Thirty-one verses of a man attacked by speech, answering with speech. The middle block, verses 6 to 19, is a curse violent enough that translators disagree about whose mouth it belongs in: the JPS version this page is built from puts the whole block inside quotation marks and reads it as the enemies' words quoted back at them. The psalm has no fixed place in the daily service, so most readers meet it only going through the book in order. Watch one detail travel the whole length: the accuser told to stand at the right hand in verse 6 is answered exactly in verse 31, where God stands at the right hand of the poor man.
1
לַמְנַצֵּחַ לְדָוִד מִזְמוֹר
אֱלֹהֵי תְהִלָּתִי אַל תֶּחֱרַשׁ
לַמְנַצֵּחַ
lam-na-TZE-ach
for the leader
For the leader. A psalm of David.
תְהִלָּתִי
te-hi-la-TI
my praise
תֶּחֱרַשׁ
te-che-RASH
be silent
God of my praise, do not stay silent.
The first request of the psalm is not for rescue but for speech. The whole book is called Tehilim, praises, and the speaker addresses God by that word before saying anything else.
2
כִּי פִי רָשָׁע וּפִי מִרְמָה עָלַי פָּתָחוּ
דִּבְּרוּ אִתִּי לְשׁוֹן שָׁקֶר
פָּתָחוּ
pa-ta-CHU
they have opened
For a wicked mouth and a mouth of deceit have opened against me;
דִּבְּרוּ
dib-RU
they have spoken
לְשׁוֹן
le-SHON
a tongue of
they have spoken to me with a tongue of lies.
The reason for the request. Two mouths open where one silence was asked to end, and the attack has no weapon in it except language.
3
וְדִבְרֵי שִׂנְאָה סְבָבוּנִי
וַיִּלָּחֲמוּנִי חִנָּם
וְדִבְרֵי
ve-div-REI
and with words of
סְבָבוּנִי
sva-vu-NI
they surrounded me
And with words of hatred they surrounded me,
וַיִּלָּחֲמוּנִי
va-yi-la-cha-mu-NI
and they fought me
and fought me for nothing.
Words become terrain: they encircle. The last word insists there was no cause, which is what makes this a legal complaint rather than a lament.
4
תַּחַת אַהֲבָתִי יִשְׂטְנוּנִי
וַאֲנִי תְפִלָּה
תַּחַת
ta-CHAT
in return for
אַהֲבָתִי
a-ha-va-TI
my love
יִשְׂטְנוּנִי
yis-te-nu-NI
they accuse me
In return for my love they accuse me,
The shortest and strangest clause in the psalm. The Hebrew does not say I pray; it puts the noun where a verb should be, so the speaker is the thing itself.
5
וַיָּשִׂימוּ עָלַי רָעָה תַּחַת טוֹבָה
וְשִׂנְאָה תַּחַת אַהֲבָתִי
וַיָּשִׂימוּ
va-ya-si-MU
and they laid
תַּחַת
ta-CHAT
in return for
They laid evil on me in return for good,
וְשִׂנְאָה
ve-sin-A
and hatred
תַּחַת
ta-CHAT
in return for
אַהֲבָתִי
a-ha-va-TI
my love
and hatred in return for my love.
The exchange is stated twice with the same preposition, once for deeds and once for feeling. The repetition closes the complaint and opens what follows.
6
הַפְקֵד עָלָיו רָשָׁע
וְשָׂטָן יַעֲמֹד עַל יְמִינוֹ
Appoint a wicked man over him,
וְשָׂטָן
ve-sa-TAN
and an accuser
יַעֲמֹד
ya-a-MOD
let him stand
יְמִינוֹ
ye-mi-NO
his right hand
and let an accuser stand at his right hand.
The curse begins, and the plural enemies of verses 2 to 5 collapse into a single him. Whether the speaker says this or reports it is the central question of the psalm.
7
בְּהִשָּׁפְטוֹ יֵצֵא רָשָׁע
וּתְפִלָּתוֹ תִּהְיֶה לַחֲטָאָה
בְּהִשָּׁפְטוֹ
be-hi-shaf-TO
when he is judged
יֵצֵא
ye-TZE
let him come out
When he is judged, let him come out guilty,
וּתְפִלָּתוֹ
ut-fi-la-TO
and his prayer
תִּהְיֶה
tih-YE
let it become
לַחֲטָאָה
la-cha-ta-A
a sin
and let his prayer count as a sin.
The scene is a courtroom, and the verdict is asked for in advance. The second half is the harshest line so far, because it takes away the one move left to a condemned man.
8
יִהְיוּ יָמָיו מְעַטִּים
פְּקֻדָּתוֹ יִקַּח אַחֵר
פְּקֻדָּתוֹ
pku-da-TO
his office
יִקַּח
yi-KACH
let him take
let someone else take his office.
The noun in the second half means an appointed charge, a post someone holds. The curse is not only that he dies but that he is replaced and the work continues without him.
9
יִהְיוּ בָנָיו יְתוֹמִים
וְאִשְׁתּוֹ אַלְמָנָה
יְתוֹמִים
ye-to-MIM
orphans
Let his sons be orphans,
וְאִשְׁתּוֹ
ve-ish-TO
and his wife
and his wife a widow.
The curse moves from the man to the people who depend on him, which is exactly the class the Torah protects most explicitly. That collision is deliberate and uncomfortable.
10
וְנוֹעַ יָנוּעוּ בָנָיו וְשִׁאֵלוּ
וְדָרְשׁוּ מֵחׇרְבוֹתֵיהֶם
וְנוֹעַ
ve-NO-a
and wandering
יָנוּעוּ
ya-nu-U
let them wander
וְשִׁאֵלוּ
ve-shi-e-LU
and let them beg
Let his sons wander and wander, and beg,
וְדָרְשׁוּ
ve-dar-SHU
and let them seek
מֵחׇרְבוֹתֵיהֶם
me-chor-vo-TEI-hem
out of their ruins
let them scavenge out of their ruins.
The doubled verb, the infinitive next to the finite form, is the standard Hebrew way of intensifying: not just wander but wander and keep wandering.
11
יְנַקֵּשׁ נוֹשֶׁה לְכׇל אֲשֶׁר לוֹ
וְיָבֹזּוּ זָרִים יְגִיעוֹ
יְנַקֵּשׁ
ye-na-KESH
let him ensnare
Let a creditor seize everything he has,
וְיָבֹזּוּ
ve-ya-vo-ZU
and let them plunder
יְגִיעוֹ
ye-gi-O
his earnings
and let strangers plunder what he earned.
The estate goes next. The last word means labour in the sense of what labour produced, so what is taken is the man's work rather than his property.
12
אַל יְהִי לוֹ מֹשֵׁךְ חָסֶד
וְאַל יְהִי חוֹנֵן לִיתוֹמָיו
מֹשֵׁךְ
mo-SHECH
one extending
Let there be no one to extend kindness to him,
וְאַל
ve-AL
and let there not
חוֹנֵן
cho-NEN
one showing favour
לִיתוֹמָיו
li-to-MAV
to his orphans
and no one to show favour to his orphans.
The word for kindness here is chesed, the covenant word, and the curse is that no one draws it out toward him. It is a curse aimed at bystanders as much as at the man.
13
יְהִי אַחֲרִיתוֹ לְהַכְרִית
בְּדוֹר אַחֵר יִמַּח שְׁמָם
אַחֲרִיתוֹ
a-cha-ri-TO
his posterity
לְהַכְרִית
le-hach-RIT
to be cut off
Let what comes after him be cut off;
בְּדוֹר
bdor
in a generation
יִמַּח
yi-MACH
let it be wiped out
in the next generation let their name be wiped out.
Erasure of the name is the deepest curse available in this literature, because a name carried by descendants is the only continuity the Hebrew Bible reliably promises.
14
יִזָּכֵר עֲוֺן אֲבֹתָיו אֶל יְהֹוָה
וְחַטַּאת אִמּוֹ אַל תִּמָּח
יִזָּכֵר
yi-za-CHER
let it be remembered
אֲבֹתָיו
a-vo-TAV
his fathers
Let the guilt of his fathers be remembered before the LORD,
וְחַטַּאת
ve-cha-TAT
and the sin of
תִּמָּח
ti-MACH
be wiped away
and let his mother's sin not be wiped away.
The same verb that wiped out the name in verse 13 is now refused to the parents' sin. What the man loses, his record keeps.
15
יִהְיוּ נֶגֶד יְהֹוָה תָּמִיד
וְיַכְרֵת מֵאֶרֶץ זִכְרָם
Let them be before the LORD continually,
וְיַכְרֵת
ve-yach-RET
and let Him cut off
מֵאֶרֶץ
me-E-retz
from the earth
זִכְרָם
zich-RAM
their memory
and let Him cut their memory off from the earth.
Two opposite kinds of remembering in one verse: permanently present to God, entirely absent from the world. The curse is precise about which memory it wants destroyed.
16
יַעַן אֲשֶׁר לֹא זָכַר עֲשׂוֹת חָסֶד
וַיִּרְדֹּף אִישׁ עָנִי וְאֶבְיוֹן
וְנִכְאֵה לֵבָב לְמוֹתֵת
זָכַר
za-CHAR
he remembered
Because he did not remember to do kindness,
וַיִּרְדֹּף
va-yir-DOF
and he pursued
וְאֶבְיוֹן
ve-evi-ON
and needy
and hunted down a poor and needy man,
וְנִכְאֵה
ve-nich-E
and the crushed of
לְמוֹתֵת
le-mo-TET
to put to death
and the broken in heart, to kill him.
The only verse in the curse block that gives a reason, and it is the exact charge the speaker will turn back on himself in verse 22: he too is poor and needy.
17
וַיֶּאֱהַב קְלָלָה וַתְּבוֹאֵהוּ
וְלֹא חָפֵץ בִּבְרָכָה וַתִּרְחַק מִמֶּנּוּ
וַיֶּאֱהַב
va-ye-e-HAV
and he loved
וַתְּבוֹאֵהוּ
vat-vo-e-HU
and it came to him
He loved cursing, and it came to him;
חָפֵץ
cha-FETZ
he delighted
בִּבְרָכָה
biv-ra-CHA
in blessing
וַתִּרְחַק
va-tir-CHAK
and it went far
מִמֶּנּוּ
mi-me-NU
from him
he took no delight in blessing, and it stayed far from him.
The logic shifts from punishment to consequence. Cursing and blessing behave like things with their own motion, arriving or withdrawing according to what a man wanted.
18
וַיִּלְבַּשׁ קְלָלָה כְּמַדּוֹ
וַתָּבֹא כַמַּיִם בְּקִרְבּוֹ
וְכַשֶּׁמֶן בְּעַצְמוֹתָיו
וַיִּלְבַּשׁ
va-yil-BASH
and he put on
כְּמַדּוֹ
kma-DO
like his garment
He wore cursing as his clothing,
וַתָּבֹא
va-ta-VO
and it came
כַמַּיִם
cha-MA-yim
like the water
בְּקִרְבּוֹ
be-kir-BO
into his insides
and it came into his insides like water,
וְכַשֶּׁמֶן
ve-cha-SHE-men
and like the oil
בְּעַצְמוֹתָיו
be-atz-mo-TAV
into his bones
and into his bones like oil.
Three degrees of absorption in one verse: worn, drunk, soaked into the bone. Speech is treated as a substance that penetrates the body of the one who spoke it.
19
תְּהִי לוֹ כְּבֶגֶד יַעְטֶה
וּלְמֵזַח תָּמִיד יַחְגְּרֶהָ
כְּבֶגֶד
ke-VE-ged
like a garment
יַעְטֶה
ya-TE
he wraps himself in
Let it be for him like the coat he wraps around himself,
וּלְמֵזַח
ul-me-ZACH
and like a belt
יַחְגְּרֶהָ
yach-gre-A
he girds himself with it
and like the belt he ties on every day.
The clothing image from verse 18 returns and closes the block. In the JPS translation this is where the quotation mark shuts.
20
זֹאת פְּעֻלַּת שֹׂטְנַי מֵאֵת יְהֹוָה
וְהַדֹּבְרִים רָע עַל נַפְשִׁי
פְּעֻלַּת
pe-u-LAT
is the wage of
שֹׂטְנַי
sot-NAI
my accusers
This is the wage of my accusers from the LORD,
וְהַדֹּבְרִים
ve-ha-dov-RIM
and of those speaking
of those who speak evil against my life.
One verse seals the block and hands it back to God. The word for wage means what work earns, so the curse is presented as payment rather than as spite.
21
וְאַתָּה יֱהֹוִה אֲדֹנָי עֲשֵׂה אִתִּי לְמַעַן שְׁמֶךָ
כִּי טוֹב חַסְדְּךָ הַצִּילֵנִי
לְמַעַן
le-ma-AN
for the sake of
But You, LORD my Lord, act with me for Your name's sake;
חַסְדְּךָ
chas-de-CHA
Your kindness
הַצִּילֵנִי
ha-tzi-le-NI
rescue me
because Your kindness is good, rescue me.
The hinge. The address turns from the enemy to God, and the reason given is not the speaker's innocence but God's name and God's kindness.
22
כִּי עָנִי וְאֶבְיוֹן אָנֹכִי
וְלִבִּי חָלַל בְּקִרְבִּי
וְאֶבְיוֹן
ve-evi-ON
and needy
For I am poor and needy,
וְלִבִּי
ve-li-BI
and my heart
בְּקִרְבִּי
be-kir-BI
within me
and my heart is pierced inside me.
The speaker takes for himself the exact two words used in verse 16 for the victim the enemy hunted. The accusation and the self-description now match.
23
כְּצֵל כִּנְטוֹתוֹ נֶהֱלָכְתִּי
נִנְעַרְתִּי כָּאַרְבֶּה
כִּנְטוֹתוֹ
kin-to-TO
when it stretches
נֶהֱלָכְתִּי
ne-he-lach-TI
I am made to go
Like a shadow as it stretches out, I am going;
נִנְעַרְתִּי
nin-ar-TI
I am shaken off
כָּאַרְבֶּה
ka-ar-BE
like the locust
I am shaken off like a locust.
A shadow at the end of the day is longest just before it disappears. Both images are passive: the speaker is not leaving, he is being removed.
24
בִּרְכַּי כָּשְׁלוּ מִצּוֹם
וּבְשָׂרִי כָּחַשׁ מִשָּׁמֶן
מִצּוֹם
mi-TZOM
from fasting
My knees give way from fasting,
וּבְשָׂרִי
uv-sa-RI
and my flesh
כָּחַשׁ
ka-CHASH
has grown lean
מִשָּׁמֶן
mi-SHA-men
for lack of fat
and my flesh has grown lean, with no fat on it.
The complaint becomes physical and specific. Fasting here is what the speaker did to himself while praying, so the body is evidence of the prayer.
25
וַאֲנִי הָיִיתִי חֶרְפָּה לָהֶם
יִרְאוּנִי יְנִיעוּן רֹאשָׁם
הָיִיתִי
ha-yi-TI
have become
חֶרְפָּה
cher-PA
a disgrace
And I have become a mockery to them;
יִרְאוּנִי
yir-u-NI
they see me
יְנִיעוּן
ye-ni-UN
they shake
they look at me and shake their heads.
Back to speech, or rather to the gesture that replaces it. The head shake is a public verdict delivered without a word.
26
עׇזְרֵנִי יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהָי
הוֹשִׁיעֵנִי כְחַסְדֶּךָ
הוֹשִׁיעֵנִי
ho-shi-e-NI
save me
כְחַסְדֶּךָ
che-chas-de-CHA
according to Your kindness
save me in keeping with Your kindness.
Two imperatives with the object suffix attached, the shortest verse of the plea. The measure asked for is chesed again, the same word the enemy failed to show in verse 16.
27
וְיֵדְעוּ כִּי יָדְךָ זֹּאת
אַתָּה יְהֹוָה עֲשִׂיתָהּ
וְיֵדְעוּ
ve-yed-U
and let them know
Let them know that this is Your hand,
עֲשִׂיתָהּ
a-si-TAH
have done it
that You, LORD, have done it.
The point of the rescue is not comfort but demonstration. The speaker wants the same audience that mocked him to read the outcome correctly.
28
יְקַלְלוּ הֵמָּה וְאַתָּה תְבָרֵךְ
קָמוּ וַיֵּבֹשׁוּ וְעַבְדְּךָ יִשְׂמָח
יְקַלְלוּ
ye-kal-LU
let them curse
תְבָרֵךְ
te-va-RECH
will bless
Let them curse, but You will bless;
וַיֵּבֹשׁוּ
va-ye-vo-SHU
and they were shamed
וְעַבְדְּךָ
ve-av-de-CHA
but Your servant
יִשְׂמָח
yis-MACH
will rejoice
they rose up and were shamed, but Your servant is glad.
Cursing and blessing are set side by side one last time, and the speaker concedes the enemy the right to keep cursing. He is no longer asking for their mouths to be shut.
29
יִלְבְּשׁוּ שׂוֹטְנַי כְּלִמָּה
וְיַעֲטוּ כַמְעִיל בׇּשְׁתָּם
יִלְבְּשׁוּ
yil-be-SHU
let them be clothed
שׂוֹטְנַי
sot-NAI
my accusers
כְּלִמָּה
kli-MA
with humiliation
Let my accusers be dressed in humiliation,
וְיַעֲטוּ
ve-ya-a-TU
and let them wrap themselves
כַמְעִיל
cham-IL
as in a robe
בׇּשְׁתָּם
bosh-TAM
in their shame
and wrapped in their own shame like a robe.
The clothing image from verses 18 and 19 comes back, now in the speaker's own undisputed voice and aimed at the plural accusers rather than one man.
30
אוֹדֶה יְהֹוָה מְאֹד בְּפִי
וּבְתוֹךְ רַבִּים אֲהַלְלֶנּוּ
I will thank the LORD greatly with my mouth,
וּבְתוֹךְ
uv-TOCH
and in the midst of
אֲהַלְלֶנּוּ
a-hal-le-NU
I will praise Him
and among many I will praise Him.
The speaker's mouth finally appears, thirty verses after the enemies' mouths opened. The answer to public slander is public praise, in front of the same crowd.
31
כִּי יַעֲמֹד לִימִין אֶבְיוֹן
לְהוֹשִׁיעַ מִשֹּׁפְטֵי נַפְשׁוֹ
לִימִין
li-MIN
at the right hand of
Because He stands at the right hand of the needy,
לְהוֹשִׁיעַ
le-ho-SHI-a
to save
מִשֹּׁפְטֵי
mi-shof-TEI
from those judging
to save him from those who sentence his life.
The last verse answers verse 6 word for word. The position an accuser was asked to take at the wicked man's right hand is the position God takes beside the poor man.
♦ 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
Five parts. Verses 1 to 5 are the complaint, and every weapon in them is verbal. Verses 6 to 19 are a sustained curse against a single man, his office, his family, his estate and his name. Verse 20 seals that block and hands it to God as a wage owed. Verses 21 to 25 turn to God and describe a body wrecked by fasting and public contempt. Verses 26 to 31 ask for rescue, promise public thanks, and close on the image the curse opened with. The clearest structural fact in the psalm is the pair of right hands: an accuser is told to stand at the right hand of the accused in verse 6, and in verse 31 God stands at the right hand of the needy. Same posture, opposite courtroom.
רמז · Remez: allusion
One root runs the length of the psalm: the root behind וְשָׂטָן (ve-sa-tan, v.6), the word satan, which here is a common noun for a courtroom accuser and not a proper name. It appears as a verb in יִשְׂטְנוּנִי (yis-te-nu-ni, v.4), they accuse me, and as a plural noun in שֹׂטְנַי (sot-nai, v.20) and again in שׂוֹטְנַי (sot-nai, v.29). Reading those four points in order gives the plot without the sentences. The other crux is who speaks verses 6 to 19. The Hebrew has no quotation marks, and the block can be read either as the speaker's own curse or as the enemies' curse quoted back so that verse 20 can call it their wage. The JPS translation printed in this project's source file takes the second option and opens a quotation mark at verse 6, closing it at the end of verse 19. Both readings are old, and neither is settled. Note also תְפִלָּה (tfi-la, v.4): the Hebrew is a noun, prayer, not a verb, so the line says the speaker is prayer rather than that he prays.
דרש · Drash: midrashic reading
One line of traditional reading refuses to leave the target anonymous and attaches the psalm to named enemies out of the David narratives, which turns an open curse into a verdict on a person the reader already knows and limits how far it can be reused. A second line works on תְפִלָּה (tfi-la, v.4) and reads it as a description of a state rather than an activity: a man so far into his situation that prayer is no longer something he does at intervals but what he now consists of. A third, less comfortable, notices that verses 9 and 12 curse orphans and widows, the two groups the Torah names most often as protected, and treats the psalm as showing what rage produces when it is given full speech instead of being acted on. On that reading the block is preserved precisely because it was said and not done.
סוד · Sod: mystical reading
The psalm is built out of mouths. It opens with the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of deceit in פִי (fi, v.2) and וּפִי (u-fi, v.2), and it does not reach the speaker's own mouth until בְּפִי (be-fi, v.30), twenty-eight verses later. In between, cursing stops being sound and becomes matter: worn as clothing, drunk like water in כַמַּיִם (cha-ma-yim, v.18), soaked into the bones like oil. That is the mystical reading in condensed form, that speech is a substance and takes on the shape of whoever holds it, so a man who loves cursing ends up wearing it. The turn at verse 21 is therefore not a change of subject but a change of what the speaker's own speech is being used for, and the last word of the psalm is a mouth speaking praise in front of a crowd rather than a mouth speaking harm behind a back.