm; and Prov. 2:8 [kerei]). It is a generic term for the faithful, though in some extrabiblical Second Temple writings it may refer to a specific group of Jews (in 2 Maccabees 14:6 the Greek asidaioi refers to the followers of Judah the Maccabee). 2. children of Zion  Members of the Jerusalem or Temple community. This clause is perhaps an echo of Joel 2:23, “O children of Zion, be glad, / Rejoice in the Lord your God.” their king  Namely God. Judah is no longer independent and therefore has no human king. God is often described as a king, the most powerful image available in the ancient Near East. A king must have his people’s undivided loyalty. God is Israel’s king, Israel’s champion, whereas the kings of the other nations will be defeated and shackled (v. 8).

166

Psalms 149:3 

‫תהלים טמק‬

3 Let them praise His name in dance; with timbrel and lyre let them chant His praises. F or the Lord delights in His people; 4  He adorns the lowly with victory. 5 Let the faithful exult in glory; let them shout for joy upon their couches, 6 with paeans to God in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands,

‫ יְ ַהלְ ל֣ ּו ׁ ְש ֣מוֹ בְ ָמ ֑חוֹ ל‬3 ‫ְ ּב ֥תֹף ְ֝וכִ ּנ֗וֹ ר יְ זַ ְּמרוּ־לֽ וֹ ׃‬ ֹ‫ ִּכֽי־רוֹ צֶ ֣ה יהו֣ ה ְ ּב ַע ּ֑מו‬4 ‫יְ ָפ ֵא֥ר ֝עֲ נָ ִ֗וים ִ ּב ׁישוּעָ ֽה׃‬ ‫ יַ ְעלְ ֣ז ּו ֲח ִס ִ ֣ידים ְ ּבכָ ב֑ וֹ ד‬5 ‫ל־מ ׁ ְש ְּכבוֹ ָ ֽתם׃‬ ִ ‫֝ ְי ַר ְּנ ֗נ ּו ַע‬ ‫ רוֹ ְמ ֣מוֹ ת ֵ֭אל ִ ּבגְ רוֹ ָנ ֑ם‬6 ‫וְ ֶח ֶ֖רב ּ ִפ ִיפ ֣ ּיוֹ ת ְ ּביָ ָ ֽדם׃‬

3.  Dance, music, and chant are elements of Temple worship and victory songs, celebrating the conquering hero. Compare Ps. 150:3–5; Exod. 15:20; and 2 Sam. 6:5. 4. delights  God’s pleasure with His people is associated with their victory, or deliverance (‫ ;ישועה‬also in Ps. 44:4). It is also associated with God’s blessing and Israel’s election.2 He adorns the lowly with victory  The returning victor was adorned with a victory wreath; here the adornment is metaphoric. the lowly  Or “the humble,” a common designation for Israel in Psalms (72:2, 74:19, 147:6; also Isa. 49:13). victory Rendering ‫ישועה‬, “deliverance,” which is often used in Second Isaiah for the return from exile (Isa. 12:2–3, 49:8, 52:7,10, 59:17, 62:1,11). A number of terms in our psalm occur throughout Second Isaiah in similar contexts. 5. exult in glory  Rejoice in the glory or honor that they receive as a result of God’s adorning them with victory (v. 4). The victory is spelled out in verses 6–9. upon their couches  At night in private (Ibn Ezra); the counterpart of public praise in verse 3. There was no Temple service at night. The idea of praising God at night is found also in 92:3 and 119:62, although not the word “couches,” which is somewhat odd in this context. “Couches,” ‫משכב‬, “lying-down place, bed,” is a place for thinking or dreaming in 4:5; Mic. 2:1; and Song 3:1. Perhaps the ‫ חסידים‬are to happily anticipate the future, eschatological victory over their foes, picturing themselves armed with praise for God, their metaphorical sword. 6.  The words of praise for God are a metaphoric weapon of war, setting in motion the retribution that God will exact from the nations and their rulers who have harmed Israel. See the Targum. Some medieval commentators interpret with the Targum, and others see a real eschatological battle, like that described in Ezekiel 38–39, with the people of Israel shouting out God’s praise as they attack their enemies. two-edged swords  Literally “a sword of mouths.” The term ‫( פיפיות‬which appears elsewhere as ‫ פיות‬or ‫פייות‬, lit. “mouths”) means sharp edges or spikes (as in Judg. 3:16; Isa. 41:15; Prov. 5:4). The idiom is a metaphor for the power of words. Swords, like arrows (Ps. 120:4), can be used metaphorically for speech (Prov. 25:18; Ps. 59:8).3 “Paeans to God in

167

Psalms 149:7 

‫תהלים טמק‬

7 to impose retribution upon the nations, punishment upon the peoples, 8 binding their kings with shackles, their nobles with chains of iron, 9 executing the doom decreed against them. This is the glory of all His faithful. Hallelujah.

‫ לַ עֲ שׂ֣ וֹ ת ְ֭נ ָק ָמה ַ ּבגּוֹ יִ ֑ם‬7 ‫ּ֝תוֹ כֵ ֗חוֹ ת ַ ּבלְ ֻא ִּ ֽמים׃‬ ‫ לֶ ְא ֣סֹר ַמלְ כֵ ֶיה֣ם ְ ּבזִ ִ ּ ֑קים‬8 ‫ְ֝ונִכְ ְ ּב ֵד ֶ֗יהם ְ ּבכַ בְ לֵ ֥י ַב ְרזֶ ֽל׃‬ ‫ לַ עֲ שׂ֤ וֹ ת ָ ּב ֶ֨הם ׀ ִמ ׁ ְש ּ ָ֬פט ָּכ ֗תוּב‬9 ‫ל־ח ִס ָ ֗ידיו‬ ֲ ָ‫ָה ָד֣ר ֭הוּא לְ כ‬  ‫ַהֽלְ לוּ־יָ ּֽה׃‬

their throats” is paralleled by “sword of mouths in their hand,” emphasizing the oral nature of the praise to God. At the same time, “sword . . . ​in their hand” connects with the following verses, which mention other implements of victory, shackles and chains. The idiom “sword of mouths” is, then, primarily figurative but also adds to the sense of a military victory.4 7.  Retribution against those who harmed Israel is a common idea (Lam. 3:34–66, 4:22). It is not tit-for-tat vengeance to get even with the enemy, but rather it embodies the principle that justice demands that the enemy receive what it deserves. The corollary is that God maintains power over the enemy and that His relationship with Israel is still in force. See the Comment to 137:7–9. There may also be a hint of the eschatological hope when all nations will recognize the supremacy of God; then, too, the earthly kings will be fettered (Isa. 24:21–23, 45:14).5 upon the peoples  The Aleppo Codex reads this term as one word, ‫בלאמים‬, “upon the peoples,” as does the Dead Sea Psalm scroll 11QPsa. This reading is preferable to the Leningrad Codex, which reads ‫בל־אמים‬ ֻ as two words, “not peoples, non-peoples.” 8.  The treatment received by prisoners of war. The kings who defeated Israel and took it captive into exile are, in turn, defeated and taken captive themselves. See the chaining of Zedekiah in 2 Kings 25:7. Psalm 105:18 ascribes similar treatment to Joseph imprisoned in Egypt. 9. the doom decreed against them  The word for “doom” here is ‫משפט‬, “justice.” The just verdict has been rendered; the enemy’s fate has already been ordained and is inevitable. the glory  The deliverance that God will provide or has provided to Israel, which restores their honor. Alternatively, God Himself. The term rendered here is ‫הדר‬, “splendor,” whereas in verse 5 the term is ‫כבוד‬, “honor.” Despite the difference in wording, this verse echoes verse 5 and rounds out the idea of praising God for His victory. of all His faithful  This phrase forms a frame with “the faithful” in verse 1. Qumran Psalms scroll 11QPsa adds “of Israel [‫ ]בני ישראל‬His holy people.” Compare 148:14, “Israel, the people close to Him.”

168

Psalms 149:1–9

‫תהלים טמק‬

Ritual and Liturgical Uses This psalm is the fifth of the six psalms recited daily in all rites in the Morning Service at the end of Pesukei deZimra (see above, Psalm 145). Shimmush Tehillim suggests saying this psalm to

169

prevent fire from spreading. Apparently, Psalm 149 is recited along with 148 simply because it follows that psalm (see there).

Psalm 150: Introduction Psalm 150 is a symphony of praise for God. As Elizabeth Barrett Browning did for human love in “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways,” our psalm itemizes ways to praise God with music, with a catalog of musical instruments that represents all instruments. Lists of items from specific categories (e.g., countries, implements), often called catalogs, are known from the ancient Near East (see the introduction to Psalm 145). Thought to have been first used for scientific or pedagogic purposes, they took on a literary life of their own.1 The list in our psalm may derive from such catalog literature, or it may be simply a poetic device. Notice that what is missing is the human voice.2 All the preceding psalms emphasize human words of praise for God, often chanted with musical accompaniment, but in this psalm it is through music—a veritable orchestra—that God is to be praised. This psalm is the last one in the Masoretic Text of the Book of Psalms. However, in most non-masoretic collections it is not last. The Septuagint has an additional psalm (Psalm 151), and some versions of the Syriac Psalter contain Psalm 151 plus four more, totaling 155. The ordering in the Qumran Psalms scrolls varies greatly from the Masoretic Text, with our Psalm 150 generally not the last. There is, however, one fragmentary Psalms scroll from Masada, MasPsalmsb, that does end with Psalm 150, showing that the masoretic tradition of ending a collection with this psalm goes back to the first century b.c.e., when this proto-masoretic scroll was written.3 In its placement in the Masoretic Text, Psalm 150 forms a coda to the book, telling us that even after all the psalms have been recited, praise for God is not exhausted. The individual instructions of where, why, and how to praise God add up to the idea that praise for God is limitless, to be performed in all places, in all ways, and by all people. The psalm looks beyond the collection of songs of praise contained in the book to the time in the future when all people will praise God.

150 Hallelujah.

Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in the sky, His stronghold.

‫קנ‬

‫ַה֥לְ לו ָּ֨־י ּה ׀‬ ֹ‫ּ־א֥ל ְ ּב ָק ְד ׁ ֑שו‬ ֵ ‫ַהֽלְ לו‬ ‫֝ ַ ֽהלְ ֗לוּה ּו ִ ּב ְר ִ ֥ק ַיע ֻע ֽ ּזוֹ ׃‬

1. Praise  The command to praise echoes throughout the psalm in every line. This word has a performative force; by commanding praise for God, the psalm is praising God. in His sanctuary . . . ​in the sky, His stronghold  The formal rituals of praise take place in the Temple, the earthly sanctuary (Targum has ‫)בית מוקדשיה‬, but God is also present in His heavenly Temple, in the sky (‫רקיע‬, “firmament”).4 The psalm may be contrasting the earthly sanctuary and heavenly sanctuary or, more likely, may be joining them together, speaking of the Temple as a microcosm of the world, which God rules from the heavens.5 Indeed, the psalm seems to be using earthly Temple worship as a metaphor for the universal praise of God. Just as God is praised in the Temple through the recitation of His wonderful acts and through musical accompaniments (these are characteristic of the Second Temple), so should praise of God resonate throughout the world, a symphony of

170

Psalms 150:2 

‫תהלים נק‬

2 Praise Him for His mighty acts; praise Him for His exceeding greatness. 3 Praise Him with blasts of the horn; praise Him with harp and lyre.

‫ ַהלְ ל֥ וּה ּו ִבגְ ב ּור ָֹת֑יו‬2 ‫ַ֝הלְ ֗לוּה ּו ְּכ ֣רֹב ֻ ּג ְדלֽ וֹ ׃‬ ‫ ַ֭הלְ לוּה ּו ְ ּב ֵת ַ֣קע ׁשוֹ ָפ֑ר‬3 ‫ַ֝הלְ ֗לוּה ּו ְ ּבנֵ ֣ ֶבל וְ כִ ּנֽוֹ ר׃‬

praise for God. On ‫עוז‬, “stronghold, might,” in reference to the sky, see 68:35, “His might is in the skies”; in reference to the Temple or the Ark, see 78:61 and 105:4, “His might” = His Ark; 132:8, “Your mighty Ark.” A few commentators take ‫( קדשו‬NJPS: “His Sanctuary”) as “His holiness”: “Praise God for His holiness.” 6 The preposition -‫ ב‬may indicate a place or a quality.7 If a quality, then the place of praise or the place where God’s presence resides is not specified; God is to be praised everywhere because of His holiness and His mighty firmament. 2. for His mighty acts  God deserves praise for His mighty acts. Or: “Praise Him by reciting His mighty acts” (the preposition -‫ ב‬can serve both functions). The recitation of God’s mighty acts constitutes the praise—a verbal form of praise that is the counterpart of the musical form of praise. Psalms 135 and 136 (also catalogs) are examples of praising God through the recitation of His past acts, those of a cosmic nature and those performed for Israel’s benefit. for His exceeding greatness  The preposition -‫ כ‬in ‫ כרב גדלו‬breaks the pattern of -‫ ב‬prepositions in all the other lines. Although perhaps simply a scribal error (bet and kaf are easily confused), the line may mean “as befits/according to His exceeding greatness” (NJPS translators’ footnote, NRSV, and several commentaries). God’s exceeding greatness requires an exceedingly large amount of praise. 3–5.  The core of the psalm and its most catalog-like section emphasizes the music that accompanies the recitation of God’s mighty acts, in contrast to most psalms, where verbal expression dominates. The list includes wind, percussion, and stringed instruments (98:5–6 lists wind and stringed instruments). We do not know if all the instruments listed here were used in the Temple; 1 Chron. 25:6 mentions only cymbals, harps, and lyres. However, in this paean of universal praise, there is no reason to limit the musical instruments to the official liturgical ones. Indeed, although partially derived from Second Temple worship, the list incorporates various types of commonly used ancient instruments, some of them associated with pre-Temple times, for the picture is an ideal for the future, rather than instructions for Temple worship.8 For the most part, these instruments can be identified, but not always with precision.9 blasts of the horn  The ram’s horn, ‫שופר‬, was used on both ritual and secular occasions in biblical times. It served as an alarm, a call to war, or a signal of victory and in connection with the transfer of the Ark (2 Sam. 6:15). It was also used on the Day of Atonement and the New Moon, at the theophany at Sinai (Exod. 19:13; Ps. 47:6), and as a ritual instrument (as here). Only from the Mishnah do we get information on the types or range of sounds of the ram’s horn. A blast (‫תקע‬, ‫ )תקיעה‬is a long unbroken tone.10 harp and lyre  The word ‫ נבל‬is usually translated “harp,” but musicologists now think it was probably a type of lyre. (A harp’s strings enter directly into the hollow body of

171

Psalms 150:4 

‫תהלים נק‬

4 Praise Him with timbrel and dance; praise Him with lute and pipe. 5 Praise Him with resounding cymbals; praise Him with loud-clashing cymbals.

‫ ַ֭הלְ לוּה ּו ְ ּב ֣תֹף ו ָּמ ֑חוֹ ל‬4 ‫֝ ַ ֽהלְ ֗לוּה ּו ְ ּב ִמ ִּנ ֥ים וְ ֻעגָ ֽב׃‬ ‫י־ש ַ֑מע‬ ָ ׁ ֵ‫ ַהלְ ל֥ וּה ּו בְ צִ לְ צְ ל‬5 ‫֝ ַ ֽהלְ ֗לוּה ּו ְ ּ ֽבצִ לְ צְ לֵ ֥י ְתרוּעָ ֽה׃‬

the instrument, whereas a lyre’s strings pass over a bridge, which transmits the vibrations of the strings to the body of the instrument.) ‫ נבל‬is often mentioned together with ‫כנור‬, “lyre,” a well-attested instrument throughout the ancient world, used for a wide variety of purposes.11 Both these instruments were handheld; the number of strings they had is not known and may have varied. They were used both inside and outside the Temple, sometimes to accompany singing. 4. timbrel  The word ‫ תֹף‬denotes a handheld drum, often played by women (Miriam at the crossing of the Reed Sea; Exod. 15:20; and see also Judg. 11:34; 1 Sam. 18:6; Jer. 31:4; Ps. 68:26). The ‫ תֹף‬is associated with songs and dances, with festivals and processions.12 dance  Dancing accompanied certain religious rituals, like the return of the Ark (2 Sam. 6:16,20), and at the sanctuary (Ps. 87:7). Psalm 149:3, like our psalm, speaks of dance, timbrel, and lyre as forms of praise.13 Miriam and other women went out dancing, with drums (Exod. 15:20). The dance was usually a group round dance with musical, instrumental, or vocal accompaniment. It is mentioned here because it was closely connected with beating the drum.14 An alternative explanation takes ‫ מחול‬as a musical instrument, related to ‫חליל‬, as in 1 Sam. 10:5, “lyres, timbrels, flutes, and harps.” 15 lute  The term ‫מנים‬, found only here and in 45:9, denotes a stringed instrument whose exact identification is uncertain. It is also a collective term for stringed instruments. Male and female figures holding lutes have been discovered in sites in Israel from the Bronze Age, but the term used to describe them is not known.16 pipe  The identification of this instrument, ‫עוגב‬, is uncertain; it was probably a flutelike wind instrument (so the medieval commentators), but some modern scholars think it may have been a stringed instrument.17 It appears along with the ‫ כנור‬in Gen. 4:21 as one of the earliest musical instruments. It is not mentioned in connection with the Temple and probably remained a folk instrument. 5. resounding cymbals . . . ​loud-clashing cymbals  The word ‫( צלצלים‬also in 2 Sam. 6:5, for which 1 Chron. 13:8 substitutes ‫ )מצלתים‬is an older term for ‫מצלתים‬, “cymbals,” made of bronze, which were associated with the priests and thought to have been used in the First Temple and before that by Canaanites. They were also important in the Second Temple (Ezra 3:10; 1 Chron. 16:5). Cymbals have been discovered in two sizes, which may be reflected in the two types mentioned in our verse.18 Apparently they produced different types of sound. Other interpretations of the two types of cymbals have been put forth: they indicate restrained (soft) and forceful (loud, noisy) playing;19 or the first sound of the cymbals is to mark the beginning of the singing/playing (the congregation

172

Psalms 150:6 

‫תהלים נק‬

6 Let all that breathes praise the Lord. Hallelujah.

‫ ֹ֣כּ ל ַ֭ה ּנ ׁ ְָש ָמה ְּת ַה ֵּל ֥ל ָ֗י ּה‬6 *‫ַהֽלְ לוּ־יָ ּֽה׃‬ * The sum total of verses in Psalms is 2,527. When counting verses, the halfway point is 78:36.

should listen), and the second signals the end of the hymn and invited the congregation to respond.20 6. all that breathes  Human beings, not all living creatures: to all whom God gave the breath of life, that is, to humans (Gen. 2:7; Isa 42:5, 57:16).21 Similarly, see Ps. 145:21, where all human beings are to praise God; contrast Psalm 148, where the divine beings and all things that God created praise Him. The people bidden to give praise are not limited to the Temple or to membership in the House of Israel. There is a strong hint here of the universal praise of God, an eschatological hope like that in Isa. 2:1–5, where all nations come to Zion, recognizing Israel’s God as supreme. The verb in this verse is not imperative, as in the other verses, but jussive, “let all that breathes praise,” expressing the hope and expectation that this will happen. Hallelujah  As in the other psalms from 146 to 150, this term frames the psalm. The book ends with a designation of its essence: praise for God.

Ritual and Liturgical Uses This psalm is the last of the six psalms recited daily in all rites in the Morning Service at the end of Pesukei deZimra (see above, Psalm 145). In all rites the last verse is repeated, emphasizing the fact that it ends the Book of Psalms. In all premodern rites this psalm is a part of the Blessing the Moon ceremony (see also the sidebars to Psalms 121 and 148), as verse 1 commands the sky to praise and exalt God. The Conservative Siddur Lev Shalem, however, uses Psalm 67 rather than 150, thus echoing the Sefard-Hasidic rite (which uses both 67 and 150 for this ceremony, in addition to 148:1–6 and 121). In the Eidot Hamizraḥ rite, Psalm

173

150 is recited at the end of the Evening Service on Rosh Hashanah. In the Yemenite rite, on Rosh Hashanah, Sukkot, Passover, and Shavuot, Psalms 1, 2, and 150 are recited after a special psalm for each holiday at the outset of the Evening Service (see table 1 for the identity of those psalms); on Yom Kippur, there is no special psalm for the holiday, but Psalms 1, 2, and 150 are still recited before the Evening Service. Shimmush Tehillim suggests saying this psalm whenever one wants to exalt and glorify God for all His acts and deeds.

Notes to the Commentary 441–12; Waltke and O’Connor, Biblical Hebrew Syntax, 628–29; Donner, “Psalm 122.” 5. Waltke and O’Connor, Biblical Hebrew Syntax, 628–29. 1. Gillmayr-Bucher, “Body Images in the Psalms,” 309. 6. Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3. 2. Waltke and O’Connor, Biblical Hebrew Syntax, 226–31. 7. See HALOT 2:791. 3. Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3, 307–8. 8. Salvesen, “Trappings,” 132, suggests that the centrality 4. TDOT 14:695–96. of the throne to the idea of the monarchy may have derived 5. Greenberg, Ezekiel 21–37, 665. from this practice. 6. The Table of Nations in Genesis 10 is probably not older 9. See Shapira, ‫ואולם על פניהם ועמדים ועב על פניהם‬. I thank Ziony than the eighth century b.c.e. See Oded, “The Table of Nations.” Zevit for this reference. 7. For the Assyrian sources see Eph‘al, The Ancient Arabs, 10. Hendel and Joosten, How Old Is the Hebrew Bible?, 34. 223–27. 11. Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3, 334 note m, and R. Ja8. Waltke and O’Connor, Biblical Hebrew Syntax, 208–9, cobson, Many Are Saying, 60, agree with NJPS, because they which adopts Muraoka’s term “centripetal” for this usage. think it makes a better parallelism. But the parallelism works well in either case.

Psalm 120

Psalm 121 1. Goldingay, Psalms, 3:455; Ceresko, “Psalm 121.” 2. Goitein, ‫עיונים במקרא‬, 189. 3. Waltke and O’Connor, Biblical Hebrew Syntax, 569, takes it as jussive: “May he not permit your foot to slip.” Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3, 316, presents the arguments for taking the phrase as jussive or as indicative. Zenger prefers the indicative, “He does not allow your foot to falter,” based on his understanding of v. 4 as an intensifying explanation. 4. For ‫ הנה‬as an intensifier specifically in our verse, see Joüon and Muraoka, A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, 616–17; and Muraoka, Emphatic Words and Structures in Biblical Hebrew, 137–38. ‫ הנה‬may also indicate new information or a shift in perspective. 5. See Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3, 326–29, for more discussion. 6. Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3, 316, cites but rejects Gunkel’s suggestion to render “YHWH your guardian / YHWH your shade / he walks at your right hand.” 7. Hausmann, “Zur Sprachwelt von Psalm 121,” 52. 8. See Loewenstamm, “The Formula me‘atta we‘ad olam.”

Psalm 122 1. For earlier versions of this interpretation, see Berlin, “Psalm 122: The Idealized Jerusalem”; and Berlin, “Speakers and Scenarios.” 2. Wieringen, “Psalm 122,” thinks the Temple had not been rebuilt. 3. See NIV; Allen, Psalms 101–150; Goldingay, Psalms, vol. 3; and deClaissé-Walford et al., The Book of Psalms. 4. Joüon and Muraoka, A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew,

Psalm 123 1. Allen, Psalms 101–150, 216. 2. Hurvitz, “Originals and Imitations in Biblical Poetry.” 3. On feminine imagery for God, see Gruber, The Motherhood of God; and Løland, Silent or Salient Gender? 4. So Gerstenberger, Psalms, Part 2, 330. For ‫ הנה‬as an emphatic particle, see the Comment to Ps. 121:4. 5. Berlin, Poetics and Interpretation of Biblical Narrative, 62–63. 6. See Gillmayr-Bucher, “Body Images in the Psalms,” esp. 307. 7. See Waltke and O’Connor, Biblical Hebrew Syntax, 226–32. 8. Waltke and O’Connor, Biblical Hebrew Syntax, 227. For example, “In Jerusalem, the city” (2 Chron. 12:13).

Psalm 124 1. Hurvitz, ‫בין לשון ללשון‬, 160–63. 2. Goldingay, Psalms, 3:481, suggests a lion catching its prey and notes that both a lion catching its prey and a fowler catching a bird are common images for enemy attacks.

Psalm 125 1. Hurvitz, ‫בין לשון ללשון‬, 152–56. 2. On the Temple as eternal, impregnable, and inviolable, see Levenson, Resurrection and the Restoration of Israel, esp. 92–94. 3. Hurvitz, ‫בין לשון ללשון‬, 155–56. 4. TDOT 12:40.

174

Notes to psalms 126–129 Psalm 126 1. Among the interpreters are Allen, Broyles, Clifford, Hakham, Kraus, and NRSV. 2. See Berlin, “The Exile: Biblical Ideology and Its Postmodern Ideological Interpretation”; and Halvorson-Taylor, Enduring Exile. 3. Pietersma, A New English Translation of the Septuagint: The Psalms, 130. Syriac has “like those who rejoice.” See Allen, Psalms 101–150, 228, for an explanation of the Ancient Versions. Zakovitch, “What Makes an Interpretation Jewish?,” 168, suggests that Isaiah 35, which he thinks drew on Psalm 126, also understood “healing” rather than “dreaming.” 4. See Waltke and O’Connor, Biblical Hebrew Syntax, 513–14. 5. TDOT 14:294–302. 6. I thank Itamar Ben David, a student at Tel Aviv University, for this information about Negev wadis. 7. These constructions serve here as noun equivalents and function as the grammatical subject of the phrase; Waltke and O’Connor, Biblical Hebrew Syntax, 584, 589–90.

Psalm 127

to Nisaba and quote from a 1953 German translation. Nisaba was the Sumerian goddess of grain and of writing. Ishbi-Erra was the king of Isin. 5. German, “Contexts for Hearing.” 6. Fleming, “‘House’/‘City’: An Unrecognized Parallel Word Pair.” 7. Fleming, “Psalm 127,” 440–41. 8. Zenger (Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3, 380 note c) raises the question of whether ‫ שנא‬is adverbial but does not pursue it. 9. Kimḥi applies the same idea to Solomon (‫ ;)ידידו‬although they thought that acquiring a kingdom takes labor, God gave Solomon the kingdom without any labor. NRSV offers as an alternate translation: “for he provides for his beloved during sleep.” 10. See Kogut, “On the Meaning and Syntactical Status of ‫ הנה‬in Biblical Hebrew.” This is not the emphatic use of ‫ הנה‬as in Ps. 121:4. 11. Joüon and Muraoka, A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, par. 140b; also cited in Allen, Psalms 101–150, 264. The suggestion in TDOT 2:95 that when applied to men, “belly/womb” in this expression is a synecdoche for “body” is not correct, although there is a long tradition of understanding it in this way, including the Targum, Septuagint, KJV, NASB, RSV, and NRSV. Alter’s rendering, “from the fruit of Your loins,” likewise loses the idiomatic expression and brings it closer to 2 Sam. 7:12 (The Book of Psalms, 461; I do not know why “Your” is capitalized). 12. On gender in this psalm and others, see Brettler, “Happy Is the Man,” esp. 209–11. 13. Estes, “Like Arrows in the Hand of a Warrior,” sees the future generation upholding parental values, in a general sense. I think these “values” are more specific.

1. Much of my interpretation is informed by Assis, “Psalm 127 and the Polemic of the Rebuilding of the Temple in the Post Exilic Period.” See also Assis, “Family and Community as Substitutes for the Temple after Its Destruction,” esp. 61–62. However, I would modify his idea that the psalm advocates that building a family is a (temporary) substitute for building the Temple. I see more of a continuity between the two parts of the psalm, whereas Assis sees an opposition. Fleming, “Psalm 127,” moves in a direction similar to mine and has also informed my understanding of this psalm. Goulder, The Psalms of the Re- Psalm 128 turn, 64–67, connects this psalm with Neh. 6:15–7:5. (Goulder connects all the Songs of Ascents with passages in Nehemiah.) 1. Levenson, Resurrection and the Restoration of Israel, 2. Fleming, “Psalm 127,” 443, argues for unity by, among esp. 109, 114, 122. other things, pointing out structural similarities in the formation 2. Levenson, The Death and Resurrection of the Beloved of the parallelisms in the two parts. Son, 120–21. 3. Assis, “Psalm 127,” 258n4. Assis also points out the Rabbinic play on these words in B. Ber. 64a: “R. Eleazar said in the name of R. Ḥanina: ‘The disciples of the wise increase peace in the world, as it says, “And all your children shall be disciples Psalm 129 [‫ ]לימודי‬of the Lord, and great shall be the happiness [peace] of 1. Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3, 413–15. your children” [Isa. 54:13]. Do not read ‫[ בנייך‬your children] but 2. Dahood, Psalms, vol. 3, notes that in the Ugaritic Ba‘al rather ‫[ בונייך‬your builders].’” “Your builders” is explained in a footnote in the Soncino translation as “learned men.” Indeed Epic (UT 62:4–5), the phrase “she plows her breast like a gar(as Benjamin Sommer noted to me) ‫ בונייך‬is better understood den, like a valley she furrows her back” is among symbols of in the context of the Isaiah verse as “those with wisdom” (‫ )בינה‬mourning. But the connection with our verse is not apparent. 3. Assis, “The Structure, Genre, and Meaning of Psalm rather than “builders” (as translated). The slippage between the two senses of ‫ בונייך‬is bridged by the modern comment 129,” argues that vv. 6–8 are describing the miserable condition that “Torah scholars are those who build peace for their gen- of the exiles, who are so poor and landless that they must use eration.” See B. Ber. 64a, Sefaria, https://www.sefaria.org/ their rooftops to grow crops, yielding almost nothing to harvest. Berakhot.64a?lang=bi. 4. Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3, 417. 4. The text and translation were published by Daniel Riesman, “A ‘Royal’ Hymn of Išbi-erra to the Goddess Nisaba.” Several commentaries that cite this hymn call it simply a hymn

175

Notes to psalms 130–133 Psalm 130

3. See also TDOT 11:540–43. 4. Hakham, ‫ספר תהלים‬. 5. Gillmayr-Bucher, “Body Images,” 321, translates, “Have I not calmed and satisfied my nefesh like a child satisfied at his mother? Like a child satisfied is my nefesh within me.” For a longer, more convoluted discussion of the metaphor, see Grohmann, “The Imagery of the ‘Weaned Child’ in Psalm 131.” 6. See, e.g., Knowles, “A Woman at Prayer”; Strawn, “A Woman at Prayer.” 7. Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3, 444–46.

1. So Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3, 421, 422 note b. 2. I thank Benjamin Sommer for calling this to my attention. See also Hakham, ‫ספר תהלים‬. 3. See Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3, 429–31. 4. This idea is most recently and thoroughly developed by Lam, Patterns of Sin in the Hebrew Bible, 87–155. He discusses Psalm 130 on pp. 153–54, but misunderstands v. 3, as do Hossfeld and Zenger and others. 5. TDOT 15:284. 6. Hakham, ‫ ספר תהלים‬interprets thus, as does Charney, Persuading God, 115; Charney explains that God notices sins but Psalm 132 then lets them go by forgiving them. 7. See Lee, “Lament and the Joy of Salvation,” 239–46. 1. I discuss this psalm at greater length in Berlin, “Psalm 8. It is possible that the phrase was copied twice by acci- 132: A Prayer for the Restoration of Judah.” dent. Alter, The Book of Psalms, 456, does not render this as an 2. For arguments against a preexilic date, see Hossfeld and exact repetition, but as “more than the dawn-watchers watch Zenger, Psalms 3, 458–60; and Patton, “Psalm 132: A Methodfor dawn.” He comments that ‫ שומרים‬can be a noun, “watchmen,” ological Inquiry.” or a verb, “they watch,” and that taking the second occurrence 3. See Berlin, “Psalms in the Book of Chronicles.” as a verb makes the line “more vivid and energetic.” 4. Hurowitz, I Have Built You an Exalted House, 260n1. 9. Weiss, ‫אמונות ודעות‬, 175. He compares the repeated phrase 5. See Frisch, “‫׳מענותו׳ ל׳נזרו׳‬.” with Isa. 21:11–12, which is also about watchmen. 6. Sarna, “The Divine Title ’abhir ya’aqobh.” 10. Lee, “Lament and the Joy of Salvation,” 240–46, dis7. Rofé, “‫ קיד‬,‫ קלב‬,‫תהלים קנא‬,” 439n21. cusses the meaning of ‫( חסד‬with previous literature), noting 8. Joüon and Muraoka, A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, 296, that at times it is conditional and at other times unconditional. par. 89m. 11. Lam, Patterns of Sin, 153, 154; Weiss, ‫אמונות ודעות‬, 176. 9. Kraus, Psalms 60–150, 476–78. Weiss, 177, explains that redeeming the speaker means that he 10. See Berlin, Poetics and Interpretation of Biblical Narrawill no longer be a captive to sin, will not sin any more. That tive, 62–63. is, the verse expresses not merely that God will forgive the cur11. HALOT 1:252. rent sins, but that God will remove the power that sin has over 12. See Waltke and O’Connor, Biblical Hebrew Syntax, 301, people. He compares our verse to Ps. 39:9, “Deliver me from 305, on neutral pronouns. all my transgressions.” 13. For the Deuteronomic references in this psalm, see 12. As suggested to me by Benjamin Sommer. Indeed, Martilla, “The Deuteronomistic Heritage in the Psalms,” 89–91. NRSV renders the Isaiah phrase “her penalty is paid.” ‫ נרצה‬in 14. Waltke and O’Connor, Biblical Hebrew Syntax, 205–12. Isa. 40:2, rendered “expiated” in NJPS, is also used to indicate HALOT 2:507–10 lists twenty-six uses. if sacrifices are acceptable (Lev. 7:18, 19:7). 15. Knoppers, “David’s Relation to Moses.” Knoppers sum13. Along the same lines, although not in the context of marizes earlier views. See also Frisch, “‫לתפיסת המלוכה בספר תהלים‬.” exile and with a rather different thrust, Weiss, ‫אמונות ודעות‬, 171–77, 16. Knoppers, “David’s Relation to Moses,” 118, notes that suggests that the phrase means that Israel will be henceforth the Davidic promises are used by the Deuteronomist and the free from sin, will no longer sin. He points to Ps. 39:8, “Deliver Chronicler “as a cipher to structure and evaluate the united me from all my transgressions.” He sees this as a future ideal. kingdom, the division, and the Judahite monarchy.” 17. Knoppers, “David’s Relation to Moses,” 110–11. 18. This is an example of unmarked direct discourse. See R. Psalm 131 Jacobson, Many Are Saying, 21. 1. Erich Zenger (Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3, 448) ar19. Levenson, Creation and the Persistence of Evil, 107. gues that it is a woman’s prayer, although he does not think that 20. A ‫ נזר‬was worn by the High Priest and by Kings Saul a woman wrote it, while Brettler, “Women and Psalms,” esp. 39, and Joash. For descriptions of what a ‫ נזר‬may have looked like, argues that it is not a woman’s prayer. Other studies of women see Salvesen, “Trappings,” 123–26. For “throne and footstool,” and psalms include P. Miller, “Things Too Wonderful: Prayers see 131–36. of Women in the Old Testament,” and Trebolle Barrera, “Sal21. The theory that High Priests took on royal attributes is mos de mujeres.” mentioned without comment in Salvesen, “Trappings,” 123–24. 2. See Gillmayr-Bucher, “Body Images,” esp. 321, where she notes that the speaker “consists of seemingly independent body parts; nevertheless, she/he combines and controls them. Thus, Psalm 133 the description of the lyrical speaker is revealed in the image of the management of the different body parts.” 1. So, e.g., Hakham, ‫ספר תהלים‬.

176

Notes to psalms 133–135 2. Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3, 474–77, lists the main possibilities and their permutations. 3. ‫ עם תרגום ופרוש הגאון סעדיה בן יוסף פיומי‬:‫תהלים‬. This fits Saadiah’s position that all the psalms were composed by David. 4. Berlin, “On the Interpretation of Psalm 133.” 5. An alternate interpretation might be the return of Judah and the reunification of all its people—those who were exiled and those who remained in Judah, or perhaps the disparate groups in Judah in the postexilic period. 6. Beaucamp, Le Psautier, 2:239. 7. Waltke and O’Connor, Biblical Hebrew Syntax, 642. The focus of the discussion is usually, but not always, presented first and compared with or equated with the other element. So also Hakham, ‫ספר תהלים‬. 8. “Brings down the dew” is absent in the Ashkenazic rite outside the Land of Israel. 9. I see no reason to entertain the suggestion of some modern commentaries that the mention of Hermon mythologically equates Mount Zion with Mount Zaphon, a holy mountain and divine abode in Ugaritic mythology. Rather, Mount Hermon is the geographic high point in the north, the counterpart to Mount Zion, the religious high point in the south (Mount Zion is not actually the highest mountain in the south, but it is the most ideologically prominent). 10. Levenson, Resurrection and the Restoration of Israel, 82–107.

Psalm 134 1. For a non-liturgical dialogue of blessing or greeting, see Ps. 129:8. 2. So Hakham, ‫ספר תהלים‬. 3. Suggested to me by Benjamin Sommer. As Sommer notes, it was the Levites, not the priests, who led song and prayer in the (Second) Temple. 4. Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3; deClaissé-Walford et al., The Book of Psalms. 5. Segal, A New Psalm, 634. 6. Hakham, ‫ ;ספר תהלים‬Goldingay, Psalms, vol. 3. 7. deClaissé-Walford et al., The Book of Psalms, 940, say that Isa. 30:29 and Ps. 3:5 suggest that night vigils were held at the Temple to prolong festive celebration or to seek God’s help in life-threatening situations, but I find this unconvincing.

Psalm 135 1. On the designation of Psalms 135 and 136 as “the Great Hallel” in some sources, see the sidebar to Psalm 136. 2. I have discussed these two psalms in Berlin, “Torah Historiography in Psalms 135 and 136.” 3. On the question of how much of the Torah was known to the author of Psalm 136, see the introduction to that psalm. 4. Most commentaries note at least some of the allusions. Yair Zakovitch has studied those in Psalm 135 most extensively in “‫ פסיפס כתובים‬,‫תהלים קלה‬.” He views the entire psalm as a pastiche

177

of quotations, without sacrificing its coherence. I have drawn on this article, although I disagree with Zakovitch’s dating of the psalm (he dates it to the time of Antiochus IV, 168 b.c.e.), and I think he exaggerates the number of allusions, particularly to other psalms in Book 5 of the Psalter. In some cases they seem, rather, to be variants of commonly used ideas and expressions. I have also drawn on the work of David Emanuel; see his book, From Bards to Biblical Exegetes: A Close Reading and Intertextual Analysis of Selected Exodus Psalms. Emanuel, a student of Zakovitch, concentrates on the intertextual nature of these and other psalms. 5. Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3, 496, assumes that the entire Pentateuch had been completed by the time of Psalm 136. He sees Psalm 135 as “more recent” and dates it to the fourth century b.c.e. 6. Hurvitz, ‫בין לשון ללשון‬, 118–19, 174. 7. Human, “Psalm 136,” 80–81, also questions the dependence of Psalm 135 on 136, suggesting instead that both psalms may have developed independently, based on a common tradition. 8. For the idea that the Bible always conceived of Israel’s God, YHVH, as the supreme being in the universe, even though other gods may have existed, see Sommer, “Monotheism,” 239– 79, esp. 253–62; and the appendix to Sommer, The Bodies of God, 145–74, 259–75, esp. 145–48, 159–72. 9. See Tucker, Constructing and Deconstructing Power in Psalms 107–150, 110–16. On the idea of the “ongoing exile” in postexilic times, see Berlin, “The Exile: Biblical Ideology and Its Postmodern Ideological Interpretation”; and Halvorson-Taylor, Enduring Exile. 10. Hurvitz, ‫בין לשון ללשון‬, 174 with note 306. 11. Emanuel, The Psalmists’ Use of the Exodus Motif, 253–54. 12. So Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3; Hakham, ‫;ספר תהלים‬ Gerstenberger, Psalms, Part 2, 379. For a discussion of ‫כי‬, see Muraoka, Emphatic Words and Structures, 158–64. This emphatic use occurs especially in poetry. 13. Zakovitch, “‫ פסיפס כתובים‬,‫תהלים קלה‬,” 289. 14. Hurvitz, “The History of a Legal Formula.” 15. Here and elsewhere I have modified the NJPS translation because it does not consistently render the same Hebrew phrase by the same English translation and therefore does not show how close the Hebrew wording is in both passages. 16. Hurvitz, ‫בין לשון ללשון‬, 95n70. 17. Benjamin Sommer, in a private communication, suggests that such polemics were possible in a preexilic context. 18. See Levtow, Images of Others; for Psalm 135, see pp. 72– 85; and for the Mesopotamian ritual, see pp. 86–129. 19. My discussion draws on Ammann, Götter für die Toren. Ammann’s main concern is to show the connection between anti-idol polemics and wisdom discourse. She concludes that anti-idol polemics developed into polemics against foreign wisdom. An English summary of her book is at purl.org/jps/ ammann. 20. Julia Fiore, “Why Do So Many Egyptian Statues Have Broken Noses?,” Artsy, March 8, 2019, purl.org/jps/nose. 21. Allen, Psalms 101–150, 292. Gerstenberger, Psalms,

Notes to psalms 135–137 Part 2, 288, questions that “Israel” refers to laypeople and that “YHVH-fearers” refers to YHVH-followers. He suggests, rather, a liturgical division of the congregation, an antiphonal structure wherein each group in turn blesses God. 22. Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3, 204, 237.

Psalm 136 1. Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3, 496. 2. Hoffman, “The First Creation Story,” 50. His discussion of Psalm 136 is on pp. 40–41. He acknowledges that 136:7–9 has some elements in common with Genesis 1 but objects that it does not mention creation by the word of God, does not use ‫ברא‬, and does not refer to the six-day pattern. 3. Brettler, “Psalm 136 as an Interpretive Text,” 373. Brettler argues that the psalm is essentially an interpretation of Deut. 10:17–11:5 and that it knew the Book of Deuteronomy as a whole. On p. 382 he notes that “it is very unlikely that the psalmist knew Genesis 1:1–2:4a.” He suggests that the references to Creation in Ps. 136:7–9 may have some basis in D. 4. Klein, “Praying Biblical History,” 414. 5. On the absence of references to the Book of Joshua, see the introduction to Psalm 135. 6. Goldingay, Psalms, 3:587 and passim. 7. Weiss, ‫אמונות ודעות‬, 185. See also Human, “Psalm 136,” 74. 8. See Berlin, “The Message of Psalm 114.”

Psalm 137 1. The fictive nature of this psalm was noted by Körting, Zion in dem Psalmen, 73–84; and by Brenner, “On the Rivers of Babylon.” See Speakers and Authors in the introduction to this volume; and Berlin, “Speakers and Scenarios.” In fact, there are few biblical descriptions of actual life in exile and none like this psalm, as noted by Ammann, “Ps 137 and the ‘Exilic Gap’ in Biblical Historiography.” There are, however, a group of documents from Babylonia that shed light on the lives of Judeans who were settled there; see Pearce and Wunsch, Documents of Judean Exiles. But these documents say nothing about exiled Temple personnel. 2. For further discussion, see Speakers and Authors in the introduction to this volume. 3. See Bayer, “The Rivers of Babylon,” 43–52, esp. 48–51; Braun, Music in Ancient Israel/Palestine, illustr 4.22, p. 150; TDOT 7:201–2. 4. Cogan, The Raging Torrent, 115. Only silver and the goldplated Temple doors are mentioned in 2 Kings 18:14–16 as Hezekiah’s tribute to Sennacherib. 5. See Berlin, “Speakers and Scenarios,” 345–46. 6. The Levites did not have a musical function in the First Temple. However, the Targum, the midrash, and medieval Jewish exegetes routinely identify the singers in our psalm as Levites, thereby adopting the view of Chronicles that the Levites were First Temple musicians.

7. For more on how the First Temple was imagined in Second Temple literature, see Berlin, “Speakers and Scenarios.” 8. See Becking, “Memory and Forgetting in and on the Exile.” 9. See Berlin, “Psalms and the Literature of Exile”; and Berlin, “The Exile.” 10. Bar-Efrat, “Love of Zion,” 10, notes that the poem is poor in figurative language and rich in auditory devices. 11. Chicago Assyrian Dictionary N, part 1, 362–63. 12. Muraoka, Emphatic Words and Structures in Biblical Hebrew, 143. 13. As in 2 Sam. 14:11; Jer. 20:9, 23:36; and cf. Exod. 3:15. So Ibn Ezra; and Bar-Efrat, “Love of Zion,” 8n14. 14. The Job verse has been misunderstood in TDOT 7:203 and in Braun, Music in Ancient Israel/Palestine, 17, who wrongly conclude from it that lyres were used in laments. The verse says the opposite, that the absence of lyre playing signals mourning or lament. 15. HALOT 4:1700–1701. 16. Ibn Ezra; Rendsburg and Rendsburg, “Physiological and Philological Notes to Psalm 137,” 399; Zakovitch, “‫על נהרות‬ ‫בבל‬,” 188. 17. TDOT 14:142–57; Zakovitch, “‫על נהרות בבל‬,” 188. 18. Joüon and Muraoka, A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, par. 133e. 19. In earlier times, there were other sanctuaries and temples in the Land of Israel, but with few exceptions, none was east of the Jordan River, which M. Haran relates to the notion of the sanctity of the land of Canaan, the country of the Lord’s heritage. Other lands were ritually impure (Haran, Temples and Temple Service, 39–41). 20. Zakovitch, “‫על נהרות בבל‬,” 189, suggests that the question is addressed to the psalm’s audience. 21. In 1 Sam. 26:19, “to worship other gods” means simply to be outside the Land of Israel: “For they have driven me out today, so that I cannot have a share in the Lord’s possession, but am told, ‘Go and worship other gods.’” 22. See Berlin, “Did the Jews Worship Idols?” 23. Translation from Timothy Edwards, Exegesis in the Targum of Psalms, 130–31. See Midrash Tehillim 137:5 and Pesikta Rabbati 136a for similar midrashim. Edwards notes that the Targum’s rendering of ‫ נכר‬here as ‫חילוניתא‬, “profane,” rather than ‫ נוכרא‬or ‫ עממיא‬is unusual. Stec, The Targum of Psalms, renders, “For there the Babylonians who had taken us captive asked us to utter words of song, and our plunderers said to us on account of (their) joy, ‘Sing to us some of the songs that you uttered in Zion.’ At once the Levities cut off their thumbs with their teeth, and said: ‘How shall we sing the song of the Lord in a foreign land?’” 24. I thank my student Brian Greenberg for his insight into the use of “forget” in this psalm. 25. Rendsburg and Rendsburg, “Physiological and Philological Notes to Psalm 137,” 388, suggest that these symptoms describe a stroke in the left side of the brain. 26. Shemesh, “Punishment of the Offending Organ,” 359– 362. 27. HALOT 4:1491.

178

Notes to psalms 137–140 28. The best discussions of modern views are Brenner, “On Ambiguity, and Trust”; Weiss, ‫אמונות ודעות‬, 191–98; and Vos, Theothe Rivers of Babylon”; and Levenson, “The Horrifying Closing.” poetry of the Psalms, 192–209. Alter, The Book of Psalms, 475, says, “No moral justification can 2. In stative verbs, the primary meaning of the qtl form is be offered for this notorious concluding line. All one can do is that of the present: Joüon and Muraoka, A Grammar of Biblical to recall the background of outraged feelings that triggers the Hebrew, par. 112a. See further, Waltke and O’Connor, Biblical conclusion.” Hebrew Syntax, 481, 491–93. 29. Segal, A New Psalm, 646, notes that “unhappily, verse 3. Alter, Book of Psalms, 479, translates “winnow” and notes 9 accurately reflects the conduct of war in antiquity,” and he that the verb “reflects an extension of its agricultural meaning, goes on to say that “it is not an imagined revenge” but “a way of an extended sense also in usage in English (‘winnow’ in the saying, ‘May the brutality you inflicted be inflicted upon you.’” sense of ‘to critically assess’).” 30. Levenson, “The Horrifying Closing,” 30–34. 4. TDOT 12:306–11, 455–68; HALOT 1015–16, 1052. 31. Levenson, “The Horrifying Closing,” 31–33. 5. See also Hakham, ‫ספר תהלים‬, note 7 to this verse. Another 32. Savran, “How Can We Sing?,” 54; Bar-Efrat, “Love of midrashic interpretation sees “before and behind” as temporal, Zion,” 9 with note 17. The Iliad passage reads, “My sons laid the beginning time and the time of punishment later, or this low, my daughters dragged away, and the treasure-chambers world and the next world. looted, helpless babies hurled to the earth in the red barbarity 6. Alter, Book of Psalms, 480n5, explains that “the sense of of war” (Homer, The Iliad, trans. Robert Fagles [New York: shaping or fashioning like a potter seems more likely here, espePenguin, 1990], 543). cially as the poem moves ahead to the imagining of the forming 33. Bar-Efrat, “Love of Zion,” 9. of the embryo in the womb.” He adds that in this interpretation, 34. TDOT 10:273; Zakovitch, “‫על נהרות בבל‬,” 198; Ogden, God’s laying His hand on the speaker is not a menacing gesture “Prophetic Oracles against Foreign Nations,” 91. The identifi- but rather a gesture of the potter. cation of the site is uncertain. Some scholars have identified 7. Hakham, ‫ספר תהלים‬. Some say this refers to all four directhe city with Petra (meaning “Rock”), or fortresses in the sur- tions on the horizontal plane. rounding area, but that now seems unlikely. See “Sela” in ABD 8. Hakham, ‫ ;ספר תהלים‬Jacobson, Many Are Saying, 76. 5:1073–74; Berlin, “Psalms and the Literature of Exile,” 69–70. 9. HALOT 4:1446–47. 35. According to Zakovitch, “Poetry Creates Historiogra10. So also Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3; deClaissé-Walphy,” 312, Ps. 137:7–9 is the source for 2 Chron. 25:12. If so, the ford et al., The Book of Psalms; Jacobson, Many Are Saying, 76. Chronicles passage has avoided the distinctive verb ‫ נפץ‬of our Hakham, ‫ספר תהלים‬, following Ibn Ezra, applies the word “cover” verse and employed a verb used in 2 Kings 8:12 for ripping open to both lines of the verse and explains that the night will cover pregnant women. the light so that it can’t reach the speaker. That the text is problematic is shown also by 11QPsa, which has ‫ אזר‬for ‫אור‬. 11. See Brown, “Creatio Corporis.” Psalm 138 12. TDOT 10:339–40. 13. Alter, Book of Psalms, 482, chooses the first explanation, 1. Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3, 526, 529. and Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3, 543, opt for the second. 2. This re-vocalization was known but rejected by Ibn Hossfeld and Zenger make a connection with Ps. 4:9 and 17:3 Ezra, who found no manuscript support for it. (The rejected and say that our verse is “a metaphor of the experience of God re-­vocalizer may have been Ibn Gikatilla, with whom Ibn Ezra through the petitioner’s knowledge, which perceives God’s often disagreed on the interpretation of psalms.) Indeed, there is presence.” Hakham, ‫ספר תהלים‬, suggests “while I am awake, I still no manuscript support for it despite the conjecture in BHS. am still with You.” DeClaissé-Walford et al., The Book of Psalms: 3. See BHS. Alter, Book of Psalms, 476. This emendation is “and when I awake.” noted but rejected by Allen. 14. TDOT 3:244–45. 4. HALOT 3:1192. 15. See Rice, “The Integrity of the Text of Psalm 139:20b”; 5. Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3, 526. and Booij, “Psalm CXXXIX,” 12–13. 6. Alter, Book of Psalms, 478, prefers the more concrete 16. See Tigay, “Exodus,” 140, comment on Exod. 20:7. rendering of a slack muscle: “Do not let go of Your handiwork.” 17. Holman, “Are Idols Hiding in Psalm 139:20?” DeClaissé-Walford et al., The Book of Psalms, renders, idiosyn18. Benjamin Sommer suggested this to me, and I find it in cratically, “May the doings of your hands not come to an end,” BHS and in Allen, Psalms 101–150, 320 note a, to v. 20; but Allen that is, may God continue His protective actions. rejects it because “murderers” (lit. “men of blood”) in v. 19 is often associated in Psalms with wrongful speech.

Psalm 139 1. In addition to the commentaries, my interpretation of this psalm has been influenced by Booij, “Psalm 139”; Brown, Seeing the Psalms, 207–15; Mazor, “When Aesthetics Is Harnessed to Psychological Characterization”; Pressler, “Certainty,

179

Psalm 140 1. While ‫ איש‬is generally translated “man” and often refers to a male, it actually means “an individual” and can refer even

Notes to psalms 140–144 to inanimate objects. See Stein, “The Noun ‫’( ִא ׁיש‬îš) in Biblical relate to the kerygma of liberation from Babylonian captivity. . . . ​ Hebrew.” The affinity with exilic preaching may also be visible in v. 7b, d, 2. HALOT 1:184–85 gives the meaning as “to treat with the ‫ כי‬phrases emphasizing the suppliant’s weakness and the hostility, to attack,” but Greenberg, “Psalm 140,” prefers “to plot oppressor’s power.” 3. TDOT 10:151. evil” (Greenberg served on the NJPS translation committee). 4. HALOT, 506. NRSV: “stirs up wars.” 5. Hossfeld and Zenger and other modern commentaries. 3. Greenberg, “Psalm 140.” 4. Greenberg, “Psalm 140.” I thank David E. S. Stein for his insights on this verse. 5. Greenberg, “Psalm 140.” Psalm 143 6. Also Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3, with a note about 1. Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms, 3. the alternative, “I say.” 2. Some Targum manuscripts also read ‫אורח‬, “path,” and 7. Including Allen, Briggs, deClaissé-Walford et al., GoldStec, The Targum of Psalms, prefers it. ingay, and Hakham. 8. Joüon and Muraoka, A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, 362 (par. 112f); Jacobson, Many Are Saying, 22, 23, 68. 9. Jacobson, Many Are Saying, 68. Psalm 144 10. Jacobson, Many Are Saying, 23, and NIV include only 1. Holtz, “The Thematic Unity of Psalm CXLIV in Light of “You are my God.” NRSV includes the entire verse. Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3, include vv. 7–12. NJPS does not indicate at all. Mesopotamian Royal Ideology.” 2. Hurvitz, ‫בין לשון ללשון‬, 164–69. 11. Hakham, ‫ספר תהלים‬. 3. A number of scholars have compared Psalms 18 and 144, 12. Stec, The Targum of Psalms, 235. 13. Forti, “Of Snakes and Sinners,” 89–90, suggests that this including M. Klingbeil, “Metaphors That Travel”; and more phrase in reference to the evildoer appears to derive here from recently Tucker, Constructing and Deconstructing Power, 128–35, with previous literature. the snake’s noxious venom. 4. Some call it a messianic psalm, but that term is anach14. Greenberg, “Two New Hunting Terms.” 15. HALOT 2:548 lists the meaning as “blow upon blow,” ronistic since messianic ideas, as they later came to be underadopted in various ways by NRSV, NIV, Allen, Hossfeld and stood, did not develop until after the Book of Psalms had been compiled. See Gillingham, “Messiah in the Psalms.” The hope Zenger, and others. for the return of the Davidic monarchy in Psalm 144 and others is immediate and quite concrete. See M. Klingbeil, “Metaphors That Travel,” 126–27. Psalm 141 5. Gillingham, “Messiah in the Psalms,” 221, suggests that Psalm 144 is “impersonating a royal psalm,” but it seems better 1. HALOT, 221. 2. For the active rather than the passive translation, see NIV to say that the speaker is taking on the persona of a king. 6. On God as warrior, see Brettler, “Images of YHWH”; and Waltke and O’Connor, Biblical Hebrew Syntax, 381. and M. Klingbeil, “Metaphors That Travel.” 3. Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3, 557 note i. 7. Brettler, “Images of YHWH,” 152, 154. 4. TDOT 6:42. 8. Gordis, “The Origin of the Masoretic Text,” 34, notes that 5. There was no one else except the two women in the house. In constructions like this, the second clause reiterates the ‫ סבירין‬is to “warn the copyists to avoid changing the accepted text meaning of the first but phrases it negatively. See, e.g., Gen. 37:24, in favor of a reading which apparently seems preferable. They, “The pit was empty; there was no water in it.” Normally, there therefore, note the attractive reading on the margin, accompawould be water in the pit (= cistern). And normally, a household nied by the term sebirin, which means ‘it is thought [proposed] to read so and so, but you, the scribe, must not vary from the would consist of more than just two women and their babies. 6. Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3; Allen, Psalms 101–150 accepted text.’” Gordis then cites Ps. 144:2 as his example. (This article was originally published in 1958, in Hebrew, as “‫קדמותה של‬ (“may the wicked fall one and all”). ‫המסורה לאור ספרות חז״ל ומגילות ים המלח‬,” Tarbiz 27 [5718]: 444–69; 7. Waltke and O’Connor, Biblical Hebrew Syntax, 215. citation on p. 447.) See also Yeivin, Introduction to the Tiberian Masorah, 63, who says that sevirin “presents a reading which seems to avoid a difficulty in the text, but the purpose is to warn Psalm 142 that this reading is not correct. It is thus given as a support for 1. TDOT 11:514–16 notes that this word is used only meta- the received reading. There is no basis for the common suggestion that the sevirin notes are a way of correcting the received phorically in the Bible and only in poetic texts. 2. Gerstenberger, Psalms, Part 2, 420, notes that ‫ מסגר‬is text.” I thank Benjamin Sommer for the Yeivin reference. found only in Isa. 24:22 and 42:7 and that the verb “to bring out” 9. TDOT 12:381. See also Vergari, “Translation Techniques” (NJPS: “free”) is the standard expression for the Exodus from and “The Shadow Metaphors.” Egypt. He says, “In our passage, however, the motive seems to 10. It is not unusual for a past mythic event to be invoked

180

Notes to psalms 144–147 and its recurrence requested in the present. See Berlin, “The Message of Psalm 114.” M. Klingbeil (“Metaphors That Travel,” 128), in his tracking of the changes from Psalm 18 to Psalm 144, says, “What has been a descriptive praise now becomes a volitive request, trying to revitalize a lost historical reality and create a historical foundation for an emerging community.” 11. See HALOT 3:953 for the Aramaic loanword; and Hakham, ‫ספר תהלים‬, for the sense of “to draw out.” 12. Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3, suggests that the allusion is to a foreign occupying power, noting that this is not about tangible military conflicts but about verbal attacks against Judah. 13. Booij, “Psalm 144,” 175, suggests that vv. 12–15 are the new song. 14. Braun, Music in Ancient Israel/Palestine, 22–24, thinks that in Psalm 92 they are two separate instruments, but the breaking up of the two-part term may be just a parallelistic poetic device, “with a harp, with a ten-stringed one.” There is no separate instrument mentioned in the Bible. On the breaking up of phrases in parallelisms, see Melammed, “Break-Up of Stereotype Phrases.” 15. See Tucker, Constructing and Deconstructing Power, 182– 83. Tucker sees in this psalm not a desire for the return of the Davidic monarchy, but rather the coming together of the image of David as servant with Israel as God’s servant and with the individual petitioner in psalms—all needing God’s protection in the present situation. 16. Schwartz, “Hanoten Teshua‘.” 17. Goldingay, Psalms, 3:682, 689. 18. Schroer, “Frauenkörper als architektonische Elemente”; Allen, Psalms 101–150, 365; Keel, Symbolism of the Biblical World, 400. 19. HALOT 1:306. 20. HALOT 1:299. 21. Based on Deut. 24:2, where the husband gives his wife a bill of divorcement and “sends her away from his house”; and on the mishnaic expression in M. Yev. 4:9, “he causes his wife to go out [‫]הוציא‬.” 22. Booij, “Psalm 144,” 178; Makujina, “The Interpretation of Ps 144,14.”

Psalm 145 1. The version in 11QPsa does not begin with the verses from Psalms 84 and 144. The bottom of this scroll is missing, so the end of the liturgical unit is not entirely clear, but from what little remains of the line after Psalm 145:21, this copy it does not seem to include the verse from Psalm 115. On early liturgical use of the psalm, see further Kimelman, “Psalm 145,” 55–57 and note 109. 2. On acrostics, see Eshel and Strugnell, “Alphabetical Acrostics in Pre-Tannaitic Hebrew”; and Dobbs-Allsopp, “Acrostic.” In later Hebrew poetry, especially piyyut, acrostics are even more common and are used to spell out authors’ names and other words. 3. See Hoffman, A Blemished Perfection, 84–114, for a discussion of catalog literature in the ancient Near East with special

181

reference to Job. Hoffman identifies catalogs in Psalms 136, 104, and 150. 4. Berlin, “Rhetoric of Psalm 145,” 18. 5. Kimelman, “Psalm 145,” 49–50. Brettler, “Supplementation in Psalms,” 10, says that the exact repetition of verse 17b is “stylistically inappropriate.” Lindars, “Structure of Psalm CXLV,” would not exclude the verse on these formal stylistic grounds, although in the end he concludes that the verse was original. Benjamin Sommer observed to me that some repetition, although not exact duplication, occurs at the ends of lines in Ps. 145:4,11 and 111:3,10. In 112:3,9 there is exact duplication of lines. 6. Kimelman, “Psalm 145,” 49–50. The Septuagint, however, has “Lord,” not “God.” Kimelman also adds that the first part of the verse is suspiciously like the blessing after the recitation of the haftarah, ‫האל הנאמן בכל דבריו‬, “and thus may be a liturgical topos interpolated to complete the acrostic.” Brettler, “Supplementation in Psalms,” argues that there was originally a nun verse but that the one in the Qumran scroll, Septuagint, and Peshitta is secondary. 7. Elsewhere, too, some modern (mostly Christian) translations “restore” words missing in the MT but present in the Septuagint, for example, in Gen. 4:8, “Let us go out to the field.” 8. Weiss, ‫מקראות ככוונתם‬, 263–92; Berlin, “Rhetoric of Psalm 145”; and Kimelman, “Psalm 145.” 9. Kimelman, “Psalm 145”; see also Weiss, ‫מקראות ככוונתם‬. 10. Brettler, “Supplementation in Psalms,” 6, suggests that in an early manuscript the abbreviation ‫ ת‬was used, and it was filled in slightly differently in the MT and in the Qumran scroll. He also finds that an early abbreviation of ‫ ב‬at the beginning of v. 2 resulted in two different restorations (or supplementations): ‫ בכל‬in the MT and ‫ ברוך‬in the Qumran scroll. For the same reason, MT reads ‫ באמת‬in v. 18, and the Qumran scroll has ‫באמונה‬. There are a number of other differences between the MT and the Qumran scroll that are not due to early abbreviations. 11. Pietersma, A New English Translation of the Septuagint, 144. 12. For the various meanings of “all flesh,” see TDOT 2:319.

Psalm 146 1. TDOT 9:497–519, esp. 502–3. 2. Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3. 3. Hakham, ‫ספר תהלים‬. 4. Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3.

Psalm 147 1. Listed in Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3, 621. 2. Hurvitz, ‫בין לשון ללשון‬, 175n308. The more common roots for “gather” are ‫ קבץ‬and ‫אסף‬. 3. Hakham, ‫ספר תהלים‬. 4. HALOT 2:854. 5. “The human/man” and “the horse” are singular collective nouns in Hebrew, rendered appropriately by English plurals. 6. Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3, 625.

Notes to psalms 147–150 7. Perhaps the wounding of the upper legs as a way to disable riders or foot soldiers lies behind the expression in Judg. 15:8, ‫וַ ַ ּי ְך אוֹ ָתם ׁשוֹ ק ַעל יָ ֵר ְך‬, literally “He smote them thigh on hip.” 8. Hakham, ‫ספר תהלים‬, avoids the idea of “fleetness” but interprets the verse more generally to mean that God does not privilege strong creatures over weak ones, but cares equally for all of them. 9. I thank Benjamin Sommer for this observation.

Psalm 148 1. NRSV; Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3. 2. Hakham, ‫ספר תהלים‬. 3. See HALOT 2:841; TDOT 11:184; NRSV: “he established them.” 4. Also Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3. 5. Cf. also Job 28:26, 38:8–11, TDOT 5:141. 6. My translation is intended to show the similarity in wording between the two verses. NJPS, which is often inconsistent in the translation of identical terms, renders Hab. 3:3 as “His majesty covers the skies, / His splendor fills the earth.” 7. See Berlin, “The Message of Psalm 114.”

Psalm 149 1. Waltke and O’Connor, Biblical Hebrew Syntax, 210. 2. Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3. 3. TDOT 5:165. 4. Berman, “The ‘Sword of Mouths.’” The idiom also occurs in Judg. 3:16; Prov. 5:4, and in postbiblical literature: in the New Testament (Hebrews 4:12; Revelation 1:16, 2:12); in the Apocrypha (Sirach 21:3); and in the Pseudepigrapha (Ahiqar, col. vii 100b). 5. Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3.

Psalm 150 1. For a general survey of catalog literature and a discussion of Psalm 150 as a catalog, see Hoffman, A Blemished Perfection, 84–97. 2. Noted by Skulj, “Musical Instruments in Psalm 150,” 1127, who would like to read it into v. 3. 3. Mroczek, The Literary Imagination, 172. Emanuel Tov, “Judean Desert Texts outside Qumran,” notes that the consonantal texts of the scrolls from the Judean desert outside Qumran, like this Masada scroll, agree with the MT to a greater extent than the Qumran scrolls do.

4. Kimḥi, followed by Menaḥem haMeiri, understands both parts of the verse as parallel and as referring to the heavenly Temple: the first to the realm of the angels and the second to the highest of the heavenly spheres. Other medievals and some moderns take ‫ קדשו‬as “His holiness”: “praise God in His holiness.” 5. Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3, 655, note a, suggests that the heavenly beings (the angels and the heavenly host) will also praise God, as in Ps. 148:2. But 150:6, “all that breathes” (= humans), argues against this interpretation. 6. Isaiah of Trani; Briggs, Psalms; Brodersen, The End of the Psalter. 7. Brodersen, The End of the Psalter, 46–47. She renders “Praise God for his holiness . . . ​for his mighty firmament,” making v. 1 identical in structure with v. 2; both tell why to praise God. 8. On the ideal picture in this psalm, see Mathys, “Psalm CL.” 9. The translations for them in the Ancient Versions are not consistent. I rely mainly on Braun, Music in Ancient Israel/ Palestine. See also Mathys, “Psalm CL,” 329–44; Skulj, “Musical Instruments in Psalm 150”; and Brodersen, The End of the Psalter, 48–51. 10. Braun, Music in Ancient Israel/Palestine, 26–29. 11. Braun, Music in Ancient Israel/Palestine, 16–19, 22–24. See also Comment to Ps. 137:2. The ‫ נבל‬had thicker strings and a deeper tone than the ‫כנור‬. 12. Braun, Music in Ancient Israel/Palestine, 29–31; for Bronze Age iconography, see pp. 71–80, 118–32. Skulj, “Musical Instruments in Psalm 150,” 1123. 13. See Braun, Music in Ancient Israel/Palestine, 71–80, for the combination of “dance, lyre, and drum.” 14. Skulj, “Musical Instruments in Psalm 150,” 1124. 15. Hakham, ‫ספר תהלים‬, note 4b on this verse; Hoffman, A Blemished Perfection, 97n23. 16. Braun, Music in Ancient Israel/Palestine, 80–85. 17. Braun, Music in Ancient Israel/Palestine, 31–32, thinks it is a wind instrument; but Skulj, “Musical Instruments in Psalm 150,” 1125, disagrees. 18. Braun, Music in Ancient Israel/Palestine, 107–10. 19. HALOT 1031b. 20. Allen, Psalms 101–150, 404. 21. Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3, 654, 663, render “all breath” and understand it as “breath that supports speech,” meaning “living things capable of uttering the language of the Psalms.” They correctly understand the phrase as referring to human beings, but language is not the issue here—it is music. Brodersen, The End of the Psalter, 55–57, reviews various interpretations and concludes, as I do, that the reference is to humans. Contra Strawn and LeMon, “Everything That Has Breath,” who include animals.

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Excursus Songs of Ascents Psalms 120–134 are a series of relatively short psalms, each with the superscription ‫שיר‬ ‫המעלות‬, “A song of ascents.”1 These psalms were written in the postexilic period, probably between 515 b.c.e., when the Temple was rebuilt, and 300 b.c.e., when the contents (though not the arrangement) of the Book of Psalms was more or less stabilized. These psalms speak to the issue of the return from exile, the reestablishment of the community in Judah, the centrality of Jerusalem, Zion, and the Temple, and the future of the Davidic dynasty. In this they resemble many other psalms, especially those in Books 4 and 5, whose themes pertain to the main concerns of postexilic biblical literature, but these themes are more concentrated in Psalms 120–134. The terms “Jerusalem” and “Zion,” and also “Israel” (the people), occur frequently. There is a notable focus on blessings (especially blessings of peace), God’s help, and a general attitude of hope for the future.2 Several metaphors draw on everyday life of the family and the household. In sum, the Songs of Ascents are, by and large, prayers for God’s blessing on the people of Israel, blessings on or emanating from Jerusalem/Zion. Peace for Jerusalem and prosperity for the people are the dominant themes. Erich Zenger puts it nicely, saying that the collection of Songs of Ascents is “a document of Jewish identity that holds fast to Zion/Jerusalem as the center of Israel.”3 In Ashkenazic, Sefard-Hasidic, and Italian liturgical practice, the Songs of Ascents are recited after Minḥah (the Afternoon Service) on the Sabbaths between Sukkot and Passover. There is also a custom of reciting the fifteen Songs of Ascents on the first fifteen days of the month of Shevat, culminating with Tu b’Shevat, the New Year of Trees. The meaning of the term ‫ שיר המעלות‬remains elusive and seems to have been forgotten long ago, for already in Rabbinic times there was speculation about what it signifies. Explanations derive from the notion of “ascending” or “degrees” (‫)מעלות‬, and while there are many permutations, they can be categorized as relating to (1) the poetic or musical structure or performance of the psalms or (2) the psalms’ genre or occasion on which the psalms were recited. Below is a sampling of the most oft-cited (or most interesting) explanations.

“Song of Ascents” as a Musical or Literary Term Many psalm superscriptions contain terms thought to indicate musical (choral or instrumental) instructions or perhaps the musical or poetic genre of the psalm, although most of these terms cannot be identified with certainty (e.g., “with instrumental music” [4:1], “on the gittith” [8:1], “on the sheminith” [12:1]). On this model of musical instructions, Saadiah Gaon suggested that “song of ascents” is the name of a particular melody “sung in a loud and high voice.” Ibn Ezra apparently agrees.4 Menaḥem haMeiri, following Saadiah’s interpretation, explains further: “a song that one begins with a soft voice, raising the voice

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Excursus: Songs of Ascents gradually until it is very loud.” This opinion, among others, is also cited by Kimḥi. This musical explanation of the superscription, favored by medievals, is generally ignored or rejected by modern scholars. While it is possible that “song of ascents” is a musical term, none of these psalms mentions musical instruments or choral instructions, and ‫ מעלות‬is not found elsewhere in connection with music. Several modern commentators have seen poetic rather than musical information in the term “song of ascents.” One suggestion is that “ascents” or “steps” refers to step-parallelism, a verbal structure in which a word or phrase at the end of one verse is repeated near the beginning of the next (the technical term is anadiplosis), creating a kind of stepping-stone from one verse to the next.5 This trope seems especially prominent in this group of psalms. An example is “Your guardian will not slumber; / See, the guardian of Israel / neither slumbers nor sleeps! / The Lord is your guardian” (121:4–5). Other instances are “eyes” (123:1–2) and “that descends,” ‫( שיורד‬133:2–3). To be sure, step-parallelism occurs rather frequently in Psalms 120–134 (although not in 132), but it also occurs elsewhere, for instance, in Psalm 29, especially verse 5, “The voice of the Lord breaks cedars; the Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon.” (See also 29:8; Song 1:3.) It therefore seems doubtful that “step-parallelism” would be a designation for a group of psalms, any more than other types of parallelism would. So, while step-parallelism may indeed be a feature of these psalms, it is probably not what the term “songs of ascents” means. Another possibility is that the rhythm of these psalms was designed to match the rhythm of walking up the stairway of the Temple. The Temple stairs alternated between steps of greater depth, requiring a person to take two footsteps, and of lesser depth, requiring one footstep, thereby slowing down the ascent and producing a kind of rhythmic procession. This “long-short” rhythm seems to coincide with the rhythm of many verses, wherein the first half is longer than the second half—for example, “By day the sun will not strike you, nor the moon by night” (121:6). The suggestion that these psalms were recited while ascending the Temple steps is not unlike the modern idea that these are pilgrim songs (see below), but it is based on the psalms’ rhythm rather than on their contents. It remains speculative, more so because the “long-short” rhythm is not unlike the so-called kinah meter often found in Lamentations, although the Songs of Ascents are not laments.

“Song of Ascents” as a Genre or “Place in Life” Term More common is the explanation that ‫ מעלות‬refers to the type of psalm or the location/ occasion when the psalm was recited, although opinions vary greatly as to what that occasion might have been. Midrash Tehillim takes “ascents” to mean the going up out of exile: “In the future, when the children of Israel get free of their troubles and go up out of exile, men of all nations will sing His praise, for it is said A Song of Ascents.”6 Note that the midrash, written after the destruction of the Second Temple, sees the return as yet to come in the future (in fact, many medieval Jewish commentators also read psalms as applying to the return from the exile of their own time). Some modern scholars (apparently independently from the midrash), basing themselves on Ezra 7:9, where the phrase “ascent [‫ ]מעלה‬from Babylonia” is found, and on their own understanding of the psalms’ contents,

184

Excursus: Songs of Ascents also see the occasion as the return from Babylonian exile. Indeed, the current scholarly trend (with which I agree) is to date these psalms to the postexilic period (Books 4 and 5 of Psalms as a whole are considered postexilic by many scholars today) and to interpret them in reference to the return from exile. But that these psalms were actually recited in the course of the journey or upon arrival in Judah is less plausible. More likely they celebrate the return to Zion after it occurred, but upon what occasion remains unclear. Erich Zenger suggests that these songs originated as individual songs about Jerusalem and Zion in the circles surrounding Jerusalem and became popular with pilgrims to the Temple, who learned them easily and took them home with them.7 (More on pilgrims below.) The Mishnah (Suk. 5:4; Mid. 2:5) explains that these fifteen songs were sung by the Levites on the steps of the Temple, which, according to Ezek. 40:26,31, numbered fifteen—one psalm for each step: “And the Levites, with viols and lyres and cymbals and trumpets and innumerable musical instruments, are on the fifteen steps that descend from the Israelite section to the women’s section, corresponding to the fifteen Songs of Ascents in Psalms.” This view is widely cited in the medieval commentaries, along with other traditional explanations: Rashi adds a legend about David from the Gemara (see below); Isaiah of Trani explains that these were not the daily psalms but special psalms for the Water-Pouring ceremony on Sukkot (this is the context of the mishnaic explanation); Menaḥem haMeiri adds the explanation of Saadiah about the melody; and Kimḥi offers four explanations—the fifteen Temple steps, the legend of David, Saadiah’s interpretation, and the idea of returning from exile. Some modern scholars see a connection with the Aaronide priests rather than the Levites. Four key words from the Priestly Blessing in Num. 6:24–26 appear in twelve of the Songs of Ascents: ‫יברכך‬, “may He bless you”; ‫ישמרך‬, “may He guard you”; ‫ויחנך‬, “may He be gracious to you”; and ‫שלום‬, “peace.”8 Zenger suggests, then, that Psalms 120–134 came from priestly circles, not from levitical circles (the Levites are credited by many scholars as the composers of many psalms), and that they emphasize the role of the priests and the theology found elsewhere in Priestly sources.9 In the Gemara’s explanation of Mishnah Sukkah (B. Suk. 53a–b), an aggadic story is told, offering another (fanciful) explanation of “ascents”: When David dug the pits to receive the libations poured on the altar, the waters of the deep (the primeval waters) rose up and threatened to flood the world. David then wrote the divine name on a shard and cast it into the deep, whereupon the waters sunk sixteen thousand cubits. Since such a low water level would deprive the earth of the moisture needed for fertility, David recited the fifteen Songs of Ascents in order to raise up the waters fifteen thousand cubits. This legend is preserved in a terse form in the Targum on the first verse of each psalm from Psalms 120–134, which translates (with slight variations in wording) “a song that was uttered concerning the ascents of the deep.” The idea of going up was pursued more allegorically by early Christian authors, in concord with their allegorical interpretation of the Bible (first promoted by the Greek Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria). They interpreted “song of ascents” as relating to the mystical ascent of the individual’s soul to God.10 A widely held modern explanation is that these fifteen psalms are pilgrim songs, sung

185

Excursus: Songs of Ascents by pilgrims to the Temple at stations along the road to Jerusalem, or as they ascended the mountains surrounding Jerusalem, or more likely, as they ascended the steps of the Temple.11 The root ‫ עלה‬is used for going up to Jerusalem or to the Temple in Ps. 24:3, 122:4; 1 Kings 12:27–28; and Isa. 2:3, 38:22.12 Nehemiah 3:15 and 12:37 mention steps leading up to the City of David. Pilgrimages to the Temple could be made on many occasions, but some identify them more specifically with the so-called pilgrimage festivals (Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot). For example, Joseph H. Hertz visualizes the following scene: “In order to keep the three Pilgrim Festivals at the National Sanctuary, pious Israelites would band themselves together, camping out on the journey, and singing songs as they went.”13 These three festivals are known in Jewish tradition as the ‫ שלש רגלים‬and are often mistranslated as “the three foot/pilgrimage festivals.” Actually, ‫ שלש רגלים‬means “three times.” (The common meaning of ‫ רגל‬is “foot,” but the homonymous ‫ רגל‬means “time.”) The Torah states that “three times [‫ ]שלוש רגלים‬a year you shall hold a festival for Me” (Exod. 23:14; cf. the synonym in Deut. 16:16, ‫שלוש פעמים‬, “three times”). Nowhere does the Torah use the root ‫עלה‬, “ascend,” in connection with these three festivals (although Zech. 14:16–19 uses the root for the eschatological ascent of the nations to Jerusalem to celebrate Sukkot). To be sure, ‫ עלה‬is used for going up to the Temple or to an altar, but it does not appear to be a technical term that, in and of itself, refers to a pilgrimage to the Temple (cf. Ps. 122:1, where ‫הלך‬, “go,” describes the act of going to the Temple). We do not know if journeys to the Temple occasioned the Songs of Ascents. The pilgrimage hypothesis remains well-entrenched because a pilgrimage seems a plausible occasion for at least some of these psalms (121, 122, 125), although not for all of them. However, if we are to seek a liturgical occasion for Psalms 120–134, rather than thinking of them as a songbook for travelers from afar, it seems to me more reasonable to consider this collection of psalms as a liturgy for a stylized procession near or at the Temple Mount (for all worshipers, not only “out-of-towners”)—that is, procession songs, not pilgrim songs. Ritual processions are known from ancient Mesopotamia, where during the Akitu festival the statues of the gods were taken out of the temple in a procession that included the king, priests, and courtiers and later were brought back into the temple in an even more impressive procession. In Jewish practice there are processions of the Torah out of and back into the ark, before and after it is read, and the hakafot, the processions with the Torah scrolls on Simḥat Torah. Processions are features of Christian and Muslim observances as well. So, it may be that the Songs of Ascents were sung in a formal procession in the Temple precincts. Not everyone seeks a liturgical occasion for these psalms. In his The Songs of Ascents, Loren Crow sees them as a group of folk songs from early in the Persian period that were redacted, and nationalized, later during that period in order to serve a nation-building purpose for the renewed community of Judah. They were rhetorical pieces designed to encourage Jews in Judah and in the Diaspora to look toward Jerusalem as the source of their prosperity and the focus of their religious identity. I am in sympathy with Crow’s point that these psalms provided a national-theological identity for the restored Judean community (many other psalms do also), although I am not persuaded that they originated as folk

186

Excursus: Songs of Ascents songs. In a somewhat related vein, but in an overly specific manner, Michael Goulder, in The Psalms of the Return, sees the Ascents songs as dating from the time of Nehemiah and comprising liturgical responses by the Levites to Nehemiah’s testimonies regarding the return to Jerusalem and the rebuilding of its walls and Temple. He interprets each psalm against a passage from the Book of Nehemiah. But his approach is idiosyncratic and has not been accepted. To sum up, the meaning of the term ‫ שיר המעלות‬remains a mystery. It may designate the type or genre of the song (cf. Ps. 45:1, ‫שיר ידידת‬, “A love song”) or the occasion on which the song was sung (cf. 30:1, ‫שיר־חנכת הבית‬, “A song for the dedication of the House,” and 92:1, ‫שיר ליום השבת‬, “A song; for the sabbath day”). The themes, wording, and postexilic date of the Songs of Ascents tie them firmly to the return from exile, to the reestablishment of the Temple as the religious and spiritual center of Judah, and to the identity of its people as the Temple community. Whether the fifteen psalms were originally composed as individual songs or as a unit is still debated, but as a collection they most likely served a liturgical function, perhaps to accompany a procession at the Temple.

The Coherence of the Collection Because these fifteen psalms all bear the superscription “A song of ascents,” and the superscription does not appear elsewhere in the Book of Psalms, the assumption has been that they form a coherent collection, with their superscriptions already attached, that existed independently before having been incorporated into Book 5 of Psalms.14 This idea has been boosted by observations that certain words and themes occur exclusively in this group of psalms or more frequently than they do elsewhere in the Psalter.15 Some scholars have gone further, constructing a narrative sequence or a progressive drama, based on the contents or message of the psalms, to explain their arrangement. I find these attempts forced, more the product of the exegete than inherent in the psalms. I agree with James Luther Mays: “The collection gives the impression that it is made up of existing pieces assembled and sometimes adapted for its purpose.”16 In other words, these psalms were composed as individual pieces (of the same genre or for the same purpose) and later collected together. The ordering of these individual psalms (which already had their superscriptions) was likely facilitated by making linguistic and thematic connections between one psalm and the next rather than by a global progression. These connections include the occurrence of a phrase or idea at the end of one psalm and at the beginning of the next (anadiplosis) and the presence of similar themes or words in adjacent psalms.17 Who arranged these psalms in their present order? A few scholars posit a compositional unity—the original author composed the fifteen psalms ab initio as a unified work.18 However, most scholars attribute the unity to an early editor who first collected the individual psalms together. This “Ascents” editor preceded the editor of Book 5 of the Masoretic Text and the editor of the large Qumran Psalms scroll. The evidence from the Dead Sea Scrolls lends support to the theory that the Ascents psalms existed as a collection, with their ‫ שיר המעלות‬superscriptions, before having been included in the larger Masoretic Text collection and Qumran collection of psalms.

187

Excursus: Songs of Ascents Although in the large Qumran Psalms scroll, 11QPsa, the order of many psalms outside the Ascents collection differs from that of the Masoretic Text, thirteen of the fifteen Ascents psalms, 120–132, occur together in the same sequence as in the Masoretic Text. Psalms 133 and 134 are located elsewhere, and not adjacent to each other.19 (Psalm 133 begins with the words ‫שיר המעלות‬, even though it is detached from the bulk of this group in 11QPsa. The beginning of Psalm 134 is missing, since the bottom of the scroll is not extant.) It is thought that the editor of this Qumran scroll inherited these psalms as a group, although he felt free to detach two psalms from the group and place them among other psalms.20 Two other Qumran scrolls also support the existence of an Ascents collection: 4QPse contains remnants of Psalms 125–130, and 1QPsb contains parts of Psalms 126–128.21

Notes to the Excursus 1. Psalm 121 has a slight variant, ‫שיר למעלות‬, “a song for as14. Wilson, The Editing of the Hebrew Psalter, 225. On p. cents,” while the large Psalms scroll from Qumran, 11QPsa, has 144, Wilson finds that the cultic or technical superscriptions ‫ שיר המעלות‬for Psalm 121 and ‫ שיר למעלות‬for Psalm 123, suggesting had already become attached to their psalms by the time that that these superscriptions may have been interchangeable. the Psalter was edited. This is not the case, according to Wilson, 2. See Mays, Psalms, 386. Other studies on the Songs of for the superscriptions that attribute psalms to an event in the Ascents include Crow, The Songs of Ascents; Zenger, “Der Zion life of David (like Psalm 3); he thinks they were added later. 15. Goulder, Psalms of the Return, 24–27; Grossberg, Cenals Ort der Gottesnähe”; Satterthwaite, “Zion in the Songs of Ascents”; Viviers, “The Coherence of the Ma‘alot-Psalms”; Ar- tripetal and Centrifugal Structures, 48–50; Viviers, “The Coherarat, “‫שיר המעלות‬.” A useful overview is in Hossfeld and Zenger, ence of the Ma‘alot-Psalms”; A. Hunter, Psalms, 182–91. 16. Mays, Psalms, 386. Psalms 3, 286–99. See also A. Hunter, Psalms, 173–258. 17. These connections were examined by Wilson, The Ed3. Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3, 298. 4. Simon, Four Approaches, 322–23. Ibn Ezra here explains iting of the Hebrew Psalter, and are being pursued especially in many of the terms in the superscriptions. Ibn Ezra’s comments the work of David Willgren, Jean-Luc Vesco, and Yair Zakovitch. on Ps. 120:1 are confused and confusing; he attributes to Saa18. Goulder, Psalms of the Return; A. Hunter, Psalms, 175– diah both Saadiah’s and the Mishnah’s explanation but seems to 248. 19. Psalm 133 is between 141 and 144, and Psalm 134 is beprefer the idea that ‫ מעלות‬is a type of melody. See Simon, Four Approaches, 249. tween 140 and 151A. Flint, Dead Sea Psalms Scrolls, 193, explains 5. A. Hunter, Psalms, 188–89, has a chart of this structure. that Psalms 133 and 134 were placed among other psalms of a Hunter sees it as one of the indications that the collection was “Davidic” nature (this was a strong organizing principle of the written as a coherent unit. Qumran scroll). See also Martilla, Collective Reinterpretation, 6. Braude, The Midrash on Psalms, 289. 217–32. 7. Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3, 294. 20. This is Flint’s supposition (Dead Sea Psalms Scrolls, 8. Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3, 291, quoting Liebreich, 193). The question of the freedom of an editor to break up pre“Songs of Ascents.” existing collections deserves more study. Apparently the MT 9. Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3, 294–95. editor broke up some collections but not the Ascents songs. 10. Crow, Songs of Ascents, 1–27, provides a summary. A. Wilson, The Editing of the Hebrew Psalter, 144, says that “there Hunter, An Introduction to the Psalms, 57, lists several editions is clear evidence that earlier genre collections have been treated of Christian authors. quite freely by the psalter editor(s) who felt no compunction at 11. There are other psalms (e.g., 24, 43, 84) that could also breaking up such groupings and redistributing their contents be pilgrim songs but were not included in the Ascents collection according to different considerations.” Yet Wilson maintains (Grossberg, Centripetal and Centrifugal Structures, 16). Religious that the MT editor(s) did not take this liberty with the Ascents processions reminiscent of the Babylonian Akitu festival are also psalms. Later (p. 220) he suggests that the presence of several psalms groupings that exhibit evidence of a previous history of implied in some of these other psalms, like Psalm 24. 12. The same verb is used for going up to other sanctuaries, combination (Ascents; Davidic; Hallelujah) may have limited such as Bethel (Gen. 35:1) and Shiloh (1 Sam. 1:3). Note that it the amount of editorial manipulation. is not permitted to ascend an altar by steps (‫)מעלות‬. 21. Mroczek, The Literary Imagination, 31, suggests that 13. The Authorized Daily Prayer Book (New York: Bloch, 1QPsb may have contained only the Ascents psalms. 1963 [orig. 1948]), 589.

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Bibliographyfor the Commentary Ahn, John. “Psalm 137: Complex Communal Laments.” JBL 127 (2008): 267–89. Allen, Leslie C. Psalms 101–150. 2nd ed. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2002. Alonso-Schökel, Luis, and Andrzei Strus. “Salmo 122.” Biblica 61 (1980): 234–50. Alter, Robert. The Art of Biblical Poetry. New York: Basic Books, 1985.    . The Book of Psalms. New York: Norton, 2007. Ammann, Sonja. Götter für die Toren. Die Verbindung von Götterpolemik und Weisheit im Alten Testament. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2015.    . “Ps 137 and the ‘Exilic Gap’ in Biblical Historiography.” Paper delivered on July 22, 2015, SBL International Meeting (Comparative Studies of Literature from the Persian and Hellenistic Periods Session), Buenos Aires. Anderson, A. A . “Psalms.” In It Is Written: Scripture Citing Scripture; Essays in Honour of Barnabas Lindars, edited by D. A . Carson and H. G. M. Williamson, 56–66. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988. Ararat, Nisan. “‫״שיר המעלות״—שיר מתקופת העליה לציון‬.” Beth Mikra 44, no. 1 (1999): 83–90. Assis, Elie. “Family and Community as Substitutes for the Temple after Its Destruction: New Readings in Psalms 127 and 133. Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses 85, no. 1 (2009): 55–62.    . “Psalm 127 and the Polemic of the Rebuilding of the Temple in the Post Exilic Period.” ZAW 121 (2009): 256–72.    . “The Structure, Genre, and Meaning of Psalm 129.” Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament 31 (2017): 142–54. Auffret, Pierre. “Note on the Literary Structure of Psalm 134.” JSOT 45 (1989): 87–89.    . “O bonheurs du peuple dont Yhwh est le Dieu: nouvelle étude structurelle du psaume 144.” VT 60 (2010): 505–17.    . “Par le tambour et la danse: étude structurelle du Psaume 150.” Etudes Théologiques et Religieuses 77 (2002): 257–61. Auwers, Jean-Marie. “Le Psaume 132 parmi les graduels.” RB 103 (1996): 546–60.    . “Le Psautier comme livre biblique: édition, rédaction, fonction.” In Zenger, Composition of the Book of Psalms, 67–90. Ballhorn, Egbert. “Der Davidbund in Ps 132 und im Kontext des Psalters.” In Für immer verbündet: Studien zur Bundestheologie der Bibel; Festgabe für Frank-Lothar Hossfeld zum 65. Geburtstag, edited by Christoph Dohmen and Christian Frevel, 11–18. Stuttgart: Katholisches Bibelwerk, 2007. Bar-Efrat, Shimon. “Love of Zion: A Literary Interpretation of Psalm 137.” In Tehillah le-Moshe: Biblical and Judaic Studies in Honor of Moshe Greenberg, edited by Mordechai Cogan, Barry L. Eichler, and Jeffrey H. Tigay, 3–11. Winona Lake in: Eisenbrauns, 1997. Barker, David G. “‘The Lord Watches Over You’: A Pilgrimage Reading of Psalm 121.” Bibliotheca Sacra 606 (1995): 163–18. Barthélemy, Dominique, Stephen Desmond Ryan, and Adrian Schenker, eds. Critique textuelle de l’Ancien Testament. Tome 4, Psaumes. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; Fribourg Academic Press, 2005. Basson, Alec. Divine Metaphors in Selected Hebrew Psalms of Lamentation. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2006.

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Bibliography Clifford, Richard J. Psalms 1–72. Nashville: Abingdon, 2002.    . Psalms 73–150. Nashville: Abingdon, 2003. Cogan, Mordechai. The Raging Torrent: Historical Inscriptions from Assyria and Babylonia Relating to Ancient Israel. Jerusalem: Carta, 2008. Cohen, Jeremy. “The Guardian of Israel neither Dozes nor Sleeps”: Exegesis, Polemics, and Politics in the Late Medieval Jewish-Christian Encounter. In Transforming Relations, Essays on Jews and Christians throughout History in Honor of Michael A. Signer, edited by Franklin T. Harkins, 285–309. Notre Dame in: University of Notre Dame Press, 2010. Cohen, Menahem, ed. ‫ תהלים‬:‫מקראות גדולות הכתר‬. 2 vols. Ramat Gan: Bar Ilan University Press, 2003. mgketer.org. Cooper, Alan M. “The Life and Times of King David according to the Book of Psalms.” In The Poet and the Historian: Essays in Literary and Historical Biblical Criticism, edited by R. E. Friedman, 117–31. Chico ca: Scholars Press, 1983.    . “On the Typology of Jewish Psalms Interpretation.” In Biblical Interpretation in Judaism and Christianity, edited by Isaac Kalimi and Peter J. Haas, 79–90. New York: T&T Clark, 2006.    . “Some Aspects of Traditional Jewish Psalms Interpretation.” In The Oxford Handbook of the Psalms, edited by William P. Brown, 253–68. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014. Creach, Jerome F. D. “Psalm 121.” Interpretation 50 (1996): 47–51. Crow, Loren. The Songs of Ascents (Psalms 120–134): Their Place in Israelite History and Religion. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1996. Dahood, Mitchell J. “The Aleph in Psalm 127:2 ‘sena.’ ” Orientalia 44 (1975): 103–5.    . Psalms: Introduction, Translation, and Notes. 3 vols. Garden City ny: Doubleday, 1966–70. Day, John. “The Ark and the Cherubim in the Psalms.” In Psalms and Prayers: Papers Read at the Joint Meeting of the Society for Old Testament Study and Het Oudtestamentisch Werkgezelschap in Nederland en België, Apeldoorn, August 2006, edited by Bob Becking and Eric Peels, 65–77. Leiden: Brill, 2007.    . “How Many Pre-exilic Psalms Are There?” In In Search of Pre-exilic Israel: Proceedings of the Oxford Old Testament Seminar, edited by John Day, 225–50. London: T&T Clark, 2004. deClaissé-Walford, Nancy L. “Psalm 145: All Flesh Will Bless God’s Holy Name.” CBQ 74 (2012): 55–66.    . Reading from the Beginning: The Shaping of the Hebrew Psalter. Macon ga: Mercer University Press, 1997.    , ed. The Shape and Shaping of the Book of Psalms: The Current State of Scholarship. Atlanta: SBL Press, 2014. deClaissé-Walford, Nancy L., Rolf A. Jacobson, and Beth LaNeel Tanner. The Book of Psalms. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2014. Dell, Katherine. “The Use of Animal Imagery in the Psalms and Wisdom Literature of Ancient Israel.” Scottish Journal of Theology 53 (2000): 275–291. Dobbs-Allsopp, F. W. “Acrostic.” In Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception (EBR), edited by H.-J. Klauck et al. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2009.    . On Biblical Poetry. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015. [A summary is found in “Poetry of the Psalms,” in The Oxford Handbook of the Psalms, ed. William P. Brown (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), 79–98.]    . “Psalm 133: A (Close) Reading.” JHS 8 (2008): 2–30 [Article 20]. Donner, Herbert T. “Psalm 122.” In Text and Context: Old Testament and Semitic Studies for F. C. Fensham, edited by W. Claassen, 81–91. Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1988. [Appeared in German in his Aufsätze zum Alten Testament aus vier Jahrzehnten (Berlin: De Gruyter, 1994).]

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Bibliography Doyle, Brian. “Metaphora Interrupta: Psalm 133.” Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses 77, no. 1 (2001): 5–22. Edwards, Timothy. Exegesis in the Targum of Psalms. Piscataway nj: Gorgias, 2007. Ehrlich, Arnold B. Die Psalmen: Neu uebersetzt und erklaert. Berlin: M. Poppelauer, 1905. Eidevall, Göran. “Images of God, Self, and the Enemy in the Psalm: On the Role of Metaphor in Identity Construction.” In Metaphor in the Hebrew Bible, edited by P. Van Hecke, 55–65. Leuven: Peters, 2005. Emanuel, David. From Bards to Biblical Exegetes: A Close Reading and Intertextual Analysis of Selected Exodus Psalms. Eugene or: Pickwick, 2012. [Emanuel, David. “The Psalmists’ Use of the Exodus Motif: A Close Reading and Intertextual Analysis of Selected Exodus Psalms.” PhD Dissertation, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 2007.] Emerton, John Adney. “The Meaning of šēnā’ in Psalm CXXVII.” VT 24 (1974): 15–31. Eph‘al, Israel. The Ancient Arabs. Jerusalem: Magnes; Leiden: Brill, 1982. Eshel, Hanan, and John Strugnell. “Alphabetical Acrostics in Pre-Tannaitic Hebrew.” CBQ 62 (2000): 441–58. Estes, Daniel J. “Like Arrows in the Hand of a Warrior (Psalm CXXVII).” VT 41, no. 3 (1991): 304–11. Fisch, Harold. Poetry with a Purpose: Biblical Poetics and Interpretation. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1988. Fleming, Daniel E. “‘House’/‘City’: An Unrecognized Parallel Word Pair.” JBL 105 (1986): 689–97.    . “Psalm 127: Sleep for the Fearful, and Security in Sons.” ZAW 107 (1995): 435–44. Flint, Peter. The Dead Sea Psalms Scrolls and the Book of Psalms. Leiden: Brill, 1997. Flint, Peter W., and Patrick D. Miller, eds. The Book of Psalms: Composition & Reception. Leiden: Brill, 2005. Forti, Tova. “Like a Lone Bird on a Roof.” Animal Imagery and the Structure of Psalms. University Park pa: Eisenbrauns, 2018.    . “A New Criterion for Identifying ‘Wisdom Psalms.’ ” In Birkat Shalom: Studies in the Bible, Ancient Near Eastern Literature, and Post-Biblical Judaism Presented to Shalom M. Paul on the Occasion of His Seventieth Birthday, edited by Chaim Cohen et al., 365–79. Winona Lake in: Eisenbrauns, 2008.    . “Of Snakes and Sinners: An Intertextual Reading of Ba‘al ha-Lashon in Ecclesiastes 10: 11 in Light of ’Ish Lashon in Psalm 140:12.” In Reading Ecclesiastes Intertextually, edited by Katharine Dell and Will Kynes, 84–93. London: Bloomsbury, 2014. Fretheim, Terence E. “Psalm 132: A Form-Critical Study.” JBL 86 (1967): 289–300. Frisch, Amos. “‫ חזרות ומשמעותן בתהילים קל״ב‬:‫מ׳ענותו׳ ל׳נזרו׳‬.” In Teshurah le-Amos: Asupat meḥḳarim be-farshanut ha-Miḳra mugeshet le-ʻAmos Ḥakham, edited by Mosheh Bar-Asher et al., 365–77. Alon Shevut: Tevunot, 5767 [2007].    . “‫לתפיסת המלוכה בספר תהלים‬.” Shnaton le-ḥeqer ha-miqra ve-ha-mizraḥ ha-qadum 19 (5769 [2009]): 57–76. ‬    . “The Biblical Attitude towards Human Toil.” In Jewish Bible Theology: Perspectives and Studies, edited by Isaac Kalimi, 101–18. Winona Lake in: Eisenbrauns, 2012. Gärtner, Judith. “The Historical Psalms: A Study of Psalms 78, 105, 106, 135, and 136 as Key Hermeneutical Texts in the Psalter.” HeBAI 4 (2015): 373–99. Gelander, Shamai. “Convention and Originality: Identification of the Situation in the Psalms.” VT 42 (1992): 302–16. Geller, Stephen A. “Metaphor in the Book of Psalms or the Book of Psalms as Metaphor.” In In the Shadow of Bezalel: Aramaic, Biblical, and Ancient Near Eastern Studies in Honor of Bezalel Porten, edited by Alejandro F. Botta, 247–54. Leiden: Brill, 2013.

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Bibliography German, Brian T. “Contexts for Hearing: Reevaluating the Superscription of Psalm 127.” JSOT 37 (2012): 185–99. Gerstenberger, Erhard S. Psalms, Part 1: With an Introduction to Cultic Poetry. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988.    . Psalms, Part 2, and Lamentations. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001. Gillingham, S. E. “The Exodus Tradition and Israelite Psalmody.” Scottish Journal of Theology 52 (1999): 19–46.    . “From Liturgy to Prophecy: The Use of Psalmody in Second Temple Judaism.” CBQ 64 (2002): 470–89.    . “The Levites and the Editorial Composition of the Psalms.” In The Oxford Handbook of the Psalms, edited by William Brown, 201–13. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.    . “The Levitical Singers and the Editing of the Hebrew Psalter.” In Zenger, Composition of the Book of Psalms, 91–124.    . “The Messiah in the Psalms: A Question of Reception History and the Psalter.” In King and Messiah in Israel and the Ancient Near East: Proceedings of the Oxford Old Testament Seminar, edited by John Day, 209–37. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1998.    . The Poems and Psalms of Hebrew Bible. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1994.    . “Power and Powerlessness in the Psalms.” In What Is It That the Scripture Says? Essays in Biblical Interpretation, Translation, and Reception in Honour of Henry Wansbrough OSB, edited by Philip McCosker, 25–49. London: T&T Clark, 2006.    . “Psalmody and Apocalyptic in the Hebrew Bible: Common Vision, Shared Experience?” In After the Exile: Essays in Honour of Rex Mason, edited by John Barton and David J. Reimer, 147–69. Macon ga: Mercer University Press, 1996.    . Psalms through the Centuries. Oxford: Blackwell, 2008.    . “The Zion Tradition and the Editing of the Hebrew Psalter.” In Temple and Worship in Biblical Israel: Proceedings of the Oxford Old Testament Seminar, edited by John Day, 308–41. London: T&T Clark, 2005. Gillmayr-Bucher, Susanne. “Body Images in the Psalms.” JSOT 28 (2004): 301–26.    . “‘Like Olive Shoots around Your Table’: Images of Space in the Psalms of Ascent.” In Zenger, Composition of the Book of Psalms, 489–500. Goitein, S. D. ‫עיונים במקרא‬. Tel Aviv: Yavneh, 1957. Goldingay, John. Psalms. Volume 3, Psalms 90–150. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2008. Gordis, Robert. “The Origin of the Masoretic Text in the Light of Rabbinic Literature and the Qumran Scrolls.” In The Word and the Book: Studies in Biblical Language and Literature, 29–74. New York: Ktav, 1976. Gosse, Bernard. “Le Psaume 132 nouvelle réponse au Psaume 89.” In Bible et Terre Sainte; Mélanges Marcel Beaudry, edited by José Enrique Aguilar et al., 97–104. New York: Lang, 2008.     “Le Psaume CXLIX et la réinterprétation post-exilique de la tradition prophétique.” VT 44 (1994): 259–63.    . L’espérance messianique davidique et la structuration du Psautier. Supplement no. 21 to Transeuphratene. Pende: Gabalda, 2015. Goulder, Michael. The Psalms of Asaph and the Pentateuch: Studies in the Psalter, III. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1996.    . The Psalms of the Return: Book V, Psalms 107–150. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1998.    . The Psalms of the Sons of Korah. Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1982.

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Bibliography Literature and Prophetism; Papers Read at the Joint British-Dutch Old Testament Conference, 1988, edited by A. S. van der Woude, 84–100. Leiden: Brill, 1990.    . “The Structure of Psalm CXXXIX.” VT 21 (1971): 298–310. Holtz, Shalom E. “The Thematic Unity of Psalm CXLIV in Light of Mesopotamian Royal Ideology.” VT 58 (2008): 367–80. Hornkohl, Aaron D. Ancient Hebrew Periodization and the Language of the Book of Jeremiah: A Case for a Sixth-Century Date of Composition. Leiden: Brill, 2014. Hossfeld, Frank-Lothar, and Erich Zenger. Psalms 2. Hermeneia. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2005.    . Psalms 3. Hermeneia. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2011. Hulster, Izaak J. de, and Brent A. Strawn, eds. Iconographic Exegesis of the Hebrew Bible / Old Testament: An Introduction to Its Theory, Method, and Practice. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2015. Human, Dirk. “From Exile to Zion: Ethical Perspectives from the Šîrē Hama‘alôt Psalm 127.” In Zenger, Composition of the Book of Psalms, 523–36.    . “Psalm 136: A Liturgy with Reference to Creation and History.” In Psalms and Liturgy, edited by Dirk J. Human and Cas J. A . Vos, 73–88. London: T&T Clark, 2004.    , ed. Psalms and Mythology. New York: T&T Clark, 2007. Hunter, Alastair G. An Introduction to the Psalms. London: T&T Clark, 2008.    . Psalms. London: Routledge, 1999. Hunter, Jannie H. “Interpretationstheorie in der postmodernen Zeit: Suche nach Interpretationsmöglichkeiten anhand von Psalm 144.” In Neue Wege der Psalmenforschung; für Walter Beyerlin, edited by Klaus Seybold and Erich Zenger, 45–62. Freiburg i.Br.: Herder, 1994. Hurowitz, Victor. I Have Built You an Exalted House. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1992. Hurvitz, Avi. ‫ לתולדות לשון המקרא בימי בית שני‬:‫בין לשון ללשון‬. Jerusalem: Mosad Bialik, 1972.    . “Can Biblical Texts be Dated Linguistically? Chronological Perspectives in the Historical Study of Biblical Hebrew.” In Congress Volume: Oslo 1998, edited by A. Lemaire and M. Sæbø, 143–60. Leiden: Brill, 2000.    . “The History of a Legal Formula: ‘kōl ʾašer-ḥāpēṣ ʿāśāh’ (Psalms 15:3, 135:6).” VT 32 (1982): 257–67.    . “Originals and Imitations in Biblical Poetry: A Comparative Examination of 1 Sam 2:1–10 and Ps 113:5–9.” In Biblical and Related Studies Presented to Samuel Iwry, edited by Ann Kort and Scott Morschauer, 115–21. Winona Lake in: Eisenbrauns, 1985.    . “The Recent Debate on Late Biblical Hebrew: Solid Data, Experts’ Opinions, and Inconclusive Arguments.” Hebrew Studies 47 (2006): 191–210.    . “Wisdom Vocabulary in the Hebrew Psalter: A Consideration to the Study of ‘Wisdom Psalms.’ ” VT 38 (1988): 41–51.    . ‫שקיעי חכמה בספר תהלים‬. Jerusalem: Magnes/ Hebrew University, 1991. Hurvitz, Avi, Leeor Gottlieb, Aaron Hornkohl, and Emmanuel Mastey, eds. Concise Lexicon of Late Biblical Hebrew: Linguistic Innovations in the Writings of the Second Temple Period. Leiden: Brill, 2014. Jacobson, Howard. “Elijah’s Sleeping Baal.” Biblica 79 (1998): 413. Jacobson, Karl N. “Perhaps YHWH Is Sleeping: ‘Awake’ and ‘Contend’ in the Book of Psalms.” In The Shape and Shaping of the Book of Psalms, edited by Nancy L. deClaissé-Walford, 129–45. Atlanta: SBL, 2014. Jacobson, Rolf. “‘The Altar of Certitude’: Reflections on ‘Setting’ and Rhetorical Interpretation of the Psalms.” In My Words are Lovely: Studies in the Rhetoric of the Psalms, edited by Robert L. Foster and David M. Howard Jr., 3–18. New York: T&T Clark, 2008.

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