TheBibleNet: Psalm 65

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

As is its custom, KJ places verse 1 alongside the title, and moves its numbering of the ensuing verses accordingly.

65:1 LA MENATSE'ACH MIZMOR LE DAVID SHIR

לַמְנַצֵּחַ מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד שִׁיר

KJ (King James translation): (To the chief Musician, A Psalm and Song of David.) Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Sion: and unto thee shall the vow be performed.

BN (BibleNet translation): For the Artistic Director. A Mizmor and Shir for David.

For who was the MENATSE'ACH, see my note at Psalm 51:1.

MIZMOR and SHIR (see my "Introduction to the Psalms" for a fuller explanation of these terms), written in this manner, tells us that one is the music and the other the words. What we cannot know is whether SHIR is intended to mean the lyrics of a song - which is how we use the word today - or a full operatic libretto, or a poem for recital with solo accoustic lyre à la Paul Simon or James Taylor, or even for reading from the page while some quiet music is strummed in the background. But what we can say, and keep this in mind with other Psalms, is that a MIZMOR and a SHIR were regarded in some way as two different modes or genres.

65:2 LECHA DUMIYAH TEHILAH ELOHIM BE TSI'ON U LECHA YESHULAM NEDER

לְךָ דֻמִיָּה תְהִלָּה אֱלֹהִים בְּצִיּוֹן וּלְךָ יְשֻׁלַּם נֶדֶר

KJ (65:1) as above

BN: A space of silent praise awaits you, Elohim, in Tsi'on; and to you the vow is performed.

DUMIYAH: There is DUMAH, from the root DAMAH, which means "quiet", "rest" or "stillness", as in Isaiah 38:10 (which is also the probable source of the opening of Dante's "Inferno"). The Yesha-Yah text is also significant because DUMIYAH is grammatically odd; it should be DUMAH, and the Yah appears to be an error - or perhaps an addition? See Isaiah 38:11, and the explanation may become quickly obvious; though clearly it couldn't be accepted by the later Yehudim, and so the grammatical error is permitted to stand, and the explanation conveniently disappears! Ecce theologia!

But there is also DUMAH, from the root DAMAM, and guess what it means - the Yesha-Yah text again confirms it, and it reinforces the Dante - "wasteland", "the wilderness", "the Netherworld".

ELOHIM: This second book appears to be entirely addressed to Elohim, with YHVH occasionally added, literally added, an addendum at the very end - probably added centuries later, at the time of Redaction.

YESHULAM: Classic Psalmic word-play. We have witnessed this now multiple times: two words that have no connection of meaning whatsoever, yet sound so similar that the listener draws that meaning anyway, and the poem is enriched. So we hear Tsi'on, and know that we are in Yeru-Shala'im, which was formed from seven hillside villages, one of which was named SHALEM; and two words later we "perform" a vow to the deity of Tsi'on, and use a word whose root is also SHALEM to achieve it. Not translateable into English, alas.

NEDER: A vow, not a pledge - one of the NEDARIM that we will annul at Kol Nidre, on Yom Kippur. And not by chance or mere coincidence, the very word that gives us Yom Kippur will occur in verse 4: TECHAPREM. Can we now place this Psalm in the liturgical calendar?

65:3 SHOME'A TEPHILAH ADEYCHA KOL BASAR YAVO'U

שֹׁמֵעַ תְּפִלָּה עָדֶיךָ כָּל בָּשָׂר יָבֹאוּ

KJ (65:2): O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come.

BN: You who hears prayer, to you does all flesh come.

65:4 DIVREY AVONOT GAVRU MENI PESHA'EYNU ATAH TECHAPREM

דִּבְרֵי עֲוֹנֹת גָּבְרוּ מֶנִּי פְּשָׁעֵינוּ אַתָּה תְכַפְּרֵם

KJ (65:3): Iniquities prevail against me: as for our transgressions, thou shalt purge them away.

BN: The tale of iniquities is too heavy for me; as for our transgressions, you will pardon them.

DIVREY: When the word is used of the deity, it poeticises actions into words; is something of the same order taking place here? A sin, thus to speak, is the idea of sin made word, by being made manifest as action. Something like this seems to be the Biblical world's understanding of how the world worked.

PESHA'EYNU: The very word I referred to in the previous Psalm. A Pesha is less than an Avon but more than a Chet, as a Selichah is less than a Kapara - different levels of sin requiring different levels of expiation, different levels of forgiveness: the full explanation of all this is in my book Day of Atonement.

ATAH TECHAPREM: How disappointing to learn that Heinrich Heine may simply have been quoting on his death-bed. How surprising that, if indeed he was quoting, then he knew the scriptures quite this well.

65:5 ASHREY TIVCHAR U TEKAREV YISHKON CHATSEREYCHA NISBE'AH BE TUV BEITECHA KEDOSH HEYCHALECHA

אַשְׁרֵי תִּבְחַר וּתְקָרֵב יִשְׁכֹּן חֲצֵרֶיךָ נִשְׂבְּעָה בְּטוּב בֵּיתֶךָ קְדֹשׁ הֵיכָלֶךָ

KJ (65:4): Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.

BN: Happy is the man who you choose, and bring near, that he may dwell in your courts; {N} may we be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holy place of your Temple!

ASHREY: Happy, rather than blessed, though probably they are synonymous. Asherah is one of the many names for the goddess of fertility, the womb in which the produce of the Earth is grown. In a Psalm which addresses the Elohim, the polytheon, we should not be surprised to find both male and female deities; the significance lies more in: "which one?". So, in an Anglo-Saxon equivalent, we would see that it was Freya rather than Frigga, or Wotan rather than Woden or Odin, and be able to place the piece in both time and geography accordingly - click here.

CHATSEREYCHA: In the distribution of the tribes, in the books of Deuteronomy and Joshua, this word is used for suburbs, or the surrounding small villages of middle-sized towns. See the link.

HEYCHALECHA: And once again we have a supposedly Davidic Psalm which speaks about a Temple that has not yet been built. Or is it that, in the polytheistic world of the Psalms, any shrine where the gods were worshipped counted as a Heychal?

65:6 NORA'OT BE TSEDEK TA'ANENU ELOHEY YISH'ENU MIVTACH KOL KATSVEY ERETS VE YOM RECHOKIM

נוֹרָאוֹת בְּצֶדֶק תַּעֲנֵנוּ אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׁעֵנוּ מִבְטָח כָּל קַצְוֵי אֶרֶץ וְיָם רְחֹקִים

KJ (65:5): By terrible things in righteousness wilt thou answer us, O God of our salvation; who art the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of them that are afar off upon the sea:

BN: With wondrous works in perfect righteousness do you answer us, O gods of our salvation; {N} You have the full confidence of all the ends of the Earth, and of the far distant seas...

ELOHEY: Plural. Polytheistic. And the wondrous works are those of Nature - presumably the poet has never had experience of a drought, a tsunami, an earthquake, a volcanic eruption, or a COVID epidemic; these too count among the wondrous works of Nature.

MIVTACH: Interesting terminology! When the star player hasn't scored a goal for several games, but still gets picked, the coach tells the press that he has "full confidence" in him. Usually, in the religious world, the term that is used is "faith", not "confidence". Though MIVTACH could also be translated as "trust" (and I would still give the same commentary, but apply it to the failing Secretary of State or Chief Executive instead of the sporteur).

65:7 MECHIYN HARIM BE CHOCHO NE'ZAR BIGVURAH

מֵכִין הָרִים בְּכֹחוֹ נֶאְזָר בִּגְבוּרָה

KJ (65:6): Which by his strength setteth fast the mountains; being girded with power:

BN: Who by his strength established the mountains firmly, girding them about with might...

The grammar and syntax insist that this verse is a continuation of the previous, and will continue into the next as well.

And actually my comment about earthquakes and volcanoes is set a-trembling by this verse, and then the ground completely removed from underneath it. Such is our poet's faith!

NE'ZAR BIGVURAH: a kind of metaphorical steel belt! But doubly metaphorical, because GEVURAH is also one of the branches of the Cabbalistic Tree of Life - click here.

65:8 MASHBIYACH SHE'ON YAMIM SHE'ON GALEYHEM VA HAMON LE'UMIM

מַשְׁבִּיחַ שְׁאוֹן יַמִּים שְׁאוֹן גַּלֵּיהֶם וַהֲמוֹן לְאֻמִּים

KJ (65:7): Which stilleth the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people.

BN: Who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the tumult of the peoples;

Worth comparing this verse with the Eli-Yah passage in 1 Kings 19:11-13.

65:9 VA YIYRE'U YOSHVEY KETSAVOT ME OTOTEYCHA MOTSA'EY VOKER VA EREV TARNIN

וַיִּירְאוּ יֹשְׁבֵי קְצָוֹת מֵאוֹתֹתֶיךָ מוֹצָאֵי בֹקֶר וָעֶרֶב תַּרְנִין

KJ (65:8): They also that dwell in the uttermost parts are afraid at thy tokens: thou makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice.

BN: So that those who dwell at the outermost edges stand in awe of your signs; you make the dusk and dawn rejoice.

KETSAVOT: As opposed to the CHATSREYCHA of verse 5.

65:10 PAKADETA HA ARETS VA TESHOKEKEHA RABAT TA'SHERENAH PELEG ELOHIM MAL'E MAYIM TACHIN DEGANAM KI CHEN TECHIYNEHA

פָּקַדְתָּ הָאָרֶץ וַתְּשֹׁקְקֶהָ רַבַּת תַּעְשְׁרֶנָּה פֶּלֶג אֱלֹהִים מָלֵא מָיִם תָּכִין דְּגָנָם כִּי כֵן תְּכִינֶהָ

KJ (65:9): Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it: thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, which is full of water: thou preparest them corn, when thou hast so provided for it.

BN: You did all the necessary to establish the Earth, and watered her, greatly enriching her, with the river of Elohim that is full of water; {N} you create their corn, for this is what you have been created to do...

PAKADETA: A TAPHKID in the army is a rank for an officer, the job they are appointed to do. The second half of this verse will play with that meaning: the Elohim "appoint" the corn, because that is their official duty in the army, the TSEVA'OT, of the heavens. So this is not "visit", but the engagement of the elements with Nature: seeding the soil with nitrogen, preparing the mulch through the processes of biodegradation, oestrogening and pheromoning to draw in the testosterone that fertilises the seed; after which TESHOKEKEHA irrigates it through the spring and summer with occasional rain, using the "river of Elohim", which is the RAKIY'A, the "firmament", that ceiling-like blueness that we call the sky, and which is where all the Elohim (the Einsteinian E in their Biblical expression) live: the gods Fermion and Boson, the goddesses Proton and Neutron, and all the rest of the polytheon. But they didn't have these terminologies back then, so ELOHIM...

TA'SHERENAH: Go back to ASHREY at verse 4; you will see that it is spelled with an Aleph, where TA'SHERENAH here is spelled with an Ayin. So we also notice with the tribe of ASHER, which inhabited the north-west coast of Kena'an, just south of the area in which the Egyptian goddess ESHET (Isis) went in search of the mutilated corpse of her brother-husband OSHER (Osiris). Asher likewise with an Aleph, OSHER with an Ayin. Eshet is yet another local name for ASHERAH, and probably the spelling variation is regional dialect too - in the same way that the Spanish call their deity Dios but the French Dieu and the Italians Dio, or we English have turned the German double-t into d for Gott/God (and see Freya and Frigga, Wotan, Woden and Odin, in my note above).

Certainly the meanings are identical. The root is ASHAR, and it conveys the same notion of rich fertility that accompanies ASHERAH - or indeed Sarai and Sarah in two other of her regional variants.

Is this PELEG the source of a name in Moby-Dick? A PELEG is really a channel or a canal, man-made, rather than a river.

DEGANAM: And I ask, though I would have done anyway, because DAGON was the corn-god of the Pelishtim, and he was generally depicted as a sea-monster, a giant whale; though he was also depicted as a Merman, and crossed the ocean, probably surviving a storm en route, and arrived in Europe, as Merlin, or Meur-Din originally: the Judge Who Lives In The Sea. Poseidon in the Greek world. Oannes to the Shomronim of Ninveh.

65:11 TELAMEYHA RAVEH NACHET GEDUDEYHA BIRVIYVIM TEMOG'GENAH TSIMCHAH TEVARECH

תְּלָמֶיהָ רַוֵּה נַחֵת גְּדוּדֶיהָ בִּרְבִיבִים תְּמֹגְגֶנָּה צִמְחָהּ תְּבָרֵךְ

KJ (65:10): Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly: thou settlest the furrows thereof: thou makest it soft with showers: thou blessest the springing thereof.

BN: ...watering her ridges abundantly, smoothing her furrows soft with showers. You bless what grows in her...

TEMOG'GENAH: Double-Gimmel! Very unusual. And surprising that it is presented as a double-Gimmel, rather than as a single Gimmel, medugash.

TEVARECH: Endorsing my insistence that ASHREY at verse 4 cannot be translated as "blessed". ASHREY is the preparation, TEVARECH the harvest.

But also note the use of the feminine throughout. Though it is the Elohim who are addressed, as a whole, and the sun and the rain and the sea get their mentions, the womb of Earth where the fertility takes place is female: Asherah, Eshet, that hint of Yah at verse 2.

65:12 ITARTA SHENAT TOVATECHA U MA'GALEYCHA YIR'APHUN DASHEN

עִטַּרְתָּ שְׁנַת טוֹבָתֶךָ וּמַעְגָּלֶיךָ יִרְעֲפוּן דָּשֶׁן

KJ (65:11): Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness.

BN: You crown the year with your goodness; and your tracks are replete with animal droppings.

ITARTA: An error, surely - the previous verse had TELAMEYHA, TEMOG'GENAH and TEVARECH, all feminine, and this is a continuation of the same sentence, so it too should be feminine: ITART, without the added kamets below the Tav, nor any need for a dagesh in the Tav.

MA'GALEYCHA: Where a DERECH is a proper road, and a HALACHAH a path that has at least some maintenance, a MA'GAL is simply a track, over the hills or through the woods, created by usage, and then lost when the grasses and the nettles overwhelm them.

YIR'APHUN DASHEN: Yet another gerund of which the KJ tranlators appear to be unaware. And is this the droppings of the sheep and goats, the larger pats of the cows, being daintily described? The next verse seems to suggest so. Sad to say, like it or not, you don't get fertility in Nature without manure and compost.

65:13 YIR'APHU NE'OT MIDBAR VE GIYL GEVA'OT TACHGORNAH

יִרְעֲפוּ נְאוֹת מִדְבָּר וְגִיל גְּבָעוֹת תַּחְגֹּרְנָה

KJ (65:12): They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness: and the little hills rejoice on every side.

BN: The pastures of the wilderness are fertilised by these droppings; and the hills are odoriferous with the joy of it.

YIR'APHU: following YIR'APHUN in the previous verse; same verb, so why not the same translation?

TACHGORNAH: Following TEMOG'GENAH two verses back - more word-play that the translations miss.

65:14 LAVSHU CHARIM HA TSON VA AMAKIM YA'ATPHU VAR YITRO'A'U APH YASHIYRU

לָבְשׁוּ כָרִים הַצֹּאן וַעֲמָקִים יַעַטְפוּ בָר יִתְרוֹעֲעוּ אַף יָשִׁירוּ

KJ (65:13): The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing.

BN: The meadows are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn; {N} they shout for joy, yea, they sing. {P}

YA'ATPHU: Pick up the note to the previous verse.
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YITRO'A'U: A double-Ayin following that double-Gimmel! In ancient Yehudit, as in modern Arabic, Gimmel (ג) and Ayin (ע) are audibly the same letter (think Azah-Gaza, Amorah-Gomorrah, but also think back to that double-Gimmel which clearly distinguishes a hard "g" there from a much softer, an almost aspirate one, here).

And a verse about flocks of sheep that happens to mention (by default, as a play on words that really must have taken some straining to get there with such an obscure grammatical trick, I mean flourish) - Yitro, the shepherd-king of Midyan who gave Mosheh his first job, and then his daughter Tsiporah for his wife.

And then that awful pun on "meadows being clothed" with the stuff you make the clothes from: sheep-wool. I guess it was winter (we knew that from the "crowning of the year" in verse 12, and the constant word-plays on extremities, edges, dawn-to-dusk, ends of time, ends of the universe, near-v-far! Oh the fun the writer was having when he created this! A Psalm to animal droppings, created specifically for whatever they called Sol Invictus! Is it then a Carol, rather than a Psalm? And which animals were they, in the "manger" with Jesus on Christmas Day?

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