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
Other than in my notes, you will find that there is not a single mention of YHVH in this Psalm; it is entirely Elohim.
51:1 LA MENATSE'ACH MIZMOR LE DAVID
לַמְנַצֵּחַ מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד
KJ (King James translation): (To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.) Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
BN (BibleNet translation): For the Leader. A Mizmor for David...
LA MENATSE'ACH: I am also absolutely certain that this phrase, which occurs in various forms in numerous Psalms, is simply a cover note from the scribe who is producing multiple copies, for the choir, the various parts of the orchestra, the Conductor, the Stage Manager, the Costumes department, the Archive, et al. So, on this occasion:
Copy to: Artistic Director
Subject: The "Natan" Mizmor
Cc: Beney Korach et al
51:2 BE VO ELAV NATAN HA NAV'I KA ASHER BA EL BAT SHAV'A
בְּבוֹא אֵלָיו נָתָן הַנָּבִיא כַּאֲשֶׁר בָּא אֶל בַּת שָׁבַע
KJ: see verse 1 above
BN: When Natan the prophet came to him, after he had slept with Bat-Shav'a.
This verse is the continuation of the title, and claims to reflect a historic event, readable in 2 Samuel 11; however; as with all the David tales, is it history or is it myth turned into history, as per the Arthurian legends? Bat-Shav'a's (usually she is rendered as Bat Shev'a) own name has mythological connotations... all of which needs exploring... as does the outcome of this tale, the reason why Natan became involved, and what came out of it, in particular the "oracle" of the four lambs, which likewise has mythological connotations and impacts the whole of the last years of David's life (I shall not be undertaking that investigation in detail here, as I have already done so in the second part of my novel "City of Peace").
But in very brief: in 2 Samuel 11:15 (different link), after wining and dining Ur-Yah in Yeru-Shala'im before sending him back to the siege of Rabbah from his temporary leave, David gives him a letter for the chief of the army. "In the letter he wrote, 'Set Ur-Yah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die." And so it fell out. And so, in verses 26 and 27: "When the wife of Ur-Yah heard that Ur-Yah her husband was dead, she lamented over her husband. And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased YHVH." This Psalm is the consequent atonement. Shelomoh was the eventual progeny, though only after Bat-Shev'a had given birth to a child who died in early infancy - the first of the four lambs.
BAT-SHAV'A: See my notes on the desert town Be'er Sheva, where I give detailed background on the SHEV'A part of the name; there is also some material there on the strange coincidence that Shelomoh's mother will bear the same name as his wife: Bat Shav'a here (the daughter of Shav'a), and the unnamed Queen of Shev'a at 1 Kings 10 (and yes, I am fully aware that the latter is spelled with a final Aleph, where the other two have a final Ayin).
51:3 CHANENI ELOHIM KE CHASDECHA KE ROV RACHAMEYCHA MECHEH PHESHA'AI
חָנֵּנִי אֱלֹהִים כְּחַסְדֶּךָ כְּרֹב רַחֲמֶיךָ מְחֵה פְשָׁעָי
KJ: See verse 1
BN: Be gracious to me, you gods, according to your mercy; to the limit of your mercy and compassion, blot out my transgressions.
I wonder if there wasn't some sort of a "spiel", an equivalent of a Miracle or Mystery or Nativity play, acknowledging whichever fast or feast or festival was connected with the conception of the Mashiyach (possibly Shavu'ot, because that is David's official birthday; or Pesach, when the corn-god is annually reborn) - because ultimately that is what this Psalm is about: David fathered Shelomoh on Bat-Shev'a, and Shelomoh is the first fully-fledged Mashiyach, the one who built the Temple, and thereby established Tsi'on and Yeru-Shala'im as both the spiritual and the political capital, the completion of the Biblical "purpose" from Av-Ram's covenant onwards. So the actor playing David needs his lines - and a song, self-accompanied on solo accoustic lyre or harp, would be the obvious way to do it.
51:4 HARBEH KABSENI ME AVONI U ME CHAT'ATI TAHARENI
KJ (51:2): Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
BN: Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
KABSENI: Remind me how David first saw Bat-Shev'a? Oh yes, 1 Samuel 11:2: "Late one afternoon, David rose from his couch and strolled on the roof of the royal palace; and from the roof he saw a woman bathing." Bathing - which is ROCHETSET, not KABSENI or TAHARENI. So physically rather than spiritually, a tap or bucket of some kind, not the Mikveh; but nevertheless, cleansing herself. And what incipited the sin, also brings it to its denouement.
51:4 HARBEH KABSENI ME AVONI U ME CHAT'ATI TAHARENI
הַרְבֵּה כַּבְּסֵנִי מֵעֲוֹנִי וּמֵחַטָּאתִי טַהֲרֵנִי
KJ (51:2): Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
BN: Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
KABSENI: Remind me how David first saw Bat-Shev'a? Oh yes, 1 Samuel 11:2: "Late one afternoon, David rose from his couch and strolled on the roof of the royal palace; and from the roof he saw a woman bathing." Bathing - which is ROCHETSET, not KABSENI or TAHARENI. So physically rather than spiritually, a tap or bucket of some kind, not the Mikveh; but nevertheless, cleansing herself. And what incipited the sin, also brings it to its denouement.
51:5 KI PHESHA'AI ANI ED'A VE CHAT'ATI NEGDI TAMID
כִּי פְשָׁעַי אֲנִי אֵדָע וְחַטָּאתִי נֶגְדִּי תָמִיד
KJ (51:3): For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
BN: For I acknowledge my transgressions; and my sin is ever before me.
51:6 LECHA LEVADCHA CHATA'TI VE HA RA BE EYNEYCHA ASIYTI LEMA'AN TITSDAK BE DAVRECHA TIZKEH VE SHAPHTECHA
לְךָ לְבַדְּךָ חָטָאתִי וְהָרַע בְּעֵינֶיךָ עָשִׂיתִי לְמַעַן תִּצְדַּק בְּדָבְרֶךָ תִּזְכֶּה בְשָׁפְטֶךָ
KJ (51:4): Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
BN: Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done that which is wrong in your eyes; {N} therefore know that you are justified in speaking out, and in the right when you pronounce judgement.
This is hugely important to our understanding of the tale. David was fully aware that Bat-Shav'a was married, and gave orders for her husband to be given the honour of leading the assault upon Rabbah, which was being besieged at the time. Ur-Yah died leading that assault, leaving Bat-Shav'a free, at the end of the mourning period, to remarry, with David. If their "night of love" was merely that, and he effectively a murderer, then she is an adulteresses, and the law of the time required her to be stoned, while his kingship must now be in jeopardy. But this is not what happens. A national ceremony of cleansing takes place, with David in the lead role, and the sins of all the people are purged by it - an early version of Yom Kippur. So the "night of love" must have been a May-King May-Queen official ceremony, of the sort described in detail in Psalm 45. The child conceived that night in fact dies within a week of being born, a day short of circumcision and naming; but the child born of the fully approved marriage will be David's successor on the priestly throne.
51:7 HEN BE AVON CHOLALTI U VE CHET YECHEMATNI IMI
הֵן בְּעָווֹן חוֹלָלְתִּי וּבְחֵטְא יֶחֱמַתְנִי אִמִּי
KJ (51:5): Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
BN: Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
It has always seemed to me grossly unfair to blame this on his mother. Theologically, the argument became central to the Christian world, attributing it to the Original Sin of Mother Eve (Chavah), and leading to constructs like the "whited sepulchre" of Saint Augustine (derived apparently from Matthew 23:27) and other hideously misogynistic doctrines.
51:8 HEN EMET CHAPHATSTA VATUCHOT U VE SATUM CHACHMAH TODIYENI
הֵן אֱמֶת חָפַצְתָּ בַטֻּחוֹת וּבְסָתֻם חָכְמָה תוֹדִיעֵנִי
KJ (51:6): Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
BN: I understand that you desire truth, intrinsically; teach me, therefore, how to know wisdom in my innermost being.
HEN: Like Hineh, which is used even more often, this is less a translateable word than an untranslateable cough, an "um" at the inarticulate beginning of a sentence. In English we might say "Here", but aspirate the "h". "Behold" is meaningless, but has become the convention among translators. "Yeah" would be far too colloquial. So I have made it appear lucid and articulate with "I understand", though clearly he doesn't, not yet, or he wouldn't need the second half of the verse.
51:9 TECHATENI VE EZOV VE ET'HAR TECHABSENI U MI SHELEG ALBIYN
תְּחַטְּאֵנִי בְאֵזוֹב וְאֶטְהָר תְּכַבְּסֵנִי וּמִשֶּׁלֶג אַלְבִּין
KJ (51:7): Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
BN: Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
TECHATENI: wonderful sound!
EZOV: We need to be absolutely certain that we have identified the correct plant, because whatever it is, it will have had profound mythological symbolism. What we can say, if it is indeed hyssop, is that hyssop is a very good choice medically - click here.
HOWEVER! He wishes to be purged. He wishes, that is to say, for his guilt to leave his mind, and the verb for "to leave" is LA'AZOV (and yes, I am fully aware that the latter is spelled with a first-letter Ayin, where the herb has a first-letter Aleph).
ALBIYN: whence the English word Albino? The root is LAVAN, like Ya'akov's uncle and the land of Lebanon: white. The old name for England - Albion - presumably also derives; does Albania too? I imagine it was Phoenician or even Hittite originally, and entered the realm that became Albania, as well as the Anatolian and southern Russian lands from which the Celts derived (Scythia, Cimmeria etc), as well as Latin via Greek later on, as well as Yehudit, from that same "common source".
51:10 TASHMIY'ENI SASON VE SIMCHAH TAGELNAH ATSAMOT DIKIYTA
KJ (51:8): Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
BN: Allow me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which you have crushed may rejoice.
51:11 HASTER PANEYCHA ME CHATA'AI VE CHOL AVONOTAI MECHEH
KJ (51:9): Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
ALBIYN: whence the English word Albino? The root is LAVAN, like Ya'akov's uncle and the land of Lebanon: white. The old name for England - Albion - presumably also derives; does Albania too? I imagine it was Phoenician or even Hittite originally, and entered the realm that became Albania, as well as the Anatolian and southern Russian lands from which the Celts derived (Scythia, Cimmeria etc), as well as Latin via Greek later on, as well as Yehudit, from that same "common source".
51:10 TASHMIY'ENI SASON VE SIMCHAH TAGELNAH ATSAMOT DIKIYTA
תַּשְׁמִיעֵנִי שָׂשׂוֹן וְשִׂמְחָה תָּגֵלְנָה עֲצָמוֹת דִּכִּיתָ
KJ (51:8): Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
BN: Allow me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which you have crushed may rejoice.
51:11 HASTER PANEYCHA ME CHATA'AI VE CHOL AVONOTAI MECHEH
הַסְתֵּר פָּנֶיךָ מֵחֲטָאָי וְכָל עֲוֹנֹתַי מְחֵה
BN: Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
HASTER PANEYCHA: Takes us to the absolute heart of the proto-Jewish view of "good" and "evil", and it may not yet be formal monotheism, but it is most definitely not the dualism of Manichaeism, Zoroastrianism, Gnosticism or Christianity. With HISTIR PANAV, evil is able to take place because the Elohim have "turned a blind eye to it"; here, the Psalmist is asking for that blind eye to be extended even further, not just turning a blind eye so that the sins can be committed, but agreeing not even to list them among the inventoried sins. It sounds like a total abrogation of responsibility by all parties; but the context of the Psalm is one of acknowledging fault (verse 3), accepting responsibility (verse 5) and seeking redemption through purgation (verse 2 and 7). Actually "accepting responsibility" in verse 5 may be over-generous to the Psalmist, who does rather squirm, and blame genetics, but nonetheless...
HASTER PANEYCHA: Takes us to the absolute heart of the proto-Jewish view of "good" and "evil", and it may not yet be formal monotheism, but it is most definitely not the dualism of Manichaeism, Zoroastrianism, Gnosticism or Christianity. With HISTIR PANAV, evil is able to take place because the Elohim have "turned a blind eye to it"; here, the Psalmist is asking for that blind eye to be extended even further, not just turning a blind eye so that the sins can be committed, but agreeing not even to list them among the inventoried sins. It sounds like a total abrogation of responsibility by all parties; but the context of the Psalm is one of acknowledging fault (verse 3), accepting responsibility (verse 5) and seeking redemption through purgation (verse 2 and 7). Actually "accepting responsibility" in verse 5 may be over-generous to the Psalmist, who does rather squirm, and blame genetics, but nonetheless...
51:12 LEV TAHOR BER'A LI ELOHIM VE RU'ACH NACHON CHADESH BE KIRBI
לֵב טָהוֹר בְּרָא לִי אֱלֹהִים וְרוּחַ נָכוֹן חַדֵּשׁ בְּקִרְבִּי
KJ (51:10): Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
BN: Create for me a clean heart, my gods; and renew a stedfast spirit within me.
BER'A: go back to Genesis 1 for the different forms of Creation.
51:13 AL TASHLIYCHENI MI LEPHANEYCHA VE RU'ACH KADSHECHA AL TIKACH MIMENI
BER'A: go back to Genesis 1 for the different forms of Creation.
51:13 AL TASHLIYCHENI MI LEPHANEYCHA VE RU'ACH KADSHECHA AL TIKACH MIMENI
אַל תַּשְׁלִיכֵנִי מִלְּפָנֶיךָ וְרוּחַ קָדְשְׁךָ אַל תִּקַּח מִמֶּנִּי
KJ (51:11): Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
BN: Do not cast me away from your presence; and do not take your holy spirit from me.
AL TASHLIYCHENI: At the New Year, at the start of the ten-day period of prayer and affliction whose goal is the full acknowledgment of sin, and then purgation by repentance, it is customary for Jews to take some crumbs of bread to the nearest point of flowing water and throw them in; the act may be pure superstition, or it may be psychologically symbolic, or even both, but the point is exactly the same as the Azaz-El of Yom Kippur, which symbolically carries the sins of the people away into the wilderness - the original Jesus. That ceremony is known as Tashlich. The only surprise is that this Psalm is not an automatic part of the Tashlich liturgy (you can see that liturgy in Hebrew here, or in English here).
AL TASHLIYCHENI: At the New Year, at the start of the ten-day period of prayer and affliction whose goal is the full acknowledgment of sin, and then purgation by repentance, it is customary for Jews to take some crumbs of bread to the nearest point of flowing water and throw them in; the act may be pure superstition, or it may be psychologically symbolic, or even both, but the point is exactly the same as the Azaz-El of Yom Kippur, which symbolically carries the sins of the people away into the wilderness - the original Jesus. That ceremony is known as Tashlich. The only surprise is that this Psalm is not an automatic part of the Tashlich liturgy (you can see that liturgy in Hebrew here, or in English here).
And of course that stream of flowing water is indeed a Mikveh - giving us all three forms of washing and cleansing in the same Psalm, as per my notes at verse 4.
51:14 HASHIYVAH LI SESON YISH'ECHA VE RU'ACH NEDIYVAH TISMECHENI
51:14 HASHIYVAH LI SESON YISH'ECHA VE RU'ACH NEDIYVAH TISMECHENI
הָשִׁיבָה לִּי שְׂשׂוֹן יִשְׁעֶךָ וְרוּחַ נְדִיבָה תִסְמְכֵנִי
KJ: (51:12): Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
BN: Restore to me the joy of your salvation; and let a willing spirit uphold me.
A prayer like this can only belong to the metaphysical age (6th century BCE); we have moved beyond fertility rites and mere passive compliance with law, into the personal conscience, which assumes free will. This is not even propitiation; this is the confession-booth functioning as a source of psychiatric therapy.
51:15 ALAMDAH PHOSH'IM DERACHEYCHA VE CHATA'IM ELEYCHA YASHUVU
A prayer like this can only belong to the metaphysical age (6th century BCE); we have moved beyond fertility rites and mere passive compliance with law, into the personal conscience, which assumes free will. This is not even propitiation; this is the confession-booth functioning as a source of psychiatric therapy.
51:15 ALAMDAH PHOSH'IM DERACHEYCHA VE CHATA'IM ELEYCHA YASHUVU
אֲלַמְּדָה פֹשְׁעִים דְּרָכֶיךָ וְחַטָּאִים אֵלֶיךָ יָשׁוּבוּ
KJ (51:13): Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
BN: Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners shall return to you.
ALAMDAH: This Psalm is a Mizmor, not a Maskil, yet here is the Psalmist speaking about "teaching". But the root he uses is LAMAD, not SECHEL, and this enables us to draw a much deeper understanding (Haskalah) of the objective of the MASKIL, which is much more than mere teaching; it is the imparting of wisdom. In modern parlance, applying Bloom's taxonomy, ALAMDAH is the teacher at the whiteboard, giving the students the information that he/she thinks they need to know: information, not yet knowledge, certainly not yet wisdom.
51:16 HATSIYLENI MI DAMIM ELOHIM ELOHEY TESHU'ATI TERANEN LESHONI TSIDKATECHA
ALAMDAH: This Psalm is a Mizmor, not a Maskil, yet here is the Psalmist speaking about "teaching". But the root he uses is LAMAD, not SECHEL, and this enables us to draw a much deeper understanding (Haskalah) of the objective of the MASKIL, which is much more than mere teaching; it is the imparting of wisdom. In modern parlance, applying Bloom's taxonomy, ALAMDAH is the teacher at the whiteboard, giving the students the information that he/she thinks they need to know: information, not yet knowledge, certainly not yet wisdom.
51:16 HATSIYLENI MI DAMIM ELOHIM ELOHEY TESHU'ATI TERANEN LESHONI TSIDKATECHA
הַצִּילֵנִי מִדָּמִים אֱלֹהִים אֱלֹהֵי תְּשׁוּעָתִי תְּרַנֵּן לְשׁוֹנִי צִדְקָתֶךָ
BN: Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, Elohim, god of my salvation; {N} then my tongue will sing out loud of your righteousness.
DAMIM: As noted in the title, this is David's Psalm of repentance after the death of Ur-Yah the Beney Chet, a member of the Royal Bodyguard and husband of Bat Shav'a, who David wanted for himself. So, yes, "blood-guiltiness" is absolutely precise.
DAMIM: As noted in the title, this is David's Psalm of repentance after the death of Ur-Yah the Beney Chet, a member of the Royal Bodyguard and husband of Bat Shav'a, who David wanted for himself. So, yes, "blood-guiltiness" is absolutely precise.
51:17 ADONAI SEPHATAI TIPHTACH U PHI YAGID TEHILATECHA
אֲדֹנָי שְׂפָתַי תִּפְתָּח וּפִי יַגִּיד תְּהִלָּתֶךָ
BN: My Lord, open my lips, that my mouth may declare its praise for you.
FAMOUS VERSE! Used as the preface to the Amidah, the central set of prayers in every act of worship in a Jewish synagogue.
There cannot be a more heinous sin than this one of King David's; not the desire, which is normal and natural; not even to hope that, maybe, because men die in war, perhaps Ur-Yah will be among the dead, how sad, how tragic, poor Bat Shav'a, but out of the comforting of her in her days of mourning a deep affection born, and then lust satisfied through marriage. No, she bathed naked in her courtyard, right beneath the palace roof, in the hope that he would see her, and slept with him at the first opportunity, and he sent that letter, to ensure the husband's death, in order to obtain the wife. No sin that we might commit could ever be worse, surely. So, when we open our mouths to say our daily prayers - and not just any prayers but the central prayer, the Amidah, what better choice of words than these through which to state our sincerity: we place our sin at the same level as King David's, which it probably does not merit, but confirms that we are refusing to underestimate it. And then the full Amidah.
51:18 KI LO TACHPOTS ZEVACH VE ETENAH OLAH LO TIRTSEH
FAMOUS VERSE! Used as the preface to the Amidah, the central set of prayers in every act of worship in a Jewish synagogue.
There cannot be a more heinous sin than this one of King David's; not the desire, which is normal and natural; not even to hope that, maybe, because men die in war, perhaps Ur-Yah will be among the dead, how sad, how tragic, poor Bat Shav'a, but out of the comforting of her in her days of mourning a deep affection born, and then lust satisfied through marriage. No, she bathed naked in her courtyard, right beneath the palace roof, in the hope that he would see her, and slept with him at the first opportunity, and he sent that letter, to ensure the husband's death, in order to obtain the wife. No sin that we might commit could ever be worse, surely. So, when we open our mouths to say our daily prayers - and not just any prayers but the central prayer, the Amidah, what better choice of words than these through which to state our sincerity: we place our sin at the same level as King David's, which it probably does not merit, but confirms that we are refusing to underestimate it. And then the full Amidah.
51:18 KI LO TACHPOTS ZEVACH VE ETENAH OLAH LO TIRTSEH
כִּי לֹא תַחְפֹּץ זֶבַח וְאֶתֵּנָה עוֹלָה לֹא תִרְצֶה
KJ (51:16): For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
BN: For you take no pleasure from sacrifice; otherwise I would make one; but you have no desire for burnt-offerings.
KI LO TACHPOTS: Surprisingly early in history for this statement? But in fact no - it was precisely the central subject of the previous Psalm, and it will remain one of the central debates in the Yisra-Eli world for the next thousand years; until the Roman destruction of the Temple rendered the debate irrelevant. 1 Samuel 25:22 is the earliest known source, long before it became a central theme of all the major Prophets.
KI LO TACHPOTS: Surprisingly early in history for this statement? But in fact no - it was precisely the central subject of the previous Psalm, and it will remain one of the central debates in the Yisra-Eli world for the next thousand years; until the Roman destruction of the Temple rendered the debate irrelevant. 1 Samuel 25:22 is the earliest known source, long before it became a central theme of all the major Prophets.
But for the time being, and this will be the primary purpose of the Temple when it is built, sacrifice and burnt-offerings are precisely what YHVH and Elohim did want, the Temple at the heart of worship, the twice-daily sacrifices as the fulcrum of that role. The Book of Isaiah leaps straight in with this (see Isaiah 1:11-13 especially), but what Yesha-Yah (Isaiah) is saying is not in fact the same as David - indeed it may even be the complete opposite. Yesha-Yah's complaint is that all this ritual and ceremony has become neutral, stuff people do because it's on the calendar, because they always have, because they're expected to, and therefore it is robbed of spiritual or moral or intellectual significance. "What YHVH wants isn't the sacrifices, but the obedience" is Yesha-Yah's constant lament, and his fellow Prophets for the next several centuries likewise. "Do it because you believe in it, and make it meaningful, by making it sincere." The Yehudit word is KAVANAH, which means both "intensity" and "sincerity". Muhammad will make the same complaint in the Qur'an, declaring the Munafiqun the worst of all sinners, because they speak with their lips what they do not believe in their hearts (Sura 63); which of course is the "whited sepulchre" once again.
All of which is about the human. But David's statement is not about the human at all; it is about the deity - you do not delight in sacrifices, and the emphasis here needs to be on the word "delight". YHVH takes no pleasure from the deaths of these animals at the holy abattoir (as David took pleasure from the death of Ur-Yah at the most unholy abattoir of Rabbah); but these deaths are necessary, because they grant permission to Humankind to eat. See my notes on this at Psalm 50.
All of which is about the human. But David's statement is not about the human at all; it is about the deity - you do not delight in sacrifices, and the emphasis here needs to be on the word "delight". YHVH takes no pleasure from the deaths of these animals at the holy abattoir (as David took pleasure from the death of Ur-Yah at the most unholy abattoir of Rabbah); but these deaths are necessary, because they grant permission to Humankind to eat. See my notes on this at Psalm 50.
VE ETENAH: "Else I would give it", or "yet I give it anyway"? Traditional Jewish translations favour Rashi, whose writings are either in Aramaic or Norman French, and on this occasion translate into English as "for if you desired it, I would give it to you". The understanding is that David does not make sacrifice as a part of his atonement, because he has written this Psalm, 100% sincere, and so the act of "making sacred", which is what "sacrifice" means, has been fulfilled, and the deity would rather hear a song of praise than witness the unnecessary death of one of his poor innocent creatures. Which I have phrased that way very deliberately - because it demonstrates David's understanding that exactly the same phrase applies to Ur-Yah.
51:19 ZIVCHEY ELOHIM RU'ACH NISHBARAH LEV NISHBAR VE NIDKEH ELOHIM LO TIVZEH
51:19 ZIVCHEY ELOHIM RU'ACH NISHBARAH LEV NISHBAR VE NIDKEH ELOHIM LO TIVZEH
זִבְחֵי אֱלֹהִים רוּחַ נִשְׁבָּרָה לֵב נִשְׁבָּר וְנִדְכֶּה אֱלֹהִים לֹא תִבְזֶה
KJ (51:17): The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
BN: Sacrifices to Elohim come from a broken spirit; {N} but Elohim, surely you will not despise a broken but contrite heart?
51:20 HEYTIVAH VIRTSONCHA ET TSI'ON TIVNEH CHOMOT YERU-SHALA'IM
51:20 HEYTIVAH VIRTSONCHA ET TSI'ON TIVNEH CHOMOT YERU-SHALA'IM
הֵיטִיבָה בִרְצוֹנְךָ אֶת צִיּוֹן תִּבְנֶה חוֹמוֹת יְרוּשָׁלִָם
KJ (51:18): Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
BN: Do good when you bestow your favour upon Tsi'on; build the walls of Yeru-Shala'im.
Words that are borrowed for the prayers that accompany the opening of the Ark for the reading of the Torah (click here for the full ceremony and text).
51:21 AZ TACHPOTS ZIVCHEY TSEDEK OLAH VE CHALIL AZ YA'ALU AL MIZBACHACHA PHARIM
Words that are borrowed for the prayers that accompany the opening of the Ark for the reading of the Torah (click here for the full ceremony and text).
51:21 AZ TACHPOTS ZIVCHEY TSEDEK OLAH VE CHALIL AZ YA'ALU AL MIZBACHACHA PHARIM
אָז תַּחְפֹּץ זִבְחֵי צֶדֶק עוֹלָה וְכָלִיל אָז יַעֲלוּ עַל מִזְבַּחֲךָ פָרִים
KJ (51:19): Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.
BN: Then you will take pleasure from the sacrifices of righteousness, in the form of burnt-offerings and whole offerings; {N} then they will offer bullocks on your altar. {P}
This conclusion appears to undermine the notes to verse 18; but not in fact so: they complete them, and do so in exactly the same act-of-balance as in Psalm 50. The sacrifice is still needed, by both parties, but David needs to do even more than just acknowledge the sin, even more than just write the Psalm. Ur-Yah died on the very walls of Rabbah, tearing them down to bring the siege to an end; that war was essential in establishing the political security of Yisra-El. Building the walls of Yeru-Shala'im, and making them even stronger than those of Rabbah, will ensure the political security of the city in which David's successor is to build the Temple, the palace of the gods themselves.
But at the same time, we have concluded from the theology that this Psalm cannot be Davidic, and there was another moment when it was essential to rebuild the walls of Yeru-Shala'im, in order to re-establish the Davidic kingship and the hegemony of Yisra-El - at the time of the writing down of the Tanach, in the days of Ezra and Nechem-Yah (Nehemiah); and the theology fits perfectly with their world-view. So I am going to suggest that this Psalm may have been rooted in something written and recited earlier, but that, in the form that we now have it, it belongs to the middle 5th century BCE, is one of the very latest of all the Psalms, and even post-dates the last of the Yesha-Yahs.
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
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