Psalms Psalm 125

Transcription

1 Psalms Psalm 125 v.1: A song for ascending. Those who trust Adonai are like Mt. Zion; they will not collapse, but live forever. v.2: Mountains surround Jerusalem; so Adonai surrounds His people, now and forever. v.3: Therefore the staff of the wicked will not rest over the destiny of the righteous, in order that the righteous will not send their hands to do injustice. v.3: This uses idiomatic Hebrew, which we translated more literally. Another valid translation and understanding would be: Therefore the authority of evil people will not determine the destiny of the righteous, so the righteous will not have to serve evil. Send their hands is an idiom for use their hands or use their energies. The word goral,,גורל is often translated as fate. We chose to translate it as destiny, in keeping with the Psalm s emphasis on righteous people having their destinies determined by God, according to God s purposes. v.4: Adonai will give His goodness to good people, and to those who have integrity in their mind. v.4: The richness of Hebrew comes out in this verse. Give His goodness,טוב tov, springing from the word,היטיבה heytivah, is the single word which TRI students have studied in depth. Good people, then, is similar, and is the word tovim, which is from the same root word as in the verb used in this verse, to give His goodness. Abba will give that which is tov to those whom He has restored to being tov. Those whom He has restored to new creation humanity, they are given now that which is tov. Those who know themselves to be tov are free now to embrace that which is tov for their life. Free now to inherit their inheritance within the new creation. Free now to be a life that lives, a nephesh chaiyah. Free now to be the creation they were created to be.,לב lev, To those who have integrity in their mind. Mind is the word referring to the thoughts of a person. v.5: However, God will expel doers of injustice, who stretch themselves out to crooked ways. Shalom on Israel!

2 v.5: Stretch themselves out is graphic, poetic Hebrew for giving their efforts to accomplish something. Thus, a valid translation could be: God will expel doers of injustice, who make efforts to accomplish perversions. Perversions is a valid way to understand crooked paths, and would entail, in the main, violations of The Covenant or Torah. In biblical thought, that which misses the mark and causes the arrow to stray off of the only path to the target. Psalm 126 v.1: A song for ascending. When Adonai returned the exile of Zion, we were like dreamers. v.1: We wish to bring to the student s attention the fact that this Psalm is sung at the supper table every Friday evening after the Sabbath meal, due to its joy-inspiring message. v.2: Then our mouths were full of laughing, and our tongues with joy; then they said in the nations: Adonai has done magnificently with these! v.2: Another valid translation would be, then it was said in the nations The literal word used is these at the end of the verse; however, a smoother English rendition may be, Adonai has done magnificently with them. v.3: Adonai has done magnificently with us! We were ecstatic! v.3: The word used is samechim,.שמחים It is often translated as happy or joyful. Given the historical context, we have chosen the strongest possible word to describe this type of happiness. v.4: Return, Adonai, our exile, like the stream beds in the Negev. v.4: The word negev,,נגב can refer to the Negev Desert region in Israel, or is sometimes used to refer to a non-specific dry region. However, once again given the historical context, we have chosen its specific meaning. v.5: Those who tearfully sow seeds will reap in joy. v.6: He definitely will go out with weeping, carrying the seed; (yet) he will assuredly come in gladness, bearing his sheaves. v.6: This verse describes v.5, and develops it in more detail. Final Note: If the student is interested, there is a wonderful story from the Talmud that is read during Tu B Shevat (the holiday that occurs late 2

3 Jan. or early Feb.). It is found in Tractate Ta anit, page 23a, and can be found at: Psalm 127 v.1: A song for ascending, dedicated to Solomon. If Adonai doesn t build a house, their builders worked on it in vain. If Adonai doesn t guard over a city, the guard watches over it in vain. v.1: The word bayt,,בית can refer to a physical house, but also can mean a nuclear family, or a king s dynasty. Since this psalm is dedicated to King Solomon, the latter meaning should be considered. Note: The Hebrew behind our translation: dedicated to Solomon (vunkak) can be thought of differently. Scholars are undecided about how to render this Hebrew phrase. Some possibilities are: it indicates authorship, or that it was part of Solomon s collection of psalms, or as we have rendered here, it was written for him and dedicated then to him. The same phrase occurs in Psalms 122, 124, 127, 131, 132, and 133, and refers to King David. So the phrase in these Psalms is saying either that he is the author, or these psalms were in his collection of psalms, or these psalms were written for him. v.2: It is vain for you to get up early in the morning after staying up late, and then make your food. In fact, He gives sleep to His close friend. v.2: The wording of this verse is a bit difficult to translate, but we understand the flow and context to favor the idea that it is the watchman/guard who is being talked about; he stays up late on his watch, he then sleeps little and not well, then gets up to procure his food for the day. This cycle is done in vain when the guard is not serving Adonai (who does give sleep to the guard who serves Him!) v.3: Look, children are the inheritance of Adonai; the fruit of the womb is a reward. v.3: The word sechar,,שכר is translated as reward. It can also be understood as a favor or a sign of favor. Normally it is used for a worker s wage, but that may not be its proper usage here. v.4: Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the sons of one s youth. v.5: A man who fills his quiver with them is happy. They will not be humiliated, since they will face their enemies in the gate. v.5: The word yoveshu,,יבשו is vowel pointed by the Masoretic rabbis to mean humiliated or be ashamed. This word comes from the root b-u- 3

4 sh. It can midrashically (homiletically) be nuanced to mean dry up or cut off, which would be a take off on the root y-v-sh. These different roots convey different meanings on the given word, but sound similar. The Masoretic rabbis decided that humiliated fits the Psalm s context, and was the intent of the biblical author. Psalm 128 v.1: A song for ascending. Happy is everyone who fears Adonai, who walks in His ways. v.2: Your hands will arrive, for you will eat; you will be happy and it will be tov for you. v.2: The word for your hands, kapeyka,,כפיך could also refer to a spoon or an eating utensil arriving to one s table, or mouth. This phrase, Your hands will arrive is a poetic idiom, giving us the image of one s hands arriving (with food in them) to one s mouth. Either way this is translated, this should mean that one will enjoy a bountiful provision. We chose the hand to mouth image as opposed to the spoon to mouth image, but both support the understanding of bountiful food supplies. v.3: Your wife is a fruitful vine in every part of your home; your children are like olive shoots planted around your table..ירכתי ביתך beyteka, v.3: Every part of your home is the phrase yarketey The image is of the deepest, most hidden corners of one s home. We believe this inference means that every part of the home will be a place of blessing and fruitfulness. v.4: Look how the man who fears Adonai will have reasons to bow his knees in thanksgiving! v.4: The phrase will have reasons to bow his knees in thanksgiving is from the singular word yevorak,,יבורך and is usually translated blessed. v.5: May Adonai, from Zion, give you reasons to bow your knees in thanksgiving, and see goodness to Jerusalem, all the days of your life; v.5: Students are encouraged to apply the meaning of tov that has been previously studied, to the purpose of Jerusalem being chosen, to garner a full meaning to v.5. v.6: then see your children s children; shalom upon Israel! v.6: then see your children s children; wholeness upon Israel! 4

5 Psalm 129 v.1: A song for ascending. Israel may say: From my youth they caused me great sorrows; v.2: from my youth they caused me great sorrows, but they did not overcome me. v.3: Plowmen have plowed on my back; they made long furrows for their own purposes. v.3: they made long their furrows is the implication and image of the literal Hebrew: they made long, for their own selves. Either the plowmen made the furrows long (even though the Hebrew word for furrow is not specifically used here), or they made their time long, elongated their time; i.e., spent a painful amount of time plowing (Israel s) back. The word for for their own purposes is somewhat unclear. It could be rendered as as their own answer, meaning that this extended plowing was the answer or response of the plowmen to something. Or, it could.מ-ע-נ m-a- a-n, mean for themselves if the root of our word is v.4: Adonai is scrupulously righteous, breaking the chains of the wicked. v.4: The word tsaddik,,צדיק is often translated as righteous. By 2 nd Temple times, it became a technical term for scrupulously Torah observant. The word tsaddik refers to one s way of thinking, living, and acting. In reference to God, it connotes His ways of assessing things and then acting upon them. v.5: Every hater of Zion will be humiliated and will retreat backwards. v.6: They will be like chaff on rooftops, that dries up before it grows, v.7: so that a reaper can t fill his hand, or his coat, with grain. v.8: Passersby will not say: The blessing of Adonai be on you, we bless you in the name of Adonai. Psalm 130 v.1: A song of ascending. From my innermost being, I cried out to you, Adonai! v.1: The word for innermost being, ma amikim,,מעמיקים can mean depths. Modern Jewish parlance calls this the kishkes in Yiddish, or 5

6 me ayim in Hebrew, referring to the intestines, but all these words include all of one s emotions. What we know from neuroscience today is that our thoughts immediately go from within the neurons of the cortex to the hypothalamus, the chemical factory of our brain. The thoughts interact with the chemicals of the hypothalamus and become molecules of emotion. These molecules of emotion then flow out of the hypothalamus as a wash throughout the whole of the body. They flow directly to the inner organs as the emotions that we feel. v.2: Adonai has heard and will act upon my voice; Your ears will carefully listen to the voice of my pleas for mercy. v.2: Pleas for mercy are tahanunim,.תחנונים There is a very similar idea in today s Jewish world, where a set of written supplications and cries to God are found in our Siddur, and are called tahanun. See odat_va-yishlah.xml for a further explanation. v.3: If Adonai watched over Torah transgressions, Adonai, who would stand? v.3: This is a very poetic verse that needs some explanation. First, an abbreviated name for Adonai is used first in the text,,יה Yah. Then the name Adonai appears as the full Tetragrammon. We have translated both as Adonai to preserve unity of content in this verse. By watching over Torah transgressions, the word tishmor,,תשמור is used. From previous studies, TRI students are aware that this is a word referring to a military guard or watchman. It gives us an image of God seeing every transgression of Torah, just like a military guard would see every enemy who approached the guard s city. v.4: Your people receive forgiveness, then, so that You will be feared. v.5: I hope in Adonai, my life hopes; so I wait for His Word.,ק-ו-ה q-v-h, v.5: The word for hope and hopes is from the root which also is the root for Israel s national anthem, HaTikvah, meaning, The Hope. v.6: My life (hopes for) Adonai, more than guards (hope for) morning; more than guards (hope for) morning. v.6: Different translations render this verse in various ways. As the context and message of v.6 is the same as v.5, hoping greatly in Adonai, we have translated this verse to continue the flow of the message: that the author is continually hoping in Adonai with a sustained 6

7 hope. The literal wording says, My life, to Adonai; more than guards, to morning. v.7: Israel, wait for Adonai, because with Adonai is covenant-based love, so He will liberally give redemption to His people. v.7: Covenant based love is the word hesed,,חסד that is used in a number of places in the Torah in describing what Adonai is like. Redemption is the word fadut,,פדות which can also refer to a ransom or ransom money. The Torah s ceremony of redeeming the firstborn son is entitled pidyon ha-ben, and is from this same word (cf. Numbers 18:16). v.8: So He will redeem Israel from all of their Torah transgressions! 7