Thirty five verses, the longest continuous description of the created world in the book, and the psalm said on Rosh Chodesh in most rites. Two features make it a good page to learn on. The first is the participle used as a divine title: whoever wraps, whoever stretches, whoever lays the beams, whoever makes, whoever sends, whoever looks. Six verses in a row can go by without a finite verb. The second is the archaic ending -un, hung on more than a dozen verbs here, which changes no meaning and marks only that this is old poetry. The psalm also refuses to settle on a person, moving from He to You and back, sometimes inside one verse. Its first four words return as the last four before the closing halleluyah, which is the first halleluyah in the book, so the whole tour of the world sits inside one command the speaker gives to himself.
1
בָּרְכִי נַפְשִׁי אֶת יְהֹוָה
יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהַי גָּדַלְתָּ מְּאֹד
הוֹד וְהָדָר לָבָשְׁתָּ
גָּדַלְתָּ
ga-dal-TA
You are great
LORD my God, You are very great;
וְהָדָר
ve-ha-DAR
and majesty
לָבָשְׁתָּ
la-vash-TA
You have put on
splendour and majesty You have put on.
The psalm opens by talking to itself: a feminine imperative addressed to nefesh, the speaker's own soul. Then it turns outward and dresses God the way a king is dressed, which is the image the next two verses expand.
2
עֹטֶה אוֹר כַּשַּׂלְמָה
נוֹטֶה שָׁמַיִם כַּיְרִיעָה
עֹטֶה
o-TE
who wraps Himself in
כַּשַּׂלְמָה
ka-sal-MA
like a cloak
wrapped in light like a cloak,
נוֹטֶה
no-TE
who stretches out
שָׁמַיִם
sha-MA-yim
heavens
כַּיְרִיעָה
kai-ri-A
like a tent curtain
stretching out the heavens like a tent curtain,
Light is the first thing here, as in Genesis, and it is worn rather than made. The sky is a curtain of goat hair, so what is being described is a tent going up.
3
הַמְקָרֶה בַמַּיִם עֲלִיּוֹתָיו
הַשָּׂם עָבִים רְכוּבוֹ
הַמְהַלֵּךְ עַל כַּנְפֵי רוּחַ
הַמְקָרֶה
ham-ka-RE
who lays the beams of
בַמַּיִם
va-MA-yim
in the waters
עֲלִיּוֹתָיו
a-li-yo-TAV
His upper chambers
who lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters,
רְכוּבוֹ
re-chu-VO
His chariot
who makes clouds His chariot,
הַמְהַלֵּךְ
ham-ha-LECH
who walks
כַּנְפֵי
kan-FEI
the wings of
who walks on the wings of the wind,
Building vocabulary applied to water and cloud. Beams laid in water carry nothing, which is the point: the upper storey rests on what could not hold it.
4
עֹשֶׂה מַלְאָכָיו רוּחוֹת
מְשָׁרְתָיו אֵשׁ לֹהֵט
מַלְאָכָיו
mal-a-CHAV
His messengers
who makes His messengers winds,
מְשָׁרְתָיו
me-shar-TAV
His ministers
His ministers blazing fire.
Wind and fire appear here as staff rather than as weather. The line can be read in either direction, and that ambiguity is old; it is taken up below.
5
יָסַד אֶרֶץ עַל מְכוֹנֶיהָ
בַּל תִּמּוֹט עוֹלָם וָעֶד
מְכוֹנֶיהָ
me-cho-nei-A
its foundations
He founded the earth on its foundations,
תִּמּוֹט
ti-MOT
shall it be shaken
never to be shaken, for ever and ever.
The foundation laid for the earth answers the beams laid in water above it. What is unsupported up there is fixed down here, and the verse says so twice, once by negation and once by a doubled adverb.
6
תְּהוֹם כַּלְּבוּשׁ כִּסִּיתוֹ
עַל הָרִים יַעַמְדוּ מָיִם
כַּלְּבוּשׁ
kal-VUSH
like a garment
כִּסִּיתוֹ
ki-si-TO
You covered it
The deep, You covered it like a garment;
הָרִים
ha-RIM
the mountains
above the mountains stood the waters.
For one verse the order is reversed, water on top and mountains submerged. The garment word comes back from verse 2, now covering the earth instead of God.
7
מִן גַּעֲרָתְךָ יְנוּסוּן
מִן קוֹל רַעַמְךָ יֵחָפֵזוּן
גַּעֲרָתְךָ
ga-a-rat-CHA
Your rebuke
יְנוּסוּן
ye-nu-SUN
they fled
At Your rebuke they fled,
רַעַמְךָ
ra-am-CHA
Your thunder
יֵחָפֵזוּן
ye-cha-fe-ZUN
they hurried away
at the sound of Your thunder they hurried away.
Creation told as a rout. The waters are not drained off, they are frightened away, and both verbs carry the archaic -un ending that runs through the whole psalm.
8
יַעֲלוּ הָרִים
יֵרְדוּ בְקָעוֹת
אֶל מְקוֹם זֶה יָסַדְתָּ לָהֶם
יֵרְדוּ
yer-DU
they go down
valleys sink,
יָסַדְתָּ
ya-sad-TA
You founded
to the place You founded for them.
Who goes up and who goes down is unsettled in the Hebrew, either the terrain emerging or the water running off it. Either way the movement ends at an assigned place.
9
גְּבוּל שַׂמְתָּ בַּל יַעֲבֹרוּן
בַּל יְשֻׁבוּן לְכַסּוֹת הָאָרֶץ
יַעֲבֹרוּן
ya-a-vo-RUN
shall they cross
A boundary You set, which they shall not cross,
יְשֻׁבוּן
ye-shu-VUN
shall they return
לְכַסּוֹת
le-cha-SOT
to cover
הָאָרֶץ
ha-A-retz
the earth
they shall not return to cover the earth.
The first legal word in the psalm. Water is not destroyed, it is given a limit and held to it, which makes dry land a standing decision rather than a fact.
10
הַמְשַׁלֵּחַ מַעְיָנִים בַּנְּחָלִים
בֵּין הָרִים יְהַלֵּכוּן
הַמְשַׁלֵּחַ
ham-sha-LE-ach
who sends
מַעְיָנִים
ma-ya-NIM
springs
בַּנְּחָלִים
ban-cha-LIM
into the wadis
who sends springs into the wadis;
הָרִים
ha-RIM
the mountains
יְהַלֵּכוּן
ye-ha-le-CHUN
they go
between the mountains they go.
The same water returns, now under orders and useful. It runs where the flood was sent away from, in the dry beds between the hills.
11
יַשְׁקוּ כׇּל חַיְתוֹ שָׂדָי
יִשְׁבְּרוּ פְרָאִים צְמָאָם
יַשְׁקוּ
yash-KU
they give drink to
They water every beast of the field;
יִשְׁבְּרוּ
yish-BRU
they quench
צְמָאָם
tze-ma-AM
their thirst
the wild asses quench their thirst.
The first beneficiaries of the water are not people. Four verses go to animals before a human being appears, and the wild ass is the animal that belongs to nobody.
12
עֲלֵיהֶם עוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם יִשְׁכּוֹן
מִבֵּין עֳפָאיִם יִתְּנוּ קוֹל
עֲלֵיהֶם
a-LEI-hem
beside them
הַשָּׁמַיִם
ha-sha-MA-yim
the heavens
Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;
עֳפָאיִם
o-fa-YIM
the foliage
from among the foliage they give voice.
Birds are placed by their address, next to the water and inside the branches. The last two words say only that they make a sound, without saying what it means.
13
מַשְׁקֶה הָרִים מֵעֲלִיּוֹתָיו
מִפְּרִי מַעֲשֶׂיךָ תִּשְׂבַּע הָאָרֶץ
מַשְׁקֶה
mash-KE
who waters
הָרִים
ha-RIM
the mountains
מֵעֲלִיּוֹתָיו
me-a-li-yo-TAV
from His upper chambers
who waters the mountains from His upper chambers;
מִפְּרִי
mip-RI
from the fruit of
מַעֲשֶׂיךָ
ma-a-sei-CHA
Your works
תִּשְׂבַּע
TIS-ba
is satisfied
הָאָרֶץ
ha-A-retz
the earth
from the fruit of Your works the earth is satisfied.
The upper chambers of verse 3 turn out to have a function, which is rain. Note the switch from His to Your inside one verse; the psalm does this repeatedly and never smooths it out.
14
מַצְמִיחַ חָצִיר לַבְּהֵמָה
וְעֵשֶׂב לַעֲבֹדַת הָאָדָם
לְהוֹצִיא לֶחֶם מִן הָאָרֶץ
מַצְמִיחַ
matz-MI-ach
who makes grow
לַבְּהֵמָה
lab-he-MA
for the cattle
who makes grass grow for the cattle,
וְעֵשֶׂב
ve-E-sev
and plants
לַעֲבֹדַת
la-a-vo-DAT
for the labour of
and plants for the labour of man,
לְהוֹצִיא
le-ho-TZI
to bring forth
הָאָרֶץ
ha-A-retz
the earth
to bring bread out of the earth,
Two kinds of green for two audiences, one grazed and one worked. Bread is described as something the earth is made to bring out, not as something a farmer makes.
15
וְיַיִן יְשַׂמַּח לְבַב אֱנוֹשׁ
לְהַצְהִיל פָּנִים מִשָּׁמֶן
וְלֶחֶם לְבַב אֱנוֹשׁ יִסְעָד
יְשַׂמַּח
ye-sa-MACH
that gladdens
and wine that gladdens the heart of a mortal,
לְהַצְהִיל
le-hatz-HIL
to make shine
מִשָּׁמֶן
mi-SHA-men
with oil
to make the face shine with oil,
וְלֶחֶם
ve-LE-chem
and bread
and bread that sustains a mortal's heart.
Past survival. Bread, wine and oil are the standard triad of the land's produce, and only the first keeps anyone alive; the other two are for gladness and for a face that shines.
16
יִשְׂבְּעוּ עֲצֵי יְהֹוָה
אַרְזֵי לְבָנוֹן אֲשֶׁר נָטָע
יִשְׂבְּעוּ
yis-be-U
are satisfied
The trees of the LORD are satisfied,
אַרְזֵי
ar-ZEI
the cedars of
the cedars of Lebanon which He planted,
Trees nobody planted and nobody irrigates. Cedars are the biblical measure of what is too large for human management, so they are listed as fed rather than as harvested.
17
אֲשֶׁר שָׁם צִפֳּרִים יְקַנֵּנוּ
חֲסִידָה בְּרוֹשִׁים בֵּיתָהּ
יְקַנֵּנוּ
ye-ka-ne-NU
make nests
where the birds make their nests;
חֲסִידָה
cha-si-DA
the stork
בְּרוֹשִׁים
bro-SHIM
the cypresses
בֵּיתָהּ
bei-TAH
are her house
the stork, the cypresses are her house.
The tree is now described from the bird's side. A cypress is not scenery in this line, it is a house with a named occupant.
18
הָרִים הַגְּבֹהִים לַיְּעֵלִים
סְלָעִים מַחְסֶה לַשְׁפַנִּים
הָרִים
ha-RIM
the mountains
הַגְּבֹהִים
hag-vo-HIM
the high
לַיְּעֵלִים
lay-e-LIM
for the wild goats
The high mountains are for the wild goats,
לַשְׁפַנִּים
lash-fa-NIM
for the rock badgers
the crags a refuge for the rock badgers.
Two habitats nobody else wants, high ground and bare rock. The psalm keeps assigning places, and the assignment is itself the provision.
19
עָשָׂה יָרֵחַ לְמוֹעֲדִים
שֶׁמֶשׁ יָדַע מְבוֹאוֹ
לְמוֹעֲדִים
le-mo-a-DIM
for appointed times
He made the moon for appointed times;
מְבוֹאוֹ
me-vo-O
its setting
the sun knows its setting.
The moon is given a job and the sun keeps a schedule. Time enters here, and the next four verses run one full night and day through it.
20
תָּשֶׁת חֹשֶׁךְ וִיהִי לָיְלָה
בּוֹ תִרְמֹשׂ כׇּל חַיְתוֹ יָעַר
You make darkness and it is night,
in it every beast of the forest creeps about.
Darkness is made, not merely allowed to fall. Night is the shift when the forest animals hold the world, and the psalm does not treat that as a threat.
21
הַכְּפִירִים שֹׁאֲגִים לַטָּרֶף
וּלְבַקֵּשׁ מֵאֵל אׇכְלָם
הַכְּפִירִים
hak-fi-RIM
the young lions
לַטָּרֶף
la-TA-ref
for prey
The young lions roar for prey,
וּלְבַקֵּשׁ
ul-va-KESH
and to seek
and to seek their food from God.
The roar is classified as a form of asking. The verse turns a predator into a creature waiting on a table it does not set.
22
תִּזְרַח הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ יֵאָסֵפוּן
וְאֶל מְעוֹנֹתָם יִרְבָּצוּן
הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ
ha-SHE-mesh
the sun
יֵאָסֵפוּן
ye-a-se-FUN
they gather themselves in
The sun rises, they gather themselves in,
מְעוֹנֹתָם
me-o-no-TAM
their dens
יִרְבָּצוּן
yir-ba-TZUN
they lie down
and lie down in their dens.
Sunrise closes the animals' shift. Two verbs with the same archaic ending end the night, and the next verse opens the human one.
23
יֵצֵא אָדָם לְפׇעֳלוֹ
וְלַעֲבֹדָתוֹ עֲדֵי עָרֶב
לְפׇעֳלוֹ
le-fo-o-LO
to his work
A man goes out to his work,
וְלַעֲבֹדָתוֹ
ve-la-a-vo-da-TO
and to his labour
and to his labour until evening.
One verse for humanity, the same six words the lions were given. The working day is bounded at both ends, and the boundary named here is evening.
24
מָה רַבּוּ מַעֲשֶׂיךָ יְהֹוָה
כֻּלָּם בְּחׇכְמָה עָשִׂיתָ
מָלְאָה הָאָרֶץ קִנְיָנֶךָ
מַעֲשֶׂיךָ
ma-a-sei-CHA
Your works
How many are Your works, LORD!
בְּחׇכְמָה
be-choch-MA
in wisdom
In wisdom You made them all;
הָאָרֶץ
ha-A-retz
the earth
קִנְיָנֶךָ
kin-ya-ne-CHA
Your creatures
the earth is full of Your creatures.
The catalogue breaks off and the psalm exclaims. Wisdom is named as the method, which is as close as this psalm comes to a theory of how the world was made.
25
זֶה הַיָּם גָּדוֹל וּרְחַב יָדָיִם
שָׁם רֶמֶשׂ וְאֵין מִסְפָּר
חַיּוֹת קְטַנּוֹת עִם גְּדֹלוֹת
וּרְחַב
ur-CHAV
and broad of
This sea, great and broad of hands,
רֶמֶשׂ
RE-mes
creeping things
וְאֵין
ve-EIN
and there is no
there are creeping things beyond number,
חַיּוֹת
cha-YOT
living things
living things small along with great.
The sea is the single largest item in the catalogue and takes thirteen words, a length matched only by the closing verse. Its contents are counted only as uncountable.
26
שָׁם אֳנִיּוֹת יְהַלֵּכוּן
לִוְיָתָן זֶה יָצַרְתָּ לְשַׂחֶק בּוֹ
יְהַלֵּכוּן
ye-ha-le-CHUN
go
There the ships go,
לִוְיָתָן
liv-ya-TAN
Leviathan
יָצַרְתָּ
ya-tzar-TA
You formed
לְשַׂחֶק
le-SA-chek
to play
there is Leviathan, whom You formed to play in it.
Cargo traffic and the sea monster share one lane. The last two words are the ones the tradition argued over, because they can put the playing on either side.
27
כֻּלָּם אֵלֶיךָ יְשַׂבֵּרוּן
לָתֵת אׇכְלָם בְּעִתּוֹ
יְשַׂבֵּרוּן
ye-sa-be-RUN
look in hope
All of them look to You,
בְּעִתּוֹ
be-i-TO
in its time
to give them their food in its time.
The catalogue becomes dependence. Everything listed since verse 10 collapses into one subject, all of them, and one posture, waiting.
28
תִּתֵּן לָהֶם יִלְקֹטוּן
תִּפְתַּח יָדְךָ יִשְׂבְּעוּן טוֹב
יִלְקֹטוּן
yil-ko-TUN
they gather
You give to them, they gather;
תִּפְתַּח
tif-TACH
You open
יִשְׂבְּעוּן
yis-be-UN
they are satisfied with
You open Your hand, they are filled with good.
Four verbs in seven words, alternating between the hand that opens and the mouths that fill. Nothing is stored; the giving and the gathering happen in the same breath.
29
תַּסְתִּיר פָּנֶיךָ יִבָּהֵלוּן
תֹּסֵף רוּחָם יִגְוָעוּן
וְאֶל עֲפָרָם יְשׁוּבוּן
תַּסְתִּיר
tas-TIR
You hide
פָּנֶיךָ
pa-nei-CHA
Your face
יִבָּהֵלוּן
yi-ba-he-LUN
they are terrified
You hide Your face, they are terrified;
תֹּסֵף
to-SEF
You gather in
רוּחָם
ru-CHAM
their breath
יִגְוָעוּן
yig-va-UN
they expire
You gather in their breath, they expire,
עֲפָרָם
a-fa-RAM
their dust
יְשׁוּבוּן
ye-shu-VUN
they return
and to their dust they return.
The same grammar delivers death. Hiding the face and taking back the breath are the exact negatives of opening the hand, and the verse ends on the word from Genesis 3, dust.
30
תְּשַׁלַּח רוּחֲךָ יִבָּרֵאוּן
וּתְחַדֵּשׁ פְּנֵי אֲדָמָה
תְּשַׁלַּח
tsha-LACH
You send
רוּחֲךָ
ru-cha-CHA
Your breath
יִבָּרֵאוּן
yi-ba-re-UN
they are created
You send Your breath, they are created,
וּתְחַדֵּשׁ
ut-cha-DESH
and You renew
and You renew the face of the ground.
One noun covers wind, breath and spirit, so the wind of verse 4 turns out to be what animates the animals of verse 29. Renewal is described as a face changing, not as a repair.
31
יְהִי כְבוֹד יְהֹוָה לְעוֹלָם
יִשְׂמַח יְהֹוָה בְּמַעֲשָׂיו
כְבוֹד
che-VOD
the glory of
May the glory of the LORD last for ever;
יִשְׂמַח
yis-MACH
may He rejoice
בְּמַעֲשָׂיו
be-ma-a-SAV
in His works
may the LORD rejoice in His works.
The first request in the psalm, after thirty verses of pure description. What it asks for is that the maker go on enjoying what was made.
32
הַמַּבִּיט לָאָרֶץ וַתִּרְעָד
יִגַּע בֶּהָרִים וְיֶעֱשָׁנוּ
הַמַּבִּיט
ha-ma-BIT
who looks
לָאָרֶץ
la-A-retz
at the earth
וַתִּרְעָד
va-tir-AD
and it trembles
who looks at the earth and it trembles,
בֶּהָרִים
be-ha-RIM
the mountains
וְיֶעֱשָׁנוּ
ve-ye-e-sha-NU
and they smoke
touches the mountains and they smoke.
The earth that could not be shaken in verse 5 shakes under a glance. The verse follows the request on purpose: what was asked for is not a mild thing.
33
אָשִׁירָה לַיהֹוָה בְּחַיָּי
אֲזַמְּרָה לֵאלֹהַי בְּעוֹדִי
אָשִׁירָה
a-shi-RA
I will sing
לַיהֹוָה
lai-ho-VA
to the LORD
בְּחַיָּי
be-cha-YAI
while I live
I will sing to the LORD while I live,
אֲזַמְּרָה
a-zam-RA
I will make music
לֵאלֹהַי
le-lo-HAI
to my God
בְּעוֹדִי
be-o-DI
while I still am
I will make music to my God while I still am.
The speaker returns, absent since verse 1. Two verbs of singing, each with a time limit attached, and the limit is one human lifetime.
34
יֶעֱרַב עָלָיו שִׂיחִי
אָנֹכִי אֶשְׂמַח בַּיהֹוָה
יֶעֱרַב
ye-e-RAV
may it be sweet
May my musing be sweet to Him;
אֶשְׂמַח
es-MACH
will rejoice
בַּיהֹוָה
bai-ho-VA
in the LORD
as for me, I will rejoice in the LORD.
What is offered is the speech itself, and it is offered in the hope of being accepted. Sweet here is the vocabulary of an offering that is received.
35
יִתַּמּוּ חַטָּאִים מִן הָאָרֶץ
וּרְשָׁעִים עוֹד אֵינָם
בָּרְכִי נַפְשִׁי אֶת יְהֹוָה
הַלְלוּ יָהּ
יִתַּמּוּ
yi-ta-MU
may they be finished
חַטָּאִים
cha-ta-IM
sinners
הָאָרֶץ
ha-A-retz
the earth
May sinners be finished from the earth,
וּרְשָׁעִים
ur-sha-IM
and the wicked
and the wicked be no more.
The one harsh line in the psalm, and the tradition read it against itself. Then the opening returns word for word, and the first halleluyah in the book closes the whole thing.
♦ 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
A tour of the world in the order of Genesis 1, with one command wrapped around it. Verses 1 to 4 dress God and pitch the sky; 5 to 9 set the earth and push the water back behind a boundary; 10 to 18 let the same water out again and follow it to everything that drinks it; 19 to 23 run a night and a day; 24 stops to exclaim; 25 and 26 handle the sea; 27 to 30 turn the catalogue into dependence, where food, breath and death all come from the same hand; 31 to 35 respond. The frame is exact: בָּרְכִי (bar-chi, v.1) and נַפְשִׁי (naf-shi, v.1) return as בָּרְכִי (bar-chi, v.35) and נַפְשִׁי (naf-shi, v.35), so everything between is what the soul is being told to bless. Two habits are worth watching while reading. The psalm names participles rather than actions, so God is identified by what He is always doing, and it slides between He and You without warning, as at verse 13, where the upper chambers are His and the works in the same verse are Yours.
רמז · Remez: allusion
Verse 4 is ambiguous in the Hebrew and the ambiguity is not resolvable from word order alone: עֹשֶׂה (o-se, v.4) with מַלְאָכָיו (mal-a-chav, v.4) and רוּחוֹת (ru-chot, v.4) can mean who makes winds His messengers, or who makes His messengers into winds. The first keeps the verse in the weather of verses 2 and 3, the second makes it a line about angels, and both readings are old. Verse 8 has the same problem with subjects: יַעֲלוּ (ya-a-lu, v.8) and יֵרְדוּ (yer-du, v.8) can describe mountains rising and valleys sinking as the land emerges, or the water of verse 7 running up and down the terrain as it flees. In מִשָּׁמֶן (mi-sha-men, v.15) the prefix is the ambiguous mem, so the face shines with oil or shines more than oil. וּרְחַב (ur-chav, v.25) with יָדָיִם (ya-da-yim, v.25) is literally broad of hands, an idiom for wide reaching, and יִשְׁבְּרוּ (yish-bru, v.11) is literally to break, used here of breaking a thirst. Then there is the ending -un on more than a dozen verbs, from יְנוּסוּן (ye-nu-sun, v.7) to יִבָּרֵאוּן (yi-ba-re-un, v.30): it adds nothing to the meaning and is one of the clearest markers in the book that a text is deliberately archaic.
דרש · Drash: midrashic reading
The Talmud at Berakhot 10a reports the best known reading of the last verse. Rabbi Meir prayed for the death of the troublemakers in his neighbourhood, and Beruriah, his wife, pointed at חַטָּאִים (cha-ta-im, v.35): the consonants say chata'im, which can be read as sins rather than as sinners, and the next clause then follows on its own, because once sins are finished the wicked are no more. Rabbi Meir prayed for their repentance instead. On לְשַׂחֶק (le-sa-chek, v.26) the Talmud at Avodah Zarah 3b reads the playing as God's own, and says He spends part of each day playing with Leviathan, which turns the verse from a note on sea life into a statement that creation includes leisure. The custom of saying this psalm on Rosh Chodesh is usually explained from two lines inside it, יָרֵחַ (ya-re-ach, v.19), the moon made for appointed times, and וּתְחַדֵּשׁ (ut-cha-desh, v.30), the renewal of the face of the ground, so the monthly renewal of the moon and the renewal of the world are read as one subject.
סוד · Sod: mystical reading
The garment of עֹטֶה (o-te, v.2) and אוֹר (or, v.2) is the standard mystical image for a light that hides what it reveals: what can be seen of God is exactly the covering, and the world is the outside of the garment. The midrashic tradition on the first day of creation answers the question of where that light came from by pointing at this verse. The deeper move is in verses 29 and 30, which use one word, ruach, for wind, breath and spirit, and describe creatures as created when it is sent and expiring when it is gathered back. Read that way the psalm is not about an event but about a continuous supply: nothing here holds itself in existence for a moment, and the difference between a living animal and dust is which direction the breath is moving. לְשַׂחֶק (le-sa-chek, v.26) belongs to the same reading. A world made for play is a world not made from need, which is the usual mystical answer to why anything was created at all.