Radak

“Happy the man! – The word אשׁרי is always used in the plural, the reason being that man is not pronounced “happy” for one good which is found in him, or for one piece of good fortune which befalls him, but for many good things which are found in him men say of him אשׁריו, “Happy is he!” And David includes in this Psalm the law of man and (a description of) what it is proper for him to do in this world, with a reference also to the good reward there is for the righteous and the punishment for the wicked. It is an exceedingly important Psalm, and therefore he opens his book with it and says: Who doth not walk in the counsel of the wicked: – He first recounts the evil way, as he also says likewise elsewhere (Ps. 34:15): “Depart from evil and do good,” because man first learns, from his youth up, the way of the desires of this world, to eat and to drink and to be merry, and in them grows up, as it says (Gen. 8:21): “for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth.” So and (then) when man arrives at years of discretion and begins to distinguish good and evil, he warns him to depart from the way of the wicked and not to follow their advice. Now the wicked are those who are feverishly anxious to amass wealth and the desires of whose heart are in this world, who do not distinguish between right and wrong, but for money's sake steal and plunder and murder because of the exceeding restlessness of their heart. For the root meaning of רשׁע (wickedness) is “restlessness,” as “When He giveth quietness who then can disturb?” (ירשׁיע disquiet) (Job 34:29); “and whithersoever he turned himself he vexed (ירשׁיע disquieted) them” (I Sam. 14:47); “neither shall violence (רשׁע) deliver its masters” (Koheleth 8:8); “Be not overmuch engaged (תרשע) in worldly matters” (ibid. 7:17). It is on this account that he conjoins walk with wicked; and with these he joins counsel, for they counsel the children of men to listen to them and they shew them specious counsel (to the effect) that it is a fine thing to gather riches and to be merry. And man is largely deceived in this, for the good which is visible to his eyes appears best to him and he does not look to its end. And he (the Psalmist) Says: Nor stand in the way of sinners: – for man commits sin while he is in his place at rest, in deed and in word and in thought. And the interpretation of and in the way is not the way of walking, but the habit and occupation of the man and his work, as “and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk” (Exod. 18:20); and “Yet shall the righteous hold on his way” (Job 17:9); “not doing thine own ways” (Isa. 58:13); “I declared my ways” (Ps. 119:26), and passages like these. So the interpretation of nor stand (is): he does not linger with, nor does he devote himself to them, neither does he remain in their company, lest he should learn of their works. Nor sit in the seat of the scornful: – The scornful are those who are crafty in the knowledge of evil, who boast, and speak evil of the children of men, and slander and blame them, and who reveal secrets one to another. And this expression refers to “idlers who sit at the street-corners,” and for this reason he says: nor sit in the seat of the scornful. Notice that in these three are comprised all man's position, either he walks or stands or sits. And lying down is included in sitting; and further (such) lying-down is chiefly to sleep, and while a man is asleep he does neither good nor ill. When he says, Happy the man! etc., behold, it is as if he warns him against doing according to their works, for he declares the man happy who withdraws from their way and separates himself from their works. And the interpretation our teachers of blessed memory have placed upon it is (represented) by what they have said (Babli, Abodah Zarah 18b): “Inasmuch as he has not walked how has he stood? And inasmuch as he has not stood how has he sat? And inasmuch as he has not sat how has he scorned? it is simply to tell you that if he has walked he will finally stand, and if he has stood he will finally sit, and if he has sat he will finally scorn, and if he has scorned, of him the Scripture says (Prov. 9:12): ‘And if thou scornest thou alone shalt bear it.’””

“But his delight is in the law of the Lord: – He says: if he has departed from the evil way and yet has not done good, behold, he has not performed his work completely and it is not said of him, “Happy is he!” And so it says: “Depart from evil and do good” (Ps. 34:15). And although our teachers of blessed memory have said (Midrash, Shoher Tob, adloc.), “If a man sits and has not committed sin, he is rewarded as one who performs a mitzvah,” they have also interpreted (ibid.) [Depart from evil and do good] applying it to the case of him to whom transgression has come and who has been delivered from it, as it is said “Depart from evil and do good,” i.e. Depart from evil for the sake of doing good. And so it says (Ps. 119:3), “Yea, they do no unrighteousness; they walk in His ways.” And they hold that he who has conquered his inclination in regard to an action is as one who has performed a mitzvah, when the temptation has befallen him, and so it is as is said, “Yea, they do no unrighteousness,” etc.; although they have done no unrighteousness, still it is necessary that they should walk in His ways and do a good work. And so he says, Happy is the man that walketh not. But what does he do? His delight is in the law of the Lord. And included in delight is both learning and doing, as (in the text) “from doing thy delight” (Is. 58:13); and doing apart from learning is not sufficient. And in His law: – He repeats in His law as “Noah, Noah” three times in one verse (Gen. 6:9) and “Israel” five times in one verse (Num. 8:19) and other instances besides, for such is the usage of the Hebrew language. And they say (i.e. the Grammarians and Commentators, in innumerable places) that it is by way of elegance (in diction). And our teachers of blessed memory comment (Babli, Abodah Zarah 19a): first it is called “the law of the Lord,” and lastly, when one is firmly established in it by study, it is made “His law” and is called by His name. The interpretation of doth he meditate – (is) “in his heart,” as, “the meditation of my heart in Thy sight” (Ps. 19:15); for he has already spoken of learning and doing, and now he speaks of the intention and purpose of the heart, that day and night his purpose should be (fixed) upon the Law and the Commandments. And therefore an injunction is given concerning them in every action which he shall perform, as they say (Aboth, chap. i. para. 3), “And let all thy actions be to the name (for the sake) of Heaven.” And (as a matter of fact) in His law doth he meditate day and night because he occupies himself in study. In the Haggadic interpretation (Midrash, Shoher Tob, ad loc.) they say: “And how is it possible to meditate day and night? His work and his trade – how and when should he accomplish these? (Answer) But everyone who fulfils the commandment of the phylacteries, the Scripture gives him credit as if he had studied day and night.” And some say (ibid.): “Everyone who recites the Shema morning and night.” But we say, following the literal sense, if we explain doth meditate of learning by rote, then the interpretation of day and night – will be: every time that he shall be free from his business occupations, whether of the day or the night.”

“And he shall be like a tree: – He compares the good man to a tree planted over the streams of water: and says that the man who departs from evil and does good, lo! he is as a tree planted upon streams of water which is continually satisfied; so he rejoices continually in his portion whether he have little to eat or much. And the interpretation of streams of water (is) that there is a stream of water on this side and a stream of water on that side, and they will be passing under it and it will be always over them. That bringeth forth its fruit in its season: – for the tree that is in a thirsty spot and that longs for rain does not bring forth its fruit in its season so long as the necessary rain does not descend, but is late and backward in putting forth its fruit because of its parched condition; but the tree that is planted upon the streams of water brings forth its fruit in its season. His leaf also shall not wither: – for the leaf withers from dryness, but in the case of this (that is planted) over the streams of water – its leaf does not wither. And (the phrase) in its season, which he has mentioned already, is to be supplied here, as if he said: its leaf shall not wither in its season; and this is the hot season when the children of men need its shade. Notice that the children of men who are crossing backwards and forwards find in it (a source of) refreshment, and rest beneath it for the shade of its leaves, and drink from the water under it, and eat of its fruit, for in the rainy season the leaves fall from most of the trees. Or it may be (taken) hyperbolically; for even in the rainy season its leaf does not fall, as is the case with some trees, from the nature of the large amount of sap in them. And as it says, “its leaf shall not wither nor fail” (Ezek. 47:12); it says also, “And the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for healing” (ibid.), so from the good man the children of men get his fruit and his instruction, and it is from him they learn his Law (religion) and his good works. Whose leaf also shall not wither, for they will take refuge in the shadow of his good ways. Our teachers have expounded (Babli, Abodah Zarah 19b) bringeth forth in its season (as meaning) that he teaches when he has attained the right to teach and not before his time; but when he has attained his time he does not hold back from the office. And the interpretation of in its season (is) in the time for learning, learning, and in the time for work, work. And further our teachers of blessed memory have interpreted (ibid. with a slight change) whose leaf also shall not wither (as meaning) that even the conversation of the wise must be studied, as though to say that even from their ordinary conversation a man can learn instruction (in the affairs of) the world and (proper) human conduct (in intercourse) one with another. And whatsoever he produceth shall propser: – If a cutting is taken from this tree it flourishes and become like it; so also in the case of the good man, his children and his descendants shall be like him. And our teachers (ibid.) have interpreted thus: and whatsoever he produceth (doeth) shall propser – if he “busies himself with Torah (study) his worldly affairs shall prosper.” It is possible also to interpret this verse by way of blessing and peace and good reward; for if he departs from the evil way and does good his recompense will be that he shall be like a tree planted upon the streams of water. The learned Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra of blessed memory has interpreted (thus): his fruit is the wise soul which shall be full of Torah and divine wisdom, so as to recognise her Creator and His works which abide forever; and will cleave to the world above on her separation from the body, like the fruit which when it ripens on the tree separates itself from and has no further need of it; for the tree exists for the sake of the fruit. Whose leaf also shall not wither – i.e. his good memorial, in accordance with (the text) “the memory of the just is blessed” (Prov. 10:7). And whatsoever he getteth shall prosper – i.e. wealth, children, and honour.”

“Not so the wicked! But they are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. – He says that the wicked, and in these the sinners and the scornful are included, are not so, for the children of men are not profited by them and by their good (fortune), but they (only) do them harm. Their impulse also for evil is like the chaff – that is, the light stubble in the straw, which is no use to the sons of men, which the wind driveth away very quickly, and which does harm in its movement, for it strikes passers – by in the face and eyes; or the wind driveth it into houses or gardens, and it does harm (there). And according to the latter interpretation which we have adopted of the previous verse – of requital and good reward – the interpretation of this verse will be, that the wicked will perish very quickly like the chaff which the wind driveth away.”

“Therefore wicked men shall not rise up: – Therefore, since the wicked walk in an evil way in this world, they shall not rise up in the Judgment: He means to say, in the Day of Judgment, and that is the day of death, they shall have no rising again. Nor sinners – likewise; and it is the judgment on the scornful – they shall have no rising again. in the congregation of righteous men: for the righteous, when they die shall have a rising again; but as for the wicked, for them there is none, but their soul shall perish with their body in the day of death. And he says in the congregation, for when the righteous dies his soul is with the souls of the righteous rejoicing in the glory of the Most High.”

“For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: – This verse is an explanation of the preceding; for he says in the congregation of righteous men without explaining in what sense the congregation of the righteous after death is (to be understood); therefore he interprets and says that (the Lord) knoweth; and the meaning of knoweth is “looks upon and considers with a view to doing them good.” And so (in the passage) “What is man that Thou takest knowledge of him?” (Ps. 144:3); “Whom the Lord knew” (Deut. 34:10); “for I know his sorrows” (Exod. 3:7); “Thou hast known my soul in adversities” (Ps. 31:8); “I did know thee” (Hos. 13:5). In this way too (we understand) “there is no man that will recognise me” (Ps. 142:5); “blessed be he that did recognise thee” (Ruth. 2:19). He says that God who is exalted gathers the souls of the righteous to Himself, and knows them, and recognises them to do them good and satisfy them with His goodness and knowledge and care; for this is the greatest good and the best recompense, as it is said: “and the soul of my Lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the soul of the Lord thy God” (1 Sam, 25:29) But the way of the wicked shall perish: – for at their death they have no raising again, as he has said they shall not rise up; but their souls shall perish and go to perdition, as it is said (ibid.): “and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as from the hollow of a sling.””

“Why do the nations rage: – The Psalm is the second; and so we find it in all the more accurate books, that (these words) are the beginning of a Psalm. And in enumeration they inscribe it as the second. But some of our teachers have said (Babli, Berakhoth 9b) that Happy is and why do the nations rage form a single Psalm. And they have said (ibid. 10a) “Every section which was (specially) dear to David, he opened and closed with ‘Happy is (are).’ And this section he opened with ‘Happy is the man,’ and closed with ‘Happy are all they that put their trust in Him.’” The reason why this Psalm follows immediately the other is not known to us; nor why he arranged them in the order in which they are connected, for they are not arranged in historical order. For instance, the third Psalm is concerned with the affair of Absalom, and after it occur many Psalms whose subject-matter is earlier by a considerable period than the incident of Absalom. Notice also, at the end of the book, Psalm cxlii., “When he was in the cave; a Prayer,” (has reference to events) in the days of Saul. Therefore we cannot explain the arrangement of the Psalms according to the historical order.David composed and recited this Psalm in the opening of his reign, when the nations were gathered against him, as it is said (2 Sam. 5:17) “and when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel all the Philistines went up to seek David.” And this is his meaning in saying Why do they tumultuously assemble (רגשׁו)? because all the Philistines had come up. And רגשה has the sense of gathering and great multitude, as (Ps. 64:3), “from the throng (רגשתי) of the workers of iniquity;” and the Targum of the passage (Ez. 30:10) “I will also make the multitude (המון) of Egypt cease,” is, “and I will make of no avail the raging (איהרגושת) of Egypt.” And the peoples imagine a vain thing? – for when they came to make war they were saying proud things, because they had conquered Israel in the wars of Saul, and Saul and his sons were dead, and the people had been severely smitten. And from Saul's death until now there had not been another king for Israel. And he says, a vain thing is (the sum of) all their words.”

“The kings of the land take their stand: – for all the satraps of the Philistines had taken their stand with one consent and in agreement to come to fight with David. And he calls them “kings” and “rulers,” although we have not seen any other passage where he describes them otherwise than as “satraps” of the Philistines, who in their pride were imagining themselves kings, though they were not so. Possibly also there were assembled with them other kings from the nations. And rulers take counsel (יַוסדו) together: – They had all consulted together as one. Counsel also is expressed in the word יסוד (foundation), for counsel is to actual performance as the foundation to a building. Against the Lord and against His anointed: – for they knew that David was king by the appointment of the Lord, and Samuel the prophet of the Lord had anointed him king.”

“Let us break their bands asunder: – They were saying: “Let us break the bands of Israel and their league (lit. binding) in which they have bound themselves and agreed to make David king.” For there had elapsed seven years in which Israel as a whole had not agreed about him to make him king, and now when they had all agreed about him the Philistines said “let us break their bands asunder.” And cast away their cords from us: – He repeats himself in different words, while the meaning is the same for such is the idiom of the language. And the “bands” and “cords” denote the strongest ropes, and are a figure for counsel and firm agreement.”

“He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; The Lord shall have them in derision. – As he has said that they have taken counsel together against the Lord, to nullify His word, (so now) he says that He sits in heaven, and hears their words, and laughs at and derides them. And when he says of God – Blessed be He! – He shall laugh at and deride (them), it is metaphorical, an accommodation to human language; for a man laughs at and mocks one whom he despises and esteems as nothing at all. And so: “And Thou, Lord, shalt laugh at them, Thou shalt mock at all the nations” (Ps. 59:9); “The Lord shall laugh at him, for He sees that his day is coming” (Ps. 37:13). And when he says: He that sitteth in the heavens, the meaning of “sitting” is abiding (enduring), as “and Thou, Lord, remainest (lit. sittest) for ever” (Ps. 102:13). And so every expression of sitting, when it is used of God – Blessed be He! – as, “O Thou that sittest in the Heavens” (Ps. 123:1); “That hath His seat on high” (Ps. 113:5). And when he says in the heavens, it is because they are stable and endure for ever, and their individualities do not come to an end like those of the earth.”

“Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath: – Then, when He shall hear their words and their pride, He shall speak unto them in His wrath. And vex them in His sore displeasure: – And His words with them are His anger and sore displeasure which He shall hurl at them. Some interpret ידבר (speak) in the sense of דבֶר (plague) [in the passage] “a plague (דבר) grievously heavy” (Exod. 9:3). And so (also) “and she destroyed (ותדבר) all the seed royal” (2 Chron. 22:10); and they interpret אלימו (to them) as in the verse “the אילי (chief men) of the land” (2 Kings 24:15), of which the meaning is the powerful ones of the land. But the former is nearer (to the right meaning).”

“Yet I have set My king: – He says: They, forsooth, are purposing to root out the kingdom from the house of David, though I have made him king and set him up! And the word נסכתי connotes chieftainship and greatness, as (in the verse) “the princes (נסיכי) of Sihon” (Josh. 13:21); and also “their gods with their princes” (נסכיהס) (Dan. 11:8). My king – he means to say, The king that is Mine in that I have made him king; just as it is said (1 Sam. 16:1) “For I have provided among his sons a king for Myself.” He means by for Myself, for My worship, and so he says My king. And conversely it is said (Ps. 74:12): “And God is my King from of old,” where the meaning is, who rules over me. Thus is the usage of the pronominal suffixes. And so (in the verse) “Remove Thy stroke from me” (Ps. 39:11); “Aloof from My plague do they stand” (Ps. 38:12); “and I will make them joyful in My house of prayer” (Is. 56:7); “I have heard thy prayer” (1 Kings 9:3; 2 Kings 20:5; Is. 38:5; 2 Chron. 7:12), and other similar (examples), as we have explained in the book Miklol in the grammatical section of it. And he says: Upon My holy hill of Sion: – Because the stronghold of Sion was not conquered until David came to subdue it, therefore Sion with Jerusalem is called the City of David. And after he had subdued it the Philistines gathered together to fight against him.”

“Let me declare it for a decree: – This is the utterance of David, who says, I will make this declaration a decree and rule. And what is the declaration? That The Lord said unto me, Thou art My son: – and the kingdom has come to me from Him, and therefore let no man stir up strife against it, for the Lord hath chosen me for a son, as He said to Samuel (1 Sam. 16:1): “For I have provided among his sons a king for Myself.” It is as though to say, “This king is Mine and he is My son and servant and obeys Me” – for everyone who is obedient in the service of God He calls His son, just as a son obeys his father and is ready for his service. And so (in the verse) “ye are sons of the Lord your God” (Deut. 14:1), and “I will be his Father and he shall be My son” (2 Sam. 7:14); and it says (Hos. 2:1), “the sons of the living God.” This day have I begotten thee: – The day when he was anointed was the day God took him to Himself for a son, as it says (1 Sam. 16:1), “to Me a king.” And he says, This day have I begotten thee, for on that day there was born in him the spirit of God, as is written (1 Sam. 16:13), “And the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day and onward.” And from that day onward he gave expression to songs and psalms by the Holy Spirit, which was born in him and imparted to him by God. Moreover, the spirit of might was added to him from that day onward; and so it says (Deut. 32:18), “Of the rock that begat thee thou art unmindful” which made thee great and put wisdom in thine heart and intelligence, in the day of the station at Mount Sinai. And so it says (ibid. 6), “Is not He thy Father that hath bought thee?” For if he had said begotten thee, bought thee in reference to (the act of) creation, this would have been no more true of Israel than the rest of men. Do you not see what he says, “Do ye thus requite the Lord?” (ibid.), meaning, “This is the requital you make Him for all the good He has done to you! Surely He is thy Father who bought thee!” And he says, “Of the rock that begat thee thou art unmindful and hast forgotten the God that gave thee birth” (ibid. 18), just as he says thy Father, for He is to you as a father, and the one that gave thee birth – that is, the mother.”

“Ask of Me: – And He says to me, Ask of Me. and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance: – as He said to him, “And I have cut off all thine enemies from before thee; and I will make thee a great name like unto the name of the great ones that are in the earth” (2 Sam. 7:9); and it says (ibid. 8:14), “And all the Edomites became servants to David”; and it says (ibid. 8:6), “And the Syrians became servants to David”; and it says (1 Chron. 19:17), “and the fame of David went out into all the lands, and the Lord brought the fear of him upon all the nations.” And this is what he means when he says, “I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance.” And the uttermost parts (אפסי) of the earth for thy possession: – They are the ends (קצות) of the earth, and (the Hebrew words) אפס and קץ are approximate in meaning.”

“Thou shalt break (הרעם) them with a rod of iron: – And so He says to me of all the nations that shall rise up against me, Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel: – The word תרעם has the same meaning as תשברם (Thou shalt break them). And so, “Can one break (ירע) iron?” (Jer. 15:12); “He breaketh in pieces (ירע) mighty men” (Job 34:24); so also תנפצם (Thou shalt dash them in pieces) has the meaning of “break,” but with (the added idea of) “scattering,” for when one breaks an earthenware vessel its broken pieces are scattered. And so (in the verse) “and dashed in pieces the pitchers” (Judges 7:19); and the maker of an earthenware vessel is called a potter.”

“Now therefore, O ye kings: – David said to them, to the kings who came to fight him, “O kings!” be wise: – and know that you have no power to nullify God's work, since He it is who commissioned me to be king. And how have ye dared to meet together against the Lord? Be wise and give heed, for ye are not able to nullify the Lord's work. Be instructed, ye judges of the earth: – If hitherto ye have been foolish and ill-advised, now be wise and receive instruction, and be not haughty.”

“Serve the Lord: – Take pleasure in what He takes pleasure in, and serve Him with fear: – because ye should be in awe of Him, and know that power and might are His, and not with you who have come up with much people; And exult: – Be not angry at (the fact of) my kingdom, but be glad and exult, because it is the good pleasure of God; with trembling: – and tremble because of Him.”

“Kiss the son: – as (in the verse) “and he kissed all his brethren” (Gen. 45:15). And (the word) בר is the same as בן; and so “What, my son (בני)? ”; and “what, O son (בר) of my womb?” (Prov. 31:2). Or it may be interpreted by “the pure (ברי) of heart” (Ps. 73:1). If its meaning is “son,” this will be its interpretation: Kiss this son whom God has called “son,” as He says (above): Thou art My son. And the command is Kiss, because it is the custom for a servant to kiss the hand of the master. And if its meaning is “pure,” its interpretation is, “What have I to do with you, for I am pure in heart and there is no wickedness in me that ye should come and fight against me? Your duty is to kiss me and to confess that I am king by the command of God.” And בר may also be fittingly interpreted from (the verse) “Choose (ברו) you a man for you” (1 Sam. 17:8), upon the analogy of “Saul the chosen of the Lord” (2 Sam. 21:6). lest He be angry: – If ye turn not speedily from your evil ways God will be angry with you. and ye perish in the way, For His wrath will soon be kindled: – Soon, because ye continue in your wickedness, His anger will burn upon you, as if to say, If ye do not quickly repent. And the interpretation of and ye perish in the way is as (in the verse) “and the way of the wicked shall perish” (Ps. 1:6). And behold the way perishes and they are perishing because of their way which is perishing, as “an oak fading as to its leaves” (Is. 1:30). Because the leaves are fading the oak is called a fading one. And so, “the torn of clothes” (2 Sam. 13:31(2)), and elsewhere, for the clothes are torn and not they (i.e. the wearers), and they are called torn because of their clothes which are torn. And so (Jer. 41:5), “Shaven as to their beards and rent of clothes” and other similar instances. And he says: Happy are all they that put their trust in Him: – as I am this day, because I have put my trust in Him, and am saved by Him while ye perish; but if ye trust in Him they shall likewise say of you, “Happy are ye!” And there are some who interpret this Psalm of Gog and Magog, and the anointed one is King Messiah: and so our teachers of blessed memory have interpreted (Babli, Berakhoth 7b). And the Psalm can be explained in this way, but the better is that David uttered it concerning himself, as we have interpreted. And the Nazarenes interpret it of Jesus; and the verse they adduce by way of proof and make a support of their error is really their stumbling-block: it is The Lord said unto me, Thou art My son. For if they should say to you that he was the Son of God, answer that it is not proper to say “Son of God” in the manner of flesh and blood; for a son is of the species of his father. Thus it would not be proper to say, “This horse is the son of Reuben.” If this be so, he to whom the Lord said, Thou art My son, must necessarily be of His species, and be God like Him. And further, He says, I have this day begotten thee; and the begotten is of the same species as the begetter. Say (also) to them that of the Godhead it is unfitting (to speak of) father and son; because the Godhead cannot be divided, for it is not a body that it should be divided; but God is one in every aspect of unity; He cannot be increased, decreased, or split up. And further say to them that a father is prior to a son in time, and the son issues from the father's vigour; and although it is not proper to use one term without the other as regards nomenclature, for one is not called father until he have a son, and a son is not so called unless he have a father, nevertheless he who is called father when he has a son is prior in time without any doubt. And if this be so, the God whom you speak of and call “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” the portion you call Father existed before the other portion you call Son. For if they had been always together they should have been called twin brothers, and you would not call them Father and Son, nor begetter and begotten. For the begetter is prior to the begotten without doubt. And if they say that it is not fitting to say “Son of God” of anything which is not of the divine species, say to them that we are unable to speak of God Blessed be He! except in metaphorical language, as it is said of Him “mouth of the Lord,” “eyes of the Lord,” “ears of the Lord,” and such like, and it is understood that such (language) is metaphorical only. And so it is by way of metaphor when it says “son of God” or “sons of God”; for he who does His commands and commission is called “son,” as the son does the father's commands. So He calls the stars sons of God, as (in the verse) “and all the sons of God shouted for joy” (Job 38:7). So man, by reason of the higher spirit which is in him, when he does the commandments of God because of the wise soul which teaches him, He calls “son”; and therefore He says, “Thou art My son, this day have I begotten thee.” He says also “Israel is My son, My first-born” (Exod. 4:22); it says also “Ye are sons of the Lord your God” (Deut. 14:1); and it says (ibid, 32:6) “Is not He thy Father which hath bought thee?” and “I will be to him a Father and he shall be to Me a son” (2 Sam. 7:14). And further say to them, Has the God whom you describe as “the Father” said to His Son, Ask of Me and I will give the nations for thine inheritance? How should the Son ask from the Father? Is he not God like Him? And has he not power over the nations and the ends of the earth even as He? And further, before this request, were not the nations already his possession? If so, was God less powerful at the beginning and afterwards of greater power? This cannot be said of God. And if they say to you that it is spoken in regard to the flesh, after the Godhead had taken flesh, and to (the Son in) the flesh He says that he should ask from Him and He would give the nations for his inheritance this is not the case, for (Jesus in) the flesh had no kingdom nor any authority over any nation of the nations. And if they say to you that it is about the (spread of the) faith (religion) he speaks which should be accepted, behold the great number of nations, Jews and Mohammedans, who have not accepted his faith. Behold I have taught you what to reply to them in this Psalm, and you can add of your own after the tenor of these words. And if they ask you its meaning, then interpret it in one of these two ways as you choose, either of David or King Messiah, as I have interpreted it for you.”

“A Psalm of David when he fled from before Absalom his son: – Our teachers of blessed memory have explained (Midrash, Shoher Toh, ad loc.; Babli, Berakhoth 7b) that David gave utterance to this Psalm as he ascended the Mount of Olives, as it is said (2 Sam. 15:30), “And David went up by the ascent of the (Mount of) Olives and wept as he went up.” If weeping, why singing, and if singing, why weeping? (Nay) but as soon as the prophet said to him (ibid. 12:11): “Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house” he said, “Perhaps it is a slave [or a nathin] or a bastard, one of the members of the household, who has no pity on me?” As soon as he saw that it was his son he thought that he certainly would have pity upon him, and he said: A Psalm. Further they say (Midrash, Shoher Tob, ad loc.): “[Thus] David said: Jacob our father fled (Gen. 27:43); as it is said (Hos. 12:13): ‘And Jacob fled into the field of Aram.’ Moses fled, as it is said (Exod. 2:15) ‘and Moses fled;’ and I am a fugitive as they were. I thought that I was condemned to death, and now that I am going into exile, exile atoneth for iniquity” (Babli, Berakhoth 56a; Sanhedrin 37b). He says: “I have remembered Thy judgments of old, O Lord, and have comforted myself” (Ps. 119:52). I remember the men of old time – and Thou hast borne with ine as Thou didst with them – and am comforted, knowing that through my flight the iniquity has been pardoned me. He begins and says A Psalm of David, (to be taken) according to the literal sense. For the Psalms were not so named (called) at the time of (the actual) event, but because they were sung in the Sanctuary. So, “When Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul” (Ps. 52:2); and “When the Ziphites came” (Ps. 54:2); and “And they watched the house to kill him” (Ps. 59:1). Similarly, those which have reference to the Exile and the Destruction of Jerusalem, as, “A Psalm of Asaph. O God, the heathen are come into Thine inheritance” (Ps. 79:1). So all those which were uttered with reference to David, on an historical occasion when David was in danger, but after he had been delivered from them all they became Psalms and praise and confession to God – Blessed be He! – while those which were uttered concerning the Exile became Psalms on the Return of the Exiles. Now it is possible that this Psalm is connected with the preceding because the Philistines had come against David to contest his right to the kingdom and fight with him; and so Absalom his son proposed to take the kingdom from his father and kill him, but [David] conquered all and was left in possession of the kingdom. Our rabbis of blessed memory who have interpreted the Second Psalm of Gog and Magog have said (Babli, Berakhoth 1o a), “Why is the passage about Absalom (Ps. iii) connected with the passage of Gog and Magog? For this reason. If a man should say to thee, Is it possible that a servant would rebel against his master? say to him, Is it possible a son would rebel against his father? But so it was – it really was so.””

“Lord, how are mine adversaries increased! – For even his son had turned against him for an enemy, and Amasa, his sister's son, was with Absalom, and the greater part of Israel, whose heart inclined after Absalom; and this is reason for the repetition. Many they are that are rising up against me: – All were rising up against him and were taking counsel to fight against him; and Shimei ben Gera even, who dared to reproach him and to pelt him with stones.”

“Many there are which say of my soul (לנפשי): – that is, “about my soul,” as “Say concerning me (לי), He is my brother” (Gen. 20:13); “and the men of the place asked of his wife (לאשתו)” (ibid. 26:7), and such like. And the reason: because many of the wise ones of Israel, as Ahithophel and others, were of opinion that this punishment came to him on account of the affair of Bathsheba, as was actually the case; and they were thinking likewise that the kingdom would never return to him; therefore they followed Absalom and rebelled against him, and were saying that for him there was no portion in the world to come. Therefore he says of my soul. And he says: There is no salvation (ישועתה) for him in God: – There is no salvation for him in this world, for he cannot escape from the hand of Absalom, neither is there salvation for his soul in the world to come. For this reason it is that he uses the intensive form ישועתה [“salvation”], his meaning being salvation and salvation; for every reduplication of ending is (equivalent) to a duplication of meaning; and in like manner (we have) עזרתה (Ps. 44:27; 63:8; 94:17) (meaning) “great help”; תבואתה (Deut. 33:16); נפלאתה (2 Sam. 1:26) החבאתה (Josh. 6:17) as I have written in the grammatical part of the book Miklol. And so in the Haggadic interpretation (Shoher Tob, ad loc.) it says: “Great ones are saying, i.e. (men) great in the Torah... Doeg the Ab beth Din it was of whom it is said ‘chiefest of Saul's shepherds’ (1 Sam. 21:8); ‘And Ahithophel was counsellor’ (1 Chron. 27:33); ‘and the counsel of Ahithophel which he counselled in those days was as if a man inquired at the oracle of God’ (2 Sam. 16:23). And what was it they were saying? ‘Is it possible! The man who took captive the ewe-lamb and slew the shepherd and caused Israel to fall by the sword, shall there be salvation for him? There is no salvation for him in God!’” Selah: – The majority of commentators say of the word Selah that it is equivalent to לעולם (“for ever”); and so Jonathan renders it in the Prayer of Habakkuk (3:3, 9, 13) for ever (לעלמין). And in this sense the word is common in our prayers. And the learned Rabbi Abraham ben Ezra – may the memory of the just be blessed! – has interpreted (ad loc.) that it is equivalent to אמת (truth). For myself, I say it is not a significant word. And it is to be interpreted as having the meaning “lifting up” (of the musical accompaniment) from (the passage) “cast up, cast up (סלו) the way” (Is. 62:10), signifying that at the point where this word is mentioned and read there was a raising of the sound of the music (מזמור). And the proof is in the fact that it is not found except in this book and in the Prayer of Habakkuk, which was a song (accompanied by music), as is written also there (3:19), “For the chief musician on my stringed instruments.””

“But Thou, Lord, art a shield about me: – the opposite of their words who are saying that there is no hope for me in this world, nor in the world to come. Thus they are thinking and saying; but Thou wilt deal with me in the very opposite way and wilt be a shield about me to deliver me in this world and a shield about me in the world to come. My glory: – The “glory” is the soul, as “and my glory rejoiceth” (Ps. 16:9); “in order that (my) glory may sing praise to Thee” (Ps. 30:13), and (the word) “shield” which he has already used is to be understood here, “a shield about me” and “a shield of my glory.” Or the interpretation of my glory may be: the opposite of the dishonour which was his as a fugitive. and the lifter up of mine head: – so that I shall not be put to shame nor my countenance fall before my enemies, but I shall walk erect and with uplifted head; for when Thou deliverest me they will recognise and know that Thou hast pardoned me the iniquity through this punishment with which Thou dost punish me.”

“I cry unto the Lord with my voice: – i.e. unto the Lord with my voice, for I cry to Him by reason of (my) distress. And He answered me: – a past (tense) in place of a future, equivalent to “and He will answer me”; and there are many similar cases. Or, it may be taken according to its literal sense; for he was confident of this. Or the Holy Spirit made a revelation upon his tongue; and this is the correct view – for we have already interpreted that all the Psalms were uttered in the Holy Spirit. And in the greater part of prophecy this is found, that the speaker uses a past tense in place of a future; for it is as though the thing had already happened when it has been spoken in the Holy Spirit. out of His holy hill. Selah: – We can interpret (this) of Mount Moriah. And although it was not yet holy, it may be that there was a tradition among them that the Sanctuary would be there. And because of this David, in his flight, ascended the Mount of Olives and from thence worshipped God; for from thence one can see that (holy) place. Or the interpretation of out of His holy hill (may be): from Mount Sion, where the Ark was. Or the interpretation of out of His holy hill (may be) out of heaven, as “Who shall dwell in Thy holy hill?” (Ps. 15:1).”

“I laid me down and slept: – I laid me down in safety and slept in peace as a man free from fear. I awaked, – and was not troubled as is a man sleeping in the midst of distress who on waking is troubled; for while he sleeps he sees evil dreams according to what he has imagined because of his fear. And why am I confident in Thee to this full extent? Because I know that (for) the Lord sustaineth me: – for so I saw in a dream. And in the Haggadic interpretation (Midrash, Shoher Tod, ad loc.): “I laid me down from prophecy, and slept from the Holy Spirit, and awaked by the agency of Hushai the Archite, for the Lord sustains me by means of Nathan the prophet.” His intention is to say that by reason of the toil and fear in which he was the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from David; and the Holy Spirit does not rest (dwell) except in the midst of joy (Babli, Shabbath 30b; Pesahim 117a). And when he saw Hushai the Archite he rejoiced in him, for he knew that he would frustrate for him the counsel of Ahithophel, and he awoke, and the Holy Spirit rested upon him, and he said For the Lord sustaineth me, by the agency of Nathan the prophet, who said to him, “The Lord also hath put away thy sin: thou shall not die” (2 Sam. 12:13).”

“I will not be afraid of ten thousands of the people: – for all Israel were with Absalom, except those who were with David in Jerusalem, and had gone out with him, and those who had joined him afterwards. That have set themselves (שתו) against me round about: – They have set their battle in array against me. Or the interpretation of שתו may be “they have fought.” And so “they have taken their stand” (fought, שת שתו) “at the gate” (Is. 22:7); and “He will assail (ישית) thy waves with violence” (job 38:1 1).”

“Rise, O Lord; save me, O my God: – קומה (Rise) has the accent milra', and so on every occasion where the word occurs in this book, with the exception of “and stand up (וקומה) for mine help” (Ps. 35:2), where it is milel. For Thou hast smitten all mine enemies: – Many times hast Thou delivered me and smitten mine enemies: so wilt Thou do now. Or its interpretation may be with regard to this very war and is as we have interpreted (the clause) and He answereth me out of His holy hill. And the interpretation of (upon the) cheek: – is, a striking of the cheek, and it is a striking in contempt. So also (contemptuously) Thou hast broken the teeth of the wicked: – These are those who were proposing to tear him; and it is an expression of the same form as “And I brake the jaws of the wicked” (Job 29:17).”

“For the Chief Musician: on Neginoth. A Psalm of David: – Our teachers of blessed memory have said (Shoher Tod, ad loc.) that “this Psalm was uttered in three kinds of praise, in nissuah (נצוח), in niggun (ןגוי), and in mizmor (מזמור).” It is evident that the (person called the) מנצח (“Chief Musician”) is the one who was over the singers, and that the Psalms were rendered under the direction of the(se) “Chief Musicians,” who assigned them to (certain) players and singers. [This view is supported by the fact that] you nowhere find [as titles] “For the Singer” or “For the Player,” but only For the Chief Musician. And accordingly we have in the Prayer of Habakkuk (3:19) “For the Chief Musician on my stringed instruments”; and so the text (1 Chron. 23:4) “to superintend (לנצח) the work of the house of the Lord.” It is written also (ibid. 15:21) “with harps set to the Sheminith to lead (לנצח).” And it is the case that there was a “Chief Musician” over the instrument called Neginoth and another over that called Sheminith. And the songs and the melodies and the praises were rendered each according to the melody known in connexion with them; for it was a great science and would stimulate the rational soul, and was reckoned in the category of secular sciences. And the instruments which were (used) in the Temple for praise were lutes, lyres, cymbals, trumpets, and a horn. The instruments also were classified according to melodies known in connexion with them. Of the melodies there was that called Alamoth, as in the text (1 Chron. 15:20) and written (Ps. 46:1), “Set to Alamoth. A Song.” And there was that called Neginoth, and in this the present Psalm was rendered. And there was one of them called Maskil, and there was one of them called Mikhtam. There was also Shiggaion, and there was Nehiloth, and there was Shigionoth, and there was Gittith. One of the instruments was called “Tenstrings,” another “Pipes,” and another “Minnim.” And each of these is classified in its melody as it was known to the masters of the science. We find also a text which says (i Chron. 23:5), “And four thousand praised the Lord with the instruments I made to praise.” It is not known, however, whether the instruments were in the hands of those who were actually reciting the Psalm, or whether they acted together – those who sang with the mouth, and opposite them those who played upon (musical) instruments. We find also another text which says (2 Chron. 7:6), “And the Levites with the instruments of music of the Lord which David the king had made to give thanks unto the Lord, for His mercy (endureth) for ever, when David praised by their ministry: and the priests sounded the trumpets before them.” And further it is written (ibid. 29:28), “and the singers sang and the trumpeters sounded.” Now the trumpets alone were in the hands of the priests, as it is written (Num. 10:8), “and the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets;” and the rest of the instruments were in the hands of the Levites; and so it is written (2 Chron. 29:26), “And the Levites stood with the instruments of David and the priests with the trumpets.””

“Answer me when I call, O God (Judge) of my righteousness: – It is certain that this Psalm likewise was uttered (by David) in his flight before Absalom; and he says, Answer me when I call, O God (Judge) of my righteousness, for Thou knowest that with me is the right, and with him who is against me the wrong and the violence; and Thou, Lord, art Judge over us. For in every instance where אלהים (‘Elohim) occurs it has the meaning “judge,” as we have interpreted the verse “Verily there is a God (Judge) that judges in the earth” (Ps. 58:12). And men who are judges are so called: “The cause of both parties shall come before the ’Elohim (judges)” (Exod. 22:8); “Then his master shall bring him unto ’Elohim (the judges)” (ibid. 21:6). Thou hast set me at large when I was in distress: Thou hast set me at large for “Thou shalt set me at large,” as we have explained that in the prophetical writings a past tense is used in place of a future, for the thing is as if it had already happened. So the Holy Spirit was making a revelation upon his tongue, and he says Thou hast set me at large. Be gracious unto me and hear my prayer.”

“O ye sons of men (בני איש): He addresses the great ones of Israel who were with Absalom. So “both low (בני אדם) and high (אישׁ בני)” (Ps. 49:3): בני אדם (are) the multitude, אישׁ בני the great ones. So also, “Art not thou a great man (אישׁ) and who is like to thee in Israel?” (1 Sam. 26:15); “Gideon the son of Joash, the great man (אישׁ) of Israel” (Judges 7:14). How long shall my honour – i.e. my soul, as he says in the previous Psalm, “Many say of my soul”; or the interpretation of my honour be dishonour? – is that I am king and ye are putting me to dishonour and making me a fugitive from my kingdom: Ye love a vain (thing) – a thing that shall not be established: that is, the kingdom of Absalom. And seek after falsehood. Selah: – And this is falsehood, a thing that has no permanence, as (in the passage) (Is. 58:11) “Whose waters fail not.””

“But know that the Lord hath set apart (הפלה): – He hath set aside and separated. So also, “the Lord shall set apart (והפ֫לה) between the cattle of Israel” (Exod. 9:4). And its interpretation: He has separated me from all Israel to be king; on the analogy of “The Lord separated the tribe of Levi” (Deut. 10:8). And why? Because He knows me to be a godly one: – The godly is he who does good to his neighbour beyond what the Law requires of him. And with how many of the children of men did David deal thus! For they dealt evilly with him and he dealt well with them; as it is said of Saul that he confessed to him and said (1 Sam. 24:18): “for thou hast rendered unto me good, whereas I have rendered unto thee evil.” And behold he has separated me for Himself: – and given me the kingdom. How, then, do ye think to steal it from me and to set up another king? And although you see me in distress now, you shall know that The Lord will hear me when I call unto Him – and bring me out of this trouble.”

“Tremble: – The meaning is “fear,” as “and shall tremble and be in anguish” (Deut. 2:25). Fear God if ye do not fear me. and sin not: – in still pursuing after and rebelling against me. Say it in your heart (i.e. think) upon your bed: – for a man upon his bed finds his heart freer from the concerns of the world and then will his intention be pure. And David addresses them: “Consider in your heart”. And so the thought of the heart is called “speaking” (as in the text) “That saith in her heart” (Is. 47:8). And he says Be still. Selah: – His meaning is: “Be silent, and cease to rebel against me;” for “stillness” has the sense of silence of speech and voice, as “They kept still for my counsel” (Job 29:21); “stillness and a voice I heard” (ibid. 4:16). There is also (a stillness) which is (equivalent to) silence of action and movement, as “He turneth the storm to stillness” (Ps. 107:29); “my bowels boil and are not still” (Job 30:27); “and the sun stood still” (Josh. 10:13); “Be still (tarry) until we come unto you” (1 Sam. 14:9); “To the still stone” (Hab. 2:19), and (other instances) similar to these. And of this meaning is (the sentence) Be still: Selah, as though to say: “Cease you from your works.” And the great teacher of righteousness, our master Moses ben Maimon, has explained (Guide for the Perplexed, Bk. 1:50, 59) that this verse commands men of intelligence and reputation to recognise the truth and the praise of God in their hearts, so that no error of speech shall overtake them. But this is not (derived) from the sense of the Psalm.”

“Offer the sacrifices of righteousness: – Since you have done evil, behold, you need atonement; offer then to the Lord the sacrifices of righteousness so as ye repent, and not sacrifices like those of the wicked, of which it is said (Prov. 21:27), “the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination” for they return to their wickedness after the sacrifices; therefore he says: the sacrifices of righteousness. And put your trust in the Lord: – not in your might and the fact that ye are a great multitude, but in the Lord alone shall ye trust. And he connects בטח (trust) here with the preposition אֶל (to) as equivalent to על (on); and so, “Trust in (אל) the Lord with all thine heart” (ibid. 3:5); and “Trust ye not in (אל) lying words” (Jer. 7:4).”

“Many (there be that) say:- – viz. those he has spoken of as sons of men; and he says concerning them, many say of my soul – they say longingly in their rebellion, Oh that He would shew us prosperity: – that the rebellion of Absalom might succeed, and David perish and his son become king. And my evil is their good, and for it they are longing; but Thou, Lord, lift up (נסה) the light of Thy countenance upon us: – not according to their purpose. And the word נַסה (is written) with samek (ס) instead of the (usual) sin (שׂ), and is equivalent to נשׂא. And it is possible to explain it according to the sense of and put your trust in the Lord. He says: as for many their thought is only for the prosperity of this world, and they are longing for it and saying Oh that He would shew us prosperity! while I and those with me say, Lord, lift up the light of Thy countenance upon us! All our desire is for the light of Thy countenance for the world to come.”

“Thou hast put gladness in my heart: – Behold, they requite me evil for good, but, as for me, there was gladness in my heart at their prosperity – that is, From the time when their corn and wine multiplied: – and they are rejoicing at my evil. And the meaning of Thou hast put is in the sense of what they have said (Babli, Yoma 38 b, and in other places), “He who comes to be purified is helped.” And it is a good way for a man to rejoice in the prosperity of his fellows. And him who walks in a good way God helps and directs: and this is the force of Thou hast put.”

“In peace together would I lay me down and sleep: – I was desiring their prosperity, and still, although they have done me evil, I desire that we may be in peace together, I and they, and that if I lay me down and sleep I may not have anything to disturb me from sleep, after they return to me. For Thou, Lord, alone makest me to rest in safety: – for I am confident that Thou wilt grant my desire and wilt make me rest in safety with them. And the interpretation of alone (is): Thou, Lord, only canst do this, and in Thee is my trust and not in another.”

“For the Chief Musician: To the Nehiloth. A Psalm of David. – I have already explained the meaning of the Nehiloth and other kinds of music in the previous Psalm. Our teacher Hai, of blessed memory, explained the word (nehiloth) from the expression nehil (נהיל), (meaning) “a swarm” of bees, in the words of our sages of blessed memory (Mishnah, Baba Kamma 10:2). He means that its music was like the buzzing of bees. This Psalm is also likewise directed against David's enemies, those in Israel who were ill-disposed to him. Our rabbis of blessed memory have said (Midrash, Shoher Tob, ad loc.) that he uttered it against his adversaries Doeg and Ahithophel.”

“Give ear to my words, O Lord, Consider my meditation: – Give ear to what I utter with my mouth and consider what I meditate in my heart. Therefore he uses the word consider with meditation, and give ear to with my words. He uses (the term) הגיגי (“my meditation”), which is derived from הגה by doubling the second radical, just as (in the verse) “for the lightning (חזיז) of the thunder” (Job 38:25), (where חזיז is derived) from חזה.”

“Hearken unto the voice of my cry: – Make thine ear attentive, for the verb (הקשׁיבה) is transitive. And so it is written (Prov. 2:2): “to incline (להקשׁיב) thine ear unto wisdom”; “Thou wilt make attentive thine ear” (Ps. 10:17). The word is connected with (the prepositions) ל, אל, and ב; and sometimes it is (used) without any connecting letter (at all), as ואשׁמע הקשבתי, “I hearkened and heard” (Jer. 8:6); מי הקשׁיב דברו, “Who hath hearkened to his word?” (ibid, 23:17). my King: – for Thou art a king over me, and I cry unto Thee as men cry unto the king. and my God (Judge) – art Thou, for Thou art my Judge and shalt save me from those who do me evil. For unto Thee do I pray: – and not to another, a deliverer, for there is none beside Thee.”

“For Thou art not a God that hast pleasure in wickedness: – Why should I watch for Thee? Because I know that Thou wilt have no pleasure in the wicked; if so, Thou wilt have no pleasure in my enemies, for they are evil men, and I am watching for Thee to save me from them; for Thou wilt have pleasure in me and not in them. There shall not sojourn (with) Thee: – where לא יגרך is equivalent to עמך יגור לא; and so (in the verse) כאב גדלגי (“ He grew up with me as a father”), where גדלני is equivalent to גדל עמי; and (there are) many such cases. Evil: – i.e. an evil man. Or evil may (here) be a substantive equivalent to “wickedness,” which he has just mentioned.”

“(Mad) fools (הוללים) shall not stand before Thine eyes: – The significance of הוללים is sometimes that of folly, as (in the passages) “And he played the fool in their hands” (1 Sam. 21:14); “I said it is foolish” (Eccles. 2:2); and sometimes it is used with the significance of wickedness, as (in the passage) “mischievous madness” (הוללות) (ibid. 10:13), and similar instances. And in this sense (is the clause to be taken here)-(Mad) fools shall not stand before Thine eyes, as he proceeds to say Thou hatest all workers of iniquity: – nevertheless a single class contains them all, for wickedness is not of the way of knowledge and wisdom. And the interpretation of before Thine eyes (is): like a man who hates another and is unwilling to look him in the face.”

“But as for me, in the multitude of Thy loving – kindness – they are despised in Thine eyes, but as for me, I will take my stand in Thy sight and before Thee. I will come into Thine House: – in the multitude of Thy loving-kindness which I hope for from Thee. In Thy fear will I worship toward Thy holy Temple – which is before me. And the interpretation of toward (Thy) temple (is): because the worshipper of God makes the Temple and the Holy Place (the object) of his longing desire, and worships God as though before it. And the interpretation of Thine House and Thy holy Temple (is): the House which contained the Ark.”

“Lead me, O Lord, in Thy righteousness: – This is my prayer unto Thee, that Thou shouldest lead me in Thy righteousness, meaning that Thou shouldest help me to go in the way of righteousness and justice, and lead me in it so that I may not stumble. Because of my watchful foes: – That they may not be able to rejoice over me through my stumbling, make straight Thy way before my face. And my watchful foes (שׁררי) – is the equivalent of “my enemies,” and is derived from (the verb) “I spy him (אשׁורנו), but not nigh” (Num. 24:17), because he is looking for evil, as (in the verse) “Saul eyed David” (1 Sam. 18:9). And this prayer is that He (God) should deliver him from faults and from deliberate sins, as he says (in the verses Ps. 19:13, 14): “Clear me from hidden (faults); moreover, from deliberate sins restrain Thy servant.” Make Thy way plain before my face: – הישׁר (“make plain”) has the yodh of the first radical pronounced, unlike verbs in which the first radical is quiescent; and a similar case to it is אתך היצא (“Bring forth with thee,” Gen. 8:17). And Kethib has waw on the analogy of verbs with the first radical quiescent; and so with the pathah of the second radical (הושר הישַׁר), as also (in the verse): “Cause Thy mighty ones to come down (המחת), O Lord” (Joel 4:11).”

“For there is nothing straightforward in his mouth: – That is the reason why he says because of my watchful foes, for they are men of such a kind that there is no straightforwardness in the mouth (even) of one of them, but they make themselves appear to be friends. Their inward part is very wickedness: – meaning they are devising evil in their heart. An open sepulchre is their throat; – They make smooth their tongue: – for he who is not on his guard against them and listens to them when they make smooth their tongue and flatter and appear as friends will fall into their pit (sepulchre); and this is the intention of their heart, which is for evil. And he attributes (the uttering of) words to the throat, as (in the passage): “Let the high praises of God be in their throat” (Ps. 149:6), for some letters are pronounced in the throat. Further, all speech has its beginning from the throat, for the voice proceeds from the throat and makes speech possible to the mouth. Moreover, because the throat is open to the inside, which he compares to a sepulchre, he says their throat. And the word נכונה (straightforwardness) is a feminine adjective, but the substantive is wanting, and we must supply (in thought) אמרה (“utterance”) or דברה (“word”); and so “his meat (m.) is fat” [בראה fem., i.e. “a fat thing,” Hab. 1:16]: “like a flock (of ewes) that are shorn” [lit. “of the shorn ones,” הקצובות, Cant. 4:2]; “he answereth roughly” [lit. “rough things,” עזות; Prov. 18:23]; and similar passages.”

“Make them miss the mark (האשימם), O God: – There are some who interpret this from the meaning of שממה (“desolation”), and (make) אשׁם and שמם of one meaning. But it is admissible to explain it in the (primary) sense of אשׁם; and its interpretation (will then be): Make them miss the mark in their counsel, meaning, Let not what they purposed to do against me be possible or happen. And it occurs (here) in the sense of אשם taken as equivalent to הטא, as in יחטא ולא (“And would not miss the mark,” Judges 20:16). And this is what (he means when) he says: Let them fall from their counsels: In the multitude of their transgressions thrust them out, for they have rebelled against Thee – in that they hate me, and Thou hast commissioned me to be king, and they have rebelled against Thy words. (The word) מרו (they have rebelled) is here used in the same sense as in “Ye have rebelled (מריתם) against My word” (Num. 27:14).”

“So shall all those that put their trust in Thee rejoice; They shall ever ring out their joy – just the opposite of the enemies, who do not trust in Thee; and when Thou shalt thrust them out those who trust in Thee shall rejoice. And the sense of and Thou shalt defend them (is): – that Thou wilt be over them as a tent, so that the enemy shall not harm them. Yea, let those that love Thy name he joyful in Thee: – The 'ayin (of וְיַעְלְצוּ) and the lamed are pointed with sheva.”

“For Thou shalt bless the righteous, O Lord: – Then shall they rejoice in Thee when Thou dost bless the righteous and thrust out the wicked. Thou shalt compass him with favour as with a shield: – As with a shield which compasses a man round about, so wilt Thou compass the righteous with Thy favour. The word תעטרנו (“Thou shalt compass him”) is the Kal conjugation (as עוֹטְרִים in the passage “compassing David and his men” 1 Sam. 23:26).”

“For the Chief Musician, with Neginoth, on the Sheminith. A Psalm of David. – Already we have explained the sense of Neginoth and Sheminith and the other kinds of musical instruments in the Psalm Answer me when I call (Ps. iv.). There are some (Targum ad loc.) who interpret Sheminith as a lyre which had eight strings, and the Psalm as being recited to the accompaniment of this music. The Haggadic interpretation (Babli, Menahoth 43b) (applies it) to circumcision, which was performed on the eighth day, but this is far-fetched. This Psalm possibly was uttered by David with reference to his sickness; it is also possible likewise that it was uttered in the language of anyone crushed by sickness, for David composed many of the Psalms which combine prayer and supplication that they might be suitable for any suppliant; and such, I think, is the case in this Psalm. And some say (Ibn Ezra ad loc.) that it was uttered with reference to the Exile, for Israel in exile was like those who are sick and crushed.”

“O Lord, rebuke me not in Thine anger: – If Thou dost rebuke me for mine iniquity, let it not be in Thine anger. He means “gently,” so that I may be able to bear it; as Jeremiah the Prophet says (Jer. 10:24): “O Lord, correct me, but with judgement,” etc. Neither chasten me in Thy hot displeasure: – A duplication of the sense in different words in accordance with the idiom of the language.”

“Have mercy upon me, Lord, for I am feeble (withered): – אֻמְלַל (feeble, withered) has the force of an adjective although written with a pathah; and a similar example is (the passage): “A heart deceived (הוּתַל) hath turned him aside” (Is. 44:20); and it (אֻמְלַל) has the sense of “uprooting” and “cutting off,” as (in the passage): “And she that hath many children is withered away” (languisheth) (1 Sam. 2:5); “these feeble Jews” (Neh. 3:34); “she that hath borne seven is withered away” (languisheth) (Jer. 15:9); and (other) similar passages. O Lord, heal me; for my bones are vexed He means his body. He says my bones, because they are the foundation of the body; or he speaks of the pain of his limbs.”

“My soul also is sore vexed: – My bones are vexed and my soul also is sore vexed with respect to my fear and anxiety that I shall die from this sickness. And Thou (ואת), – written (Kethib) without he (ה), but to be read (Keri) with he (ה); but it is without significance, for it is found (written) without he; thus (for example): “And if Thou (אַתְּ) deal thus with me” (Num. 11:15). O Lord, how long – wilt Thou crush me with sickness and not heal me?”

“Return (שוב֫ה): – The accent is milra', of which this is one of five instances. O Lord, deliver my soul: – and its interpretation (is): Turn from Thy fierce wrath upon me, and, Turn, deliver my soul that I die not of this sickness. Save me for Thy loving-kindness' sake – not for my righteousness, for I know that I am guilty.”

“For in death there is no remembrance of Thee: In Sheol who shall give Thee thanks? – If I die, I shall not remember Thee in death, neither shall I give Thee thanks; and if Thou healest me, I will give Thee thanks before the eyes of all. As Hezekiah (Is. 38:18) says: “For Sheol cannot praise Thee, death cannot celebrate Thee” etc.; and David says (Ps. 118:17): “I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.” For the body after the departure of the spirit is as a dumb stone, and it descends to Sheol; but the spirit ascends and praises and glorifies for ever without ceasing. But the righteous longs to live to do the will of God while he is yet alive in order to increase the reward of his soul in the world to come.”

“I am weary with my groaning; Every night make I my bed to swim; I melt my couch with my tears. – For I groan and am anxious on account of my sickness and weep until I make my bed swim every night, because at night the sickness is grievous, and a man laments and weeps on account of his sickness. Or he weeps at night because the household is asleep and no one sees him. And lo! he is weary with groaning and with weeping. And as for what he says: I make to swim and I water – it is by way of exaggeration and hyperbole. And the interpretation of אשחה (I make to swim) is (to be derived) from (such passages) as: “as he that swimmeth (השחה) spreadeth out his hands to swim (לשׂחות)” (Is. 25:11); or from the Targum (rendering) of “and he washed (וירחץ)” (Gen. 43:31), which is ואסתי. And the interpretation of אמסה (I melt) is (to be gathered) from (such passages) as: “they made the heart of the people melt (המסיו)” (Josh. 14:8); “and like a moth Thou makest his beauty to melt away (ותמס)” (Ps. 39:12). These (instances) are from verbs lamed he of the hifil conjugation. And there are many (cases) of double 'ayin verbs of this signification, as: “They have made my heart to melt (הֵמַסּוּ)” (Deut. 1:28); “and the heart of the people melted (וַיִּמָּס)” (Josh. 7:8).”

“Decayed: – (The word) עָשְֽׁשָׁה (“is moth-eaten”) is of the same origin (as עָשׁ, “moth”; cf) “the moth (עָשׁ) shall devour them” (Is. 1. 9), as if he had said “decays.” because of vexation is mine eye: – And the reason why I weep is because of the vexation with which I am vexed against my enemies, who rejoice at my sickness. And the interpretation of (the word rendered) it is removed (עתקה) – may be gathered from “And the rock is removed (יעתק) out of its place” (Job 14:18). The expressions decayed (“moth-eaten”) and removed (ועתקה ועשׁשׁה) are used hyperbolically. And the explanation of with (ב) all my adversaries is “on account of” (בעבור) all my adversaries. And there are some (Targum, Rashi ad loc.) who explain עתקה in the sense of “is grown old (נתישנה),” in accordance with the Targum rendering of ישׁן (“the old store”) in Lev. 25:22 by עתיק.”

“Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; For the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping. – He said this on recovering from his sickness, or even during his sickness; and (then) he is speaking of the future by the Holy Spirit. And every sick man who prays by this Psalm is able to say this, for he is confident that God will hear his prayer if he prays with a broken and contrite heart.”

“All my enemies shall be ashamed and sore vexed: – When I am healed all my enemies who were looking for my death shall be ashamed and vexed. They shall return, they shall be ashamed in a moment: – When they see that their scheme has not come about, they shall return to me to be at peace with me, and in that moment there shall be shame to them because of me.”

“Shiggayon of David: – We have already explained that Shiggayon is a kind of music. And so it says in the Prayer of Habakkuk (Hab. 3:1) “Set to Shigyonoth.” which he sang unto the Lord concerning Cush, a Benjamite: – Our teachers of blessed memory have said (Targum ad loc. and Babli, Moed Katon 16 b, with some variation) that this Psalm was uttered concerning Saul. And he calls him Cush because he was beautiful, as “the Cushite woman” (Num. 12:1), which is interpreted in the Targum as “the beautiful woman”; and such is the opinion of all the exegetes. And they say that he calls him “Cushite” as a Cushite is one who does not change his skin, so Saul did not change in his hatred towards David. And in this way it is said (Jer. 13:23), “Can the Cushite change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also be able to do good who are accustomed to do evil.” And the learned R. Abraham ben Ezra, of blessed memory, rejected this interpretation; for he asks, How should anyone say of the Lord's anointed, Behold, he travaileth with iniquity (5:15)? And he says there was one of the children of Benjamin who hated him, and his name was Cush. And his objection to Behold, he travaileth with iniquity as being said of Saul does not hold. Why should he not say so? Behold, did (not) David say to his very face: “Out of the wicked proceedeth wickedness” (1 Sam. 24:14)? And did he (not) say to him: “And the Lord avenge thee of me” (ibid. 24:13)? And in the Haggadic exposition (Shoher Tob, ad loc.) (it says that) he surnames him Cush, because it is written (Koheleth 10:20): “Curse not the king, no, not in thy thought.” x And the Haggadic interpretation is correct. You see that all agree that the Psalm was spoken of Saul, apart from the (one) interpreter mentioned. And as regards the expression concerning (על דברי, lit. “concerning the matters of”), (it is used) because the matters and affairs which he had in connexion with him were numerous. Many times also he had purposed to slay him, as it is written (in Scripture). The first occasion, when he became his son-in-law, he purposed to make him fall into the hand of the Philistines; afterwards he purposed to slay him in his house; and when he stood (ministering) before him he hurled the javelin at him many times; and (even) after he had parted from him (he acted) in a like manner also when he was pursuing him. And the interpretation of דברי על is “concerning the matter of” in accordance with (the use of the expression in such a passage as): “concerning (דבר על) the frogs” (Exod. 8:8), and similar passages.”

“Lest he tear my soul like a lion, Rending in pieces while there is none to deliver. – This could not be said of any other enemy of David except Saul, who was king; and of him it is said, Rending in pieces while there is none to deliver. And he says as a lion, because he is the mightiest among the beasts, and is called king over them, and if he rends there is none to deliver. And (the sense of) פרק (rending in pieces) is to be gathered from the sense (of the expression) in “and thou shall break in pieces (ופרקת) his yoke” (Gen. 27:41).”

“If I have requited evil unto him that was at peace with me: – If I have requited him evil who was at peace with me as he does me who was at peace with him, and was his son-in-law, and fought his battles – and he requites me evil in return for good! But (no)! I have delivered him that without cause was my enemy: – Not merely have I not requited evil unto him (who was) at peace with me, but (on the contrary) I have delivered him who without cause was my enemy. But to no purpose did I rescue him as indeed he rescued Saul from the power of Abishai, who, had he not withheld him, was about to kill him, as he said: “Let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear to the earth at one stroke, and I will not smite him the second time” (i Sam. 26:8); and so of the occasion when he was in the cave it is said: “so David checked his men with these words and suffered them not to rise against Saul” (i Sam. 24:7). And the waw in ואחלצה (“but [lit. and] I have delivered”) is like the waw (in ועבדיך in the verse) “but (and) thy servants came to buy food” (Gen. 42:10), of which (passage) the interpretation is: “It is not, my lord, as thou sayest, that we are spies; but thy servants are come to buy food.””

“The enemy doth pursue my soul: – This word (יִרַדּףֹ, “pursue”) is a combination of the Kal and dageshed (i.e. piel) conjugations; from the Kal is said יִרְדֹּף, and from the piel is said יְרַדֵּף; and the word is compounded of these two (forms). And the meaning of the compound (form) is that the enemy pursues him himself and pursues him with respect to others when he bids others pursue him; so Saul was pursuing him (רודפו) and chasing him (מרדפו) with reference to Israel. And he says my soul, for he does not pursue me to bind me with a cord, but to kill me – as, indeed, he proposed so many times to slay him with his own hand. And should he overtake he will tread my life to the earth: – And if he should overtake me he will tread my life to the earth, for he will give me no rest till he slay me. And the word “if” is lacking, as (similarly, Isaiah 30:20): “And the Lord will give you the bread of adversity and water of affliction” which is to be interpreted “if He give”; and (another instance) “and thou hast refused to let him go” (Exod. 4:23) = “and if thou refusest.” The waw in וְיִרְמֹם is equivalent (in meaning) to the rapheh in Arabic; or its interpretation (may be) he is thinking within himself, as he pursues me, that he will overtake me and tread my life to the earth and lay my glory in the dust. And lay my glory in the dust. Selah: – My glory is “my soul,” and his plan is to lay my glory in the dust. And although at a man's death his soul does not lie in the dust, the expression is figurative, as, “My soul cleaveth to the dust” (Ps. 119:25). Or it is in accordance with the thought of the enemy, for he thinks there is no resurrection for my soul, because he considers me a wicked man and a murderer. And the word Selah I have explained (Ps. 3:3) to be a raising of the voice in the music; and it has no (special) significance in the context here, nor is it necessary to explain it on every occurrence.”

“Arise, O Lord, in Thine anger: – קומה accented milra, with the accent on the mem. He says: Rise, O Lord, in Thine anger against those who pursue me to take my life. Lift up Thyself in rage (lit. rages, pi.) against my adversaries: – In Thy rage (sing.) against them, as he says, in Thine anger; or its interpretation is “against the rage” (pl.) which my adversaries have against me, do Thou lift up Thyself against them and deliver me from their hand. Rouse Thyself for me to the judgement Thou hast commanded: – Rouse Thyself on my behalf in the judgement which Thou hast commanded concerning me: that is, the judgement of the Kingdom.”

“And the congregation of the peoples let it compass Thee about: And over it return Thou on high. – He speaks of congregation (עדת) in a general, and of peoples (לאמים) in a specific, sense. The congregation is the congregation of Israel, which includes them all; the peoples (לאמים) are the twelve tribes of Israel. And they are called לאמים, i.e. peoples (עמים) and nations (גוים), as Isaac said to Jacob: “that thou mayest be a company of peoples (עֹמים קהל)” (Gen. 28:3). And so God says to Jacob (ibid. 35:11): “A nation and a company of nations (גוים קהל) shall be of thee.” So you see he calls them “peoples” (עמים) and “nations” (גוים) relative to the tribes; and he calls them a “company” (קהל) and a “congregation” (עדה), for the twelve tribes formed one company and one congregation. If he were using the word לאמים (“peoples”) of the nations of the world, he would not have made use of the expression congregation (ועדת), for a single congregation could not comprise them (all), because every single people (לאום) forms a congregation by itself in its own sight. Therefore the Nazarenes (Christians) have erred in interpreting the verse of Jesus, and explaining and the congregation of the peoples of the nations who have been converted to his faith, and who say that (the words) and over it return on high is an indication that he would come down (from heaven) to assume human flesh. Now say to them, in the first place, that the Psalm ex Psalm explains in its title about whom it was spoken; and then that the prayer would be in vain if he were God, while if his prayer had reference to the flesh (the Incarnation), it was unavailing. And if they say to you that such was his will that he should be hanged (reply) then, if so, it was foolish that he should pray for something he did not desire. And add that the greater part of the Psalm speaks of one enemy, while he had many enemies. And regarding the assumption of human flesh (the Incarnation), I have already written in the second Psalm how you should answer them. Now, according to our exposition, the interpretation of this verse will be as follows. It was known in Israel that David had been anointed to be king, and it was known likewise also that Samuel had anointed him at God's direction. And in the place where he had been anointed all recognised that Samuel had not done this of his own mind, for when Eliab, (David's) eldest brother, came he said, “Surely the Lord's anointed is before Him” (i Sam. 16:6), for he thought that he was to be the king until the Lord said to him: “Look not on his countenance nor on the height of his stature” (ibid. 5:7). And when the youngest came God said to him, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he” (ibid. 5:12). If so, he who pursued after David was as though he pursued after God, and he who surrounded him to capture him as one who surrounded God, who is blessed. And because of this he says, Let it compass thee about, after the manner of the prophet (Zech. 2:12), who says: “for he that toucheth you is as one who toucheth the apple of his eye.” And when he says, And over it return Thou on high, it is as he has (just before) said, Arise and lift up Thyself. And it is all figurative, for when God forgives man's transgression, it is as though He should descend from His place of power and His habitation of judgment. And when He visits man's iniquity and judges him, then it is as though He should rise and lift Himself up and return on high to the place of judgment. And so it is said of the vengeance on Pharaoh (Exod. 15:1), “for He is highly exalted.””

“The Lord ministereth judgment to the peoples: – i.e. Israel, as I have explained לאמים (in the previous verse); and the interpretation of ידין (ministereth judgment) (is) that he will exact my vengeance and my judgment from them. And this is what he says: Judge me, Lord, according to my righteousness, and according to my integrity be it unto me: – for as for me, there is no iniquity in me nor have I sinned against them that they should hate me. He does not speak of all of them, but of the wicked among them who hated David without cause. And of them he says, let the wickedness of the wicked bring to an end; for the greater part of Israel loved David; for he it was who used to bring them out and lead them in while he was with Saul; and they were acting under compulsion while they pursued him at the command of Saul. Also of the tribe of Benjamin many loved him, as is written (i Chron. xii. 1:2) of those “who came to David to Ziklag.””

“Oh let the wickedness of the wicked bring to an end: – He says: the wickedness which the wicked plan and do, may it bring them to an end and destroy them. but establish Thou (the) righteous: – And the righteous Thou wilt establish his way and his plan, and support him. And he says this of himself and of the righteous who were in Israel. For it is the righteous God who trieth the hearts and reins: – He who tries the hearts and knows the thoughts of man knows the righteous and the wicked; for many of the sons of men make a show of being good when they are not so. And He is a righteous God – he means One who judges with equity, and assigns to everyone according to his ways and his thoughts, for He knows all.”

“God is a righteous Judge: – as (in the verse) Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness (supra, 5:9); and its interpretation (is): God judges the righteous according to his righteousness and the wicked according to his wickedness, and this is what he means when he says: Yea, a God that is provoked every day: – as though to say, He judges the righteous, and He judges him who provokes God every day, when he repents not of his wickedness. And this is what he means below (by the words) if he turn not – if (אם) being used in the place of כי (when), as: “When (אם) the jubile shall be” (Num. 36:4), where it stands in the place of כי or כאשר (when). And by every day he means “continually.” And how was Saul provoking God? Because he was despising God's work and word, for he knew that David had been anointed as king by the command of God to succeed him, and (yet) he pursued him every day to kill him. You see he was planning every day to bring God's word to naught. And, moreover, David was innocent and had not sinned against him, and he wished to shed innocent blood. And, further, because he had sworn solemnly that he would not slay him. And for all these reasons it was right that He (God) should be spoken of as provoked.”

“If he will not turn (and) whets his sword: – We have already explained the meaning as depending upon (the clause) above. And he says: when he (the wicked man) will not turn and whets his sword to slay me. He hath bent his bow and made it ready – to shoot at me; as though to say, I am near death every day, as one who stands in front of the bent bow.”

“He hath also prepared him the instruments of death; And arrows for the pursuers doth he provide: – For himself and those that pursue with him after me he has prepared and provided arrows and instruments of death to kill me. And some explain ולו, for himself as equivalent to בעבורו (on his own account), meaning“ on account of his own life,” as though saying, the arrows which he has prepared him are against his own life, for he shall die by them. And דלקים (pursuers) is used as (in the text): “that thou hast so hotly pursued (דלקת) after me” (Gen. 31:36).”

“Behold, he travaileth with iniquity; Yea, he hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood. – He compares the thoughts of the heart with conception, and says their issuing in speech or conduct is like the pangs of a woman at childbirth. If so, the comparison is between speech and birth-pains, and (between) conduct and childbearing. And he says that he speaks evil, because he has conceived it in his heart and brought it forth in his mouth for execution. And iniquity and mischief and. falsehood have all one meaning, though the words are different.”

“He hath digged a pit, and graven it out: – repeating the idea in different words. And he says that he hath digged a pit to cause me to fall into it, but he shall fall into it himself. He prophesies that Saul shall die by the sword. And he says: And hath fallen into the ditch which he maketh: – a past tense in place of a future, as we have explained.”

“I will give thanks unto the Lord according to His righteousness: – And then I will give thanks unto the Lord according to His righteousness which He has shewn me. And I will sing praises to the Name of the Lord Most High: – for He is Most High over all, and rules over all, and will deal with His creatures according to His good pleasure.”

“For the Chief Musician: set to the Gittith. A Psalm of David. – We have expounded already above (Ps. 4:1) that Gittith is a kind of music. And there are those who say that David composed and recited (the Psalm) when he was in Gath; while others say (Ibn Ezra) that he gave it to the sons of Obed Edom the Gittite. This Psalm also is a hymn and rendering of praise and thanks to God, and a recounting of His acts of power.”

“O Lord, our Sovereign Lord: – for Thou art Lord of the created things, those above and those below. How Excellent is Thy Name: – Equivalent to How Excellent art Thou! For His Name is He, and He is His Name. Name (here) is the Tetragrammaton, and is not a common noun; and it is Excellent. in all the earth! – He means to say: Thy power is seen in all the earth; whether in the inhabited parts, or in the desert, or in the sea in all the earth Thy might is seen; but the supreme glory and mightiest power are visible in the heavens, for the earth is but a tiny thing in comparison with the heavens, being like the point in the centre of the circle. Who hast set Thy glory over the heavens: – The word תְּנָה (set) is the infinitive in place of (the perfect) נָתַתָּ (hast set), for the infinitive is used in place of a past tense, as (in the text) “calveth and forsaketh” (Jerem. 14:5), where the infinitive עָזוֹב is equivalent to עָזְבָה, and other instances besides; and also in place of a future and present participle, as we have expounded in the book Miklol in the grammatical section thereof. And the meaning of the verse is this: How Excellent is Thy Name in all the earth! And Excellent inasmuch as Thou hast set Thy glory over the heavens. And the interpretation of the word glory (הוד) is “might and splendour.” And it is possible to explain Who hast set Thy glory over the heavens as the reason why Thy Name is Excellent in all the earth. His meaning (then) is: because Thou hast invested the higher, (elements) with power to control the lower; for the earth and all that it contains, the seas and all therein all are in the control of the higher (elements).”

“Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou hast laid the foundation of Strength: – The first of the distinguishing marks in man after his coming into the (light and) air of the world is the power to suck. It is needful that man should confess the Creator and recognise His might and power on account of His works that are visible in heaven and in earth; and also from the constitution of his body, which is created from a drop of seed which turns to blood, and from that grows little by little until the limbs are perfectly formed and it comes forth into the (light and) air of the world. He has already made mention of this in the Psalm “O Lord, Thou hast searched vie and known” (cxxxix. infra). In the present Psalm he says that the wonders of the Creator and His loving-kindness toman are to be recognised from the moment of his first coming into the (light and) air of the world, and from his early infancy. It is for this reason that he uses the word יסדת (Thou hast laid the foundation); for, just as יסוד (foundation) is the beginning of the building, so the suckling period is the beginning of the (power to) recognise the loving-kindness of the Creator towards man after his coming into the (light and) air of the world, because the Holy One – Blessed be He! – has made for him in the breasts an incision like the eye-hole of a fine needle. It is no wider, for if it were wider, the milk would flow forth in a stream without sucking, and too much would come into his mouth, so that he would be choked by it; and if it were smaller than it is, sucking would be difficult to the child and his lips would become painful. Everything, however, is in due proportion and measure. Further, He has distinguished man from the rest of the creatures in that He has put his mother's teats in the place of understanding, as our Rabbis of blessed memory have remarked (Babli, Berakhoth 10a). It is for this reason that he says: Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou hast laid the foundation of strength, that man may be able to see that all is within the design of a Designer, and not, as the enemies of the Lord say, that everything happens by nature and chance without the direction of a Director and the design of a Designer. And this is the meaning of what he says next: Because of Thine adversaries, That Thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger: – Although this loving-kindness is to be seen also in like manner in the case of the beasts and living creatures, to man God has given understanding and discernment to recognise God's work and to confess Him and praise Him for all; and all of them have been created for his (man's) use. Such being the case, it is incumbent upon him to reflect, and to recognise the work of God, and to confess Him in everything. And the learned Rabbi Abraham ben Ezra has expounded (ad loc.) that he speaks so “on account of man's being honoured above all the lower creatures, for from the time that the child begins to speak (and this is the meaning of out of the mouth of babes), then the spirit, by reason of his constitution, begins to receive strength until it discerns the power of its Creator by a deliberate act of judgement, for the soul is strengthened day after day; and this is the meaning of Thou hast laid the foundation of strength. And the meaning of because of Thine adversaries (is) to bring to naught the words of the deniers, who say there is no God.” And our teacher Moses ha-Cohen ben Giktilla has expounded thus: out of the mouth of babes, though they cannot speak with their mouths, (yet) in themselves they teach of the multitude of Thy loving-kindnesses, for Thou dost sustain them and makest them to grow in their bodily development.”

“When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, The moon and the stars which Thou hast ordained: – He does not mention the sun. Some say that (David) uttered this Psalm at night, at a time when he was considering the moon and stars, and discerning the wonders of the Creator. Others also say (Ibn Ezra, ad loc.) that in the daytime only the sun is seen, while at night a very great host is seen. It is for this reason, then, that he makes no mention of the sun. And others again say (ibid, in the name of others) that when he said Who hast set Thy glory over the heavens he hinted at the sun in this, for it is the great creation par excellence. And he says When I consider Thy heavens as though meaning: “When I consider Thy great creations in the world, and reflect upon human affairs, then I stand amazed.” So he says:”

“What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that Thou visitest him? – What is man! is the antithesis of How Excellent is Thy Name! for the latter expression is intended to magnify, but this to depreciate. He says, When I consider Thy heavens, the moon and the stars, great creations and intelligences as they are, (I exclaim) What is man! that Thou dost remember him and hast imparted to him some of the glory of the higher incorporeal intelligences; for even in the case of those that are corporeal I see their great bodily size and relative superiority, and that man is as nothing compared with them. And he says, the work of Thy fingers, and also which Thou hast ordained, to confute the scoffers who say the world is eternal; therefore he says work and Thou hast ordained, for Thou didst make them all new. And he says: I will consider of Thy heavens, although only the nearest is visible to us, because they are concentric up to the eighth, which is the sphere of the Zodiac, and because they are all transparent, as an object in a glass vessel which is visible from outside. And the learned Rabbi Abraham ben Ezra, of blessed memory, has written that the Psalmist says Thy fingers because the fingers are ten in number and the spheres are ten – seven firmaments containing the seven planets, the sphere of the Zodiac, the ninth sphere above that of the Zodiac, and the tenth the Throne of Glory. What is man that Thou art mindful of him? And the son of man that Thou visitest him? repeating the idea with a change of terms. Or he means to say by that Thou art mindful of him, that Thou didst remember him at his creation and didst impart to him some of Thy glory. And Thou visitest him – all the days of his life Thou watchest over him and his deeds to reward every man according to his ways.”

“For Thou hast made him but little lower than Elohim: – that is, the angels – in that the spirit of man is of the (same) quality as that of the angels, which is incorporeal just as they are incorporeal; and the inferiority consists in the fact of its (i.e. man's spirit) being (lodged) in a body. And crownest him with glory and honour – by the higher spirit which Thou hast placed in him. And by it”

“Thou makest him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands: – i.e. the inferior beings. Or the meaning of the expression may include the higher ones also; and the dominion then consists in his knowing by his understanding the movement of the spheres and the stars. Thou hast put all things under his feet: – The lower (beings) are all under him, as it says (Gen. 9:2): “And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every fowl of the air.'””

“Flocks and cattle: – The aleph of צֹאן (flocks) is elided in צֹנֶה, and the he of צנה is changed for aleph, as is seen in the word לצנאכם (for your flocks) (Num. 32:24). And he says flocks and cattle because they grow up with him, and are serviceable for his work and for his food and for his clothing. And the flocks include sheep and goats, and the cattle (אלפים) are the oxen. And he says all of them – with reference to the rest of the animals that grow up with him the horses and asses and camels. And he says And also beasts of the field: – meaning the wild creatures of the field. And he adds And also, for also over them, that do not grow up with him about his dwelling, he has dominion through his understanding and his cunning devices against them. And he says further:”

“Fowl of heaven and fish of the sea: – He says: Even over those which are not in the earth with him, as the fowl which flies in the air, and the fishes which swim in the waters, he rules over all and snares them by his cunning devices. And further, by his understanding and his cunning devices He passes over the paths of the sea: – in that he makes ships and passes in them over the paths of the sea.”

“O Lord, our Sovereign Lord, How Excellent is Thy Name in all the earth! – He returns once more to praise when he has finished the recital of the loving kindnesses which He (God) shews towards man, and the power He has given him over all; and because, though he is small and of no account in comparison with the great creatures on high, he is their equal in understanding. (And so) he returns to praise and says, O Lord, our Sovereign Lord, etc.”

“For the Precentor: 'al muth labben: A Psalm of David. – The majority of the interpreters (Rabbi Dunash the Levite and Ibn Ezra) say that David uttered it with reference to one of his enemies who died, one of the princes of the heathen, who oppressed Israel and whose name was Labben; and that when he died David uttered this Psalm. Some also say (Ibn Ezra, ad loc.) that Labben (לבן) is an inversion of Nabal (נבל), and they say that David uttered this Psalm when Nabal the Carmelite died. But this is very far-fetched; for the subject-matter of the Psalm tells of a man who did evil to Israel, while Nabal did no harm to anyone, but simply was avaricious. And some say (ibid.) that לבן is to be read as if written with a yodh (לבין), and then the reference is to Goliath, who is called a champion (הַבֵּנַיִם אִישׁ); and when David had killed him he uttered this Psalm. My revered father, of blessed memory, has (also) written that this Psalm was (originally) uttered with reference to Goliath; but he explained לבן (as referring) to a singer whose name was Ben (בֵּן), as it is written in Chronicles (I Chron. 15:1 8): “and with them their brethren of the second degree, Zechariah, Ben, and Jaaziel;” and he explained מות על, which is two words [= on the death of], as one word, עלמות, from (the expression) שׁיר עלמות; and similar instances of words divided into two, but with the significance of a single word, are קוח פקח (= release, Is. lxi. 1), פיה יפה (= very fair, Jer. 46:20), and יונים לגאי (= proud, Ps. 123:4). And although the lamedh of לַבֵּן, is vocalised with the vowel pathah, and this is not in accordance with usage in the case of a man's name – for you do not say ליצחק, לַידותון, because the article is not employed with a proper name – nevertheless the article here is employed to indicate that he speaks with reference to Ben the singer; for if he had said לְבן (pointed) with sheva it would not have been clear that he was speaking of the singer whose name was Ben. At all events, it is admissible to interpret the subject-matter of the Psalm as having reference to Goliath the Philistine.”

“I will give thanks unto the Lord with my whole heart: – for the death of Goliath the Philistine was a great deliverance to David and to Israel; and for this (reason) he says with my whole heart. I will recount all Thy marvellous works: – for, in addition to every individual wonder, a man recounts other wonders which are past; as it says, “He hath made His wonderful works to be remembered” (Ps. 111:4).”

“For Thou hast maintained my right and my cause: – Thou hast fought for me, for it was a great miracle that the stone reached his forehead, as he was altogether clad in iron; and it found an exposed place in his forehead. Thou didst take Thy seat in the throne: – Thou satest on the throne of judgment, Thou who art A judge of righteousness, – to exact Thy judgment from him who reviled the armies of the living God. The lamedh of לכסא is used in the place of beth. And so also lamedh is used in the phrase לחרב לפניכם, “(they shall fall) before you by the sword” (Lev. 26:7), where לחרב is equivalent to בחרב; (and again in the verse) “I have slain (a man) by my wounding” (לפצעי, Gen. 4:23).”

“Thou hast rebuked the nations (גוִֹיִם גערת): – (The expression for) rebuke when used without the preposition beth has the meaning of destruction, as: “Rebuke the wild beast of the reed” (Ps. 68:31); and as, “Behold, I will rebuke the seed for your sake” (Mal. 2:3); and so Thou hast rebuked (the) nations here. And he says, Thou hast rebuked the nations – these being the Philistines. Thou hast destroyed the wicked (man): – viz. Goliath the Philistine. Thou hast blotted out their name: – speaking of the dead in the war, as it is said (1 Sam. 17:52), “And the despatched of the Philistines fell.” for ever and aye (וָעֶד): – This word (וָעֶד) signifies a longer duration of time than עולם (for ever). Unless immediately before the end of a verse, it is pointed with pathah; (and so also) when without (the accent) ‘athnah, as (in the passage): “And do not for ever (לָעַד) remember iniquity” (Is. 64:8); and (even) with ’athnah, as (in the passage): “Knowest thou this from old time (מִנִּי־עַד)” (Job 20:4); but at the end of a verse (in the form) לעולם ועד, with seghol.”

“And thou, O Enemy, they have come to an end, they are desolate for ever; Even the cities which thou hast overthrown, Their very memorial is perished. – The he (of הָאוֹיֵב) is he of the vocative, as (in the passage), “O assembly (הקהל), one statute for you” (Num. 15:15); and as, “O generation (הדור), see ye the word of the Lord” (Jer. 20:31). And as he said, their name Thou hast blotted out, so here he addresses the enemy: “thy name is blotted out as the name of the cities thou hast devastated is blotted out; or, as they have come to an end for ever and their memorial is perished, so has thy memorial perished now.” And my revered father, of blessed memory, expounds: destructions have come to an end, חרבות תמו – i.e. the destructions thou wast making shalt thou cause no more. And the learned Rabbi Abraham ben Ezra, of blessed memory, ex-pounds (ad loc.): because the destructions which thou hast made have come to an end and the cities which thou hast uprooted, their memorial is perished, thou hast thought to escape; and hast forgotten that the Lord sitteth enthroned for ever. The explanation (of המה in) המה וזכרם (their very memorial) is, it intensifies the pronominal suffix, for (the sense) would have been represented sufficiently by the mem of זכרם (their memorial). Or its interpretation may be their memorial has perished so (completely) that those who see it shall say: “These surely are not the cities that were built!” And on this interpretation המה will be explained as (to be read) with a mark of interjection.”

“But the Lord sitteth enthroned for ever: – These every one may perish; but the Lord sitteth enthroned for ever, and judges these every one. And this is what he means when he says: He hath prepared His throne for judgment, – as it says (Ps. 102:27), “they shall perish, but Thou remainest.” And the significance of sitteth enthroned (יֵשֵׁב) is that of enduring and stability; and so (in the passage) “The Lord sat enthroned at the flood” (Ps. 29:10).”

“And He shall judge the world in righteousness, He shall minister judgment to the people in equity. – תבל (world) is the inhabited part. He says: As He will judge my cause in righteousness, so He judges the peoples in righteousness and in equity always and at all times; and when one people prevails over another it is (equally) a judgment from Him.”

“The Lord also will be a high tower for the oppressed, A high tower in times of trouble: – On every occasion that He judges the world He is a high tower of refuge for the poor. Although he may be lowly and without power and strength, He dare not leave him to those who are stronger, but is to him a high tower. And the poor has safety in Him as a man finds safety in a strong tower, and as Israel have found safety in Him to-day, and He is to them a strong tower. And a high tower also in times when they are in trouble, for Israel were now in great trouble on account of this Philistine, and Philistines who were making themselves masters over them, as it is said in (the section about) King Saul (i Sam. 9:16), “because their cry is come unto Me.””

“Sing praises to the Lord which dwelleth in Sion: – He says: which dwelleth in Sion, and (that) in spite of the fact that Sion was still in the hands of the Jebusites, because they had a tradition that the Glory should dwell there and the Sanctuary be built there; and Sion is the principal part (head) of Jerusalem. Declare among the peoples His doings: – In every place whither ye go, tell the doings and the wonders He worked among you.”

“For He that maketh inquisition for blood remembered them: – God, who makes inquisition for the blood of the poor from their oppressors, remembered that blood which the Philistines had shed in Israel. He did not forget the cry of the meek (ענוים): – The Kethib is written with a yodh (עניים = poor), but the Keri (needs) a waw (ענוים = meek), for the meek are for the most part the poor and helpless.”

“Have mercy upon me, Lord: – (The word חננני is) pointed with pathah under the heth, shewing that it is from the Piel, though undoubted, as (Gen. 42:21): אלינו בהתחננו See my affliction at the hands of them that hate me: – as Thou hast seen (me suffer) from this enemy – namely, Goliath. Thou that liftest me up from the gates of death: – for all were of opinion that I should fall at the hand of Goliath. The (phrase) gates of death means “near to death,” as the gate is to the house.”

“That I may recount: – so that, when I am delivered from those that hate me, I may recount all Thy praises: in the gates of the daughter of Sion: – for there shall be the thanks-giving, and songs and psalms shall be uttered there, for there the Glory shall rest. I will exult in Thy deliverance: – i.e. the deliverance which Thou shalt effect for me from every single enemy I have. And he says in the gates of (in the same sense as in the verse) “to the gate unto the elders” (Deut. 25:7); and the word תְּהִלָּתֶיךָ is written with yodh (in the suffix), for he intends to speak of many praises. It lacks the complete sign of the plural feminine, having the plural masculine suffix termination only. And similar examples are: “I am wearied in the multitude of thy counsels” (עֲצָתָיִךְ, Is. 47:13); “And thy sisters (וַאֲחוֹתַיִךְ, Ezek. 16:55), Sodom and her daughters” (see the interpretation our rabbi (ad loc.) gives). And in that he says here all Thy praises; and in another place (Ps. 106:2) asks, “Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord?” David says, I will shew forth all Thy praises. In spite of all the troubles which came upon him, he gave praise and (made) confession to God, who delivered him from the enemies; but when he comes to narrate the wondrous signs He had given Israel generation after generation, he asks, “Who can make known all His praise?” And so the individual alone is not able to tell the wondrous signs of goodness and mercy which the Holy One – Blessed be He! – worketh for him, as he says (ibid. 40:6), “If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.” For sometimes God – Blessed be He! – does a wondrous sign for a man who is unaware of it until later when he reflects upon it. And so our rabbis of blessed memory have said (Babli, Niddah 31a), “Even he to whom the wondrous sign happens does not recognise it.” And when David says all Thy praises, he speaks of the wondrous signs which He had wrought for him which were evident and known to all in the war with the enemies.”

“The nations are sunk down in the pit that they made: – The Philistines who came to fight against us thought to cause us to fall, and they have fallen themselves In a net which they hid: – and in a net which they hid to take us is their own foot fallen: – And the explanation of the particle זוּ is that it is equivalent to אשׁר; and so (in the passage) לו חטאנו זוּ, “He against whom we have sinned” (Is. 42:24); but it is possible to take it in its usual sense as equivalent to זֶה, this (i.e. in this net).”

“The Lord hath made Himself known: – Now the Lord has made Himself known in this war, for Israel had conquered them with but little strength and power, compared with theirs; and they would not have been able to conquer them except the Lord had fought for Israel. He hath executed judgment:on the Philistines. The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands: This (wicked one) is Goliath, for with his own sword was he killed. And the word נוֹקֵשׁ (snared) is written (here) with sere equivalent to pathah, and is the niphal form with the same root-meaning as מוֹקְשִׁים, snares. It is possible also to explain the nun as radical, and then it is an intransitive verb, of which the meaning can be exemplified in the verse: “they that seek my life laid snares (וינקשו)” (Ps. 38:13). And נוקשׁ and יקשׁ have the same meaning. Higgayon. Selah:This deliverance is the subject of our meditation (higgayon) and thanksgiving.”

“The wicked shall return to Sheol, Even all the nations that forget God. The wicked shall return to the grave. And he says, they shall return just as “and unto dust shalt thou return” (Gen. 3:19). And shall return is used (in the manner of) a prayer, as if saying: Just as all these haters of Israel have died, so let all those perish who forget God. And in the Haggadic interpretation (Babli, Sanhedrin 105a, and Shoher Tod, ad loc.) “to Sheol is Gehinnom. And they say (ibid, with a slight verbal change), Why does he say לשׁאולה, to Sheol? Is not every he at the end of a word equivalent to lamedh at the commencement? Why, then, does he say לשאולה with lamedh? To say that they shall descend to the very heart, or to the lowest degree, of Sheol” (Gen. Rabbah, pars. 50 and 68).”

“For not for ever snail the needy be forgotten: – If Israel should continue in trouble because of the Philistines, this will not be for any length of time. Nor the expectation of the poor perish for ever: – Not is actually written once only, but is understood twice; and such is the usage of the language in many passages. ענוים (meek), the Kethib has waw, but the Keri is עניים with yodh; and the meanings are cognate, for the poor are generally the meek.”

“Arise, O Lord: קומה, Arise, with the accent milra. And he says: “Arise.” as he says, “Lift up Thyself”; and all is figurative, (calling to God) that He should rise up to judge the wicked. let not man prevail: – Let not the children of men who possess strength and might against Israel prevail any more. Let the nations be judged before Thy face, – פניך על, equivalent to לפניך. And so, “other gods before Me (פני על)” (Exod. 20:3; Deut. 5:7).”

“Put them in fear, O Lord: שׁיתה (put) with the accent milra. מורה (fear) is written with he for aleph. He asks that (God) would bring it about that they may fear Him. Let the nations know themselves to be but mortal. Selah: – Let them know that they are mortal (men, אנושׁים) and have not strength as against God, for the sense of אנושׁ is derived from that (of אָנוּשׁ in the passage) (Jer. 30:12): “it is ill (אנושׁ) with thy bruise.””

“Why standest Thou afar, O Lord? – David did not utter this Psalm of any one particular occasion; it is rather a prayer which anyone who is in trouble by reason of an enemy might use. In it he tells of the ways of the wicked in his persecution of the poor and him who is helpless to escape him. And because usually the persecutor does not act openly, he tells of the persecution by the wicked, how he oppresses the poor by means of ambush and secret place; and that (the poor) has no means of safeguarding himself from him but (in turning) his eyes upon the Lord. And he tells of the deeds of the wicked individually and generally, for the wicked is one and his helpers many. And he includes in the Psalm likewise (a reference to) the persecution with which the nations of the world would persecute Israel in their land; therefore he says (5:16), the heathen are perished out of his land. And he says: that mortal man (shall no longer) oppress (5:18). He says: Why standest Thou afar, O Lord? For when help comes from Him to the poor and to him that crieth, it is as if He were nigh and helping him, as it says (Deut. 4:7): “that hath a God so nigh unto them”; and it says (Ps. 145:18): “The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him”; and when the enemy prevails it is as if God were far away, and hiding His eyes from the poor – therefore he says: Why standest Thou afar, O Lord? And the beth of ברחוק stands really for two words; I mean רחוק במקום, “in a place afar.” Why hidest Thou Thyself in times of trouble (בצרה)? – times, that is, when the poor is in trouble (בצרה).”

“In the pride of the wicked does he hotly pursue the poor: – that is, in the (bold and) public way with which in his pride he pursues him. Let them be caught in the devices that (זוּ) they have planned: – Let them be caught is a prayer: May it please Thee that the wicked be caught in the devices that they have planned to catch the poor. זוּ is to be explained as the equivalent of אשׁר, and so (Is. 42:24): לו חטאנו זוּ, “He against whom we have sinned.””

“For the wicked doth congratulate himself: – because he congratulates himself upon his soul's desire: – When he does it and none denies him, Thou shalt shew him that there is One supreme over him, and he shall be caught in what he proposes to do. And blesses the robber, him who despises the Lord: – The wicked blesses and praises the robber and him who holds on his way and despises God, and says that He is powerless to deliver the oppressed out of his hand, or that there is none who pays regard to him, as it says (5:13), He says in his heart, Thou wilt not require it.”

“The wicked according to the loftiness of his looks (lit. nose): – The loftiness of the heart displays itself in the face, and the face is indicated by the nose (אף), for it is high upon the face, as (1 Sam 20:41), “and fell on his nose (לאפיו),” where the meaning is on his face;“ and bowed to him nose (אפים) to the earth” (Gen. 42:6), where the meaning is faces. doth not (seek) God: – Because of his haughtiness and pride he does not seek God, neither does he pray to Him. All his thoughts are, There is no God: – All the thoughts of the wicked and his calculations are: that there is no God judging in the earth, and everything which man pleases to do let him do, for there is none to seek (require), and none to search it out, therefore he does not seek God.”

“His ways are grievous – (יחילו may be explained) from the significance of חיל in “pain (חיל) as of a woman in travail” (Ps. 48:7). He says: that the evil ways of the wicked cause pangs to the poor. always: – for all the while he is in the world they are afraid of him. O Exalted One, Thy judgments are out of his sight: מרום (Exalted) is a vocative addressed to God – Blessed be He! He says: For Thou, O Lord, Exalted One, Thy judgments are out of his sight and do not touch him, therefore he is boastful. All his adversaries: – i.e. the poor. he puffeth at them: – They are as a puff of breath before him. Or it (יפיח) may be interpreted from the meaning (of פח) a trap and a snare: as if to say that he sets a trap among them to take them. And so “they bring a city into a snare (יפיחו)” (Prov. 29:8).”

“His mouth is full of swearing, deceit, and fraud: – Such is the way of the wicked; when he wishes to deceive others he swears to them with a full mouth, so that he may seem to swear in all sincerity, and this is deceit and fraud. Fraud also is the same as deceit, because there is not really in his heart what he pretends with his mouth. Under his tongue is mischief and iniquity: – When he takes an oath with his tongue, under his tongue is mischief and iniquity. The heart is under the tongue, hidden from what is revealed by the tongue. So also (in the verse) “high praise was under my tongue” (Ps. 66:17); he (the Psalmist) is speaking of the heart. And מלא (full) is not an adjective, but a verb, as: “and the glory of the Lord filled (מלא) the tabernacle” (Exod. 40:34). He says: he fills his mouth with swearing so that a man may trust him, and then he plays him false.”

“He sitteth in the places of ambush of the villages: – The villages are the open towns which are upon the highways: as “her towns (lit. her daughters) and her villages” (Jos. 15:45); “the villages that Kedar doth inhabit” (Is. 42:11). Similarly we find (Zech. 2:8) “Jerusalem shall dwell as open regions.” In the secret places doth he murder the innocent: – for usually the wicked does not do his wicked work openly, but he sits in ambushes and secret places that he may beware of the sons of men so that they may not see him. But he cannot beware of the All-seeing God! His eyes lie in wait for the hapless: – לחלכה is equivalent to חלך with the addition of he; and its interpretation: “for the poor.” He says: that the eyes of the wicked are on the look out for the poor, to take him. And יצפנו (lie in wait for) is an intransitive verb, as if he meant “he sets his eyes in a hidden place (צפון), and from thence looks out over the roads.””

“He lieth in ambush in the secret place as a lion in his den: He lieth in ambush to catch the poor: He catcheth the poor, when he draweth him in his net. – He likens him to a lion as he crouches in his den and lieth in wait to catch the passer-by or one near at hand, so that they will not (be able to) guard themselves against him and flee from him when they see him; and when he sees the prey he catcheth (it). And (the word) “catching” here means “seizing quickly,” for the wicked sits in ambush in the secret place. Afterwards he compares him with a fowler who spreads his net and stands at a distance from it so that the bird may not be aware of him, and the cords of the net are in his hand, and when the bird falls into the net he closes the net with the cords in his hand and the bird is taken. So is the way of the wicked. Sometimes he will not be in ambush, but will stand at a distance from the roads, so that men may not beware of him; and then when he sees the poor and the helpless he rushes upon them. Or he stations some members of his band on the roads without any weapons, while he himself is with the armed men some distance off. Then as defenceless people pass these give them a signal and they come; and they (the decoys) are to them as the net to the fowler. He tells of yet another way the wicked adopts, and this is what he says:”

“He is crushed, he humbleth himself: – ודכה, the Kethib is written with waw, and the Keri (ידכה) with yodh, and the waw and the yodh interchange. He says: that in yet another sense it is the way of the wicked to get the poor into his power. He makes himself (as one) crushed and humble. He and his band pretend that they are weak and crushed, so that the children of men may not be on their guard against them, but go forth with them in the company on the way; and then when they are far from any human habitation they reveal their strength and power and seize them; and this (is the meaning of) And the hapless fall by their strong (ones): – (The Kethib) is written as one word, חלכאים, but the Keri reads as two words, כאים חל; and its interpretation is: “the congregation of the stricken and the weary.” And עצומיו (their strong ones) is an adjective for “their strong limbs” – their hands and feet. And all these are the ways which he narrates in the matter of the wicked, to shew that in all these ways he may be wary of the sons of men, but cannot be wary of God, and (that) he shews himself to be no fearer of God; for he says in his heart that He (God) does not see and does not know, as he says:”

“He says in his heart, God hath forgotten: He hideth His face; He will never see. – If He knows, He has forgotten. Or its interpretation is: that He does not know at all, like the man who has forgotten a matter and does not know it, or like the man who knows a matter, but hides his face and is unwilling ever to see it; therefore he says:”

“Thou hast seen: – The yodh of the third radical is missing from the form as written. The wicked man says that Thou dost not see; but Thou hast seen all. For Thou – assuredly beholdest mischief and spite: – The mischief and spite which the wicked exhibits towards the poor, Thou beholdest it. To put (the matter) in Thine hand: – when it shall please Thee to. exact the judgment of the poor from the wicked. For To Thee the hapless leaveth: – the hapless, i.e. he that is poor, (leaveth) his cause; for often has he seen that Thou hast been the helper of the fatherless: – for Thou hast been the helper of the fatherless and the weak, therefore he waits for Thee and leaves his cause to Thee. And in חלכה the he is added, as we have (already) explained (supra, 5:8).”

“Break Thou the arm of the wicked: – Break his arm and his strength. And as for the evil man, do Thou seek out his wickedness and Thou shalt find none: – When he says Thou wilt not require, as he said above (13), shew him that Thou dost require; and if Thou doest so, Thou shalt not find wickedness in the earth, for if Thou shouldest break his arm, then those who remain will hear and fear. And רשע and רע (wickedness and evil) are synonyms (lit., is a double word).”

“The Lord is King for ever and ever: – When Thou shalt execute judgment upon the wicked who oppress Israel in exile, then Thou shalt be King for ever and ever and none shall rebel against Thy word, as it says (Zech. 14:9), “And the Lord shall be King over all the earth ”; and then The heathen are perished out of his land: – and the kingdom shall return to Israel.”

“Lord, Thou hast heard the desire of the meek: – Thou hast heard is equivalent (here) to “Thou wilt hear,” and its interpretation (is) Thou hast heard their prayer according to their desire. Or its interpretation is: Thou didst hear their desire before they gave it expression, as it says (Is. 65:24): “And it shall come to pass that, before they call, I will answer”; and so on. Thou wilt establish their heart: – Thou wilt remove from their heart worldly anxiety, for their heart is distracted by reason of their poverty and their wanderings, and Thou wilt help them to establish their heart upon Thee in devotion. And then Thou wilt make Thine ear attend – to their prayer. And the interpretation of אזנך תקשׁיב is: Thou shalt make Thine ears to be attentive.”

“To judge the fatherless and the downtrodden: – And what was their prayer? (For Thee) to judge the fatherless and downtrodden. And its interpretation is: to exact their judgment from their oppressors. For No longer shall terrify – them or affright them any more man (that is) of the earth: – and they shall only be in fear of Thee. לערץ (terrify) is (here) a transitive verb, and is similarly transitive (in the passages): “when He ariseth to terrify (לערץ) the earth” (Is. 2:19); “Wilt thou harass (תערוץ) a driven leaf?” (Job 13:25).”

“A Psalm of David. Lord, who shall sojourn in Thy Tabernacle? And who shall dwell in Thy Holy Hill? – Thy Tabernacle: that is, the heavens, and he designates them a tent because they are spread out as a tent. And Thy Holy Hill is Mount Moriah, where the Holy House was, for it was the most glorious place in the earth. And in like manner he designates them (the heavens) a palace, as he says (Ps. 11:4): “The Lord is in His Holy Palace; the Lord, His throne is in heaven” as we have interpreted. So also, “He heard my voice out of His Palace” (ibid, 18:7). (The questions) Who shall sojourn? and Who shall dwell? have reference to the higher spiritual part (of man). He says that he who has done in his lifetime these works (about to be mentioned), his spirit shall dwell in the place of Glory after his death. And what are the works?”

“He that walketh perfectly: – If תמים (perfect) is an adjective, his meaning is, One who walks in a perfect way, as, “He that walketh in a perfect way, he shall minister unto me” (ibid. 101:6); while if it is a noun, (it is used) as (in the passage) “if in truth and perfectness (בתמים)” (Judges 9:16). He means: He who walks in perfectness (integrity), as, “But as for me I will walk in mine integrity (בתמי)” (Ps. 26:11). But in either case the meaning is the same. The perfect is he who occupies himself in the affairs of this world in the way of perfectness (integrity), who does not engage his deepest purpose in (the prosecution of) worldly schemes. and worketh righteousness: – because he does all his works in righteousness. Now the laws of man, positive and negative, fall under three aspects: one concerned with deed, one with speech, and one with thought. Notice he has just mentioned (that concerned with) deed. and speaketh truth in his heart: – Now this one combines both speech and thought. He says that he speaketh truth, a lie will never be found in his words. And the truth he speaks with his mouth is in his heart, for he does not say one thing with his mouth and another in his heart; and as the words of his mouth are truth, so are the thoughts of his heart. And it is implied in this expression of his and speaketh truth in his heart that he carries into effect what he has purposed in his heart – i.e. to do good. And this, too, in the ordinary affairs of life, as though to say that there is no need to say that what he has actually said with his mouth he makes good; but even that what is in his mind only he brings to effect, and he makes truth his purpose. There is likewise also implied in it the greatness of God's existence and His unity, which is truth; and confessing (speaking) this with his mouth and thinking it in his heart (is calculated) to give him discernment in a wonderful way as wisdom teaches him.”

“He that slandereth not with his tongue: – In this verse he specifies certain prohibitions both as regards speech and deed; but it was not necessary for him to mention (such) of the heart, for he has already said and speaketh truth in his heart, and if his thoughts are truth and righteousness, then there is no evil in his thoughts. He says he slandereth not with his tongue, but does not enunciate the rest of the prohibitions concerning speech, such as: “Thou shalt not bear (false witness) against thy neighbour” (Exod. 20:16); “Thou shalt not revile the judges” (ibid. 22:27); and the like, for he says that which is true, and as a matter of course the others (follow); for from tale-bearing, although its subject-matter may be true, great harm proceeds. And so he says, and speaketh truth in his heart, for the truth that is harmful he does not utter, and that is tale-bearing. Nor doeth evil to his friend: – His friend and his intimate is he with whom he has intercouse in the affairs of the world, or is his neighbour; and when he says, Nor doeth evil to his friend, he does not say that he does it to others, but the text speaks in accordance with usual custom. For instance, “And ye shall not wrong your neighbour” (Lev. 25:17) does not mean that one is free to wrong another, a stranger, who is not one's neighbour. And so again, “Thou shall not bear false witness against thy friend” (Exod. 20:16) does not say that one is free to bear false witness against another who is not one's friend; but (he says “friend”) because his general and business relations are with him. And such is frequently the idiom of the language. So when he says Nor doeth evil to his friend he includes all that is prohibited as between a man and his fellow. And he says of the law of the tongue: Nor taketh up a reproach against his intimate: – because he does not reproach nor revile a man even though the latter may have reviled or wronged him. He uses “taketh up” (נשׂא) of the lifting up of the tongue, as “Thou shall not take up (השא) the Name of the Lord thy God for falsehood” (Exod. 20:7); “Thou shall not take up a false report” (ibid, 23:1). When he says his intimate the same applies also to another, but he speaks in accordance with usual custom, as we have explained (above). And קרבו (his intimate) is equivalent to רעהו (his friend), because he is intimately associated with him in his ordinary dealings, or is his actual neighbour, nearer to him than the rest; for a man's intercourse and business are for the most part with such.”

“Despised is he in his own eyes, rejected: – He recounts further some of his good qualities. For although he walketh perfectly and worketh righteousness and speaketh truth, he does not pride himself upon this, but is despised in his own eyes and rejected, thinking in his heart that he cannot perform one-thousandth part of what it is his duty to do for the honour of his Creator. But he honoureth them that fear the Lord: – He is despised in his own eyes, but he honoureth them that fear the Lord; for all the good things he has done he counts as nothing compared with what he considers he ought to do, while the good (works) another does he holds to be great things. He feels too that there are others among those who fear the Lord in a superior degree to himself, and that they fear the Name more than he, and so he imputes to them superiority over himself, and honours them. And he makes a further enumeration of his good qualities: He sweareth to his own hurt: – The interpretation of להרע (to his hurt) is to the hurt of his body in fasting, and in abstinence from pleasures; and so to be in want of clothing even for the sake of righteousness and the mitzvoth. and changeth not – what he has sworn, although it be to the injury of his person. He will not change, but carry it out as he has promised. And as regards the expression he uses, sweareth, (it is) because when he has spoken a hard thing against himself, he sweareth so that the evil impulse shall not distract him from the performance of it. And so David says (Ps. 119:106): “I have sworn and have confirmed it, that I will observe Thy righteous judgments.””

“He hath not given his money upon usury: – Already he has said, Nor doeth evil to his friend, and in this it is understood that he does not oppress or rob him, or steal from him. Now he says that even with his consent he does not take his money, together with something against which there is a prohibition – that is, usury. Although he gives it of his free will, he is obliged to give it, because he (the borrower) must borrow from him; and if he restores his money and the interest besides, and he takes his neighbour's money, it is wrong, even if it be done with his consent. Now as regards this matter, just because men are accustomed to it and do not denounce it as spoliation as they do robbery or stealing, therefore the Law is severe upon it and often warns against it. The Prophets also class it among the flagrant offences. And he who is accustomed to have recourse to it loses his money in a short time. But David and Ezekiel only forbid what the Law forbids, and the Law only forbids it in the case of Israel, but allows it in the case of the foreigner, as it is said (Deut. 23:21): “Unto a foreigner thou mayest lend upon usury.” But it is not so said of robbery and stealing and loss and fraud, for even in the case of the stranger to oppress or rob him or steal his money is forbidden; but usury which is received from him with his knowledge and consent is permitted. An Israelite is bound to shew kindness to his fellow-Israelite, and the loan without interest is kindness and goodness; at times a greater kindness even than a gift, for men often will hesitate to accept a gift, but not a loan. Such, however, is not the case between the Israelite and the Gentile, for the former is under no obligation to shew him kindness or to lend him money gratuitously, for generally these hate Israel. But assuredly if the Gentile shews kindness and goodness to an Israelite, he, for his part, is bound to return his kindness and to do him good. Now I have enlarged on this matter so that you can answer the Christians who say that David did not distinguish between Jew and Gentile, and that all interest is forbidden. This, however, will not hold, for David does not forbid what Moses our teacher permitted at the command of God. Notice that the Torah says (Deut. 13:1): “Thou shalt not add thereto nor diminish there-from.” Nor taketh reward against the innocent: – This also is money (taken) with the consent of him that gives it. If it is (intended) to pervert the course of justice, already he has said, Nor doeth evil to his friend, and this is included in it. But even if he has not perverted justice, but is innocent in judgment, save only that the (would-be) giver does not think that he will so act – yet he never takes money from the litigant, as Samuel the Prophet says – for he was judging Israel (i Sam. 12:3): “Whose ox have I taken?” etc. He that doeth these things: – He who does these good things which we have mentioned shall never be moved: – Even in his death he shall not be moved, for his soul shall dwell in the place of Glory.”

“A Mikhtam of David: – We have already written in the Psalm “Hear me when I call” (iv.) of the meaning of the word Mikhtam. Preserve me: – The שׁ (of שָֽׁמְרֵנִי) is lengthened with ga'ya. O Almighty: – Thou, Lord, art mighty and potent, therefore I call unto Thee to preserve me. for I put my trust in Thee: – and in no other beside Thee.”

“Thou (fem.) hast said to the Lord, Thou art my Sovereign Lord: – He addresses his soul and says: Thou hast said and confessed to the Lord that He is thy God and Sovereign Lord; and such (address) is proper for thee; and thou shalt say unto Him likewise: The good I do is not unto Thee: – They (Rashi and Rabbi Moses ha-Cohen ibn Giktilla) have interpreted (the clause): “The good which Thou doest to me it is not incumbent upon Thee to do, for I am not worthy of it, but it is entirely due to Thy loving-kindness.” And my revered father, of blessed memory, has interpreted: “The good I do is not done to Thee,” meaning that it does not reach Thee (personally), for one cannot dispose for, or help, or give to Thee; but it is”

“To the holy ones who are in the earth: – The form of expression is like (that of לאישׁ in): “To a man (לאישׁ) as thou art thy wickedness (may reach)” (Job 35:8). And because I love Thee I love those who are holy, and I do good to them. And excellent ones all my delight is in them: – To those who are most excellent of heart among all the children of men, and better than they – my delight is in them to do them good, because they keep and do Thy commandments. And for this reason he calls them holy and excellent. And, according to the former interpretation, they interpret for the holy ones (לקדושׁים) thus: “I am not worthy of Thy goodness, but for the holy ones Thy goodness is worthy.” In my opinion the words to the holy ones depend upon Thou hast said to the Lord, meaning, after thou hast said to the Lord that He is thy Sovereign Lord, thou shouldest say also to the holy ones which are in the earth that thou wilt humble thyself before them, and yield them superiority over thyself, and learn from their works; and all is with a view to perfection, that thou shouldest learn the love of God. And in this way our sages of blessed memory have said (Babli, Pesahim 22b): “‘Thou shall fear the Lord thy God’ (Deut. 6:13) – i.e. to multiply the disciples of the wise.” And he says, which are in the earth, meaning, Walk in the steps of the holy ones whom thou shalt find in thy way, and learn from their works. In my opinion וְאַדִּירֵי (excellent ones) is not construct, for similar examples are to be found, as שׁקופים חַלּוֹנֵי (windows narrow), (1 Kings 6:4); נעמנים נטעי (pleasant plants) (Is. 17:10); and such like. And the meaning of holy ones and excellent in whom is all my delight is that one should love them and walk in their ways – viz. of the holy ones which are in the earth; the way of the holy ones, the servants of God, I love, but the way of the others, who serve another god, I hate; and I say:”

“Their sorrows shall be multiplied which after another hasten: – viz. away from them (the holy and excellent) – the men, that is, who hasten to another god. This form, מהרו, is the only instance of its use in the Kal in the sense of “hastening”; but there is the possibility that it is used in the sense of dowry (מהר) and gift (Gen. 34:12); and as “a dowry shall he pay him for her” (ימהרנה מהר, Exod. 22:15). Or the sense in which מהרו אחר is to be taken is: I shall cleave to the holy and excellent ones and the sorrows of the men shall multiply – the sorrows, that is, of those who hasten to other men to walk in other ways which are not the ways of the Lord; and this is the correct interpretation. Their drink-offerings of blood will I not pour out: – Far be it from me that I should pour out their drink-offerings which are of blood. (It is to be taken) on the analogy of “and ye have brought (that which was taken by) violence” (Mal. 1:13); as though meaning their drink-offerings are not wine, but blood; for burnt-offerings and drink-offerings with wicked works neither profit nor deliver, but harm, as it says: “the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination” (Prov. 21:27). Nor take their names upon my lips: – And even the names of these men I will not bring up upon my lips.”

“The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and my cup: – I have no other portion beside Him as these men have, whose inheritance and portion is silver and gold and the pleasures of the world; but, as for me, the Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and my cup. The portion, the inheritance, the cup, and the lot are identical; it is simply a repetition of the idea with a change of terms to give emphasis, as is the custom of the language; the meaning being, in all my words and in all my affairs He is my inheritance and to Him is my devotion (directed). And the interpretation of Thou maintainest my lot (is): – Thou didst help me when I chose this inheritance for myself, as they say (Babli, Yoma 38b): “He who comes to be cleansed is helped (by Heaven).” And the word, תומיך (maintainest) is written with hireq equivalent to sire; and so “Behold, I add (יוסף) to thy days” (Isaiah 38:5); “Behold, I add (יוסף) to do a marvellous work” with hireq equivalent to sere (ibid. 29:14).”

“The lines have fallen for me in pleasant (places): – The inheritances which have fallen to me have fallen for me in pleasant places, and in the possession of good and right knowledge. Yea, I have a goodly heritage: – The tav (of נחלת, heritage) is in the place of he, and is not a sign of the construct; and similarly we find “My strength and song (זמרת) is Jah” (Exod. 15:2; Is. 12:2; Ps. 118:14); “Give us help (עזרת) against the adversary” (ibid. 60:13); “How is the city of praise (תהלת) not forsaken?” (Jer. 49:25), and such like. And the reason (for the use of) Yea is: because the way of the men of the world when they divide anything among themselves is for everyone to covet the portion of his fellow, and for it to seem in his eyes as though his fellow's portion is better than his own. But it is not so with me, Yea for mine is a goodly heritage and portion, and I am not envious of another's, for mine is the good portion.”

“1 will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel: – (in the same sense) as we have interpreted Thou maintainest my lot. Yea, by night: – This was the beginning (of help) for me from the Lord, that He gave me counsel and helped me when I chose this good part for my own; and likewise within me every day do my reins admonish me: – that I should not abandon this way, but hold to it with all my might. And he says by night, because at night a man is isolated from the preoccupations of the world and his mind is free. And he says my reins, for they are the counsellors, as they say (Babli, Berakhoth 61a) “The reins counsel an understanding heart.””

“I have set the Lord always before me: – In all my ways will I remember Him. As something which is before a man always so that it departs not from his eyes and mind, so have I placed the glory of God always before me; for I know that He is at my right hand and is my help; therefore I shall not be moved wherever I come and go. And the great teacher Moses ben Maimon, of blessed memory, has expounded the passage thus (Guide of the Perplexed, 3, 51): Because He is at my right hand: – “He is, as it were, my right hand, which a man cannot forget for the twinkling of an eye on account of the quickness of its movement, and because of this I shall not be moved: – meaning, ‘I shall not fall.’””

“Therefore my heart is glad: – Because I have put Thee before me always my heart is glad. and my glory exulteth: – that is, the soul, which is the glory of the body; for I am confident that when it is separated from the body it will cleave to its Creator. My flesh also: – while I am still alive shall dwell in security: – for Thou shalt deliver me from all harm. And in the Haggadic interpretation (Shoher Tob and Babli, Baba Bathra 17a) (the explanation is given): “after death, when worm and corruption shall have no power over it, (shall my flesh dwell in security).””

“For Thou wilt not leave my soul to Sheol: Neither wilt Thou suffer Thine holy one to see the pit: – For I know that while I hold fast to life, that is the right way that I am in – and this is what he means in saying Thy holy one – I know that Thou wilt not leave my soul to go down to Sheol with the body, but wilt raise it to Thy glory. And in the Haggadic interpretation (Shoher Tob) (the explanation is given): “Everyone who hears himself reviled and holds his peace, in judgment is called ‘holy one.’” Thou wilt not suffer: a repetition of the thought with a change of words.”

“Thou wilt shew me the path of life: In Thy presence is fulness of joy: At Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore: – (To be understood) as a prayer that God may teach him the way by which he may attain to the life of the world to come; meaning, that He will make him understand and discern the way in which the soul shall live when it is separated from the body and attain to fulness of joy in Thy presence and to pleasures at Thy right hand; for those joys and pleasures will be for evermore, for all eternity, and to them there shall be no end; and this is the soul's delight. The reason (for using the expressions) in Thy presence and at Thy right hand is: that the “presence” and “the right hand” are the Glory, as, “the upright shall dwell in Thy presence” (Ps. 140:14); and so it is written of the right hand (ibid. ex. 1): “Sit thou at My right hand.””

“A Prayer of David. Hear right, Lord, attend unto my ringing cry: Give ear to my prayer, that goeth out of no feigned lips. – Hear my prayer, which is (uttered) in righteousness; Hear it for my mouth and heart are at one; and this is the meaning of righteousness, and of no feigned lips. The whole verse is a repetition of the one idea in different terms. רנתי (my ringing cry) also is of the same meaning as צעקתי (my cry), for he who prays sometimes cries with a ringing voice and sometimes in a low tone. Every use of the expression רנה denotes a cry, such being employed sometimes of singing and rejoicing, sometimes of public announcement, sometimes of prayer and entreaty, and sometimes of weeping and groaning; and each (nuance) is distinct, according to its context.”

“Let my sentence come forth from Thy presence: – My revered father, of blessed memory, has interpreted: that this prayer has reference to the incident of Bathsheba; and that he (David) is interceding before the Holy – One Blessed be He! – and says: יצא משׁפטי מלפניך, i-e. May this sentence pass forth from Thee, so that Thou wilt not condemn me in it. Let Thine eyes regard the right: – Behold the right that I have done, and regard not this iniquity; and judge me in the multitude of my good deeds, and not for this iniquity. And he says:”

“Thou hast proved my heart; Thou hast visited me by night; Thou hast tried me, and findest nothing: – In that night Thou didst prove, and visit my heart, and try me and didst not find me clean. And he says: I purposed let not my mouth transgress! – What I thought to say was: “Examine me, O Lord, and prove me” (ibid. 26:2). Oh that my mouth had not transgressed, and that I had not been one to say this thing of which I boasted and at which I stumbled! And he says:”

“As for the works of men, by the word of Thy lips – in what Thou hast commanded and forbidden- I have observed the ways of the violent: – meaning, I have done according to the work of the wicked and the violent. The learned Rabbi Abraham ben Ezra expounds: “Let my sentence come forth from Thy presence so that Thou punish me if Thine eyes regard not the right!” But all this seems to me far-fetched, and to me it seems more probable that it should be taken as (ibid. 9:5) “For Thou hast maintained my right and my cause” of which the interpretation is: Thou shalt exact judgment for me from my enemies; and so, from Thy presence let my judgment come forth may mean that Thou wilt exact judgment for me from mine enemies. Thine eyes regard right: Thou seest that with me is right and with them wickedness and violence. And so the greater part of the Psalm has reference to (his) enemies, as he says (infra, 7), “From those that rise up against Thy right hand.” And he says (also) (ibid. 9): “From the wicked that spoil me.” You see that the Psalm speaks of his enemies, and it was on account of them he was seeking mercy; and he says that God will look upon the uprightness of his deeds and see that his enemies hate him without cause. He says also, Thou hast proved my heart, for Thou dost prove hearts, and knowest if my words are (those of) truth. Thou hast visited me in the night: and in the night – i.e. at a time when a man thinks of so many matters, when he is free from the business of the world and has no work to do – at night and at the time when he is awake and thinks – and Thou hast visited my heart and my thoughts, and hast tried me and found in me only good. And from my thoughts no word has proceeded save only according to the tenor of my heart, as he says: out of no feigned lips; and this is the meaning of I have resolved that my mouth shall not offend. And as I am strict with myself, so I warn others of what I see. This is the meaning of what he says: As for the works of man, by the word of Thy lips: in (the light of) what Thou hast commanded and warned, I am considering the works of man and keeping from them transgressions. And this is the meaning of: I have marked the paths of the violent: I have prevented a man from walking in the paths of the violent and wicked. And similarly, (שמר is used in the verse) “to keep (guard) the way of the tree of life” (Gen. 3:24), “so that one should not walk in it”; so also “the keeper of the park” (Neh. 2:8). After setting forth before God the uprightness of his mouth and heart and deeds, he supplicates God to support his steps lest they stumble before his enemies, and says:”

“Maintain: – המוך is an infinitive in the place of an imperative, as “Keep (שמור) the sabbath day” (Deut. 5:12); “Go (הלוך) and call” (Jer. 2:2). And he says: my treadings in Thy paths: – meaning, my treadings as they go in Thy paths, and in Thy way do Thou maintain. (so that) my footsteps have not slipped: – There is some disagreement as to the reading of the word נמטו (slipped). There are some MSS. which daghesh the teth, and if this be so it will be derived from a double ayin verb; there are MSS., however, (where the word appears) without the daghesh, and then it will be derived from a verb 'ayin waw.”

“Make signal: – make distinct, as, “and I will divide (make distinct) in that day” (Exod. 8:18); “and we be separated (made distinct), I and Thy people, from all the people” (ibid, 33:16). Thy loving-kindnesses, O Thou that savest them that put their trust (in Thee): – He says: Thou, who art a Saviour of them that trust, separate and cause Thy loving-kindnesses to pass From those that rise up at Thy right hand: – from those men who rise up against Thy right hand, for all know the sovereignty is mine from Thee, and those who are rebelling against me rebel against Thee.”

“Keep me as the pupil (אישׁון) of the ball of the eye: – as a man guards the pupil of his eye – that is, the black part through which the light (passes). It is called the אישׁון (lit. little man), because the image of a man is seen in it; and the waw and nun mark the diminutive, because the image is diminutive; so also the ון of שׁבתון (sabbath keeping), with the idea of emphasising its holiness. So also, with the addition of yodh, אמינון in 2 Sam. 13:20. אישון is in the construct before בת, and (with it) forms one expression; בת (lit. daughter) is a substantive, (denoting) the eyeball through which the light (passes), while pupil is a descriptive term because the image of a man is seen in it. And hide me in the shadow of Thy wings, –”

“From the wicked that spoil me: – Keep me from the enemies who spoil me. The word זוּ is in meaning the same as אשר; and so (we find): “He against whom (זוּ) we have sinned” (Isaiah 42:24). My soul's enemies that compass me about: – Keep me from my enemies who encompass and surround me against my soul, meaning, “to take my life.””

“At our steps: – אַשֻּׁרֵינוּ with a daghesh in the shin; and so: “if my step (אַשֻּׁרִי) has turned aside from Thy way” (Job 31:7). now have they surrounded us: – The Kethib (סבבוני = they have surrounded me) is written with yodh, but the Keri reads with waw (סבבונו = they have surrounded us); (the expression) is plural (us) as referring to himself and his friends who collected together with him as he fled before Saul, and singular as referring to himselt, for he is the principal. And he says: our steps, because when they have come to know our way in which we go now they have surrounded us, (i.e.) at once they pursue us and surround us. They set their eyes to cast us down in the earth: – They set their eyes upon our way to cast their net in the earth to take us.”

“Arise, O Lord: – when he comes to pursue and tear me. Confront him and cast him down: – so that he shall not have the strength to harm me. Deliver my soul from the wicked, Thy sword: – i.e. from the wicked which is Thy sword, as it is said (Isaiah 10:5): “Ho, Assyrian, the rod of Mine anger,” etc.; for the sword, and escape from it, is all from Thee; as it is written, “I have wounded, and I heal” (Deut. 32:39).”

“From men, Thy hand, O Lord: – And deliver my soul from men who are Thy hand: he means, “(who are) Thy stroke,” as “Behold, the hand of the Lord is upon” (Exod. 9:3). Just as he speaks of them as Thy sword, he speaks of them as Thy hand. From men of the world: – from men who are of this world, whose whole desire and delight is in this world, whose portion is in (this) life, And whose belly Thou flllest with Thy treasure: – Their portion is in the life of this world, for they look not to the world to come, but with Thy treasure and Thy bounty Thou fittest their belly in this world. (Their) children are satisfied: – And whose children are satisfied by their life with them. And they leave the rest of their substance for their babes: – i.e. after their death, and these are their children's children. In the Haggadic interpretation (Babli, Berakhoth 61b) the verse is interpreted in reference to Rabbi Akiba and his companions, martyred under the Roman government: the ministering angels said before the Holy One – Blessed be He! – “Lord of the world, From men, Thy hand, O Lord, from men of the world?” The Holy One Blessed be He! answered them: “Their portion (is) in life; their portion is in the life of the world to come!””

“As for me, I shall behold Thy face in righteousness: – says David. The wicked have no delight in the world to come, but it is not so with me, for I am looking forward to and hoping to see Thy face in the world to come; and when he says As for me, in righteousness, (he means) for I am looking forward to and hoping to see Thy face in the world to come in (reward for the) righteousness I do in this world in not eating and living in luxury as they do. I shall be satisfied: – He says, I shall be satisfied, balancing Their children are satisfied: they shall be satisfied in this world, while I shall be satisfied in the world to come. On awaking: – for my soul shall not die and sleep; the opposite of “they shall sleep a perpetual sleep” (Jer. 51:39, 57). (with.) Thy likeness: – as “and the likeness of the Lord shall he behold” (Num. 12:8), which is the same as saying, “the likeness of the Lord he has seen.” (What is meant) is mental apprehension of the glory of God according to the soul's capacity after its separation from the body. Moses our teacher (upon him be peace!) experienced this during the lifetime of the body, which was not the case as regards the rest of the Prophets; for his intelligence was active, while all the functions of the body were suspended – “he did neither eat bread nor drink water” (Exod. 34:28) and then the face of the Lord did he behold. This was not so with Elijah, when it is related of him that“ in the strength of that meat,” as we have interpreted in Kings (1. 19:8). And as regards the rest of the Prophets, this (experience) will be theirs after death. The learned Rabbi Abraham ben Ezra has expounded this verse of this world, and he expounds it thus: “I delight to behold Thy face, for the righteousness which I have observed has become the cause of the delight I feel in seeing Thy face. The sense (of the phrase) is the recognition and contemplation of the works of God that they in general are wrought in wisdom and endure for ever. I then am satisfied with the enjoyment of Thy likeness” being in this unlike the wicked men of the world, who are satisfied “when Thou fillest their belly; and this is not in dream, but only when I am awake. And this beholding is not in visions of the eye, but only in visions of the mind, which are visions of God in truth.””

“The heavens declare the glory of God: – There are interpreters (Targumist and others) who take this as like “Or speak to the earth,and it shall teach thee” (Job 12:8), and “Ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee” (ibid. 7); and so The heavens declare, for from the wonders and mighty works which man sees in the heavens he declares the glory of God. And this is what he (means when he) says: There is no speech nor words; Their voice cannot be heard, suggesting not that they declare in words, but from what man sees in them the sons of men declare the glory of God. We are able to explain declare with reference to the heavens and the firmament themselves, for by their course and circuit in an appointed order the glory of God – Blessed be He! – is seen; and that is the “declaring” and “telling,” on the analogy of “He sendeth out His commandment upon earth; His word runneth very swiftly.” (Ps. 147:15.) And when he says: There is no speech nor words (he means) no words like the words of men, but the work they do stands for the words, and constitutes the “declaring” and the “telling”; and so he says: And their speech to the end of the world. The great teacher of righteousness, the great sage our Rabbi Moses, has interpreted (Guide for the Perplexed, 2. 5) “declare” of the heavens, for his opinion and that of the Philosophers is that the spheres are living intelligences, serving God and praising Him with great praise, and singing His glory in great and mighty songs. And so he says: The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament telleth His handywork, notwithstanding that the “declaring” and the “telling” are not with mouth and tongue. This is what he (means when he) says: There is neither speech nor language; Their voice cannot be heard, but the “declaring” and the “telling” are to them like an image of the words and praises which a man forms in his mind without their actual issuing forth in speech. And the firmament telleth His handywork: – A repetition, for it is equivalent to The heavens declare the glory of God; for the heavens are called “firmament,” as it is said (Dan. 12:3) “as the brightness of the firmament” etc.; “and God set them in the firmament of the heavens” (Gen. 1:17); that is, according to the view of him who regards this as spoken with reference to the spheres. The learned Rabbi Abraham ben Ezra has expounded the firmament as meaning “the air.””

“Day to day uttereth speech, And night unto night sheweth knowledge. – יביע, uttereth, i.e. “speaks,” as “Behold, they utter (speak) (יביעון) ivith their mouth” (Ps. 59:8); “Let my lips utter (תנענה) praise” (ibid. 119:171). The interpretation of the verse is: To-day speaks for the sake of the day that comes after it, and to-night for the sake of the night which shall follow it; meaning, in the orderly sequence of the movements (of the heavenly bodies) by day and night as it has been since the six days of Creation, so it is now, and so it shall be for ever: nothing is changed or altered. If so, to-day tells for the sake of to-morrow, for it is certain that so it shall be.”

“Their line is gone out through all the earth: – Their line, i.e. (the line) of their construction; and so (in the verse) “line upon line” (Is. 28:10), because the structure is made by stretching out the line. He means that the work of the spheres and constellations has gone out into all the earth. And so And their speech to the end of the world: – See, their works are their words. In them hath He set a tabernacle for the sun: – For the sun He hath set a tabernacle and a place in the spheres. The enumeration refers to the sun because he is the great light and because there obtains to men from him a greater benefit than from the rest of the stars through his light and heat, to men and to the rest of living things and to the plants. And when he says in them, he means in one of them, as he was buried “in (one of) the cities of Gilead” (Judges 12:7); and this (location) is the fourth of the seven spheres in which are the seven planets. He says in them, because these stars are fixed in the body of the spheres. And so it says (Gen. 1:17): “And God set them in the firmament of the heaven” and it does not say upon the firmament. And so, too, in the words of our Rabbis of blessed memory (Midrash Tanhuma, 2 Gen. v.), “The stars are fixed in the firmament like the nails which are fixed in a door.””

“And he is like a bridegroom coming forth from his chamber: – In the morning as he comes out in his brightness and beauty he is like a bridegroom coming forth from his chamber, for all rejoice before him; so of the sun, all rejoice at his light. And my revered father – may his memory be blessed! – has interpreted that the Psalmist compares him to a bridegroom coming forth from his chamber because the latter is longing to return to his bride, and so the sun returns each day to the place of his brightness. The text also likens him to a strong man, and says: He rejoiceth as a strong man to run his course: – because he does not stumble in his running. And he says, He rejoiceth as a strong man, for the strong man rejoices and is glad on going out to war. And so it says in mentioning the strength of a horse: “he rejoiceth in his strength: He goeth out to meet the armed men” (Job 39:21); so the sun rejoices in his going forth. His rising and shining and brightness are the rejoicing and gladness.”

“His going forth is from the end of the heaven – i.e. from the east: And his circuit over the ends of it: – Over all the ends of the heaven is his course. And he says: And his circuit, the interpretation being “his round,” as “the cycle (round) of the year” (Exod. 34:22), because he goes round the (four) quarters and returns to the place of his rising, as Solomon says (Koh. 1:6): “He goeth toward the south and roundeth unto the north” because his course in a day is seen in the south quarter, and he proceeds to the west, and rounds the north quarter at night until he returns in the morning to the quarter from which he rose. And so, in the words of our Rabbis of blessed memory (Babli, 'Erubin 56a), “He proceeds towards the south by day and goes round to the north at night.” This, however, is in appearance only; for his course inclines toward the south side, but does not go to the angle of the south. But according to Astronomy, this is not said of the cycle of the day, but of the year, because he (the sun) inclines southwards in winter and to the north in summer, and this is apparent to the eyes and clear and certain. And so, in the words of our Rabbis of blessed memory, in the Chapters of Rabbi Eliezer (ch. 6): “He goes towards the south in the Tekuphah of Tisri and in the Tekuphah of Tebeth, and goes round to the north at the Tekuphah of Nisan and the Tekuphah of Tammuz.” And there is nothing hid from the heat thereof: – for it is the same sun in all the world, and that although he is not equally in every place. And he says: And there is nothing hid from the heat thereof, but does not say And there is nothing hid from the light thereof for man is able to hide from (the sun's) light, but not from his heat; even in his innermost chamber (the sun's) heat reaches him. And the learned Rabbi Abraham ben Ezra ex-pounds: And there is nothing hid from the heat thereof “for the sun gives heat in the world just as the heart produces warmth in the body, as Physiology proves; and he is (gives) life to all bodies.” If this is right, the interpretation will be: There is nothing hid from the benefit of his heat.”

“The Law of the Lord: – Why does he join the idea of the Law with that of the sun? His meaning is, that as the heavens and the sun and the spheres are witnessing to and declaring the glory of God and His wisdom, so the Law and the Commandments which He has commanded His people Israel witness to His wisdom and uprightness, as it says (Deut. 4:8), “(What great nation is there) that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this Law?” And further he says that as the heavens and the sun benefit the world, and through them the world continues to exist, so is the Law, which is perfect and restores the soul, and upon which (depends) the preservation of the soul as the preservation of the world (depends) upon the sun; for the soul in the body is as a stranger in a foreign land who has none to help or assist him, for the agents which minister to the body are for the most part such as follow after the appetites, and she (the soul) is as a solitary one and captive amongst them. So also says Solomon, who compares her to a poor wise man (Koh. 9:15). And notice the Law restoreth the soul in that it teaches man the right way and draws him away from worldly desires and from many stumbling-blocks. And notice it restoreth the soul from captivity and confinement to her (rightful) birth and the place of her glory. And David declares in respect of the Law and the commandments and the judgments, their truth and uprightness. Now the Law (תורה, lit. teaching) is the orderly setting forth of the commandment with reference to the manner of its performance; and this (may be understood) from the general sense of such passages as “I have not obeyed the voice of my teachers (מורי)” (Prov. 5:13); “and to teach (להורת) He hath put in his heart” (Exod. 35:34); for (the Torah) teaches the ordering of a thing, as “the law (Torah) of the beast and of the fowl” (Lev. 11:46); “the law of the leper” (ibid. 14:2); “the law of her that beareth” (ibid. 12:7); “the law of him that hath an issue” (ibid. 15:32); “the law of the Nazirite” (Num. 6:21). Nevertheless the book (itself) is called by the name of the Law (Torah) from Genesis to Deuteronomy, as is written (Deut. 31:9): “And Moses wrote this Law”; “Take this book of the Law” (ibid. 26); (this is) because it narrates the history of Creation and also narrates the affairs of the Fathers; it likewise sets forth every single one of the things which teach about God: that He is the founder of the world, of His goodness and of the beings created by Him, and His providence in the case both of the good and the evil. He mentions the commandments also – that is, what God commanded (man) to do in the ways of the service of God and love of Him, as of a master who gives commandment to his servant. And the testimony – that is, what was testimony between Israel and God, that they had accepted Him for (their) God, and He had accepted them for a peculiar people; cf “the ark of the testimony” (Exod. 25:22); “the tent of the testimony” (Num. 17:23). For the commandments about which Israel received commands – these are the testimony, and also the tables which had on them the Ten Words, which contain (are) the whole Law entirely; and these Words were a great testimony to Israel when they saw His glory on Mount Sinai in the thunderings and lightning; and that great sight was the testimony to them and their children for ever. So also the observance of the Sabbath and the festivals is to them a testimony and a sign and memorial; the (year of) release also, and the jubilee – all is a testimony to them and their children for ever; as it says, “for all the earth is Mine” (Exod. 19:5); “they are My servants” (Lev. 25:55). He says: the precepts of the Lord in respect of the commandments of the understanding which God has ordained and put in the heart; and about these the understanding teaches. He says fear because it is the beginning of the commandments and their root; for the servant, unless he fear the master, will not do his behests, and perfect fear is in secret. He says also judgments – that is, the rules (that are to be observed) between a man and his fellow. Now it is to be noticed he has mentioned for us all the different kinds of commandments except “statutes” (חקים). The reason is that he applies to them (such epithets as) perfect, restoring the soul, sure, making wise the simple, right, rejoicing the heart, pure, enlightening the eyes, clean, true, righteous altogether, to be desired, and sweet; all which it is only admissible to apply to the commandments whose reason is clear and apparent; whereas the “statutes,” such as those regarding the eating of swine's flesh and wearing mixed stuffs and the like, whose reason is not clear to all how could it be said of them that they are to be desired, are sweet and pure? And although they are such to him to whom their reasonableness is apparent, yet this is not apparent to the great majority of men. And he says: is perfect: – because it is altogether complete; not one thing is lacking in it of all the things a man needs in this world and in the world to come. And he says: restoring the soul: – in the sense we have interpreted. He says also: The testimony of the Lord is sure: – for there is no falsehood in it; for the Glory rested on Israel in the sight of all Israel, there was none to contradict or gainsay. And he says: making wise the simple: – For all the things of the Tabernacle (embodied) wonderful wisdom; for no (mere) thing(s) were the lamp-stand and the altars and the curtains. And so all the things (sc. of the Tabernacle) entirely teach of wisdom, so that the wise call it (the Tabernacle) the middle world, for it is a likeness of the upper world and of the little (lower) world. So also the observance of the Sabbath is a (source of) great wisdom, for on its account man will investigate the question of the world's renewal and all the work of creation, and that (results in) Natural Science. It (Scripture) says also of the Law (Deut. 4:6): “for-this is your wisdom and your understanding in the eyes of all the people” etc. Again, it says (ibid.): “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” Yet although he distributes these attributes and says of the Law that it is perfect and restores the soul, and of the testimony that it is sure, making wise the simple, and similarly of the rest, all share the attributes. He does not apply this attribute to one (only); the same applies also to the other, except that each attribute is attached closely to the substantive nearest it; and that it is necessary to study it in the light of the attribute in accordance with the way we have interpreted and shall interpret.”

“The treasures of the Lord: – We should have interpreted פקודי as “commandments” in accordance with its Targum, only that he speaks afterwards of the commandment of the Lord; so we interpret פקודי here on the analogy of “And the food shall be for a store (פקדון)” (Gen. 41:36), where the meaning is that of treasuring and depositing. They are the things about which reason teaches. He says of them also that they are right: – There is in them no perversion nor crookedness, for if they were not so reason would not be teaching concerning them. And for this cause they rejoice the heart: – for the wise man rejoices over his understanding; and when it gains control over the body and leads it in the ways of understanding there is no joy in the world like that joy, which is the joy of the soul. For this reason he says rejoicing the heart, and does not say rejoicing “man,” for man rejoices in the lusts of the world; but the understanding – that is, the heart – rejoices only in the ways of understanding. And so it says (Ps. cxix. iii): “For they are the rejoicing of my heart.” And he says: The commandment of the Lord is pure: – Every single commandment wherever it is is pure and bright without any alloy: and it enlightens the eyes: – because people who are without the commandments walk in darkness, for the commandments give light to the heart and are the steps by which to ascend to the great Glory.”

“The fear of the Lord is clean: – with reference to the things a man does in secret or without their being known, like theft, or falsifying measures and weights, and such like; and these are the things about which it is said, “But thou shall fear thy God, I am the Lord” (Lev. 19:11, 12, 14, 32; 25:17, 36, 43). And the fear which is clean is without dross; for a man will refrain from performing wicked deeds which are public from fear of men; but such metal is not pure, for there is alloy in it; but if from performing secret things a man refrains by reason of the fear of God only, that fear is clean, for in it there is no alloy. And he says: enduring for ever: – because these are commandments which are limited as regards place and time, while the things which stand in the fear of the Lord endure for ever. They have no time-limit. Or he says endure for ever with reference to the whole Law, inasmuch as God did not appoint it for a time only, but it is for ever and ever. It is not as the unbelieving Nazarenes say when they assert that the Law which was given on Mount Sinai was valid only for a time, until the advent of Jesus the Nazarene; that unto his time it was carnal, while after his advent he commanded it to be understood spiritually; but their words are windy, empty, and vain. For the. commandments, which they say are figurative and not to be understood according to their literal sense, God enjoined explicitly and not by way of figure. Such being the case, no one would understand the rest of the commandments in a figurative sense, but according to their literal meaning; for if the commandments were figurative they would be uncertain; one would say that the hidden meaning is such and such, and another would say it is so and so; but the Scripture says (Deut. 30:11) “For this commandment which I command thee this day is not too hard for thee, neither is it far off.” And if there had been in the commandments hidden meanings, and if they were not to be understood in their literal sense, then they would be “hard ”and “far off.” The judgments of the Lord are true, righteous altogether: – Already we have interpreted the “judgments” as being the regulations (which govern the relations) between a man and his fellow, and they are all words of truth open to the eyes, and they are all righteous altogether in none of them is there injustice. There are some, however, who explain the reason for his juxtaposition of the Law and the sun as designed to shew the benefit derived from it (the Law) as greater than that of the sun; for there are some things which the sun injures, but the Law is beneficial in all matters, and therefore he says the Law of the Lord is perfect; it is complete, for in all the ways of this world and the world to come men find benefit in it. And he says restoring the soul, for as for the sun, when a man rests in its heat too much, he may be seized with a fatal illness, as it says of Jonah (4:8), “And the sun beat upon the head of Jonah that he fainted.” The Law, however, is not so, for it restoreth the soul to the body, which is preserved by it. It happens also sometimes that the sun enters into a man's brain and he goes mad; but the Law is not so, but giveth understanding to the simple. Also when a man remains (exposed) to the sun much, he is fearful of heat; but not so is it with the treasures of the Lord, for they rejoice the heart. As for the sun, when a man looks at its body intently his eyes grow dim, but it is not so with the commandment of the Lord, for it is pure, giving light to the eyes. The clouds conceal the sun; the fear of the Lord, however, is clean and bright, and nothing conceals nor hides it. The sun gives light by-day, but not by night; the fear of the Lord abideth for ever. The light and heat of the sun are not equal all through the day, for till midday it increases and from midday, and onwards it decreases; but it is not so with the judgments of the Lord, for they are true, righteous altogether, and do not contradict one another.”

“More to be desired are they than gold: – He says that the words of the Law and the commandments are to be desired more than gold. Yea, than fine gold – that is, the good and purified gold; but this is (which is) superior (רב): – as “to every superior person (רב) of his house” (Esther 1:8) – because it is great in estimation and distinction. Or the interpretation of רב will be of number (much); and the sense of רב will then be applicable to both gold and fine gold, for men desire money, much gold and fine gold. There are interpreters (Ibn Ezra, and others beside him) who take פז as meaning precious stones, and these also man desires; but those who have understanding desire the Law and wisdom more. So also says Solomon (Prov. 3:15): “And none of the things thou canst desire are to be compared unto her.” For money is in this world and not in the world to come, while wisdom is both of this world and the world to come. And money is stolen, or man is robbed of it, or he loses it by sea or by land; but wisdom cannot be stolen nor taken in robbery, nor is it lost by those that possess it; money, on the other hand, if a man gives it away or trades with it, he has none left to give; but if a man teaches another wisdom it does not leave his hand, but he increases in wisdom. Behold, then, the words of the Law and wisdom are more to be desired hy the intelligent than gold, yea, than much fine gold. And (are) sweeter than honey and the honeycomb: – for honey is the food which is sweeter to man than any other; yet not-withstanding, if he continues to eat it, it does him harm and causes him to vomit; and food profits him (only) for the time being; but it is not so with wisdom, for, however much he increases therein, she will benefit him, and continue to benefit him for ever. And, as he says, they are to be desired. And by whom are they to be desired, and to whom are they sweet? To the wise and God-fearing. Therefore he says:”

“Moreover, by them is Thy servant warned: – meaning, I also am of them; although I am not among the wise, I am Thy servant and tremble at Thy commandments and am warned by them, and they are desired by and are sweet to me. Also I know that In keeping them there is great gain: – Apart from the sweetness and the pleasure the wise man finds in them, the wise soul would pine and be eager for wisdom, even though it had not this recompense, for it is the nature of the wise soul to long, for wisdom, just as it is natural for the soul to long for sweet food. Such being the case, the wise busy themselves in Torah-study and in wisdom by nature, although they do not look for recompense in it. And David says: In keeping them there is great gain – more even than the desire. For to me and to the wise who desire them there is still further in the observance of them great reward, because Thou dost deal bountifully with those who observe the commandments both in this world and in the world to come; but the real reward is for the world to come. Therefore the reward is called עקב רב for as the heel (עקב) is the end of the body, so the reward is the end of work, and man's work is not finished until the day of his death.”

“Who can discern his errors? Clear Thou me from hidden faults. – It is true that my heart and will are directed towards Thy commandments, but this I ask of Thee, that Thou clear me from hidden faults, for his errors who can discern? for there is no one who knows and discerns all, for somewhere or other he errs and the matter is hidden from his eyes; and for this I make request, that Thou punish me not for my hidden faults, but that Thou clear me from them.”

“Keep back Thy servant also from sins of passion; Let them not have dominion over me: – I seek of Thee further a great request, greater than this I have asked, viz. that Thou hold me back from sins of passion, that they get not the rule over me and that my (evil) nature do not over-power me. For I am on the watch with all my strength, and do Thou assist me lest the evil impulse rule over me. For the Holy One – Blessed be He! – assists him whose heart is fixed, as He says to Abimelech (Gen. 20:6): “and I also withheld thee from sinning against Me.” (The word) זֵדִים is a noun, not an adjective; then זֵד (passion) will be a noun of the form of רֵאשׁ (poverty) in “poverty and riches” (Prov. 30:8) and of אֵל in “It is in the power (אֵל) of my hand” (Gen. 31:29). then shall I be perfect: – איתם (here) is written with yodh after aleph, but quiescent – as it compensates for the daghesh without yodh. Cf. (ימַּד in) “it cannot be measured (ימַּד)” (Hos. 2:1); (ימס in) “and every heart of man shall melt (ימס)” (Is. 13:7). There is in it also a hidden meaning, for the numerical value of yodh is ten, and in the Ten Words was the Law given, and they are its perfection and completeness. He says: then when Thou shalt clear me from my errors and help me so that sins of passion have not control over me, then I shall be perfect and whole. Then I shall be clear from great transgression: – פשׁע (transgression) is worse than זדון (passion); seeing that the sins of passion arise from his appetite in unchastity, he is a transgressor in so far as he acts wilfully; but רב פשע (great transgression) implies one who rebels against his Lord, whose command he despises, and he commits the transgression although he has no actual desire thereto. Also he who is habituated in sins of passion will fall into rebellion; therefore, says David: If Thou wilt clear me from my errors and help me against sins of passion so that they have not dominion over me – if so, I shall never be a wilful sinner; and if I am no longer a wilful sinner, surely I shall not be a transgressor (פושׁע); and this is what (he means when) he says: Then I shall be clear from great transgression. And the meaning of רב here is “great,” for the greatest of evil deeds and transgressions is rebellion. And after he has made this the subject of his prayer, he asks God to receive his prayer.”

“May the words of my mouth be acceptable: – i.e. what I say before Thee with my mouth, and the meditation of my heart in Thy sight: – And what I do not say with my mouth, but think in my heart and thought is the meditation of the heart – even so, let them be acceptable. For man thinks in his heart many things which he cannot frame to speak thus with his lips, therefore David says (Ps. 51:17): “O Lord, open Thou my lips”; and Solomon says (Prov. 16:1): “but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.” O Lord, my Rock: – i.e. my Strength, in whom I put my trust in my requests, and my Redeemer: – from errors and sins of passion.”

“For the Chief Musician. Set to “The Hind of the Morning.” A Psalm of David. – There are those who say (Rashi, and others beside him) that השׁהר אילת (hind of the morning) is a kind of musical instrument. There are also interpreters (Targumist, Menahem, and others besides) who explain אילת from (אילותי in) My succour (אילותי), haste Thee to help me (infra, 20), meaning that this Psalm was uttered in the strength of the morning's dawn. And some interpret אילת as the name of the morning star. So we have in the words of our Rabbis of blessed memory (Jerushalami, Berakhoth 1:1; Yoma 3:2): “They call the morning star Ayyeleth.” They say also (ibid.; Canticles Rabbah 6; Esther Rabbah 10 end; and Shoher Tob, ad loc.) that this Psalm was uttered with reference to Esther and to Israel, who were in exile at that time. Some also interpret it of David while he was still a fugitive before Saul. The correct view is that the title The Hind of the Morning is used of the congregation of Israel while in this (present) exile, and the end of the Psalm proves this. It calls her a hind, just as the comparison is applied to her in the Song of Songs (2:7; 3:5): “among the roes or among the hinds of the field” The meaning also of השחר (the morning) is beauty and brightness, as it says concerning her (ibid. 6:10): “Who is she that looketh forth as the morning?” And now she is in darkness in this exile, as if forgotten and abandoned; and she cries out from exile:”

“My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? – (The address) in the singular refers to the people of Israel as a whole, for they were as one man in exile and of one mind. My God, my God: the repetition is after the manner of those who call out and cry, as: “Hear me, O Lord, hear me” (1 Kings 18:37); “Abraham, Abraham” (Gen. 22:11); “Moses, Moses” (Exod. 3:4). Israel says also אלי (my God or my Strength), meaning: Thou wast my Strength and my Rock before, and now, why hast Thou forsaken me? (Why art Thou) far from helping me: – and why art Thou so far from helping me when Thou hearest (When Thou hearest) the words of my roaring? –”

“And Thou continuest holy: – How, then, is it that Thou dost not answer now, seeing that Thou continuest holy and abidest for ever? Thou hast been so often (Thou) the praises of Israel: – for they praised Thee when Thou didst deliver them out of their troubles. For praise and thanks-giving shall be (given) for deliverance. How is it that Thou dost not save him now? for Thou abided for ever, and as Thy power was then, so is Thy power now. (Thou) continuest, abidest that is, eternally; and so, “Thou, Lord, continuest for ever” (Lam. 5:19).”

“Our fathers trusted in Thee: They trusted: – for many times did our fathers trust in Thee, and Thou didst deliver them – from their trouble, and their confidence did not prove false. The repetition of trusted is (intended) to emphasise the (thought of) confidence, for they had confidence in none other but in Thee; and so”

“All that see me laugh me to scorn: – This is true of Israel, for all who see them laugh them to scorn; They shoot out with the lip: – and shoot out upon them with the lip words of mockery and insult; They shake the head: – and they shake the head at them. They shoot out (יפטירי): i-e. they send out words with the lip. (This meaning may be illustrated) from “the shooting out (פוטר) of water” (Prov. 17:14). “Sending out” applies also to water, as “He sendeth forth springs” (Ps. 104:10); and it applies also to words, as “Thou sendest out thy mouth to evil” (ibid. 1. 19). cf. also the Targum of שלחו והאנשׁים (and the men were sent away) (Gen. 44:3), which is אתפטרו וגובריא.”

“One that is committed to the Lord: – גל (one that is committed) is an adjective of similar form to (חם) in “bread that is hot (חם)” (1 Sam. 21:7); (and to תֹּם in) “the way of the Lord is a strong-hold to the upright (תֹּם)” (Prov. 10:29). (One is meant) who turns his ways and his requests and prayers unto the Lord; Him He will deliver, He will rescue him: seeing He delighteth in him: – seeing that the Lord delighteth in him and hears his prayer, cf “If the Lord delight in us” (Num. 14:8). Or its interpretation may be: “seeing he, man, delighteth in God”; as “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him” (Ps. 91:14). It is equivalent to saying: “Many a time have we seen and heard this, that when one turns his ways and prayer unto God, He delivers him. If this be so, why dost Thou not save us, for, as for ourselves, our eyes (look) unto Thee?””

“Thou art He that drew me forth out of the womb; Thou didst make me trust upon my mother's breasts: – גֹּחִי (that drew me forth) = מוֹצִיאִי (that caused me to issue forth), as “And thou didst burst forth (וַתָּנַח) with thy rivers” (Ezek. 32:2). He says: How is it that Thou dost not save us while we confess Thee and know and acknowledge that strength is from Thee, and that Thou art He that helps and brings to the birth and causes the babe, whose sustenance is received only at the hands of others, to trust upon its mother's breasts? And Thou art He who makes him trust also, so that gradually he will grow and his strength and (power of) use increase in him until he can seek his sustenance of himself, and the man is mature in marvellous wisdom – from his mother's breasts until he grows up. And all is by the direction of a Director and the guidance of a Guide, and not as is asserted by those who say that everything is by nature and chance, without the direction of a Director and the guidance of a Guide. We also are the people who confess Thee.”

“Upon Thee I was cast from the womb: – for Thou art He who fed my mother with her sustenance, so that she could feed and bring me up. I was cast: the one who actually “casts” is the father and the mother, for he (the child) has not himself the understanding to cast his burden upon God. And so From my mother's womb my God art Thou: – for they confess Thee on my behalf.”

“Bulls have surrounded me: – This is the trouble that is near at hand, that bulls have compassed me – a figure for lusty and powerful and wicked enemies. The interpretation of (רבים is) mighty (ones): – that is, great in strength. So also strong ones of Bashan: – Bashan is a district in the land of Israel, a district of fat and rich pasture, and the cattle that feed there are fat and strong. He compares the wicked enemies with them. And so it says (Amos 4:1) in a figure “kine of Bashan” with reference to the women who oppress the poor, who crush the needy. have beset me around (כתרוני): – equivalent to have surrounded me; just as the crown (כתר) surrounds (encircles) the head. And so we have (Judges 20:43): “they beset (כתרו) Benjamin around.””

“They open their mouth against me: – These bulls just mentioned open their mouth against me and tear me. Although it is not the way of bulls to tear, yet these bulls are like A tearing and roaring lion: – i.e. a lion which is tearing and roaring, אריה (lion) (here) lacks the kaph of comparison. Similarly we have, “Judah is a lion's whelp” (Gen. 49:9); “Issachar is a strong ass” (ibid. 14); “Naphtali is a hind let loose” (ibid. 21), and such like. The roaring of the lion after he has torn is for joy and pride, as (says) the text (Amos. 3:4): “Will a lion roar in the forest when he hath no prey? Will a young lion cry out of his den if he have taken nothing?” So it is with enemies; after killing and plundering us, they rejoice and behave as insolent boasters.”

“I am poured out like water: – For fear of them I am, figuratively, poured out like water – as if I had been melted, and all my bones are parted asunder: – Bones are more substantial than water, and therefore he says of them they are parted asunder, for they are parted asunder from the ligaments by which they are bound one to the other. So also, “Our bones are scattered at the mouth ofSheol” (Ps. 141:7). My heart has become like melting wax: – דונג is the wax which is easily melted by heat. in the midst of my bowels: – All the inner parts are called bowels.”

“My strength is dried up like a potsherd: – My revered father of blessed memory, quoting the words of our Rabbis of blessed memory (Babli, Baba Kamma 3b), wrote to כחי (= my strength), כיחי i.e. “his phlegm (כיחי) and his effort to remove it.” And some have explained it (one of the Geonim, according to the testimony of Ibn Ezra) as a metathesis equivalent to on (= my palate), as though he said, I am not able to speak, just as when he says “and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws.” The learned Rabbi Abraham ben Ezra expounds כחי (my strength) literally: “because man's life consists in the moisture implanted at birth which binds the whole together and sustains the body. He calls (this) moisture by the name strength (כח). And see (he says) it is dried up, as happens to an old man advanced in years.” And my tongue cleaveth to my jaws (מדבק מלקוחי): – The servile lamedhis wanting (here). The regular usage would be מדבק מלקוחי for מֻדְבָּק (cleaveth) has kames, and is not in construction with jaws. The jaws are the palates above and below the tongue. The expression is used (here) in the same way as “and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth” (Job 29:10). The jaws (מלקוחים = “takers”) also are so called because they “take” the food during mastication. In the Haggadic interpretation (Shoher Too): “and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws” because my tongue cleaveth to my gullet (throat). Another interpretation: Because I have ceased from the two Laws, the written Law and the oral, 10 as it is said (Prov. 4:2): “For I give you good doctrine (לקח), forsake ye not my Law,” i.e. by reason of the persecution of the exile. And in the dust of death: – meaning, I am as near death as if Thou didst destine me, and I were destined, to be put in the grave, which is the dust of death. Thou settest me: – תשׁפתני is to be understood from (the verse) “set on (שפת) the cauldron” (2 Kings 4:38; Ezek. 24:3). In the Haggadic interpretation (Shoher Tod, with slight verbal alteration): “I am like a stove which is set between two roads on which the travellers do their cooking (שׁופתים)””

“For there have surrounded me: – They are the enemies, and I am in the midst of them like one who is surrounded by dogs: – from whom there is no way of escape. And (the clause) For dogs have surrounded me is to be explained after a figurative manner; and the metaphorical interpretation is The assembly of evil-doers have encircled me like a lion my hands and my feet: – for they have encircled me like the lion which makes a circuit with his tail in the forest, and no creature which sees that circle moves out thence for fear of the lion and the terror he inspires, but they fold their hands and their feet, and the lion finds his prey in the midst of his circle. So we in exile are in the midst of a circle from which we cannot emerge lest we fall into the hand of the spoilers; for if we should escape from the power of the Mohammedans we should fall into the power of the uncircumcised, and so we fold our hands and feet and stand fearful and terror-stricken before them; for we have no power either to escape on foot or to fight with our hands. Behold, it is just as if our hands and feet were in fetters!”

“(If) I declare all my strong reasons (of complaint) They look and gaze upon me: – Then if I come to declare my troubles before their great ones, arising from the way their underlings oppress me, they, the great ones, look at me and they gaze upon me with the eye of scorn and hatred. They look (upon me) is here used like “Look not upon me because I am swarthy” (Song of Songs 1:6); “that they may look at thee” (Ezek. 28:17), where the expression (ראוה) has the sense of looking at with contempt and mockery. עצמתי (my strong reasons) is used here as in “Produce your cause, saith the Lord, bring forth your strong reasons (עצמותיכם)” (Is. 41:21). There are, however, those who interpret עצמותי (here) quite literally as from עצם (bone), and explain אספר from the sense of מספר (number); and then its interpretation will be: Because of my great weakness I can count all my bones and they look and gaze upon me, meaning upon my flesh and woeful appearance, and they mock me.”

“Deliver my soul from the sword; – from the sword of exile, lest I be exterminated in exile: My only one from the power of the dog: – Dog, lion, and wild oxen are figurative for the kings of the nations of the world among whom we are in exile. And he describes each one in accordance with its importance (greatness). My only one is the spirit which is solitary dwelling in houses of clay, and there is nothing else like it; for the lustful soul (נפט) is the body.”

“Deliver me from the lion's mouth; Yea, from the horns of the wild oxen Thou hast answered me. – The wild ox will gore with his horns, as it says (Deut. 33:17): “With them shall he gore peoples.” Thou hast answered me is equivalent to “Thou wilt answer me,” and of this there are many similar examples in the words of prophecy. Or its interpretation may be: Because Thou hast delivered me many times from great troubles, the deliverance from which was like being saved from the horns of the wild oxen; and as Thou didst bring me out from the other exiles, so save me now from the lion's mouth.”

“I will declare Thy name to my brethren: In the midst of the congregation will I praise Thee. – When Thou shalt deliver me from the lion's mouth and from the horns of the wild oxen, when Thou dost bring me out of exile, then I will declare Thy name to my brethren, I will praise Thee in the midst of the congregation. My brethren are the children of Edom, amongst whom we are in exile. So also the children of Ishmael and the children of Keturah, for all are the children of our father Abraham. Or its interpretation may be: We who are in exile will declare the miracles and wonders God has wrought for us in our exile to the Ten Tribes who are in exile, in refreshment and union, and upon whom the hand of the nations has not pressed heavily as upon us.”

“Ye that fear the Lord, praise Him; All ye of the seed of Jacob, glorify Him: – So shall they say in the time of their deliverance. The interpretation of ye that fear the Lord is “ye of Israel,” and this division is like “Ye that fear the Lord, bless ye the Lord” (Ps. 135:20); “house of Levi” (ibid.); “house of Aaron” (ibid. 19); “house of Israel” (ibid.). The reason is that each separate one is mentioned according to its gradation and significance, and according to its relative nearness to God. Notice also that in this verse he mentions love and fear, for “glory” is equivalent to love, and those that fear the Lord from fear will attain to love. And stand in awe of Him, all ye seed of Israel: – i.e. those who have not yet attained to love. In the Haggadic interpretation (Shoher Tod, with a slight verbal alteration) (it is said): “Rabbi Joshua ben Levi says: Ye that fear the Lord – these are the fearers of Heaven; Rabbi Samuel bar Nahmani says: These are proselytes of righteousness in the age to come. Our Rabbis say: The fearers of the Lord are the priests, all the seed of Jacob are the Levites, and all the seed of Israel is to be understood literally.””

“For He hath not despised: – And so will they say when they give thanks as they come forth from the exile: “When we were in exile He did not despise nor abhor our affliction wherewith we were afflicted.” nor abhorred (שׁקץ): – (This word) has the meaning of תועבה (abomination), as (Lev. 11:43): “Ye shall not make yourselves abominable (תשׁקצו).” the affliction: – (עֱנוּת here) is a noun having the sense of עני (afflicted). Some, however (Targumist, Rashi, and others besides), interpret ענות as the “prayer.” of the afflicted: – viz. that which he answers with his mouth, as (Prov. 16:1): “the answer (מענה) of the tongue.” Neither hath He hid His face from him; But when he cried unto Him, He heard: – (שָׁמֵעַ here) is perfect of the verb of the form (חָפֵץ in) “because he had delight (חָפֵץ) in Jacob's daughter” (Gen. 34:19).”

“Of Thee is my praise: – The speaker is every individual Israelite, or else all Israel as one, inasmuch as they are the subject of the Psalm: my praise, i.e. with which I praise Thee: in the great congregation – of the nations; it (my praise) is of Thee, for Thou hast been to me the occasion of praise because Thou didst deliver me. My vows – which I vowed – will I pay before them that fear Him: – for all the nations will fear Him then, as he says (infra): All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn unto the Lord.”

“The meek shall eat and be satisfied: They shall praise the Lord that seek after Him: – i.e. Israel, because they are meek, for the Gentiles have been proud until the time of the redemption of Israel; so also Israel is identical with those that seek after Him, for they are seeking after Him in the exile; and when they are redeemed they shall eat and be satisfied with the spoil of their enemies, and delight themselves – the reverse of what they experienced in exile – and they shall say to them: Let your heart live: – the interpretation of which is on the lines of, “and the spirit of Jacob lived” (ibid. 45:27), the converse of “and his heart died” (1 Sam. 25:37); for the living spirit is in the heart, and when man is in trouble his heart dies, as he (the Psalmist) says (Ps. 109:22), and when he passes out from trouble to relief, behold, his heart lives. And the significance of for ever (is): – they shall be no longer in exile, but shall be in their own land, rejoicing and glad of heart, they and their children, for ever.”

“All the fat ones of earth shall eat and worship: All that go down to the dust shall bow before Him, even he who cannot keep his soul alive. – My revered father of blessed memory explained the verse as having two applications: that the Gentiles – those, that is, who are prosperous and flourishing and who turn to the Lord – shall remain so then, for God will accept them on their repentance, and they shall eat, and worship God, and praise Him for all the goodness; but there are some of the Gentiles whom He will not receive, even if they should bow before Him – those, namely, who have harried Israel; for they are those that go down to the dust, meaning they shall be in Gehenna; neither will God preserve alive the soul of one of them, as the Prophet says (Joel 4:21): “I will cleanse – (but of) their blood I do not cleanse.” For for all the evil things they have done to Israel they shall be able to give indemnity, as it says (Is. 60:17): “For brass I will bring gold”; but the blood of man they shall not be able to indemnify, therefore their life shall be (taken) in the place of their life: and this interpretation is correct. The learned Rabbi Abraham, however, has expounded the whole verse in another sense. He says: “the fat ones of the earth are those who enjoy themselves in this world, in eating every kind of delicacy; and if they have their delight in this world, in their latter days they shall worship and bow down before the angel who gathers their spirit, and not one of them shall be able to save his soul alive. And this is an intimation that their soul shall perish in the world to come, in contradistinction to the meek, of whom he says that their soul shall live for ever.” And what he says about (bowing down) “before the angel who gathers their spirit” is Midrashic (interpretation): and so they say in the Haggadic interpretation (Babli, Niddah 30 b; Shoher Tob, with a slight change): “For to Me every knee shall bow” (Is. 45:23) that is, at the day of death, as it is said, “before Him shall they bow, all that go down to the dust.””

“A seed shall serve Him: – Still there is a seed that shall serve Him – that is, the seed of Israel, who serve Him continually. It shall he counted as the Lord's for the generation(s): – It shall be called and counted by the name of the Lord, and men shall speak of them as “the people of the Lord”; for even though the rest of the nations should turn unto the Lord, only Israel shall be called “the people of the Lord,” and he alone shall be counted as the Lord's to all generations.”

“They shall come and shall declare: – Those who come up from the exile, who shall come from all the ends of the earth, shall declare His righteousness unto a people – which hath been born of them: – to their children they shall declare His righteousness, how He hath done: – what He has done for them; for, because these will not have seen the work of the Lord that He did in the case of themselves and their fathers, they shall declare it to them. The uncircumcised have interpreted this Psalm of Jesus (in the sense that) it tells of all the evils which Israel did to him. Lo! the Son cries to the Father out of his troubles and says: My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? and so all the Psalm. They corrupt the word כארי (as a lion) in the clause ורגלי ידי כארי (as a lion my hands and my feet), and read כארו (they pierce), giving it the meaning (of כרה in) “if a man shall dig (יכרה) a pit” (Exod. 21:33), because they drove nails through his hands and feet when they hanged him. Also the verse and his soul he hath not kept alive has led them astray, for they say that this one is God, before whom all who go down to the dust shall bow, and he did not wish to keep his soul alive, because he came down to assume (human) flesh conditionally that they might kill the flesh, and that by this those who go down to Gehenna might be saved. So, forsooth, he did not desire to keep his soul alive, but surrendered himself into the power of those who slew him. Now let them hear what is involved in their words! They say that he did not wish to keep his soul alive nor rescue it from the power of those who slew him. If so, why did he cry: My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? (Why art Thou so) far from helping me? if he had no desire to be saved? Has he not forgotten the condition (of his taking flesh)? He says also: but Thou answerest not, and perhaps does not wish to be answered? And further, if he were really God, he would be able to save himself; and further, when he says the praises of Israel, when it is they who are doing him evil? How could he say that they are praising God? Once again he says: Our fathers trusted in Thee; and if he was what they allege, he had only one father. Again, this God says of himself that he is a worm and no man, forsooth! Lo! he says: One that is committed to the Lord, him He will deliver, He will rescue him. If (he spoke) of the (human) flesh. He did not deliver nor rescue him; and if of the Godhead, there was no need of rescue. He says also: But Thou art He that took me out of the womb i.e. he himself it was who brought out of the womb. And he says: I will declare Thy name to my brethren, although God has no brethren. And notice it is false, for the declaring and praising and thanksgiving are to follow the rescuing, and you know he was not rescued. He also says: All ye of the seed of Jacob, glorify Him.... For He hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, while Israel it was who did him evil; and his affliction the Father despised and abhorred, and hid His face from him, and on his crying unto Him did not hearken. Behold, all his words are belied. Then he says, All the kindreds of the nations, while, as you see, the Jews and the Mohammedans do not believe in him.”

“A Psalm of David: – David composed this Psalm that they might recite it as they brought the ark to the Most Holy House. And this was after he had offered a burnt-offering on Mount Moriah, and the place had been revealed to him, and he knew that there would be (built) the House of the Lord, as it is written in the Books of Chronicles (I. 22:1). And he says: The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof; The world and they that dwell therein: – And although the earth is the Lord's, this mountain is called the mountain of the Lord and His Holy Place (specifically), because it is His Holy Place in truth, for it is a habitation (in the earth) corresponding to the Throne of Glory (in heaven). And the expression הארץ (the. earth) includes the whole of the earth, as (Gen. 1:1) “the heavens and the earth”; and the expression תבל (world) is equivalent to the inhabited parts; therefore, in connexion with earth, he uses the phrase its fulness, and with world (he uses) and those that dwell therein.”

“For He hath founded it upon (the) seas, And established it upon (the) floods: – The earth He has established upon seas and floods for the sake of the creatures upon it; but this mountain He has not founded for all creatures, not even for all the sons of men, but for the clean of hand and pure of heart; and it is the seed of Jacob who seek the Lord, and were bidden to be clean of hand and pure of heart. And so they were often, as in the days of Joshua and in the days of the elders who outlived him, even as it says (Josh. 24:31), “and Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua”; and so, in the days of the judges all the days of the judges; and in the days of Samuel it says (1 Sam. 7:2), “All the house of Israel was drawn together after the Lord”; and in the days of David and Solomon; and so in the days of the rest of the kings who were good. And there has not been one such as this among other people to serve the Name unitedly. Therefore he says that none shall ascend this holy hill of the Lord except the seekers after the Lord, and they are the house of Jacob. And in the Haggadic interpretation (Shoher Tob, with some verbal change): “the earth is the Lord's and its fulness – this is the land of Israel: for He hath founded it upon (the) seas and established it upon the floods (rivers), because it rests upon seven seas and four rivers, and these are the seven seas: the Great Sea, the Sea of Sibhkay, the Sea of Tiberias, the Salt Sea, the Sea of Chulta, the Sea of Chulitha, the Sea of Sheryithi, and the Sea of Hispamia; and these are the four rivers: the Jordan, the Yarmukh, the Keramyon, and the Pigah.” And the interpretation of upon (the) seas and upon (the) floods is “next to” seas and rivers, as (in the text) (Num. 2:20), “and next to him (i.e. Ephraim), the tribe of Manasseh.” And (it is said) that there is no habitable spot in the world (more than) eighteen days' (journey) distant from the sea, and this is for the provision of moisture for the creatures; and likewise the rivers are for the use (provision) of the creatures; and this is according to what is said (Is. 45:18), “He formed it to be inhabited” because He established it so that created beings might live in it. And the reason (for so doing) was because it had not been created so from the beginning, but rather (at first) to be entirely under water; for the waters encompassed it on every side as the air encompassed the waters on every side, and the fire encompasses the air on every side. And behold the earth was under the waters, in accordance with the nature He imposes on them; and He did not make it so at first, in order to demonstrate that all is in His hand and that He varies (their) natures at His pleasure. And God commanded that its first division should be uncovered, so that the creatures might live in it; and (so) He says (Gen. 1:9) “Let the waters under the heaven be gathered unto one place and let the dry land appear.””

“The clean of hand and pure of heart, who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, And hath not sworn deceitfully: – Notice that he indicates in this verse three dispositions in man, action, thought, and speech; and in the three of them the man will be perfect who shall be clean in his actions, pure in his heart, and trustworthy in his speech. (The marginal reading) is נפשׁי (written) with yodh (= my soul), and is the utterance of God, as (in the verses) (Exod. 20:7; Deut. 5:11), “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain”; and נפשׁו (His soul, essence, being) is (equivalent to) His Name. And so it says (in the verse) (Amos. 6:8), “The Lord God hath sworn by Himself (בנפשׁו).” And the word as written, נפשׁו, i.e. with waw, means his soul, viz. the swearer's; a man shall not lift up unto vanity nor swear deceitfully, but in truth and righteousness. And such swearing is a mitzvah to the fearers of the Name, as is said (in the text) (Deut. 6:13), “And shalt swear by His Name”; and another verse says (ibid. 10:20), “The Lord thy God shalt thou fear, Him shalt thou serve, and to Him shalt thou cleave, and by His Name shalt thou swear.” When these attributes (i.e. service, fear, adhesion) are thine, then by His Name shalt thou swear. And so it says (Jer. 4:2), “And thou shalt swear ‘As the Lord liveth,’ in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness.””

“Such an one shall receive a blessing from the Lord, And righteousness from the God of his salvation: – Shall receive (ישׂא), i.e. shall take (יקח), as (Ruth 1:4), “And they took (וישׂאו) them wives.” A blessing on the analogy of (2 Kings 5:15), “Take now a blessing (present) from thy servant.” Or (the) interpretation may be, One shall take to him (a blessing), as (Gen. 43:34), “Messes from before him were taken to them” They who go up into the House of the Lord shall receive a blessing from the Lord, because He will give them His blessing and righteousness, and save them from all trouble, and this is from the God of his salvation.”

“This is the generation of them that seek Him: – Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord and in His Holy Place, because he is clean of hand and pure of heart? This is the generation of the seekers of the Lord, and they are Israel. And this happened in the days of Solomon, who built the House. And the Kethib דרשו (him that seeks Him) corresponds to דּוֹר (generation), which is a collective term, singular; and the Keri דֹּרְשָׁיו (them that seek Him) corresponds to the individuals, who are many. That seek Thy face, (even) Jacob: – The singer speaks as to God. These are they who seek Thy face in the Holy House, Jacob, and they are Israel; for all the seed of Jacob are called by the name Jacob, as (Jer. 30:10) “And thou fear not, O my servant Jacob” with other instances besides; And there is no need to supply seed of as the interpreters have done. And the word Selah I have interpreted in the third Psalm, and there is no need to interpret it in every place where it occurs.”

“Lift up your heads, O ye gates! – In the Haggadic interpretation (Shoher Tob; Babli, Shabbath 30a; Moed Katon 9a; Sanhedrin 107 b, and in other places): “it is clear that the gates were fastened together when Solomon sought to bring in the ark into the house of the Holy of Holies.” According to the literal interpretation he seems to speak metaphorically, as (in Ps. xcvi. 2:12), “Let the sea roar and the fulness thereof; let the field exult and all that is in it.” And so he says, Lift tip your heads, O ye gates! And be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; that the King of Glory may come in: – For great glory shall ye receive on the day when the King of Glory comes into you. And because the Glory rested on the ark, between the two cherubim, he calls it by the name of the Lord, the King of Glory. And so (2 Sam. 6:2), “Whereupon is called the Name, even the name of the Lord of Hosts that sitteth upon the cherubim.” And so it (the ark) is called (in Josh. 3:11) “The Lord of all the earth”; and so it is said of it (Num. 10:35) “Rise up, O Lord” (and ibid. 36) “Return, O Lord” And so he says of it (in Ps. 47:6) “God is gone up with a shout” And he says everlasting doors because hitherto the ark travelled from place to place. It came from the desert to Gilgal, and from Gilgal to Shiloh, and from Shiloh to the land of the Philistines, and from the land of the Philistines to Bethshemesh, and from Bethshemesh to Kirjath Je'arim, and from Kirjath Je'arim to the house of Obed Edom, and from the house of Obed to the City of David. And now they brought it into a place where it might remain for ever, and therefore he says everlasting doors. And so he says (in the verse) (i Kings 8:13), “A place for thee to dwell in for ever” And Sha'ar (gate) is the name for the threshold with the doorpost as it is; and pethach (door, lit. opening) is the name for that which is left from the gate, from the doors and outwards. And so it is called pethach, because it is open continually.”

“Lift up your head, O ye gates: – The repetition is according to the idiom of the language; he repeats the thought with a change of terms. And the learned Rabbi Abraham ben Ezra wrote that this second verse hints to the return of the Glory at the coming of the Redeemer. And he expounds Yea, lift up, ye everlasting doors – (supplying) your heads, for your heads, which he has mentioned, is to be understood again (lit. stands in the place of two), according to the idiom of the language, that the King of Glory may come in. –”

“Who is the King of Glory? – And in this verse he does notmention mighty in battle, and the reason is, according to our interpretation, because after the ark had once rested in the House of Eternity, it should not go out again to battle; therefore the reply is according to the change of meaning. The Lord of Hosts, He is the King of Glory. Selah: – because He appeared in His glory in the House of Eternity. And so Solomon says (in the verse) (1 Kings 8:12; 2 Chron. 6:1): “The Lord hath said that He would dwell in the thick darkness.” And he says Lord of Hosts, because all the hosts of Israel were coming into this House and offered sacrifice only in it. And according to the interpretation of the learned Rabbi Abraham ben Ezra, (the Psalmist) mentions mighty in battle in the first instance because, while the Glory dwelt among Israel, they should dwell in peace and have no war and not fear an enemy, because the Glory would fight for His holy ones. And he does not mention mighty in battle in the second instance because of (the passage) (Isaiah 2:4; Mic. 4:3) “and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares,” and the land shall rest from all war. And the reason for Lord of Hosts is because the men of the generation shall be as the angels of the Name (i.e. God), for the Lord is called so because of the host of heaven.”

“To my understanding, these two verses speak about Israel. "He who quieted the raging waters before Israel," who split the sea and brought them through its midst, "He will quiet the multitude of nations" and their raging, and will bring up Israel from their midst. Just as those who live at the ends of the earth saw the signs You made for them at the Parting of the Sea of Reeds -- as it says (Exodus.15.14) "Nations heard, they were frightened" -- so too, at the ingathering of exiles, they will be afraid of You and awed by Your signs once again. And just as You caused their hearts to shout for joy by "bringing out morning and evening" (Exodus.13.22) 'a pillar of cloud each day and a pillar of fire at night,' You will do the same for them at the ingathering of exiles.”

“Psalm. This psalm is spoken about the perplexity of the children of the world regarding the peace of the wicked and the suffering of the righteous in this world. This poet Asaf speaks about his own tongue or the tongue of every fool: He says, "Surely God is good to Israel." Even though they are in exile, God is good to them and will continue to preserve their good deeds. It is also good for those with a sincere heart among the other nations, even though they experience evil in this world, they will have goodness in the world to come. And the meaning of "surely" is that I truly know what will happen, for He will still bestow goodness upon them.”

“"And I, I am leaning." It is written as "netuy" and pronounced as "netivo," which is an action done by a fool in this context. The word "shafcha" (she poured) is written with a "heh" at the end, which indicates the feminine gender, referring to each foot. However, the pronunciation is "shafchu," with a "vav" added, referring to the two feet that are shackled. The meaning of the verse is that my steps almost slipped from faith when I saw the well-being of the wicked. I poured out. I almost relinquished my faith in the land, meaning as if I stood without any support, that I did not stumble. The matter that kept me standing was so slight that it seemed as if it didn't exist. Therefore, he said "as if it were nothing."”

“For there are no pains in their death. They enjoy goodness throughout their lives, until the day of their death. Even at the time of their death, they pass away calmly without distress. The meaning of "pains" refers to ties or connections, and someone who dies in pain and difficulty is as if they have ties that bind them to the realm of the living, and those ties do not release easily but with great difficulty. However, they pass away in tranquility as if there are no ties binding them to their death. And yet they are healthy. They are robust and vigorous. BodyIt is said that God's hands are not empty. It means that during their lifetime, they have natural strength that is healthy and strong, and in their death, they die peacefully.”

“"They protrude." Due to excessive fat, their eyes appear as if they are bulging out, as if they have no eyes. Because of the thickness of their facial fat, their eyes are covered. They have passed the limits of their heart. It is interpreted as a withdrawal from truth, and the heart is called deceitful because it contemplates things. In other words, whatever they contemplate in terms of the good things of the world, thinking that they will have more and more of them, will ultimately pass them by, contrary to what they had imagined.”

“"Let them melt away." This verse is a prayer or wish for the wicked to be dissolved or destroyed. The commentary states that the term "מנחי העי"ן" (literally "the guidance of the eye") is not found in Scripture, but rather in the words of our sages. Additionally, the term "מק בשרו" (literally "his flesh") refers to the act of multiplying or duplicating, which can be found in his work and others. "And they speak wickedly, oppression." They do not hesitate to speak of the injustice they commit, nor do they conceal it. Rather, they openly speak of their wickedness. "From on high." It means that there is no higher authority that will punish them for this.”

“They set The emphasis, in place of the implication that they spoke about me and my late father with contempt, is explained as the doubling of the root "שתת" (to set or place), meaning their mouths were set in motion as if speaking in the heavens, indicating that they speak about God without knowledge of Him. And their tongue walks in the land. In other words, their actions and words, which are carried out on Earth, are observed by Heaven.”

“Return The letter "י" in the word "ישוב" indicates that God settles and resides in it. The letter "ו" in "ישוב" signifies that God declares with it that He sees the tranquility of the wicked being repeatedly disrupted time after time. Here This word is used as a warning, meaning "do not approach" or "do not come close." It implies that if one can find an argument against it to justify the judgment, they should present it. And they will be satisfied with water. Without the specified detail, it means that a person will find a trembling-filled cup for them, indicating that they will find a drink that both satisfies and enlivens them. This refers to them finding refreshing and invigorating water to quench their thirst.”

“And they will say. This is the deception we have been mistaken about all day, not knowing what it is: 'And they will say, 'How does God know? Can the Most High have knowledge?' The ways of human beings are in God's hands, and doesn't God have faithfulness? If God knows the ways of human beings, how can He bring calamity upon His people who walk in His ways? How can He favor those who deny Him and the wicked of the world? And if there is knowledge in the Most High, how will it be?”

“If I have said it. This is the statement of Asaph or any righteous person in every generation. If I have said it, I will recount this accusation as they say, "Generation of your children, behold, I have been unfaithful to you." The word "behold" is used in both early and later contexts. If I have said it, I will recount it like the generation of your children, "Behold, I have been unfaithful to you," and many others have done so in similar circumstances.”

“And I considered it. Behold, I refrained from recounting it orally, as they say, "How can God know?" And behold, it is toil in my eyes, meaning in the eyes of my heart, for I have turned and turned in this accusation, and I cannot find anything in my heart to understand what this is. And it is written "hu" (he), with a Yod (י) on the accusation and the response to it, and it is called "hu" (he) with a Vav (ו) on the matter, and the matter and the subject are one.”

“Until. I have pondered in my heart to understand this with great toil, and I have not found until I delved into the thoughts of my heart, to the sanctuary of God. And that is the world of angels and spirits, for there lies the ultimate reward, for the goodness of this worldly existence does not endure. But in the end, it is the world of souls where the righteous are examined, as our Father Avinu (Abraham) said about their ultimate state.”

“Surely. What you have assigned to them is only a temporary extension in this world, to bring them down to the world to come, just as one walks on a smooth path that appears to him as a good way, but with a slight stumble, his feet will falter and he will fall down. Likewise, in this world, their goodness does not endure over time, and even in their death, their goodness does not remain for their children after them. This is what is said in the following verse that follows it.”

“As a dream when one awakes. Behold, they are like the dream you heard in the summer, where nothing from what you see in the dream can be found. Similarly, the wicked ones, now you will see their prosperity, but now they are no more. You shall despise their image in the city. My late father, may he rest in peace, explained that in the city, just like in the city of the dead, their image, the image of the wicked, you shall despise, as the scripture says: "Some for eternal life, and some for shame and everlasting contempt." Their image can be interpreted, if desired, in relation to the body or the spirit, just as in our image, resembling us, or in both of them.”

“When. Before I understood, my heart was filled with sourness in this matter, like the sourness of wine vinegar. In other words, I couldn't find anything sweet and pleasant in my heart to relieve me from the great distress. and I was pricked in my reins. It is missing the letter "Bet" in the usage. He said, "And in my kidneys as well, which were advising and deliberating on this matter." Sharpened / pricked. I was with them in a continuous cycle, engaging in dialogue and exchanging words between me and my children.”

“with Thy counsel. And as you have helped me in this, and guided me with your counsel, so may you always guide me with your counsel and teach me all the days of my life. and afterwards receive me to honourable state. To part ways with life and let honor remain. To recieve me. The translation of the phrase is as follows: "In other words, gather my honor to You; and the word 'other' is not attached to honor, and the melody separates between them. Therefore, it should be interpreted separately." Afterwards. After my death. To recieve me. Take my honor that illuminates the soul.”

“Fail. When my remaining portion, which is announced, will come to an end, and my heart will cease, it is the living soul that is in the heart of every living creature. the strength of my heartHe (G-d) will not cease, and it is the existence of the heart, for the actions of the intellect will operate within it, and it is the form of my heart and my parts, which will be the Eternal G-d, for behold, my parts will be eternal because I have cleaved to you, but those who are far from you will perish”

“But as for me The wicked are far away, and therefore they will perish. But I, who am near to God, have a good reward waiting for me. I will eagerly await your proximity, which brings good reward in this world and in you, my two refuges. Teach me to comprehend all your deeds, meaning all your actions, so that I may know and be able to recount and understand through the wisdom of nature, which is the knowledge of all your lower and higher physical actions. From there, I will ascend to know your deeds, and then I will attain sublime knowledge.”

“Good [It is good to praise the Name]: The Sabbath Day is better for praising the Name than the other days of the week. For one is free of the business of the world and one's spirit rests from physical troubles. The spirit occupies itself in Wisdom and the service of God. And it is good to say [praise] to your name, O Exalted one. For the exalted soul finds an opportunity to praise You, who are Exalted.”

“FORTY [years] that they angered me from the matter with the Spies until I said that they would remain in the desert for forty years. אקוט means “I saw them rebel”, and בדור refers to the generation of the desert. The mistake of their hearts and their hearts are negative so they didn't believe in Me. They did not recognize all the miracles that I made for them, and they feared entering the Land. They did not trust in me. Therefore I swore that they would not enter there [Israel] and and die in the desert from 20 years and up.”

“1 "because [they defied the statements of God, spurned the intent of the Most High]." [The Psalmist] informed them that they were taken captive on account of their iniquity, for they had "defied the statements/'imrei of God," which refers to the precepts that He had commanded to humanity. It was not to Israel alone that commandments were issued, but also to all peoples. He distinguished Israel from the (other) nations by commanding them concerning additional precepts, sanctifying them through the purity of body and food. However, traditional precepts were granted to the first Man and his progeny (i.e., the Seven Noachide Laws). These are "the statements of God."”

“There are manuscripts [of the book of Psalms] in which this verse [115:1] is not the beginning of the psalm. [In other words, those manuscripts join together Psalms 114 and 115.]. [The Psalmist] said that, just as You have performed acts of lovingkindness for our ancestors by taking them out of Egypt, so may you do for us in every generation. Even though we are not worthy, do not do so 'for us' (115:1) but for your Name's sake. For they [the generation of the Exodus] likewise would not have been worthy had it not been for the glory of Your name and [Your] covenant with the Fathers. He says "not for our sake" twice in order to emphasize the point.”

“Tehillah (A Praise): These six psalms until the end of the book are all praises of the Blessed God and His glory. Therefore, they begin and end with praise, reflecting the greatness of praise. This psalm starts with the word "Tehillah" in the first verse and also concludes with "Tehillah" in the last verse. The other five psalms start and end with "Hallelujah," all highlighting the greatness of praise. When will the praise of God be truly great? It will be during the ingathering of the exiles when all people will witness the wonders that God performs for Israel. Therefore, the psalms mention the ingathering of the exiles and the rebuilding of Jerusalem. This psalm is a praise to the Blessed God. Consequently, it was composed in alphabetical order, but the letter "Nun" was omitted, and we do not know why. Our sages explained that it is because it contains a reference to the downfall of the enemies of Israel, as it is written, "She has fallen and will not rise again, etc." (Amos 5:2). Anyone who contemplates this psalm will see the wonders of the Creator and His judgments upon His creations. Therefore, our sages said: Anyone who recites "A Praise of David" every day is assured of a place in the World to Come. They did not mean merely reciting it, but reciting it with one's mouth, heart, and tongue. I will extol Thee: With my heart and my tongue, for You are truly the King. All other kings and rulers, both earthly and heavenly, are under Your dominion, and You are exalted above them. One who recognizes Your exaltedness will say, "My God," but in truth, You are the God of all flesh and the God of gods. For ever and ever: This can mean that Your name exists forever and ever. Alternatively, it can mean that I will bless it forever and ever, meaning all the days of my life. Another interpretation is: "I will extol Thee" in this world, and "I will bless Thy name" in the World to Come, which is eternal. First, he says, "I will extol Thee," and then he says, "Thy name," to indicate that He and His name are one, and it is the Ineffable Name, while the other names are descriptive titles. The phrase is repeated for emphasis.”

“Great is the Lord: Even if one says, "I will magnify and praise Him," He is already great and praised beyond all praises to the extent that: And his greatness is unsearchable: A person cannot comprehend it through much investigation, for it is unsearchable. Nevertheless, a person should praise Him according to their understanding.”

“One generation to another: Even if the lives of human beings were long, they would not be able to comprehend all of His greatness in their lifetimes, especially since their lives are short. What should they do given the brevity of their days? Since one generation passes away and another comes, the departing generation should recount to the next generation the wondrous deeds and mighty acts they witnessed during their lifetimes. Thus, the next generation will praise Him for what was told to them about the past and for what they will witness in their own time.”

“Hadar (Splendour): As I do, I will speak of them to the people of the world. The glorious splendour of Thy majesty: This means the beauty of the honor of Your strength, for He is honored through His strength and His wonders, as it is said, "I will get me honor upon Pharaoh." And of Thy wondrous works: That You have done for me, and they too will speak of them whenever they receive the kindness of God. They will recount it to many.”

“And men shall speak of the might of Thy terrible acts: Just as I will declare Your greatness, so too will they speak of the might of Your awe-inspiring acts. The word greatness is written with a yud, indicating plurality, to show that these acts are numerous to those who receive them. It is read as Your greatness in the singular because all are one to Him, the Blessed One. The names mentioned in this psalm—greatness, might, deeds, majesty, honor, goodness, righteousness, kingdom, wonders, and awe-inspiring acts—are ten in total, which pertains to a specific matter. However, each name does not necessarily correspond exactly to its specific mention. Each can also relate to the context of the others, but their parts are distinguished by different names from one another.”

“Gracious and compassionate: These are the attributes by which He expresses His goodness and righteousness. They shall utter and sing of Him, for He is gracious, granting favor to creatures and providing for their needs, and compassionate, showing mercy and pity towards them, protecting them from harm and the world's afflictions. Slow to anger: He delays His anger towards the wicked and does not punish them immediately. And of abundant love: The "dalet" with a "kamatz" and a "chet" with a "patach" imply that His love is abundant, enlarging His kindness towards human beings more than they deserve. [Adonai] is good to all. He is good and merciful even to wild animals, domesticated animals, and fowl. And so it is fitting for a person to follow these ways of His. One should not destroy life other than for a need or to guard oneself from dangers. So we find that our Holy Master (Rabbi Judah the Prince, editor of the Mishnah) bade his handmaiden not to sweep up mice with household embers. Rather, she should let them live in the cellar. He said to her, "It is written, 'His mercy is upon all His works.'"”

“All Thy works shall praise Thee: Even the various species of living creatures that lack knowledge to recognize the perfection of Your creation and the provision of their sustenance will praise You. Human beings who understand these things will also praise You as if they were all giving You thanks. And Thy pious ones shall bless Thee: In the script of the "Hei," it is said, "And who are the thankful pious ones, for they are always contemplating Your deeds, and they shall bless You continually. For at all times, upon seeing the innovations that are constantly renewed in the creations and the repairs within life and growth, they shall bless You. So too did the sages establish a blessing for every matter according to its needs, as they said, 'When one sees this and this, they bless in this way.' And [it] said, 'And Your pious ones, for each kindness is of the utmost value, and for those who are always contemplating the work of the deity and they will bless him always at all times of contemplation are the pious.'”

“The eyes of all wait upon Thee (עיני כל אליך ישברו): "The eyes of all look expectantly to You." This means that all living beings, whom You have created, depend on You for their sustenance, for there are those that eat herbs, and those that eat seeds, and those that eat living creatures, like death. And all of them look to You, and hope in You, for You give them their food, and this is done through the chain of causation. And it says, in due season (בעתו): This is the language of singular, that every kind and type has its known time, when their food is prepared for them, and it says, "To You they shall break," and even though they do not have knowledge, they will eat according to their nature, the law given to them, and we know that to You is the hope, for You give and prepare”

“Righteous (צדיק): For with righteousness and fairness, He provides food for everyone. Even though He created living creatures to prey upon each other—like the cat for the mouse, the lion, bear, leopard, and other animals that prey on others, and likewise the birds that swoop down on other birds—everything is just from Him. For He also provides food for the predators during their lives. However, when their time comes to die, He has decreed in advance that some will die from being hunted by other animals, and others will die from natural causes. And gracious in all his works (וחסיד בכל מעשיו): He provides for them beyond what He is obligated to give, and they are not deserving of receiving it. Rather, His grace prevails over them.”

“The Lord preserves all those who love him (שומר ה' את כל אוהביו): He is good to those who fear Him, for they love Him without expectation of reward or fear of punishment, but purely out of love. He guards them so that no calamity will ever come upon them, and so it will be with all Israel in the future. But all the wicked he will destroy (ואת כל הרשעים ישמיד): There will not remain a wicked person forever, as it says: "And all the arrogant evildoers will be chaff; the day that is coming will set them ablaze."”

“אהללה ה' בחיי. "I will praise the Lord while I live.": Seeing in the Holy Spirit the ingathering of exiles, he spoke on behalf of Israel, saying, "Hallelujah," and likewise to his own soul, "Praise the Lord with them and without them." אהללה ה'. "Praise the lord": Now, while I am still alive, I will praise Him and sing to Him and proclaim Him in public. And he said to them:”

“אל תבטחו. "Do not trust":, as Jeremiah said, "and from them their heart departs" (Jeremiah 17:5). If one trusts in a person, they should place the primary trust in God, who puts it in the heart of the generous person to help. The idea is repeated with different words: "in whom there is no help," meaning that if it is not God's will, a person cannot save his fellow from distress. For salvation belongs to God alone, and He brings it about through people, just as He brought about the salvation from the Babylonian exile through Cyrus. Similarly, in the future, He will bring about the redemption of Israel through the kings of the nations, stirring their spirits to send them, as it is written, "And they shall bring all your brethren out of all the nations for an offering unto the Lord" (Isaiah 66:20). This will happen because Israel trusted in God alone during their exile.”

“תצא רוחו. "His breath goes forth": And how can a person have salvation if he does not have control over his spirit to preserve it? For his spirit may depart suddenly, and he returns to his earth. Whatever he plans to do, he will not be able to accomplish, for once his sustaining spirit departs, on the day of his death, his thoughts perish.”

“אשרי שאל יעקב בעזרו."Happy is he who has the God of Ya῾aqov for his help": He mentioned Jacob our forefather because he trusted in God, as his brother sought to kill him and he fled from him. Jacob trusted in his heart that God would provide for his needs, even as he went towards him, for God had said to him that He would give him bread to eat and clothes to wear. Similarly, the children of Israel, who trusted in God, were brought out of exile by Him. This repeats the idea using different words.”

“עושה שמים."who made heaven": In Him it is fitting to trust, for He makes everything and has the power to elevate and humble, and to do with His creations as He wills. "Earth" refers to the dry land, thus he mentioned the sea as well. The meaning of ואת כל אשר בם. "and all that is in them" is related to the three mentioned elements: in the heavens, the angels and the great hosts, and the seven ministers; on the earth, the animals and birds; and in the sea, the great sea creatures and all living beings that move therein. He fulfills the needs of all of them. He is the one who keeps truth forever, meaning He keeps His promises for a long time, as He did for Israel. He promised to bring them out of exile, and after they had been there for a long time, until all the nations despaired of their redemption, He brought them out. Thus, you see that He alone is worthy of trust.”

“עושה משפט לעשוקים."Who executes judgment ": In every generation, He executes judgment for the oppressed against their oppressors. Similarly, He will act on behalf of Israel, who are oppressed in Babylon, as it is said, "The children of Israel and the children of Judah are oppressed together," and all their captors hold them fast, refusing to let them go. נותן לחם לרעבים."who gives bread to the hungry": In every generation, He gives bread to the hungry. Likewise, He did for Israel in exile and upon their departure from exile through the deserts, as it is said, "They shall neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the desert heat or the sun beat upon them." ה' מתיר אסורים."The Lord looses the prisoners": In every generation, the Lord looses the prisoners. Similarly, He did for Israel by releasing them from the bondage of their exile.”

“ה' פוקח עורים. "The Lord opens the eyes of the blind": Those who are blind from an eye disease, He will heal them. This ailment is mentioned because blindness, like imprisonment, prevents a person from moving from their place. Alternatively, it can mean those blinded by extreme distress, as suffering is likened to darkness and salvation to light. There are many verses in Scripture that attest to this. Similarly, He did for Israel, who were blinded in exile, as it is said, "We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes; we stumble at noonday as in the night." ה' זוקף כפופים. "The Lord raises those who are bowed down":, meaning the poor, as we have explained. ה' אהב צדיקים."The Lord loves the righteous":, and similarly, He loved Israel who were righteous among the nations.”

“ה' שומר את גרים. "The Lord preserves the strangers (or the converts).": The stranger (or the convert), the orphan, and the widow are weak because they have no helper, and He guards them. Therefore, the Torah warns about them in several places, and the Lord protects them. Similarly, He guards Israel, who were strangers among the nations and weak like an orphan and a widow. יעודד.: This means He will elevate them. ודרך רשעים יעות. "but the way of the wicked he makes crooked": Just as He elevates the weak, He will make the way of the wicked crooked; they will be pushed away and fall on it.”

“ימלוך. "(He) Reigns": And when will this be? When the Lord reigns forever, your God, O Zion, from generation to generation, as it is said, "And the Lord shall be king over all the earth," (Zechariah 14:9) meaning the entire world will recognize His kingship. Zion is mentioned because from there, instruction will go forth to the whole world, and they will acknowledge Him as king over everything after He executes judgment on the wicked, as in the Valley of Jehoshaphat. Or when the Lord reigns, all the people of the world will praise the Lord (Haleluya) and recognize His kingship, and then your song will be good and pleasant, and your praise will be perfect.”

“The storm wind executing His word: That is the air that blows. And when it blows strongly, it knocks over tall cedars, buildings and ships on the sea. And it states, "executing His word," to make known that it is not by happenstance. Rather He commands it to blow, and it is by His word and His commandment that it blows, to punish those that encounter [it].”