Forty five verses of history turned into a hymn. It opens with ten plural imperatives, give thanks, call, make known, sing, seek, remember, then drops the commands and runs the rest of the story on the narrative tense, one vav-consecutive verb after another. That is the most common verb form in biblical prose, and this is a good place to learn it because the sentences are short and the vocabulary repeats. Verses 1 to 15 appear almost word for word in 1 Chronicles 16, in the account of the ark coming up to Jerusalem, and the Hodu passage of the morning service is taken from that version. Notice what the psalm leaves out: from Abraham to the land, not one Israelite sin. Psalm 106, its neighbour, tells the same history with almost nothing else.
1
הוֹדוּ לַיהֹוָה קִרְאוּ בִשְׁמוֹ
הוֹדִיעוּ בָעַמִּים עֲלִילוֹתָיו
לַיהֹוָה
lai-ho-VA
to the LORD
בִשְׁמוֹ
vish-MO
on His name
Give thanks to the LORD, call on His name;
הוֹדִיעוּ
ho-di-U
make known
בָעַמִּים
va-a-MIM
among the peoples
עֲלִילוֹתָיו
a-li-lo-TAV
His deeds
make His deeds known among the peoples.
Three plural imperatives in seven words: give thanks, call, make known. The last one points outward, to the nations, before the story of Israel has begun.
2
שִׁירוּ לוֹ זַמְּרוּ לוֹ
שִׂיחוּ בְּכׇל נִפְלְאוֹתָיו
זַמְּרוּ
zam-RU
sing praise
Sing to Him, sing praise to Him;
נִפְלְאוֹתָיו
nif-le-o-TAV
His wonders
speak of all His wonders.
Two verbs for singing, then a third that means to talk something over. Praise here includes conversation about what happened, not only music.
3
הִתְהַלְלוּ בְּשֵׁם קׇדְשׁוֹ
יִשְׂמַח לֵב מְבַקְשֵׁי יְהֹוָה
הִתְהַלְלוּ
hit-hal-LU
glory yourselves
בְּשֵׁם
be-SHEM
in the name of
קׇדְשׁוֹ
kod-SHO
His holiness
Glory in His holy name;
יִשְׂמַח
yis-MACH
let it rejoice
מְבַקְשֵׁי
me-vak-SHEI
those who seek
let the heart of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
The only boasting the psalm allows is boasting in a name that is not yours. In the second line the subject is the heart, not the person.
4
דִּרְשׁוּ יְהֹוָה וְעֻזּוֹ
בַּקְּשׁוּ פָנָיו תָּמִיד
וְעֻזּוֹ
ve-u-ZO
and His strength
Seek the LORD and His strength;
Seek twice, with two different verbs. The object shifts from the LORD and His strength to His face, which in the psalms means presence rather than a body.
5
זִכְרוּ נִפְלְאוֹתָיו אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה
מֹפְתָיו וּמִשְׁפְּטֵי פִיו
נִפְלְאוֹתָיו
nif-le-o-TAV
His wonders
Remember the wonders He has done,
מֹפְתָיו
mof-TAV
His portents
וּמִשְׁפְּטֵי
u-mish-PTEI
and the judgments of
His portents and the judgments of His mouth,
The call to praise ends with a call to remember, and remembering is the hinge. The next forty verses are the content of that memory.
6
זֶרַע אַבְרָהָם עַבְדּוֹ
בְּנֵי יַעֲקֹב בְּחִירָיו
אַבְרָהָם
av-ra-HAM
Abraham
you seed of Abraham His servant,
בְּחִירָיו
be-chi-RAV
His chosen ones
you sons of Jacob, His chosen ones.
The audience is named at last, and named by descent. Two construct chains, seed of and sons of, place the singers inside the story about to be told.
7
הוּא יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ
בְּכׇל הָאָרֶץ מִשְׁפָּטָיו
אֱלֹהֵינוּ
e-lo-hei-NU
our God
He is the LORD our God;
הָאָרֶץ
ha-A-retz
the earth
מִשְׁפָּטָיו
mish-pa-TAV
His judgments
His judgments are in all the earth.
One clause of theology before the narrative starts. The jurisdiction claimed is global, which matters for a story about a single family.
8
זָכַר לְעוֹלָם בְּרִיתוֹ
דָּבָר צִוָּה לְאֶלֶף דּוֹר
זָכַר
za-CHAR
He remembered
בְּרִיתוֹ
bri-TO
His covenant
He remembers His covenant forever,
לְאֶלֶף
le-E-lef
to a thousand
the word He commanded to a thousand generations,
The verb remembered now governs the rest of the psalm. God is the one doing the remembering here, not the congregation that was told to remember in verse 5.
9
אֲשֶׁר כָּרַת אֶת אַבְרָהָם
וּשְׁבוּעָתוֹ לְיִשְׂחָק
אַבְרָהָם
av-ra-HAM
Abraham
which He cut with Abraham,
וּשְׁבוּעָתוֹ
ush-vu-a-TO
and His oath
לְיִשְׂחָק
lyis-CHAK
to Isaac
and His oath to Isaac,
The idiom for making a covenant is cutting one, from the halved animals of the ceremony in Genesis 15. The oath to Isaac is the same promise reissued.
10
וַיַּעֲמִידֶהָ לְיַעֲקֹב לְחֹק
לְיִשְׂרָאֵל בְּרִית עוֹלָם
וַיַּעֲמִידֶהָ
va-ya-a-mi-de-A
and He established it
לְיַעֲקֹב
lya-a-KOV
for Jacob
and He set it up for Jacob as a statute,
לְיִשְׂרָאֵל
lyis-ra-EL
for Israel
for Israel as an everlasting covenant,
One promise, three recipients, three legal words: statute, covenant, eternity. The repetition is not decoration, it is how a title deed gets drafted.
11
לֵאמֹר לְךָ אֶתֵּן אֶת אֶרֶץ כְּנָעַן
חֶבֶל נַחֲלַתְכֶם
saying: To you I give the land of Canaan,
חֶבֶל
CHE-vel
the measured portion of
נַחֲלַתְכֶם
na-cha-LAT-chem
your inheritance
the portion of your inheritance.
The content of the covenant, quoted as direct speech, is a piece of real estate. The word for portion is a measuring rope, the surveyor's tool.
12
בִּהְיוֹתָם מְתֵי מִסְפָּר
כִּמְעַט וְגָרִים בָּהּ
בִּהְיוֹתָם
bih-o-TAM
when they were
when they were men few in number,
וְגָרִים
ve-ga-RIM
and sojourners
very few, and strangers in it,
The promise comes first and the facts come second: the heirs are a handful of resident aliens who own none of the land. That gap is the psalm's subject.
13
וַיִּתְהַלְּכוּ מִגּוֹי אֶל גּוֹי
מִמַּמְלָכָה אֶל עַם אַחֵר
וַיִּתְהַלְּכוּ
va-yit-hal-CHU
and they wandered
מִגּוֹי
mi-GOI
from a nation
and they went about from nation to nation,
מִמַּמְלָכָה
mi-mam-la-CHA
from a kingdom
from one kingdom to another people,
Movement with no arrival. The syntax repeats from and to twice, which is what having no country sounds like in Hebrew.
14
לֹא הִנִּיחַ אָדָם לְעׇשְׁקָם
וַיּוֹכַח עֲלֵיהֶם מְלָכִים
הִנִּיחַ
hi-NI-ach
He allowed
לְעׇשְׁקָם
le-osh-KAM
to oppress them
He let no one oppress them,
וַיּוֹכַח
va-yo-CHACH
and He rebuked
עֲלֵיהֶם
a-LEI-hem
on their account
and He rebuked kings on their account:
Protection is described as restraint placed on other people. The kings are rebuked rather than destroyed, and the family never has to fight.
15
אַל תִּגְּעוּ בִמְשִׁיחָי
וְלִנְבִיאַי אַל תָּרֵעוּ
בִמְשִׁיחָי
vim-shi-CHAI
against My anointed ones
Do not touch My anointed ones,
וְלִנְבִיאַי
ve-lin-vi-AI
and to My prophets
and do My prophets no harm.
The only divine speech in the psalm besides the land grant, and both halves of it are negative commands. The covenant is enforced by what outsiders are forbidden to do.
16
וַיִּקְרָא רָעָב עַל הָאָרֶץ
כׇּל מַטֵּה לֶחֶם שָׁבָר
וַיִּקְרָא
va-yik-RA
and He called
And He called a famine upon the land;
He broke every staff of bread.
The famine is summoned like a servant. Staff of bread is an idiom for the supply that holds a household upright, so breaking it means removing support.
17
שָׁלַח לִפְנֵיהֶם אִישׁ
לְעֶבֶד נִמְכַּר יוֹסֵף
לִפְנֵיהֶם
lif-NEI-hem
before them
He sent a man before them;
לְעֶבֶד
le-E-ved
as a slave
as a slave Joseph was sold.
The sentence hides the brothers. Someone sent, someone was sold, and only at the end of the line does the name Joseph appear.
18
עִנּוּ בַכֶּבֶל רַגְלוֹ
בַּרְזֶל בָּאָה נַפְשׁוֹ
בַכֶּבֶל
va-KE-vel
with the fetter
They bruised his foot with the fetter;
Two body parts under metal in two clauses, foot and soul. The second clause reverses the expected direction: the iron comes to him, not he to the iron.
19
עַד עֵת בֹּא דְבָרוֹ
אִמְרַת יְהֹוָה צְרָפָתְהוּ
until the time his word came to pass,
אִמְרַת
im-RAT
the saying of
צְרָפָתְהוּ
tze-ra-fat-HU
refined him
the saying of the LORD refined him.
Time is measured by a word arriving, and two different nouns for word sit in one verse. The prison is described as an assay, the test that separates metal from dross.
20
שָׁלַח מֶלֶךְ וַיַּתִּירֵהוּ
מֹשֵׁל עַמִּים וַיְפַתְּחֵהוּ
וַיַּתִּירֵהוּ
va-ya-ti-re-HU
and he released him
The king sent and released him,
וַיְפַתְּחֵהוּ
vai-fat-che-HU
and he set him free
the ruler of peoples, and set him free.
The king is the subject of three verbs and is never named. Release is said twice, once as untying and once as opening.
21
שָׂמוֹ אָדוֹן לְבֵיתוֹ
וּמֹשֵׁל בְּכׇל קִנְיָנוֹ
לְבֵיתוֹ
le-vei-TO
over his house
He made him lord over his house,
וּמֹשֵׁל
u-mo-SHEL
and ruler
קִנְיָנוֹ
kin-ya-NO
his property
and ruler over all his property,
The prisoner of verse 18 now holds authority over a house and its holdings. The reversal is told in six words with no comment attached.
22
לֶאְסֹר שָׂרָיו בְּנַפְשׁוֹ
וּזְקֵנָיו יְחַכֵּם
בְּנַפְשׁוֹ
bnaf-SHO
at his will
to bind his princes at his will,
וּזְקֵנָיו
uz-ke-NAV
and his elders
יְחַכֵּם
ye-cha-KEM
he would make wise
and to teach his elders wisdom.
Binding returns, but Joseph is doing it now, and to princes. The last verb is teaching, which is what this whole section is being used to illustrate.
23
וַיָּבֹא יִשְׂרָאֵל מִצְרָיִם
וְיַעֲקֹב גָּר בְּאֶרֶץ חָם
וַיָּבֹא
va-ya-VO
and he came
יִשְׂרָאֵל
yis-ra-EL
Israel
מִצְרָיִם
mitz-ra-YIM
to Egypt
And Israel came to Egypt,
וְיַעֲקֹב
ve-ya-a-KOV
and Jacob
בְּאֶרֶץ
be-E-retz
in the land of
and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.
One man's two names carry a whole nation into a new country. Ham is the ancestor of Egypt in the table of nations, so the geography here is genealogical.
24
וַיֶּפֶר אֶת עַמּוֹ מְאֹד
וַיַּעֲצִמֵהוּ מִצָּרָיו
וַיֶּפֶר
va-YE-fer
and He made fruitful
And He made His people very fruitful,
וַיַּעֲצִמֵהוּ
va-ya-a-tzi-me-HU
and He made it stronger
מִצָּרָיו
mi-tza-RAV
than its foes
and made them stronger than their foes.
The growth fulfils the promise made to the fathers and triggers everything that follows. Strength here is comparative, measured against the people next door.
25
הָפַךְ לִבָּם לִשְׂנֹא עַמּוֹ
לְהִתְנַכֵּל בַּעֲבָדָיו
He turned their heart to hate His people,
לְהִתְנַכֵּל
le-hit-na-KEL
to deal craftily
בַּעֲבָדָיו
ba-a-va-DAV
with His servants
to deal craftily with His servants.
The turning of the heart is attributed to God, the same difficulty the Exodus narrative raises about Pharaoh. The psalm states it without softening it.
26
שָׁלַח מֹשֶׁה עַבְדּוֹ
אַהֲרֹן אֲשֶׁר בָּחַר בּוֹ
He sent Moses His servant,
Aaron, whom He had chosen.
Two names, one sent and one chosen. Against the massed adversaries of the preceding verses stand exactly two men.
27
שָׂמוּ בָם דִּבְרֵי אֹתוֹתָיו
וּמֹפְתִים בְּאֶרֶץ חָם
דִּבְרֵי
div-REI
the words of
אֹתוֹתָיו
o-to-TAV
His signs
They set among them the words of His signs,
וּמֹפְתִים
u-mof-TIM
and portents
בְּאֶרֶץ
be-E-retz
in the land of
and portents in the land of Ham.
An unusual construct, the words of His signs, treats the plagues as speech. The signs are placed among the Egyptians rather than merely done to them.
28
שָׁלַח חֹשֶׁךְ וַיַּחְשִׁךְ
וְלֹא מָרוּ אֶת דְּבָרוֹ
וַיַּחְשִׁךְ
va-yach-SHICH
and it grew dark
He sent darkness and it grew dark,
and they did not rebel against His word.
Darkness comes first here, though it is ninth in Exodus. The second line is the most argued sentence in the psalm, and the remez note below sets out why.
29
הָפַךְ אֶת מֵימֵיהֶם לְדָם
וַיָּמֶת אֶת דְּגָתָם
מֵימֵיהֶם
mei-MEI-hem
their waters
He turned their waters into blood,
וַיָּמֶת
va-YA-met
and He killed
דְּגָתָם
dga-TAM
their fish
and killed their fish.
Water into blood, then the death of what lives in the water. Cause and consequence are packed into a single verse with the same verb pattern twice.
30
שָׁרַץ אַרְצָם צְפַרְדְּעִים
בְּחַדְרֵי מַלְכֵיהֶם
צְפַרְדְּעִים
tze-far-de-IM
frogs
Their land swarmed with frogs,
בְּחַדְרֵי
be-chad-REI
in the chambers of
מַלְכֵיהֶם
mal-CHEI-hem
their kings
in the chambers of their kings.
The verb for swarming is the one used of small creatures on the fifth day of Genesis 1, so creation is running in the wrong direction. The frogs reach the royal bedrooms.
31
אָמַר וַיָּבֹא עָרֹב
כִּנִּים בְּכׇל גְּבוּלָם
וַיָּבֹא
va-ya-VO
and there came
עָרֹב
a-ROV
a swarm of flies
He spoke, and a swarm of flies came,
גְּבוּלָם
gvu-LAM
their territory
gnats in all their territory.
He spoke and it came, the shape of the creation account used destructively. Two species share one verse, which keeps the list moving fast.
32
נָתַן גִּשְׁמֵיהֶם בָּרָד
אֵשׁ לֶהָבוֹת בְּאַרְצָם
גִּשְׁמֵיהֶם
gish-MEI-hem
their rains
He gave them hail for their rain,
לֶהָבוֹת
le-ha-VOT
of flames
בְּאַרְצָם
be-ar-TZAM
in their land
flaming fire in their land.
Hail is given in place of rain, so the language of gift is kept and inverted. Fire and ice occupy the same sky in the same sentence.
33
וַיַּךְ גַּפְנָם וּתְאֵנָתָם
וַיְשַׁבֵּר עֵץ גְּבוּלָם
וַיַּךְ
va-YACH
and He struck
גַּפְנָם
gaf-NAM
their vine
וּתְאֵנָתָם
ut-e-na-TAM
and their fig tree
And He struck their vine and their fig tree,
וַיְשַׁבֵּר
vai-sha-BER
and He shattered
גְּבוּלָם
gvu-LAM
their territory
and shattered the trees of their territory.
Vine and fig tree are the standard biblical pair for settled prosperity. Striking them is striking the idea of a country secure enough to plant slow crops.
34
אָמַר וַיָּבֹא אַרְבֶּה וְיֶלֶק
וְאֵין מִסְפָּר
וַיָּבֹא
va-ya-VO
and there came
וְיֶלֶק
ve-YE-lek
and hopper
He spoke, and the locust came, and the hopper,
וְאֵין
ve-EIN
and there was no
beyond number,
The opening of verse 31 repeats word for word, which is how a list builds pressure. What arrives this time cannot be counted at all.
35
וַיֹּאכַל כׇּל עֵשֶׂב בְּאַרְצָם
וַיֹּאכַל פְּרִי אַדְמָתָם
וַיֹּאכַל
va-yo-CHAL
and it ate
בְּאַרְצָם
be-ar-TZAM
in their land
and it ate every plant in their land,
וַיֹּאכַל
va-yo-CHAL
and it ate
אַדְמָתָם
ad-ma-TAM
their ground
and it ate the fruit of their ground.
The same verb twice, ate and ate, first the green growth and then the fruit. Nothing is left at either stage of the season.
36
וַיַּךְ כׇּל בְּכוֹר בְּאַרְצָם
רֵאשִׁית לְכׇל אוֹנָם
וַיַּךְ
va-YACH
and He struck
בְּאַרְצָם
be-ar-TZAM
in their land
And He struck every firstborn in their land,
רֵאשִׁית
re-SHIT
the first of
the first of all their vigour.
The last plague is told with no dialogue and no Passover. First of their vigour is a biblical idiom for the eldest son as his father's first strength.
37
וַיּוֹצִיאֵם בְּכֶסֶף וְזָהָב
וְאֵין בִּשְׁבָטָיו כּוֹשֵׁל
וַיּוֹצִיאֵם
va-yo-tzi-EM
and He brought them out
בְּכֶסֶף
be-CHE-sef
with silver
And He brought them out with silver and gold,
וְאֵין
ve-EIN
and there was none
בִּשְׁבָטָיו
bish-va-TAV
among His tribes
and none among His tribes stumbled.
Leaving with property answers what was said to Abraham in Genesis 15 about his descendants coming out with great possessions. Nobody stumbles, which prepares the desert march.
38
שָׂמַח מִצְרַיִם בְּצֵאתָם
כִּי נָפַל פַּחְדָּם עֲלֵיהֶם
מִצְרַיִם
mitz-RA-yim
Egypt
בְּצֵאתָם
be-tze-TAM
at their going out
Egypt rejoiced when they went out,
פַּחְדָּם
pach-DAM
dread of them
עֲלֵיהֶם
a-LEI-hem
upon them
for dread of them had fallen upon them.
Egypt is glad to see them go, and the reason given is fear. The gladness is relief, not goodwill, and the psalm says so in the same breath.
39
פָּרַשׂ עָנָן לְמָסָךְ
וְאֵשׁ לְהָאִיר לָיְלָה
לְמָסָךְ
le-ma-SACH
as a screen
He spread a cloud as a screen,
לְהָאִיר
le-ha-IR
to give light
and fire to give light at night.
Cloud and fire, the two forms of the wilderness escort. Each gets a stated function here: shade during the day, light after dark.
40
שָׁאַל וַיָּבֵא שְׂלָו
וְלֶחֶם שָׁמַיִם יַשְׂבִּיעֵם
וַיָּבֵא
va-ya-VE
and He brought
He asked, and He brought quail,
וְלֶחֶם
ve-LE-chem
and with bread of
יַשְׂבִּיעֵם
yas-bi-EM
He satisfied them
and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
The first verb is singular though the sense needs the whole people, and translators have handled that differently for two thousand years. Quail and manna are compressed into one line.
41
פָּתַח צוּר וַיָּזוּבוּ מָיִם
הָלְכוּ בַּצִּיּוֹת נָהָר
וַיָּזוּבוּ
va-ya-zu-VU
and they flowed
He opened a rock and waters flowed;
בַּצִּיּוֹת
ba-tzi-YOT
in the dry places
they ran through the dry places, a river.
Water out of rock, and then a verb of walking applied to it. The desert is given a stream that behaves like a traveller crossing it.
42
כִּי זָכַר אֶת דְּבַר קׇדְשׁוֹ
אֶת אַבְרָהָם עַבְדּוֹ
זָכַר
za-CHAR
He remembered
קׇדְשׁוֹ
kod-SHO
His holiness
For He remembered His holy word
אַבְרָהָם
av-ra-HAM
Abraham
with Abraham His servant.
The reason clause, held back until now. Everything from the famine onward happened because of a sentence spoken to one man centuries before any of it.
43
וַיּוֹצִא עַמּוֹ בְשָׂשׂוֹן
בְּרִנָּה אֶת בְּחִירָיו
וַיּוֹצִא
va-yo-TZI
and He brought out
בְשָׂשׂוֹן
ve-sa-SON
with gladness
And He brought His people out with gladness,
בְּרִנָּה
bri-NA
with a glad cry
בְּחִירָיו
be-chi-RAV
His chosen ones
His chosen ones with a glad cry.
Two different words for joy in one line, one interior and one audible. The exit is staged as a procession rather than an escape.
44
וַיִּתֵּן לָהֶם אַרְצוֹת גּוֹיִם
וַעֲמַל לְאֻמִּים יִירָשׁוּ
וַיִּתֵּן
va-yi-TEN
and He gave
אַרְצוֹת
ar-TZOT
the lands of
And He gave them the lands of nations,
וַעֲמַל
va-a-MAL
and the labour of
יִירָשׁוּ
yi-ra-SHU
they took in possession
and they inherited the labour of peoples,
The land arrives, and with it the work other people already put into it. The psalm names that cost plainly instead of leaving it out.
45
בַּעֲבוּר יִשְׁמְרוּ חֻקָּיו וְתוֹרֹתָיו יִנְצֹרוּ
הַלְלוּ יָהּ
יִשְׁמְרוּ
yish-MRU
they would keep
חֻקָּיו
chu-KAV
His statutes
וְתוֹרֹתָיו
ve-to-ro-TAV
and His teachings
יִנְצֹרוּ
yin-tzo-RU
they would guard
so that they would keep His statutes and guard His teachings.
The purpose of the whole history fits in one subordinate clause, and the purpose is keeping. The final word is the short form of the Name.
♦ 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
Seven blocks. A call to praise (1 to 6), the covenant sworn to the fathers (7 to 11), the protection of a handful of migrants (12 to 15), Joseph (16 to 22), Egypt and the plagues (23 to 36), the exit and the desert (37 to 41), and the reason for all of it (42 to 45). One verb frames the narrative: זָכַר (za-char, v.8) where it begins and זָכַר (za-char, v.42) where it ends, both meaning He remembered. The plague list is a selection, not a chronicle. Eight appear rather than ten, with no cattle plague and no boils, and darkness is moved from ninth place to first. The psalm also runs out of story before Sinai: the sequence goes promise, danger, deliverance, land, and never passes through a mountain.
רמז · Remez: allusion
The hardest line in the psalm is וְלֹא (ve-lo, v.28) מָרוּ (ma-ru, v.28), and they did not rebel against His word. Who is not rebelling? Taken of the Egyptians it is odd, since resistance is the whole plot. Taken of Moses and Aaron it follows verse 27 well. The Greek version lacks the negative and reads that they rebelled, and modern translations still divide over which text to follow, so this is genuinely disputed rather than settled. Two smaller oddities reward attention. שָׁאַל (sha-al, v.40) is a singular verb, he asked, where the sense wants the people, and the old versions quietly make it plural. And חֶבֶל (che-vel, v.11), rendered portion, is literally a measured rope: the surveyor's line became the ordinary word for an allotment of land.
דרש · Drash: midrashic reading
Verse 15 is the psalm's only divine speech apart from the land grant, and it gives the patriarchs two titles, anointed and prophets. The second has a hook in the text: in Genesis 20 God tells Abimelech that Abraham is a prophet who will pray for him. Read this way the psalm functions as a charter. The claim to the land rests on an oath sworn to three individuals who owned nothing at the time, which is why the fathers are named and the generation at Sinai is not mentioned at all. The Joseph section carries the same logic on a small scale: the man thrown into a pit ends up holding the granary that keeps his family alive, so the descent gets read as provision arranged in advance rather than as an accident survived.
סוד · Sod: mystical reading
Remembering, in this psalm, is not a state of mind but an act that changes the world, and the two occurrences of the verb hold the whole narrative between them like brackets. The mystical reading takes the small numbers seriously: מְתֵי (me-tei, v.12) מִסְפָּר (mis-par, v.12), men of number, few enough to be counted, is the narrow point through which the entire promise has to pass, and the smallness is a condition of the thing rather than an obstacle to it. Joseph goes down first so that what comes after can be gathered up, the pattern later kabbalah generalises as descent for the sake of ascent. The psalm then ends on הַלְלוּ (hal-lu, v.45) יָהּ (yah, v.45), the shortest praise built on the shortest form of the Name, as though four hundred years of history compressed back down into two syllables.