TheBibleNet: Psalm 37

Psalms:

Bk 1: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41

Bk 2: 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72

Bk 3: 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89

Bk 4: 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106

Bk 5: 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119a 119b 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132
133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150

Additional Psalms: 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 Samuel Chronicles

Essays: Intro - Music - Form & Language

This has 40 verses, and 40 is always a symbolic number; is it just happenstance on this occasion, as it probably was with the 12 in the last? For the most part this Psalm feels like a collection of clichés, I mean platitudes, I mean wise saws and thoughtful proverbs, so probably the number is entirely arbitrary.

There is also a question about the order of the verses, raised by the possibility that this was once an aleph-betically accrostical Psalm. Take out the dedication, which should be separate, and verse 1 starts with an Aleph. 2 does not have the Bet we would then expect, but 3 does, and Gimmel, Dalet and Hey will follow almost immediately, though not in sequence. Probably this is all just random and coincidence, especially as the seeming-pattern does not obviously continue. Plus, there would logically be 22 verses, one for each letter of the aleph-bet, where there are 40 here; but the proponents of the theory also point out, and quite rightly, that the verse-form that we now have comes from a much later period, so the original might yet have been 22 and accrostical. I remain unconvinced, but feel that it is right to point out the debate, and leave the reader to draw your own conclusion.

37:1 LE DAVID AL TIT'CHAR BA MERE'IM AL TEKAN'E BE OSEY AVLAH

לְדָוִד אַל תִּתְחַר בַּמְּרֵעִים אַל תְּקַנֵּא בְּעֹשֵׂי עַוְלָה

KJ (King James translation): (A Psalm of David.) Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.

BN (BibleNet translation): For David. Do not fret yourself because of evil-doers, nor envy those who do unrighteous deeds.

The title and first verse are on this occasion combined in the original Yehudit.

37:2 KI CHE CHATSIR MEHERAH YIMALU U CHE YEREK DESH'E YIBOLUN

כִּי כֶחָצִיר מְהֵרָה יִמָּלוּ וּכְיֶרֶק דֶּשֶׁא יִבּוֹלוּן

KJ: For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.

BN: For they shall soon be cut down like corn-cobs, and fade like the green herb.

CHATSIR... YIMALU: could be any sort of grass, but unlikely the stuff you mow on your lawn or sports ground, and given that YIMALU comes from NAMAL, which also means "to circumcise", this seems to be about cutting off the heads of the herbs rather than manicuring the picnic-ground. David, as always, the god of vegetation, and the Psalm, as always, metaphorical.

YIBOLUN: In the tale of David (1 Samuel 25), there is a story from his bandit-years, when he and his men ... but no need for me to re-tell it. The point is that it includes a very foolish sheep-owner who turns down David's very polite quest, supported by four hundred men with their swords dis-scabbarded, to hand over his sheep-shearing banquet for their consumption. And the name of this very foolish man was NAVAL, which is the root of YIBOLUN, and means... "foolish".

So how does it get to mean "fade" here? Because "foolishness" is what happens when your powers of intelligent thought "fade" - cf Isaiah 40:7. But really, I think, for the same reason that YIMALU is used; both are words with double-meanings, and hidden inside this verse is the suggestion that the evil-doers of verse 1 will eventually be "circumcised", and learn their "foolishness", by embracing the religion of YHVH.

And yes, a NEVEL is also a musical instrument - cf any numbers of Psalms: 57:9, 81:3... why? Traditionally the scholars have insisted that it is because a NAVEL is also a flagon for carrying water (Jeremiah 13:12, Isaiah 22:24), so-called because it was made from the dried-out stalks of herbs rather than clay; and probably the NEVEL was flagon-shaped... but how does that connect to a musical instrument. Now click here and watch how you "circumcise" a reed or straw or any other suitable piece of vegetation, to make a "reed" instrument (clarinet, oboe...)

37:3 BETACH BA YHVH VA ASEH TOV SHECHAN ERETS U RE'EH EMUNAH

בְּטַח בַּיהוָה וַעֲשֵׂה טוֹב שְׁכָן אֶרֶץ וּרְעֵה אֱמוּנָה

KJ: Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.

BN: Place your trust in YHVH, and do good; so you shall dwell in the land, and cultivate faith.

Whereas verse 2, which we can now see chose its imagery very deliberately... and for those of you who did not bother to read the Samuel passage; Naval refused the food, very rudely as well as foolishly. His wife, who hated him, mostly because he beat her and abused her regularly, gathered up a huge banquet, took it to David, fed him and his men, fell in love and was duly mutually responded to, went home and told her husband what she had done with the food, at which he had a heart-attack and fell down dead, she got thrown out by the family, and ended up as David's wife.

Her name, incidentally, was Avi-Gayil, usually mis-translated as "my father is joyous"; but the second part is rooted in GIL, which we know from GIL-GAL, and Golgot-Yah and Gal-Ed and any number of other places rooted in that root. A heap of stones, in its most basic understanding. But also a wheel, especially the one of time which leads to GIL also being your personal "age". The horoscopal wheel, mythologically, but also the metaphorical wheel of life, and even more significantly the circular amphitheatre, built from those stones, which was the form of the most ancient temples: think of Delphi, Stonehenge...

And of course, mythologically speaking, David is the corn-god, responsible for the successful functioning of the agricultural economy.

RE'EH EMUNAH: This is from RA'AH = "to cultivate", and has nothing to do with RO'EH with an Aleph (רואה), meaning "to see", nor with RA (רע), meaning "wicked", though obviously you will "see" the results of your faith in the fertile cultivation of the land, while the "wicked" ones... word-play; always word-play, throughout these Psalms. And I strongly suspect that, when you ask yourself, as you will inevitably do at some point: why are there so many of these Psalms, and they all seem to be just anagrams of the same Psalm - the answer may well be: because someone came up with a word that could be multivalented really cleverly, or even more than just one word, that no one had Psalmed before.

37:4 VE HIT'ANAG AL YHVH VE YITEN LECHA MI SHE'ALOT LIBECHA

וְהִתְעַנַּג עַל יְהוָה וְיִתֶּן לְךָ מִשְׁאֲלֹת לִבֶּךָ

KJ: Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

BN: Feast and celebrate for YHVH; and he will give you the desires of your heart.

SHE'ALOT: "Petitions" is a narrow translation, even before we recognise the word SHE'OL inside the same root. The "deepest innards" of the heart, in the same way that SHE'OL provides a metaphor for the unconscious and subconscious.

37:5 GOL AL YHVH DARKECHA U VETACH ALAV VE HU YA'ASEH

גּוֹל עַל יְהוָה דַּרְכֶּךָ וּבְטַח עָלָיו וְהוּא יַעֲשֶׂה

KJ: Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

BN: Form a circle for YHVH; place your trust in him, and he will make it happen.

GOL: See my note to this at verse 3. GIL, GIYL, GAYIL and now GOL. And see the link to check the root, which is GALAL, "roll", or "roll away", more wheels, of time, of corn-harvesters, of the circles of life. For David's construction of Gil-Gal, see 2 Samuel 19 (or read my novel "City of Peace"; volume 2 for this tale). The circle here is a dance-circle, for the ONEG, the celebratory feast of the previous verse, at which this Psalm will presumably also be sung, and no doubt to the accompaniment, inter alia, of a NEVEL.

37:6 VE HOTS'I CHA OR TSIDKECHA U MISHPATECHA KA TSAHARAYIM

וְהוֹצִיא כָאוֹר צִדְקֶךָ וּמִשְׁפָּטֶךָ כַּצָּהֳרָיִם

KJ: And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.

BN: And he will make your righteousness as radiant as sunlight, and your judgements bright as noon.

As ever, YHVH turns out to be the sun-god.

37:7 DOM LA YHVH VE HIT'CHOLEL LO AL TIT'CHAR BE MATSLIY'ACH DARKO BE ISH OSEH MEZIMOT

דּוֹם לַיהוָה וְהִתְחוֹלֵל לוֹ אַל תִּתְחַר בְּמַצְלִיחַ דַּרְכּוֹ בְּאִישׁ עֹשֶׂה מְזִמּוֹת

KJ: Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.

BN: Stand silently for YHVH, and now turn in a circle for him; {N} fret not about those who succeed in their own ways, the ones who bring spams and scams to fruition.

DOM: Another of the favourite word-games, which we witnessed just a few Psalms back, is to play with words that either require a repetition of a letter, or lose one. So we have just seen GOL, which is really GALAL, but drops its second Lamed; now, in the very next verse, and echoing it as a single-syllable drum-beat to open the line, DOM, which is really DAMAM, with a double Mem. And GOL made them roll out the circle-dance, while DOM has them stand still - and I am quite certain that these are positioned where they are as internal instructions to the dancers. "Grab your partners, one, two, three, turn a circle, now stand still..."

But DOM is also DUMAH, with a final-letter Aleph (דומא) in the Aramaic, but a Hey in the Yehudit (דּוּמָה‎) the place of "silence", or, but much later, in Talmudic and Islamic lore, the angel who watches over the dead, in the land of eternal silence.

HIT'CHOLEL: Even more certain now: there is no other way of translating this. The root is CHUL, which is the verb for dancing, and especially the circle-dance; here in the Hitpa'el or reflexive form.

AL TIT'CHAR : Echoing the opening phrase of the Psalm (and again in the next verse).

37:8 HEREPH ME APH VA AZOV HEMAH AL TIT'CHAR ACH LEHARE'A

הֶרֶף מֵאַף וַעֲזֹב חֵמָה אַל תִּתְחַר אַךְ לְהָרֵעַ

KJ: Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.

BN: Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; do not let yourself fret; it only leads to mischief.

HEMAH: The same spelling in this verse and the next one, yet two completely different words and meanings. HEMAH there is really HEM, "them", in the demonstrative form - cf 1 Kings 9:20. HEMAH here is a three-letter word, meaning... hmmm. And that is not simply me being puzzled again. Hmmm. "To hum", as in Isaiah 59:11 or Ezekiel 7:16, though that is more of a moan than a hum. But here it is the humming of the NEVEL that is surely intended - cf Isaiah 16:11, though that is a KINOR, rather than a NEVEL; or Jeremiah 48:36, though that is a flute rather than a NEVEL. A CHALIL to be precise, from the root CHUL, for which see verse 7. I wonder if the orchestra accompanying these dancers is doing solos as these word-plays arise?

LEHARE'A: See my notes to RE'EH EMUNAH at verse 3.

After all this, my challenge to my reader: can you now drum up a translation of this Psalm which pipes each of the puns into a separate flute, without trumpeting your own skills to the point of orchestrating your own nemesis? You can play word-games with as many cymbals as you can turn into metaphors...

37:9 KI MERE'IM YIKARETUN VE KOVEY YHVH HEMAH YIYRSHU ARETS

כִּי מְרֵעִים יִכָּרֵתוּן וְקוֵֹי יְהוָה הֵמָּה יִירְשׁוּ אָרֶץ

KJ: For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.

BN: For evil-doers shall be cut off; but those who place their hope in YHVH, they shall inherit the land.

KOVEY: Wait, or hope? The root could go either way. See also verse 34. If KJ regards this as "wait", why does it also translate HIT'CHOLEL in verse 7 as "wait?"

37:10 VE OD ME'AT VE EYN RASH'A VE HITBONANTA AL MEKOMO VE EYNENU

וְעוֹד מְעַט וְאֵין רָשָׁע וְהִתְבּוֹנַנְתָּ עַל מְקוֹמוֹ וְאֵינֶנּוּ

KJ: For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.

BN: Just be patient, and the wicked will be no more; you will look at the place where he has been standing, and - he will be gone!

VE OD ME'AT: Is this a response to Yesha-Yah's question in 6:11 of his book?

VE: For an explanation of the Vav Consecutive, click here.

37:11 VA ANAVIM YIYRSHU ARETS VE HIT'ANGU AL ROV SHALOM

וַעֲנָוִים יִירְשׁוּ אָרֶץ וְהִתְעַנְּגוּ עַל רֹב שָׁלוֹם

KJ: But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

BN: But the humble shall inherit the land, and celebrate the abundance of harmony.

HIT'ANGU: see verse 4

Is Jesus quoting this? Matthew 5:5.

SHALOM: I have gone for "harmony" on this occasion; it seems the most appropriate in a Psalm that has been all about balancing the music and the dance.

37:12 ZOMEM RASH'A LA TSADIK VE CHOREK ALAV SHINAV

זֹמֵם רָשָׁע לַצַּדִּיק וְחֹרֵק עָלָיו שִׁנָּיו

KJ: The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.

BN: The wicked plots against the righteous, and gnashes at him with his teeth.

ZOMEM: Yet another double-letter, but retained on this occasion.

CHOREK: We have already seen one verse that Jesus will quote; now for another: Luke 13:28, Matthew 8:12, 13:42, 22:13, 25:30. Though it may be a quote from Psalm 112:10, rather than here. Can we regard CHOREK as onomatopoeiac? And if so, does ZOMEM count as assonance or disonance?

37:13 ADONAI YIS'CHAK LO KI RA'AH KI YAVO YOMO

אֲדֹנָי יִשְׂחַק לוֹ כִּי רָאָה כִּי יָבֹא יוֹמוֹ

KJ: The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming.

BN: My Lord mocks him; for he sees that his day is coming.

YISCHAK: We need to go to the birth of Yitschak for an explanation of this. In Genesis he is Yitschak, and Sarah says she has named him this because the gods were laughing at her mockingly when they told her she would fall pregnant at 90. But elsewhere (see the link to his name) he is named Yischak, and elsewhere in Genesis we see him "sporting" (MESACHEK) with Yishma-El his half-brother. So was his name Yitschak or Yischak, and what did it mean on either occasion? Here the word is definitely Yischak, and the intention seems to me more the mockery than the laughter, and rather more serious than merely sporting.

ADONAI: This is not YHVH laughing, this is the earthly king.

37:14 CHEREV PAT'CHU RESHA'IM VE DARCHU KASHTAM LEHAPIL ANI VE EVYON LITVO'ACH YISHREY DARECH

חֶרֶב פָּתְחוּ רְשָׁעִים וְדָרְכוּ קַשְׁתָּם לְהַפִּיל עָנִי וְאֶבְיוֹן לִטְבוֹחַ יִשְׁרֵי דָרֶךְ

KJ: The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation.

BN: The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow; {N} to cast down the poor and needy, to slay those who are upright along the road.

LITVO'ACH: The difference between cutting up the meat at home, or having it cut up for you at the butcher's, is just a single letter. MITBACH (מִטְבָּח) for the kitchen, MIZBACH (מזבח) for the sacrificial altar in the Temple.

YISHREY DARECH: "Upright conduct" works for me, allowing DARECH to be metaphorical. But "upright conversation"?

37:15 CHARBAM TAVO VE LIBAM VE KASHTOTAM TISHAVARNAH

חַרְבָּם תָּבוֹא בְלִבָּם וְקַשְּׁתוֹתָם תִּשָּׁבַרְנָה

KJ: Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.

BN: Their swords shall enter their own hearts, and their bows shall be broken.

CHARBAM: I regret having to constantly upbraid the KJ scholars, who did very good work for their time, given their limited knowledge of Hebrew and Aramaic, their inculcation with strict theology, and their being under commission. But sloppiness is sloppiness, and plural is plural. "Swords", not "sword". "Hearts" not "heart".

37:16 TOV ME'AT LA TSADIK ME HAMON RESHA'IM RABIM

טוֹב מְעַט לַצַּדִּיק מֵהֲמוֹן רְשָׁעִים רַבִּים

KJ: A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked.

BN: The little that one righteous person has is worth more than the abundance of a myriad of the wicked.

Yes, this is why I made the comment that I did at the opening of the chapter. Clichés, I mean platitudes, I mean wise saws and thoughtful proverbs... and this one isn't even true, if it is intended materially (which of course it isn't).

37:17 KI ZERO'OT RESHA'IM TISHAVARNAH VE SOMECH TSADIKIM YHVH

כִּי זְרוֹעוֹת רְשָׁעִים תִּשָּׁבַרְנָה וְסוֹמֵךְ צַדִּיקִים יְהוָה

KJ: For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the LORD upholdeth the righteous.

BN: For the arms of the wicked shall be broken; but YHVH holds firm those of the righteous.

There is also a very deep paradox that runs through verses like this one and the last. Isn't breaking someone's arms itself an act of wickedness? Isn't sticking a sword in his gut ditto? "Violent men are dangerous. Kill all violent men." (I know it's bad form to quote oneself, so strike me down for doing so).

37:18 YODE'A YHVH YEMEY TEMIYMIM VE NACHALATAM LE OLAM TIHEYEH

יוֹדֵעַ יְהוָה יְמֵי תְמִימִם וְנַחֲלָתָם לְעוֹלָם תִּהְיֶה

KJ: The LORD knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever.

BN: YHVH knows the days of they who are wholehearted; and their inheritance shall be for ever.

Fatalism and predetermination. This goes with the second part of the 5th commandment (Exodus 20:11): "that your days may be long upon the land which YHVH your god has given to you..."

37:19 LO YEVOSHU BE ET RA'AH U VIYMEY RE'AVON YISBA'U

לֹא יֵבֹשׁוּ בְּעֵת רָעָה וּבִימֵי רְעָבוֹן יִשְׂבָּעוּ

KJ: They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.

BN: They shall not be ashamed when things go badly; even in times of famine they shall be content.

YEVOSHU: I am still unconvinced that this means "ashamed"; I think this is about continuing to have faith in the gods, even in the bad times, about being "downcast", even "desolate". But why would a person feel shame, just because the gods have sent bad times. Unless they were also feeling guilty, that some sin of theirs was responsible for the bad times. But the verse rejects this: "they shall not be ashamed in bad times": so it can't be their fault: and anyway they are denoted as "the righteous"; so it can only be the whimminess, the random-and-haphazard, which is the nature of the gods of Nature. And why would anyone be "ashamed" of that.

37:20 KI RESHA'IM YO'VEDU VE OYEVEY YHVH KIYKAR KARIM KALU VE ASHAN KALU

כִּי רְשָׁעִים יֹאבֵדוּ וְאֹיְבֵי יְהוָה כִּיקַר כָּרִים כָּלוּ בֶעָשָׁן כָּלוּ

KJ: But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the LORD shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.

BN: For the wicked shall be destroyed, and YHVH's enemies shall be like the fat of lambs - blown away in the smoke of sacrifice; blown away.

Alliteration; an entire verse of Ks and Ys. This is definitely more about the music than the meaning - and indeed, for about the fifth time, the meaning is a whole lot of superstitious nonsense, and most of it antithetical to Jewish theology. In this verse, for example, it goes against "the justification of the judgement" (Tsiduk ha Din), which is quite clear that what happens is what happens, regardless of good or bad conduct, because hurricanes and earthquakes don't pick on individuals, any more than do COVID microbes or cancer cells or out-of-control car-drivers.

37:21 LOVEH RASH'A VE LO YESHALEM VE TSADIK CHONEN VE NOTEN

לוֶֹה רָשָׁע וְלֹא יְשַׁלֵּם וְצַדִּיק חוֹנֵן וְנוֹתֵן

KJ: The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth.

BN: The wicked man borrows, then fails to repay; but the righteous man deals honestly, and gives back.

LOVEH: pronunciation issue (same one as previously) - is that an indication of a double-Vav, but the dagesh has to go above, because there is nowhere else in a Vav to place it; or is it a cholem malay, a dot to indicate that this is an "o" not a "ve". On this occasion, even more oddly, it is probably both.

And somewhere in the Jewish literary canon there is a character last-named Loveh, but I can't for the life of me place him. Isaac Loveh? Jacob Loveh? No, synapses can't locate it, and google can't even take the question without insisting on dropping the "h". But wait a moment, Judah Loveh, the Maharal, the Lion of Prague, Löwe in German, but written down as Loew for some reason in English. Different sort of pronunciation issue! Click here for my piece on him.

37:22 KI MEVORACHAV YIYRSHU ARETS U MEKULALAV YIKARETU

כִּי מְבֹרָכָיו יִירְשׁוּ אָרֶץ וּמְקֻלָּלָיו יִכָּרֵתוּ

KJ: For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off.

BN: For those who are blessed by him shall inherit the land, but those who are cursed by him shall be cut off.

Parallels and echoes, though on this occasion it is this Psalm, quoting itself. And why is it necessary, since the statement has been made? I can only assume that this needed 40 verses (see my opening comment), for some reason connected with the music and/or the dance, and the writer either ran out of ideas, and so repeated himself, or the same theme kept recurring in the music, and so he (I am also assuming that it was a he; we have no idea whether there were authoresses and poetesses at this time, though we do know that there were musicianesses and danceresses) repeated the idea-theme to concur with the music-theme (or the dance-theme).

37:23 ME YHVH MITS'ADEY GEVER KONANU VE DARKO YECHPATS

מֵיְהוָה מִצְעֲדֵי גֶבֶר כּוֹנָנוּ וְדַרְכּוֹ יֶחְפָּץ

KJ: The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.

BN: From YHVH are the steps that a man takes determined, and he will take much pleasure from that journey.

37:24 KI YIPOL LO YUTAL KI YHVH SOMECH YADO

כִּי יִפֹּל לֹא יוּטָל כִּי יְהוָה סוֹמֵךְ יָדוֹ

KJ: Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.

BN: Even if he stumbles he shall not fall down, for YHVH will hold his hand.

37:25 NA'AR HAYITI GAM ZAKANTI VE LO RA'IYTI TSADIK NE'EZAV VE ZAR'O MEVAKESH LACHEM

נַעַר הָיִיתִי גַּם זָקַנְתִּי וְלֹא רָאִיתִי צַדִּיק נֶעֱזָב וְזַרְעוֹ מְבַקֶּשׁ לָחֶם

KJ: I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.

BN: I was young, but now I am old; {N} but I have never yet seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.

Where am I recognising that verse from? Bensching, if I am not mistaken, the grace after meals - though the melody at the link is not one I can ever recall singing. (It's gorgeous, so don't take that as a criticism).

37:26 KOL HA YOM CHONEN U MALVEH VE ZAR'O LIVRACHAH

כָּל הַיּוֹם חוֹנֵן וּמַלְוֶה וְזַרְעוֹ לִבְרָכָה

KJ: He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.

BN: All day long he deals honestly, and lends; and his seed is blessed.

MALVEH: See my notes to LOVEH as verse 21. Same root, different binyan. Still more echoes and parallels.

37:27 SUR ME RA VA ASEH TOV U SHECHON LE OLAM

סוּר מֵרָע וַעֲשֵׂה טוֹב וּשְׁכֹן לְעוֹלָם

KJ: Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore.

BN: Set aside evil, and do good, and live for evermore.

37:28 KI YHVH OHEV MISHPAT VE LO YA'AZOV ET CHASIYDAV LE OLAM NISHMARU VE ZER'A RESHA'IM NICHRAT

כִּי יְהוָה אֹהֵב מִשְׁפָּט וְלֹא יַעֲזֹב אֶת חֲסִידָיו לְעוֹלָם נִשְׁמָרוּ וְזֶרַע רְשָׁעִים נִכְרָת

KJ: For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.

BN: For YHVH loves justice, and will never abandon his pious devotees; they will be looked after for ever; {N} but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.

NICHRAT: I have to confess that I am amazed that we have reached Psalm 37, and this the first time (unless I am misremembering) that we have encountered NICHRETAH, not just the punishment of the wicked, but the complete annihilation of the sinner's seed, an extraordinary concept in a world that exalts mercy and compassion in every other line. See my note on this "paradox", above, and also verse 38.

37:29 TSADIYKIM YIYRESHU ARETS VE YISHKENU LA AD ALEYHA

צַדִּיקִים יִירְשׁוּ אָרֶץ וְיִשְׁכְּנוּ לָעַד עָלֶיהָ

KJ: The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever.

BN: The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell in it for ever.

YIYRESHU: The same verb for the fourth time now - see verses 9, 11 and 22 - and I am still unable to decide beween YIYRSHU, which I have gone for until now, and YIYRESHU. The issue of the second syllable Sheva, which we encounter throughout the Tanach; on this occasion, the question hangs over the double-Yud, the first a part of speech, the second a part of root. Do the Yuds meld into one, and make that Sheva silent? It can be argued in both directions.

37:30 PI TSADIK YEHGEH CHACHMAH U LESHONO TEDABER MISHPAT

פִּי צַדִּיק יֶהְגֶּה חָכְמָה וּלְשׁוֹנוֹ תְּדַבֵּר מִשְׁפָּט

KJ: The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment.

BN: The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice.

37:31 TORAT ELOHAV BE LIBO LO TIM'AD ASHURAV

תּוֹרַת אֱלֹהָיו בְּלִבּוֹ לֹא תִמְעַד אֲשֻׁרָיו

KJ: The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.

BN: The teachings of his gods are in his heart; none of his steps slide.

TORAT ELOHAV: Translate this as the Torah, or just as "general teaching"? The tone of the Psalm suggests the latter - and there would surely be Torah quotes if that was the intention. Also ELOHAV. The Torah is YHVH's. This makes the distinction clear.

37:32 TSOPHEH RASH'A LA TSADIK U MEVAKESH LAHAMIYTO

צוֹפֶה רָשָׁע לַצַּדִּיק וּמְבַקֵּשׁ לַהֲמִיתוֹ

KJ: The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him.

BN: The wicked man keeps his eye on the righteous man, seeking an opportunity to kill him.

37:33 YHVH LO YA'AZVENU VE YADO VE LO YARSHIY'ENU BE HISHAPHTO

יְהוָה לֹא יַעַזְבֶנּוּ בְיָדוֹ וְלֹא יַרְשִׁיעֶנּוּ בְּהִשָּׁפְטוֹ

KJ: The LORD will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged.

BN: YHVH will not allow his hand to abandon him, nor let him be condemned when he is judged.

I have not commented on every occasion, because it is so standard in this Psalm that it should have become automatic by now just to see it; but this is a particularly melodic example, using the Yud as the key sound (do sounds have keys? I think that ambiguity is what I mean). The only question, and the other reason for commenting, is the pronunciation of YHVH. If we do not say the name as written, but say Adonai instead, the first Yud becomes silenced.

37:34 KAVEH EL YHVH U SHEMOR DARKO VIY'ROMIMCHA LARESHET ARETS BE HIKARET RESHA'IM TIR'EH

קַוֵּה אֶל יְהוָה וּשְׁמֹר דַּרְכּוֹ וִירוֹמִמְךָ לָרֶשֶׁת אָרֶץ בְּהִכָּרֵת רְשָׁעִים תִּרְאֶה

KJ: Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.

BN: Wait for YHVH, and keep his ways, and he will raise you up to inherit the land; {N} when the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.

And just as the dance is a circle-dance, so the themes and ideas, even the keywords, go round and round in circles in this Psalm. Form, content, language, ideas, all perfectly harmonised - and hopefully the music too, though we are unable to actually hear it.

37:35 RA'IYTI RASH'A ARIYTS U MIT'AREH KE EZRACH RA'ANAN

רָאִיתִי רָשָׁע עָרִיץ וּמִתְעָרֶה כְּאֶזְרָח רַעֲנָן

KJ: I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree.

BN: I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a leafy tree in its native soil.

EZRACH: A citizen, usually. KA EZRACH KA GER, is a phrase much used in the Torah - whatever applies to the native-born citizen must apply to the foreign immigrant or tourist as well.

RA'ANAN: Everything in Psalm and Scripture has a symbolic value, even when it also has a literal one; the writer chooses a tree for a reason, and that reason isn't going to be the way its brances spread or the amount of fruit it produces, because every example of that tree is going to be individual, unique, different. So there has to be something about the genus: and most trees have some mythological connection, oaks with El for example, and acacia with the Ark (Exodus 35:24 et al) et cetera. What is special then about the green bay tree that the KJ translators picked it out?

To which there is an answer - in Greek mythology. Daphne and Apollo, for which click here.

And no, despite the similarity of sound, it is not connected with "Lechu Nerananah", another of the great get-up-and-dance Psalms in the canon (number 95). Nerananah there is spelled נְרַנְּנָה, without the Ayin; different word. This is from the root RA'AN, which simply means "leafy", in the case of a tree, "affluent" in the case of a human, generally "fertile" in any context. Green, but not in the sense of envy.

37:36 VA YA'AVOR VE HINEH EYNENU VA AVAKSHEHU VE LO NIMTSA

וַיַּעֲבֹר וְהִנֵּה אֵינֶנּוּ וָאֲבַקְשֵׁהוּ וְלֹא נִמְצָא

KJ: Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.

BN: But something happened, and suddenly he was gone; I looked for him, but he was not to be found.

Whereas, unstated, YHVH is always there.

37:37 SHEMAR TAM U RE'EH YASHAR KI ACHARIT LE ISH SHALOM

שְׁמָר תָּם וּרְאֵה יָשָׁר כִּי אַחֲרִית לְאִישׁ שָׁלוֹם

KJ: Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.

BN: Observe the man of integrity, and keep an eye on the upright; for there is a future for the man of peace.

TAM: There is great irony in this word, probably not intended, but for those of us who encounter the Psalm today. The Book of Job begins by telling us that: "There was a man in the land of Uts named Iyov (Job). That man was blameless and upright; he feared YHVH and shunned evil..." The Yehudit tells us that he was TAM VE YASHAR - תָּ֧ם וְיָשָׁ֛ר, exactly the two adjectives employed here. By contrast with this, after deciding to "blot out" Humankind in the opening verses of Genesis 6, Elohim then turns to No'ach as a redeemer; verse 9 describes him as "a just man and perfect in his generations, and No'ach walked with Elohim"; the Yehudit for this is ISH TSADIK TAMIM - אִישׁ צַדִּיק תָּמִים

37:38 U PHOSH'IM NISHMEDU YACHDAV ACHARIYT RESHA'IM NICHRATAH

וּפֹשְׁעִים נִשְׁמְדוּ יַחְדָּו אַחֲרִית רְשָׁעִים נִכְרָתָה

KJ: But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off.

BN: But transgressors shall be destroyed together; the only future for the wicked is to be completely cut off.

37:39 U TESHU'AT TSADIYKIM ME YHVH MA'UZAM BE ET TSARAH

וּתְשׁוּעַת צַדִּיקִים מֵיְהוָה מָעוּזָּם בְּעֵת צָרָה

KJ: But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble.

BN: But the salvation of the righteous belongs to YHVH; he is their stronghold in times of trouble.

37:40 VA YA'ZREM YHVH VA YEPHALTEM YEPHALTEM ME RESHA'IM VE YOSHIY'EM KI CHASU VO

וַיַּעְזְרֵם יְהוָה וַיְפַלְּטֵם יְפַלְּטֵם מֵרְשָׁעִים וְיוֹשִׁיעֵם כִּי חָסוּ בוֹ

KJ: And the LORD shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.

BN: YHVH will provide help for them, and deliver them; he will deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they have taken refuge in him. {P}

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