Thirty-two verses that begin at the bottom and end at the ends of the earth. Twenty-one verses of complaint, then one word in verse 22 that changes tense and everything with it, then ten verses of public praise that widen from one man to his brothers, to the assembly, to every family of the nations, to the dead. For a learner it is a drill in the object suffix: forsaken me, surrounded me, encircled me, closed in on me, answered me, save me. The same two letters at the end of verb after verb, first with enemies as the subject and then with God. A rabbinic tradition reads the superscription's hind of the dawn as Esther, and the psalm is associated with Purim.
1
לַמְנַצֵּחַ עַל אַיֶּלֶת הַשַּׁחַר
מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד
לַמְנַצֵּחַ
lam-na-TZE-ach
for the leader
אַיֶּלֶת
a-YE-let
the hind of
הַשַּׁחַר
ha-sha-CHAR
the dawn
For the leader; set to "The Hind of the Dawn."
A performance note, probably the name of a known melody. The image it leaves in the ear, first light after the longest part of the night, is the shape of the psalm that follows.
2
אֵלִי אֵלִי לָמָה עֲזַבְתָּנִי
רָחוֹק מִישׁוּעָתִי דִּבְרֵי שַׁאֲגָתִי
עֲזַבְתָּנִי
a-zav-ta-NI
have You forsaken me
My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?
מִישׁוּעָתִי
mi-shu-a-TI
from my rescue
דִּבְרֵי
div-REI
the words of
שַׁאֲגָתִי
sha-a-ga-TI
my roaring
Far from my rescue are the words of my roaring.
The complaint is addressed, not thrown. The speaker still says my God twice before he says why, and the possessive is the whole argument of the psalm in one suffix.
3
אֱלֹהַי אֶקְרָא יוֹמָם וְלֹא תַעֲנֶה
וְלַיְלָה וְלֹא דֻמִיָּה לִי
My God, I call by day and You do not answer,
וְלַיְלָה
ve-lai-LA
and by night
וְלֹא
ve-LO
and there is no
and by night, and there is no silence for me.
Day and night, and neither brings a reply. The last word is the point: it is not that God is silent, it is that the speaker cannot be.
4
וְאַתָּה קָדוֹשׁ
יוֹשֵׁב תְּהִלּוֹת יִשְׂרָאֵל
יוֹשֵׁב
yo-SHEV
enthroned upon
תְּהִלּוֹת
te-hi-LOT
the praises of
יִשְׂרָאֵל
yis-ra-EL
Israel
enthroned upon the praises of Israel.
The complaint does not become an accusation. God's holiness is conceded in the same breath as the abandonment, which is what makes the question hurt rather than dismiss.
5
בְּךָ בָּטְחוּ אֲבֹתֵינוּ
בָּטְחוּ וַתְּפַלְּטֵמוֹ
אֲבֹתֵינוּ
a-vo-tei-NU
our fathers
In You our fathers trusted;
בָּטְחוּ
bat-CHU
they trusted
וַתְּפַלְּטֵמוֹ
vat-fal-te-MO
and You delivered them
they trusted, and You delivered them.
The first of three verses that use the past as evidence. The verb for trust is repeated rather than varied, the way a person repeats a fact he is trying to make hold.
6
אֵלֶיךָ זָעֲקוּ וְנִמְלָטוּ
בְּךָ בָטְחוּ וְלֹא בוֹשׁוּ
זָעֲקוּ
za-a-KU
they cried out
וְנִמְלָטוּ
ve-nim-la-TU
and they escaped
To You they cried out and they escaped;
בָטְחוּ
vat-CHU
they trusted
בוֹשׁוּ
vo-SHU
were they ashamed
in You they trusted and they were not ashamed.
Shame, not death, is named as the thing avoided. The fear running under the whole first half is that trusting publicly and getting nothing will make a fool of the one who trusted.
7
וְאָנֹכִי תוֹלַעַת וְלֹא אִישׁ
חֶרְפַּת אָדָם וּבְזוּי עָם
וְאָנֹכִי
ve-a-no-CHI
but I
תוֹלַעַת
to-la-AT
am a worm
But I am a worm and not a man,
חֶרְפַּת
cher-PAT
a reproach of
וּבְזוּי
uv-ZUI
and despised of
a reproach of humankind and despised by the people.
The pronoun is emphatic and set against the fathers of the previous verses. They were delivered; I am not even counted in the species.
8
כׇּל רֹאַי יַלְעִגוּ לִי
יַפְטִירוּ בְשָׂפָה יָנִיעוּ רֹאשׁ
יַלְעִגוּ
yal-i-GU
they mock
All who see me mock me;
יַפְטִירוּ
yaf-ti-RU
they open wide
בְשָׂפָה
ve-sa-FA
with the lip
יָנִיעוּ
ya-ni-U
they shake
they part their lips, they shake the head.
Three verbs of face and gesture with no speech yet. The suffering is watched before it is commented on, which is the worse order.
9
גֹּל אֶל יְהֹוָה
יְפַלְּטֵהוּ יַצִּילֵהוּ
כִּי חָפֵץ בּוֹ
יְפַלְּטֵהוּ
ye-fal-te-HU
let Him rescue him
יַצִּילֵהוּ
ya-tzi-le-HU
let Him deliver him
let Him rescue him, let Him deliver him,
since He delights in him."
The mockers quote the psalmist's own theology back at him. Every verb here is third person, which is the cruelty: they talk about him in front of him.
10
כִּי אַתָּה גֹחִי מִבָּטֶן
מַבְטִיחִי עַל שְׁדֵי אִמִּי
גֹחִי
go-CHI
are the one who drew me out
מִבָּטֶן
mi-BA-ten
from the womb
For You are the one who drew me from the womb,
מַבְטִיחִי
mav-ti-CHI
who made me trust
שְׁדֵי
shdei
the breasts of
who made me trust at my mother's breasts.
The answer to the mockery is not a defence but an earlier date. Trust is described as something done to him before he could choose it.
11
עָלֶיךָ הׇשְׁלַכְתִּי מֵרָחֶם
מִבֶּטֶן אִמִּי אֵלִי אָתָּה
הׇשְׁלַכְתִּי
hosh-lach-TI
I was cast
מֵרָחֶם
me-RA-chem
from the womb
Upon You I was cast from birth;
מִבֶּטֶן
mi-BE-ten
from the belly of
from my mother's belly You are my God.
The verb is the one used for throwing something away, turned into an image of being handed over. The word order at the end puts my God first and You are second, so the claim lands before the copula.
12
אַל תִּרְחַק מִמֶּנִּי
כִּי צָרָה קְרוֹבָה
כִּי אֵין עוֹזֵר
for there is no one helping.
The first actual request in the psalm, ten verses in, and it asks for proximity rather than rescue. Far and near are placed against each other in consecutive clauses.
13
סְבָבוּנִי פָּרִים רַבִּים
אַבִּירֵי בָשָׁן כִּתְּרוּנִי
סְבָבוּנִי
sva-vu-NI
they have surrounded me
Many bulls have surrounded me;
אַבִּירֵי
a-bi-REI
the mighty ones of
כִּתְּרוּנִי
kit-ru-NI
they have encircled me
the mighty ones of Bashan have encircled me.
The enemies become animals, and the grammar tightens with them: both lines end on a verb carrying the same object suffix, me. Bashan was cattle country east of the Jordan.
14
פָּצוּ עָלַי פִּיהֶם
אַרְיֵה טֹרֵף וְשֹׁאֵג
פָּצוּ
pa-TZU
they open wide
They open their mouth wide against me,
וְשֹׁאֵג
ve-sho-EG
and roaring
a lion tearing and roaring.
The lion enters the psalm here and will not leave until verse 22. Note that the psalmist's own roaring in verse 2 used a related noun; the sound he makes and the sound made at him are near neighbours.
15
כַּמַּיִם נִשְׁפַּכְתִּי
וְהִתְפָּרְדוּ כׇּל עַצְמוֹתָי
הָיָה לִבִּי כַּדּוֹנָג
נָמֵס בְּתוֹךְ מֵעָי
כַּמַּיִם
ka-MA-yim
like water
נִשְׁפַּכְתִּי
nish-pach-TI
I am poured out
Like water I am poured out,
וְהִתְפָּרְדוּ
ve-hit-par-DU
and they have come apart
עַצְמוֹתָי
atz-mo-TAI
my bones
and all my bones have come apart.
כַּדּוֹנָג
ka-do-NAG
like wax
My heart has become like wax,
melting inside my innards.
The threat moves from outside to inside. Two similes of losing solid form, water and wax, describe a body that no longer holds its own shape.
16
יָבֵשׁ כַּחֶרֶשׂ כֹּחִי
וּלְשׁוֹנִי מֻדְבָּק מַלְקוֹחָי
וְלַעֲפַר מָוֶת תִּשְׁפְּתֵנִי
כַּחֶרֶשׂ
ka-CHE-res
like a potsherd
My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
וּלְשׁוֹנִי
ul-sho-NI
and my tongue
מֻדְבָּק
mud-BAK
is stuck to
מַלְקוֹחָי
mal-ko-CHAI
my jaws
and my tongue sticks to my jaws,
וְלַעֲפַר
ve-la-a-FAR
and to the dust of
תִּשְׁפְּתֵנִי
tish-pte-NI
You lay me down
and You lay me down in the dust of death.
After poured out and melted, dried out. The last verb is second person: the enemies did the surrounding, but the laying down in the dust is attributed to God.
17
כִּי סְבָבוּנִי כְּלָבִים
עֲדַת מְרֵעִים הִקִּיפוּנִי
כָּאֲרִי יָדַי וְרַגְלָי
סְבָבוּנִי
sva-vu-NI
they have surrounded me
For dogs have surrounded me,
הִקִּיפוּנִי
hi-ki-fu-NI
they have closed in on me
a pack of evildoers has closed in on me,
כָּאֲרִי
ka-a-RI
like the lion
וְרַגְלָי
ve-rag-LAI
and my feet
like the lion, my hands and my feet.
The verse repeats the surrounding of verse 13 with dogs in place of bulls, and then breaks off into a clause with no verb in it. That missing verb is the most disputed word in the book; see the remez.
18
אֲסַפֵּר כׇּל עַצְמוֹתָי
הֵמָּה יַבִּיטוּ יִרְאוּ בִי
אֲסַפֵּר
a-sa-PER
I can count
עַצְמוֹתָי
atz-mo-TAI
my bones
I can count all my bones;
they look on, they stare at me.
The verb for counting is the same root as the declaring in verse 23. Here he numbers his bones; there he will number God's acts to his brothers.
19
יְחַלְּקוּ בְגָדַי לָהֶם
וְעַל לְבוּשִׁי יַפִּילוּ גוֹרָל
יְחַלְּקוּ
ye-chal-KU
they divide
בְגָדַי
ve-ga-DAI
my garments
לָהֶם
LA-hem
among themselves
They divide my garments among themselves,
לְבוּשִׁי
le-vu-SHI
my clothing
יַפִּילוּ
ya-pi-LU
they cast
and for my clothing they cast lots.
The watchers become heirs. Dividing a living man's clothes assumes he is already dead, and the lot is what you cast when the thing cannot be split further.
20
וְאַתָּה יְהֹוָה אַל תִּרְחָק
אֱיָלוּתִי לְעֶזְרָתִי חוּשָׁה
But You, LORD, do not be far;
אֱיָלוּתִי
e-ya-lu-TI
my strength
לְעֶזְרָתִי
le-ez-ra-TI
to my help
my strength, hurry to my help.
The plea of verse 12 returns, now with the divine name in it. The noun rendered my strength is rare and shares a root with the hind of the superscription.
21
הַצִּילָה מֵחֶרֶב נַפְשִׁי
מִיַּד כֶּלֶב יְחִידָתִי
מֵחֶרֶב
me-CHE-rev
from the sword
Rescue my soul from the sword,
מִיַּד
mi-YAD
from the paw of
יְחִידָתִי
ye-chi-da-TI
my only one
my only one from the paw of the dog.
My soul and my only one are parallel terms for the same thing, a life that has no spare. The dog of verse 17 comes back singular.
22
הוֹשִׁיעֵנִי מִפִּי אַרְיֵה
וּמִקַּרְנֵי רֵמִים עֲנִיתָנִי
הוֹשִׁיעֵנִי
ho-shi-e-NI
save me
מִפִּי
mi-PI
from the mouth of
Save me from the lion's mouth,
וּמִקַּרְנֵי
u-mi-kar-NEI
and from the horns of
עֲנִיתָנִי
a-ni-ta-NI
You have answered me
and from the horns of wild oxen You have answered me.
The hinge of the psalm. The verse opens in the imperative and ends in the perfect: the request is still being made when the answer is reported as already given, and every verb after this one is praise.
23
אֲסַפְּרָה שִׁמְךָ לְאֶחָי
בְּתוֹךְ קָהָל אֲהַלְלֶךָּ
אֲסַפְּרָה
a-sap-RA
I will declare
לְאֶחָי
le-e-CHAI
to my brothers
I will declare Your name to my brothers;
בְּתוֹךְ
be-TOCH
in the midst of
אֲהַלְלֶךָּ
a-hal-le-KA
I will praise You
in the midst of the assembly I will praise You.
The first audience of the rescue is other people. Deliverance in this psalm is not private; it is paid back by being told.
24
יִרְאֵי יְהֹוָה הַלְלוּהוּ
כׇּל זֶרַע יַעֲקֹב כַּבְּדוּהוּ
וְגוּרוּ מִמֶּנּוּ כׇּל זֶרַע יִשְׂרָאֵל
יִרְאֵי
yir-EI
you who fear
הַלְלוּהוּ
hal-lu-HU
praise Him
You who fear the LORD, praise Him;
כַּבְּדוּהוּ
kab-du-HU
honour Him
all the seed of Jacob, honour Him,
וְגוּרוּ
ve-gu-RU
and be in awe
יִשְׂרָאֵל
yis-ra-EL
Israel
and be in awe of Him, all the seed of Israel.
Three imperatives aimed outward. The speaker who could not get an answer is now the one giving instructions to a congregation.
25
כִּי לֹא בָזָה וְלֹא שִׁקַּץ
עֱנוּת עָנִי
וְלֹא הִסְתִּיר פָּנָיו מִמֶּנּוּ
וּבְשַׁוְּעוֹ אֵלָיו שָׁמֵעַ
שִׁקַּץ
shi-KATZ
did He loathe
For He did not despise and did not loathe
עֱנוּת
e-NUT
the affliction of
the affliction of the poor one,
הִסְתִּיר
his-TIR
did He hide
מִמֶּנּוּ
mi-me-NU
from him
and He did not hide His face from him,
וּבְשַׁוְּעוֹ
uv-shav-O
and when he cried out
and when he cried out to Him, He heard.
Four negations that answer the opening one by one. The question of verse 2 assumed abandonment; this verse denies it happened, without denying that it felt like it.
26
מֵאִתְּךָ תְּהִלָּתִי בְּקָהָל רָב
נְדָרַי אֲשַׁלֵּם נֶגֶד יְרֵאָיו
מֵאִתְּךָ
me-it-CHA
from You
תְּהִלָּתִי
te-hi-la-TI
is my praise
בְּקָהָל
be-ka-HAL
in an assembly
From You comes my praise in the great assembly;
אֲשַׁלֵּם
a-sha-LEM
I will pay
יְרֵאָיו
ye-re-AV
those who fear Him
my vows I will pay in front of those who fear Him.
Even the praise is sourced from God rather than produced by the speaker. Paying vows meant a thanksgiving offering, eaten in company, which is why the next verse has people at a meal.
27
יֹאכְלוּ עֲנָוִים וְיִשְׂבָּעוּ
יְהַלְלוּ יְהֹוָה דֹּרְשָׁיו
יְחִי לְבַבְכֶם לָעַד
יֹאכְלוּ
yoch-LU
they shall eat
עֲנָוִים
a-na-VIM
the humble
וְיִשְׂבָּעוּ
ve-yis-ba-U
and be satisfied
The humble shall eat and be satisfied;
יְהַלְלוּ
ye-hal-LU
they shall praise
דֹּרְשָׁיו
dor-SHAV
those who seek Him
those who seek Him shall praise the LORD.
לְבַבְכֶם
le-VAV-chem
your heart
May your heart live forever.
The thanksgiving meal, and the poor are the ones fed by it. The last clause switches to direct address in the plural, a blessing spoken over the guests.
28
יִזְכְּרוּ וְיָשֻׁבוּ אֶל יְהֹוָה כׇּל אַפְסֵי אָרֶץ
וְיִשְׁתַּחֲווּ לְפָנֶיךָ כׇּל מִשְׁפְּחוֹת גּוֹיִם
יִזְכְּרוּ
yiz-KRU
they shall remember
וְיָשֻׁבוּ
ve-ya-shu-VU
and turn back
All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn back to the LORD,
וְיִשְׁתַּחֲווּ
ve-yish-ta-cha-VU
and they shall bow down
לְפָנֶיךָ
le-fa-nei-CHA
before You
מִשְׁפְּחוֹת
mish-pe-CHOT
the families of
and all the families of the nations shall bow down before You.
The circle widens past Israel. Remembering comes before turning back, which assumes the nations once knew and forgot rather than never knew at all.
29
כִּי לַיהֹוָה הַמְּלוּכָה
וּמֹשֵׁל בַּגּוֹיִם
לַיהֹוָה
lai-ho-VA
to the LORD
הַמְּלוּכָה
ham-lu-CHA
belongs the kingship
For the kingship belongs to the LORD,
וּמֹשֵׁל
u-mo-SHEL
and He rules
בַּגּוֹיִם
ba-go-YIM
over the nations
and He rules over the nations.
The reason the nations turn is stated as a fact about the present, not a prediction. Kingship is expressed with a preposition rather than a verb: it simply is His.
30
אָכְלוּ וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲווּ כׇּל דִּשְׁנֵי אֶרֶץ
לְפָנָיו יִכְרְעוּ כׇּל יוֹרְדֵי עָפָר
וְנַפְשׁוֹ לֹא חִיָּה
אָכְלוּ
ach-LU
they have eaten
וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲווּ
va-yish-ta-cha-VU
and bowed down
דִּשְׁנֵי
dish-NEI
the fat ones of
All the fat ones of the earth have eaten and bowed down;
לְפָנָיו
le-fa-NAV
before Him
יִכְרְעוּ
yich-re-U
they shall kneel
יוֹרְדֵי
yor-DEI
those who go down to
before Him all who go down to the dust shall kneel,
וְנַפְשׁוֹ
ve-naf-SHO
and his soul
חִיָּה
chi-YA
he kept alive
even the one who could not keep his own soul alive.
The well fed and the dying are put at the same table. The dust here answers the dust of death in verse 16, and the last clause is difficult in Hebrew: translations differ over whether it describes the dying man or the speaker.
31
זֶרַע יַעַבְדֶנּוּ
יְסֻפַּר לַאדֹנָי לַדּוֹר
יַעַבְדֶנּוּ
ya-av-de-NU
shall serve Him
A seed shall serve Him;
יְסֻפַּר
ye-su-PAR
it shall be told
לַאדֹנָי
la-do-NAI
of the Lord
לַדּוֹר
la-DOR
to the generation
it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation.
The word for seed was used twice in verse 24 for Jacob and Israel and returns here without a name attached, so the line reaches forward rather than back.
32
יָבֹאוּ וְיַגִּידוּ צִדְקָתוֹ
לְעַם נוֹלָד כִּי עָשָׂה
יָבֹאוּ
ya-vo-U
they shall come
וְיַגִּידוּ
ve-ya-gi-DU
and they shall tell
צִדְקָתוֹ
tzid-ka-TO
His righteousness
They shall come and tell His righteousness
נוֹלָד
no-LAD
yet to be born
to a people yet to be born, that He has done it.
The psalm ends on a bare verb with no object: He has done it. What began as a private question closes as a report handed to people who do not exist yet.
♦ PARDES analysis: פרדס
The four levels of Jewish reading of the sacred text: פשט Peshat (literal meaning), רמז Remez (symbolic allusion), דרש Drash (midrashic interpretation), סוד Sod (mystical meaning). The word פרדס means "orchard", each level is a fruit.
פשט · Peshat: literal meaning
Two unequal halves joined by one word. Verses 2 to 21 are complaint: abandonment, mockery, bulls, dogs, a body coming apart, clothes already divided. Verses 23 to 32 are praise, and it expands in stages, from brothers to assembly to the seed of Jacob to every family of the nations to those going down to the dust. The join is עֲנִיתָנִי (a-ni-ta-ni, v.22), a perfect tense meaning You have answered me, sitting at the end of a verse that began by begging to be saved. Nothing in the text narrates the rescue. It is simply spoken of as done, and everything after it is in a different key. Read straight through, the psalm is one person's account of what it is like to be answered late.
רמז · Remez: allusion
כָּאֲרִי (ka-a-ri, v.17) is one of the most disputed words in the Hebrew Bible, and the honest report is that it is not settled. The Masoretic Text, the received Jewish text, vocalizes it as a preposition plus the noun for lion, giving "like the lion, my hands and my feet." That clause has no verb, which is unusual but not impossible in poetry; traditional Jewish commentary supplies the sense from the image already running through verses 14 and 22, a lion's mouth on the hands and feet. Some Hebrew manuscripts, and a Psalms scroll found at Nahal Hever, read a form ending in a different final letter, which has been taken as a verb and translated "they dug" or "they bound" or "they pierced"; the ancient Greek version reads a verb of digging, and Christian tradition has read it as piercing. The two readings differ by one letter, and the two letters concerned are close enough in the square script that scribes confuse them elsewhere. This page does not decide between them. It notes that the Masoretic reading is the text Jewish liturgy and commentary work from, that the variant is real and old, and that the verse is hard in every version. Elsewhere in the psalm the wordplay is easier to see: the roaring of שַׁאֲגָתִי (sha-a-ga-ti, v.2) and the roaring lion of verse 14 are near neighbours, and the rare noun for strength in אֱיָלוּתִי (e-ya-lu-ti, v.20) shares a root with the hind of אַיֶּלֶת (a-ye-let, v.1).
דרש · Drash: midrashic reading
A rabbinic tradition reads the hind of the dawn in אַיֶּלֶת (a-ye-let, v.1) and הַשַּׁחַר (ha-sha-char, v.1) as Esther, and the psalm has been attached to Purim on that basis: the dawn that arrives only after the night has gone as far as it can, and a deliverance that appears with no visible miracle in it. Read that way the speaker is not only David but the community in exile, and the mockers of verse 9 who say let God rescue him are the taunt of every generation that watched Jews trust and get nothing. The reading also explains why the second half insists so hard on public telling: an act of rescue that leaves no trace has to be declared or it is lost. The verse that answers the opening is הִסְתִּיר (his-tir, v.25) and פָּנָיו (pa-nav, v.25), He did not hide His face. The Torah's own phrase for exile is the hiding of the face, and the psalm ends by denying that the hiding was ever an abandonment, without pretending it was not felt as one.
סוד · Sod: mystical reading
In the mystical reading the superscription is the whole map. First light is measured from the darkest point, and the psalm insists that the two are the same event seen from different ends of the night. The moment of maximum concealment, עֲזַבְתָּנִי (a-zav-ta-ni, v.2), and the declaration that no face was ever hidden, הִסְתִּיר (his-tir, v.25), are one state described twice. The kabbalistic tradition reads the hiding of the face as contraction rather than absence, a withdrawal that makes room for a creature to exist as a separate self and therefore to cry out at all. On that reading the unanswered calling of verse 3 is not a failure of the relation but its cost, and the last three words of the psalm, He has done it, are put in the perfect because from the far side the whole night reads as a single completed act.