Twenty-eight verses of a man asking to be defended in court and in the field at the same time. It is one of the harshest psalms in the book: it asks for the attackers to be shamed, tripped, and caught in their own net, and it never softens that. It is not part of the fixed daily service; it belongs to the monthly cycle that reads the whole book, and to the custom of saying Tehillim for someone in trouble. For a learner it is a grammar drill. Almost every enemy is a participle used as a noun (those who fight me, those who seek my life, those who plot my harm), and almost every request is a jussive, the short third-person form that means let them be.
1
לְדָוִד
רִיבָה יְהֹוָה אֶת יְרִיבַי
לְחַם אֶת לֹחֲמָי
יְרִיבַי
ye-ri-VAI
those who contend with me
Contend, LORD, with those who contend with me;
לֹחֲמָי
lo-cha-MAI
those who fight me
fight against those who fight me.
The psalm opens as a lawsuit and a battle in the same breath: one verb for pleading a case, one for making war. Nothing has been described yet, only demanded.
2
הַחֲזֵק מָגֵן וְצִנָּה
וְקוּמָה בְּעֶזְרָתִי
הַחֲזֵק
ha-cha-ZEK
take hold of
וְצִנָּה
ve-tzi-NA
and buckler
Take hold of shield and buckler,
וְקוּמָה
ve-ku-MA
and rise up
בְּעֶזְרָתִי
be-ez-ra-TI
as my help
and rise up as my help.
God is asked to arm Himself. Two different words for shield, a small one and a body-length one, and then a verb of standing up.
3
וְהָרֵק חֲנִית וּסְגֹר לִקְרַאת רֹדְפָי
אֱמֹר לְנַפְשִׁי יְשֻׁעָתֵךְ אָנִי
וְהָרֵק
ve-ha-REK
and draw out
וּסְגֹר
us-GOR
and close off
רֹדְפָי
rod-FAI
my pursuers
Draw out the spear and close the way against my pursuers;
לְנַפְשִׁי
le-naf-SHI
to my soul
יְשֻׁעָתֵךְ
ye-shu-a-TECH
your (f.) salvation
say to my soul: I am your salvation.
The weapons turn into an order to speak. What the speaker actually wants is four words long, and it is said to his own soul rather than to the enemy.
4
יֵבֹשׁוּ וְיִכָּלְמוּ מְבַקְשֵׁי נַפְשִׁי
יִסֹּגוּ אָחוֹר וְיַחְפְּרוּ חֹשְׁבֵי רָעָתִי
יֵבֹשׁוּ
ye-vo-SHU
let them be shamed
וְיִכָּלְמוּ
ve-yi-kal-MU
and let them be humiliated
מְבַקְשֵׁי
me-vak-SHEI
those who seek
Let those who seek my life be shamed and humiliated;
יִסֹּגוּ
yi-so-GU
let them be turned back
וְיַחְפְּרוּ
ve-yach-PRU
and let them be disgraced
חֹשְׁבֵי
chosh-VEI
those who plot
let those who plot my harm be turned back and disgraced.
The first of three curses on the attackers. They are named only by what they do, seeking a life and plotting harm, never by a name of their own.
5
יִהְיוּ כְּמֹץ לִפְנֵי רוּחַ
וּמַלְאַךְ יְהֹוָה דּוֹחֶה
Let them be like chaff before the wind,
וּמַלְאַךְ
u-mal-ACH
and the angel of
דּוֹחֶה
do-CHE
driving them
with the angel of the LORD driving them.
The wish turns into an image. Chaff has no weight of its own, and the wind here is given a driver.
6
יְהִי דַרְכָּם חֹשֶׁךְ וַחֲלַקְלַקֹּת
וּמַלְאַךְ יְהֹוָה רֹדְפָם
וַחֲלַקְלַקֹּת
va-cha-lak-la-KOT
and slippery places
Let their way be dark and slippery,
וּמַלְאַךְ
u-mal-ACH
and the angel of
רֹדְפָם
rod-FAM
pursuing them
with the angel of the LORD pursuing them.
The pair completes verse 5: dark and slippery underfoot, with the same angel now behind them rather than in front.
7
כִּי חִנָּם טָמְנוּ לִי שַׁחַת רִשְׁתָּם
חִנָּם חָפְרוּ לְנַפְשִׁי
חִנָּם
chi-NAM
without cause
רִשְׁתָּם
rish-TAM
their net
For without cause they hid their net over a pit for me,
חִנָּם
chi-NAM
without cause
לְנַפְשִׁי
le-naf-SHI
for my life
without cause they dug it for my life.
The reason arrives after the curse, and it is said twice in one verse: without cause. The pit and the net are hunting equipment being used on a man.
8
תְּבוֹאֵהוּ שׁוֹאָה לֹא יֵדָע
וְרִשְׁתּוֹ אֲשֶׁר טָמַן תִּלְכְּדוֹ
בְּשׁוֹאָה יִפׇּל בָּהּ
תְּבוֹאֵהוּ
te-vo-e-HU
let it come upon him
Let ruin come upon him before he knows it,
וְרִשְׁתּוֹ
ve-rish-TO
and his net
תִּלְכְּדוֹ
til-ke-DO
let it catch him
and let the net he hid catch him;
בְּשׁוֹאָה
be-sho-A
into the ruin
let him fall into it, into the ruin.
The punishment asked for is the trap itself. Three clauses, each one turning the hunter's own gear back on him, with the word for ruin framing both ends.
9
וְנַפְשִׁי תָּגִיל בַּיהֹוָה
תָּשִׂישׂ בִּישׁוּעָתוֹ
וְנַפְשִׁי
ve-naf-SHI
and my soul
תָּגִיל
ta-GIL
will rejoice
בַּיהֹוָה
bai-ho-VA
in the LORD
And my soul will rejoice in the LORD,
תָּשִׂישׂ
ta-SIS
it will delight
בִּישׁוּעָתוֹ
bi-shu-a-TO
in His salvation
it will delight in His salvation.
The first turn to praise, and the first quiet verse. Two verbs of rejoicing stand where the enemy had two verbs of hunting.
10
כׇּל עַצְמוֹתַי תֹּאמַרְנָה יְהֹוָה
מִי כָמוֹךָ מַצִּיל עָנִי מֵחָזָק מִמֶּנּוּ
וְעָנִי וְאֶבְיוֹן מִגֹּזְלוֹ
עַצְמוֹתַי
atz-mo-TAI
my bones
תֹּאמַרְנָה
to-mar-NA
they will say
All my bones will say: LORD,
כָמוֹךָ
cha-mo-CHA
is like You
מֵחָזָק
me-cha-ZAK
from one stronger
who is like You, rescuing the poor from one stronger than he,
וְעָנִי
ve-a-NI
and a poor man
וְאֶבְיוֹן
ve-evi-ON
and a needy man
מִגֹּזְלוֹ
mi-goz-LO
from the one robbing him
the poor and the needy from the one who robs him?
Praise from the skeleton outward. The question who is like You is answered not by power in the abstract but by one specific act, taking the weak out of a stronger hand.
11
יְקוּמוּן עֵדֵי חָמָס
אֲשֶׁר לֹא יָדַעְתִּי יִשְׁאָלוּנִי
יְקוּמוּן
ye-ku-MUN
they rise up
Witnesses of violence rise up;
יִשְׁאָלוּנִי
yish-a-lu-NI
they ask me
they ask me about what I do not know.
The scene becomes a courtroom. Witnesses of violence is a legal phrase, and the charge is that they question him about things he has no knowledge of.
12
יְשַׁלְּמוּנִי רָעָה תַּחַת טוֹבָה
שְׁכוֹל לְנַפְשִׁי
יְשַׁלְּמוּנִי
ye-shal-mu-NI
they repay me
They repay me evil in place of good;
לְנַפְשִׁי
le-naf-SHI
to my soul
bereavement to my soul.
The exchange rate of the psalm: evil handed back for good. The last two words drop the argument and simply state the cost.
13
וַאֲנִי בַּחֲלוֹתָם לְבוּשִׁי שָׂק
עִנֵּיתִי בַצּוֹם נַפְשִׁי
וּתְפִלָּתִי עַל חֵיקִי תָשׁוּב
בַּחֲלוֹתָם
ba-cha-lo-TAM
when they were sick
לְבוּשִׁי
le-vu-SHI
my clothing was
But as for me, when they were sick my clothing was sackcloth,
עִנֵּיתִי
i-nei-TI
I afflicted
בַצּוֹם
va-TZOM
with the fast
I afflicted my soul with fasting,
וּתְפִלָּתִי
ut-fi-la-TI
and my prayer
תָשׁוּב
ta-SHUV
would return
and my prayer would return upon my own bosom.
The counter-testimony, and the longest verse so far. He fasted for the people now hunting him, and the last clause leaves it open where that prayer ended up.
14
כְּרֵעַ כְּאָח לִי הִתְהַלָּכְתִּי
כַּאֲבֶל אֵם קֹדֵר שַׁחוֹתִי
כְּרֵעַ
KRE-a
as for a friend
כְּאָח
ke-ACH
as for a brother
הִתְהַלָּכְתִּי
hit-ha-lach-TI
I walked about
I went about as though for a friend, for a brother of mine;
כַּאֲבֶל
ka-A-vel
like one mourning
שַׁחוֹתִי
sha-cho-TI
I bowed down
like one mourning a mother I bowed down in black.
The mourning is spelled out in family terms. A friend, a brother, a mother: three degrees of closeness, none of them owed to these people.
15
וּבְצַלְעִי שָׂמְחוּ וְנֶאֱסָפוּ
נֶאֶסְפוּ עָלַי נֵכִים וְלֹא יָדַעְתִּי
קָרְעוּ וְלֹא דָמּוּ
וּבְצַלְעִי
uv-tzal-I
but at my stumbling
שָׂמְחוּ
sam-CHU
they rejoiced
וְנֶאֱסָפוּ
ve-ne-e-sa-FU
and they gathered
But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered;
נֶאֶסְפוּ
ne-es-FU
they gathered
they gathered against me, attackers I did not know;
דָמּוּ
da-MU
they were silent
they tore at me and would not stop.
The reversal, stated plainly. He mourned when they were sick; they assembled when he stumbled. Two verbs of tearing and of not stopping close the verse.
16
בְּחַנְפֵי לַעֲגֵי מָעוֹג
חָרֹק עָלַי שִׁנֵּימוֹ
בְּחַנְפֵי
be-chan-FEI
with the profane of
לַעֲגֵי
la-a-GEI
mockers of
With the profane, who mock for a cake,
שִׁנֵּימוֹ
shi-nei-MO
their teeth
they gnashed their teeth at me.
The most obscure verse in the psalm. Whatever the middle words mean exactly, the picture is mockery around a table, and teeth.
17
אֲדֹנָי כַּמָּה תִרְאֶה
הָשִׁיבָה נַפְשִׁי מִשֹּׁאֵיהֶם
מִכְּפִירִים יְחִידָתִי
תִרְאֶה
tir-E
will You look on
My Lord, how long will You look on?
הָשִׁיבָה
ha-shi-VA
bring back
מִשֹּׁאֵיהֶם
mi-sho-EI-hem
from their ravages
Bring my soul back from their ravages,
מִכְּפִירִים
mik-fi-RIM
from the young lions
יְחִידָתִי
ye-chi-da-TI
my only one
my only one from the young lions.
The first direct address since verse 3, and the first how long. My only one is a name for the speaker's own life, set against a pride of lions.
18
אוֹדְךָ בְּקָהָל רָב
בְּעַם עָצוּם אֲהַלְלֶךָּ
אוֹדְךָ
od-CHA
I will thank You
בְּקָהָל
be-ka-HAL
in an assembly
I will thank You in a great assembly;
בְּעַם
be-AM
among a people
אֲהַלְלֶךָּ
a-hal-le-KA
I will praise You
among a mighty people I will praise You.
The second vow of praise, and the payment is offered in advance. Not private thanks, but thanks said in front of a crowd.
19
אַל יִשְׂמְחוּ לִי אֹיְבַי שֶׁקֶר
שֹׂנְאַי חִנָּם יִקְרְצוּ עָיִן
יִשְׂמְחוּ
yis-me-CHU
them rejoice
Let my enemies not rejoice over me falsely,
שֹׂנְאַי
son-AI
those who hate me
חִנָּם
chi-NAM
without cause
יִקְרְצוּ
yik-re-TZU
let them wink
let those who hate me without cause not wink the eye.
The petition resumes with the key phrase again: hatred without cause. Winking the eye is the gesture of a conspiracy that has already agreed on its story.
20
כִּי לֹא שָׁלוֹם יְדַבֵּרוּ
וְעַל רִגְעֵי אֶרֶץ דִּבְרֵי מִרְמוֹת יַחֲשֹׁבוּן
יְדַבֵּרוּ
ye-da-be-RU
do they speak
For they do not speak peace,
רִגְעֵי
rig-EI
the quiet ones of
יַחֲשֹׁבוּן
ya-cha-sho-VUN
they devise
and against the quiet of the land they devise words of deceit.
The charge is specified. They are not loud, they are quiet and busy, and their targets are the people who want no part of any of it.
21
וַיַּרְחִיבוּ עָלַי פִּיהֶם
אָמְרוּ הֶאָח הֶאָח רָאֲתָה עֵינֵנוּ
וַיַּרְחִיבוּ
va-yar-chi-VU
and they opened wide
They opened their mouth wide against me;
רָאֲתָה
ra-a-TA
it has seen
they said: Aha, aha, our eye has seen it.
The mouth finally opens. Aha twice, and then the sentence that seals a false verdict: we saw it ourselves.
22
רָאִיתָה יְהֹוָה אַל תֶּחֱרַשׁ
אֲדֹנָי אַל תִּרְחַק מִמֶּנִּי
רָאִיתָה
ra-i-TA
You have seen
תֶּחֱרַשׁ
te-che-RASH
be silent
You have seen, LORD; do not be silent.
My Lord, do not be far from me.
The answer to verse 21, word for word. They say our eye has seen; the reply is You have seen. Then two negative petitions, do not stay silent and do not stay far.
23
הָעִירָה וְהָקִיצָה לְמִשְׁפָּטִי
אֱלֹהַי וַאדֹנָי לְרִיבִי
הָעִירָה
ha-i-RA
rouse Yourself
וְהָקִיצָה
ve-ha-ki-TZA
and awake
לְמִשְׁפָּטִי
le-mish-pa-TI
to my judgment
Rouse Yourself and awake to my judgment,
וַאדֹנָי
va-do-NAI
and my Lord
לְרִיבִי
le-ri-VI
to my case
my God and my Lord, to my case.
Both verbs are wake-up words. The complaint is not that God is absent but that He has not yet moved, and the vocabulary is entirely courtroom.
24
שׇׁפְטֵנִי כְצִדְקְךָ יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהָי
וְאַל יִשְׂמְחוּ לִי
שׇׁפְטֵנִי
shof-te-NI
judge me
כְצִדְקְךָ
che-tzid-ke-CHA
according to Your righteousness
Judge me according to Your righteousness, LORD my God,
יִשְׂמְחוּ
yis-me-CHU
them rejoice
and let them not rejoice over me.
What is requested is not mercy but justice, measured by God's own righteousness. The second half repeats the opening of verse 19 almost exactly.
25
אַל יֹאמְרוּ בְלִבָּם הֶאָח נַפְשֵׁנוּ
אַל יֹאמְרוּ בִּלַּעֲנוּהוּ
בְלִבָּם
vli-BAM
in their heart
נַפְשֵׁנוּ
naf-she-NU
our appetite
Let them not say in their heart: Aha, just what we wanted;
בִּלַּעֲנוּהוּ
bi-la-a-nu-HU
we have swallowed him
let them not say: We have swallowed him.
What the speaker fears here is not the blow but the sentence spoken over it. Two quotations, one whispered inside the heart and one said out loud.
26
יֵבֹשׁוּ וְיַחְפְּרוּ יַחְדָּו שְׂמֵחֵי רָעָתִי
יִלְבְּשׁוּ בֹשֶׁת וּכְלִמָּה הַמַּגְדִּילִים עָלָי
יֵבֹשׁוּ
ye-vo-SHU
let them be shamed
וְיַחְפְּרוּ
ve-yach-PRU
and let them be disgraced
שְׂמֵחֵי
sme-CHEI
those who rejoice at
Let those who rejoice at my harm be shamed and disgraced together;
יִלְבְּשׁוּ
yil-be-SHU
let them be clothed in
וּכְלִמָּה
uch-li-MA
and humiliation
הַמַּגְדִּילִים
ha-mag-di-LIM
those who magnify themselves
let those who magnify themselves against me be clothed in shame and humiliation.
The last curse, tighter than the first: shame is now something worn. The two verbs of verse 4 come back, which closes the loop.
27
יָרֹנּוּ וְיִשְׂמְחוּ חֲפֵצֵי צִדְקִי
וְיֹאמְרוּ תָמִיד יִגְדַּל יְהֹוָה
הֶחָפֵץ שְׁלוֹם עַבְדּוֹ
יָרֹנּוּ
ya-ro-NU
let them shout for joy
וְיִשְׂמְחוּ
ve-yis-me-CHU
and let them be glad
חֲפֵצֵי
cha-fe-TZEI
those who delight in
צִדְקִי
tzid-KI
my vindication
Let those who delight in my vindication shout for joy and be glad,
וְיֹאמְרוּ
ve-yom-RU
and let them say
יִגְדַּל
yig-DAL
let Him be magnified
and let them say continually: The LORD be magnified,
הֶחָפֵץ
he-cha-FETZ
who delights in
who delights in the peace of His servant.
The mirror image of verse 26. The same verb of rejoicing, handed to the other side, and the psalm's last demand turns out to be peace for a servant rather than ruin for an enemy.
28
וּלְשׁוֹנִי תֶּהְגֶּה צִדְקֶךָ
כׇּל הַיּוֹם תְּהִלָּתֶךָ
וּלְשׁוֹנִי
ul-sho-NI
and my tongue
תֶּהְגֶּה
teh-GE
will utter
צִדְקֶךָ
tzid-ke-CHA
Your righteousness
And my tongue will utter Your righteousness,
תְּהִלָּתֶךָ
te-hi-la-te-CHA
Your praise
Your praise all the day.
The vow is made permanent. My tongue answers the wide mouths of verse 21, and all the day answers the how long of verse 17.
♦ 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
Three rounds, each with the same shape: a complaint, a petition against the attackers, then a vow to praise in public. They close at verses 9 and 10, at verse 18, and at verses 27 and 28. The vocabulary is mixed deliberately. Verses 1 to 3 are military, with shield, buckler and spear, and from verse 11 the setting is a trial: witnesses of violence, judge me, my case, my judgment. The verb at רִיבָה (ri-va, v.1) is the legal one, to conduct a lawsuit, and יְרִיבַי (ye-ri-vai, v.1) is built from the same root, so the psalm is already inside the courtroom before any weapon is named.
רמז · Remez: allusion
Three difficulties, all in the middle section. מָעוֹג (ma-og, v.16) is a rare word usually taken as a cake or a round loaf, which would make the line mockers who perform for their food, parasites at a table; the reading is not secure and translations differ. נֵכִים (ne-chim, v.15) is equally uncertain: smitten ones, smiters, or people the speaker does not know, and the ancient versions divide. The third is not a rare word but a real ambiguity: תָשׁוּב (ta-shuv, v.13) says the prayer returns upon my bosom, which can mean the prayer came back unanswered, or that a prayer said for someone else comes home to the one who said it. Both readings are old and both are still printed.
דרש · Drash: midrashic reading
The heading puts the psalm in David's mouth, and verses 13 and 14 are commonly read against the Saul chapters of Samuel: the man being hunted is the one who wore sackcloth and fasted when his hunters were ill, and who twice had Saul within reach and did not strike. Read that way the psalm is less a request for revenge than a demand that the record be entered. The line at עַצְמוֹתַי (atz-mo-tai, v.10), all my bones, is the verse people reach for when they explain why the whole body moves during prayer, on the argument that praise is not the tongue's work alone. And חִנָּם (chi-nam, v.7), without cause, is the phrase that becomes the standard name for hatred with no reason behind it, the failing the tradition blames for the loss of the Second Temple.
סוד · Sod: mystical reading
The angel of the LORD appears twice, at וּמַלְאַךְ (u-mal-ach, v.5) and again in the following verse, once in front of the enemy driving and once behind pursuing. The mystical reading takes the pair as two faces of a single measure, judgement that pushes away and judgement that follows, and sets it beside the same figure in the neighbouring psalm, who encamps around those who fear Him. The other line read this way is תָשׁוּב (ta-shuv, v.13): a prayer poured out for someone who will later hunt you does not vanish when it goes unanswered, it returns to the chest it came from and does its work there. On that reading the harshest verses of the psalm and its strangest act of kindness are one movement seen from opposite ends.