Psalm 30 is read every day in the morning Shacharit service. But I suspect many fluent with the Hebrew pay little attention to the two, rare times Vav Hahefuch appears in this prayer. After all, unlike Psalm 34 where its two are placed prominently in the first verse and back to back, in Psalm 30 the two are dispersed within the psalm.
And those who have to rely on translations have no inkling of its
presence (here and elsewhere) as translators simply give the verb tense
‘meaning’. There is, no change of word colouring or different font or italics
or bold highlighting or underling as a clue to the presence of the Divine Vav
Hahefuch in the original Hebrew.
The appearance and use of vav hahefuch in any psalm is always noteworthy
as these poems are human creations - by King David, King Solomon and others -
and, consequently, the insertion of vav hahefuch, the hallmark verb form of
God, the Eternal, is very rare as it should be.
Vav Hahefuch as God’s hallmark
Vav Hahefuch is the special verb form used throughout the Chumash as the voice of God Eternal as
narrator and in His indirect speech. (Direct speech by God to man or man to man
is always in normal verb forms.)
Vav Hahefuch transforms a past tense verb into future meaning by the
prefix Vav, and similarly this prefix converts a past tense verb into a future
meaning.
As such, it is emblematic of the proper name of the God of the Bible,
the four (4) letters Yud-Hey-Vav-Hey (i.e., the Tetragrammaton) which is a
conflation of the Hebrew verb ‘to be’ in its past, present and future forms.
The Tetragrammaton, consequently, is most accurately and preferably
translated as The Eternal – its
meaning.
The first Jewish translation to use the proper Eternal wording was the Pentateuch
with Targum Onkelos, haphtaroth and Rashi’s Commentary by Rosenbaum and
Silbermann, published as 5 volumes between 1929 and 1934[i].
Lord vs the Eternal
The common English translation of Lord,
Hebrew אֲדֹנָי, is based on the ancient Jewish practice never to utter God’s
proper name and to substitute for it the word אֲדֹנָי, i.e., Lord or Master.
According to Jewish tradition, only the High Priest was allowed to
pronounce the Tetragrammaton and only on Yom Kippur when praying alone in front
of the Ark of the Covenant[ii].
When in the Middle Ages vowel markings (dashes and dots) were invented
and added to clarify the proper vowel sounds for the all consonant Bible texts,
the vowel markings for אֲדֹנָי were inserted around
the consonants of the tetragrammaton as a pious guide.
Unfortunately, standard translations have perpetuated this
‘substitution’ of Lord thereby
obscuring the key point of the original Hebrew’s intent and meaning: God is The Eternal.
Vav hahefuch is the Divine verb-form ‘signature’ of this central idea:
that The Eternal is beyond normal
time, and what He says, promises and commands are also eternal.
Notably, this Divine verb hallmark always appears first in its
sentence or clause: contrary to the normal Hebrew word order of
subject-verb-object.
Vav Hahefuch in the Tanach/Scriptures
Vav hahefuch, as The Eternal’s voice in dictation to Moses, is continuously
used in the Chumash for The Eternal’s
words as narrator and His indirect speech passages.
Thereafter, it is used in the historical narratives composed by men reflecting
their firm belief that the events recounted were the ‘Invisible hand of God’ at
work: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings,
Chronicles; the stories of Ruth, Jonah, Job, Lamentations, all the writings of the prophets, and even Purim’s MegillatEsther.
Scriptural writings by King Solomon reflecting his own wisdom and
advice: Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, or love poetry: the Song of Songs, do not use the Divine vav
hahefuch.
The same is true of the man-made poetry of Psalms.
So when Vav Hahefuch appears in a psalm, attention must be paid.
Its appearance and significance in King David’s Psalm 34 has been
discussed previously, and here David’s Psalm 30 deserves our attention.
Other aspects
This blog will also deal with three (3) other aspects
of the psalm:
1.
Psalm 30 is unique as it does not
focus on one, single challenge that David faced and overcame ‘with God’s help’,
but a surprising three (3) different challenges.
This is something no one has
commented on before.
2.
The opening dedication which has long
been the subject of dispute.
3.
The feared Afterlife of verse 4.
Psalms
Chapter 30 הִלִּיםתְּ
The Hebrew text and
translation below is based on https://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2630.htm with ETERNAL replacing LORD. The
English is the JPS 1917 version, preserving the poetic quality of the KJV (1611).
Vav Hahefuch is highlighted in RED and with the bracketed explanation: (by
Divine intervention)
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Analysis References
to the Divine This psalm
uses the Hebrew word for LORD - אֲדֹנָי - only once, in verse 9. The Hebrew
Tetragrammaton appears 9 times. The
generic term GOD as אֱלֹהָי (= my God)
is used twice
(verses 3, 13) but only in apposition to and reinforcement of the
Tetragrammaton as יְהוָה אֱלֹהַי -- “the ETERNAL, my God,” So David
is speaking to and of the ETERNAL, using His full and proper name all but
once! Even
David’s use of אֲדֹנָי - LORD/MASTER, is done in the second
half of a repeated idea where the Tetragrammaton is used first. I.e., the poetic custom of using synonyms
for diversity. Put
simply, King David in this poem of praise and thanksgiving addressed the
Divine as The ETERNAL, and any ‘LORD’ translation in these instances is a
semantic distortion and mutation of the ideas of the original Hebrew.
Vav
Hahefuch Usage As
mentioned before and as highlighted in RED, vav hahefuch is used only twice: in
verse 3 שִׁוַּעְתִּי אֵלֶיךָ, וַתִּרְפָּאֵנִי.
and in verse 13 וַתְּאַזְּרֵנִי שִׂמְחָה.. Why? As I
suggested regarding Psalm 34, David inserted the Divine vav hahefuch verb
form to stress that his ‘help’ and ‘salvation’ was by special, Divine means: beyond
any normal expectation.
FIRST VAV HAHEFUCH Verse 3 refers
to some grave illness which threatened David’s life, and for which extraordinary
Divine intervention and ‘healing’ was needed: hence the vav hahefuch use for “healing
me” (by divine intervention) = .וַתִּרְפָּאֵנִי . What
exactly was this illness or when exactly it occurred is unclear from Psalm 30. As
noted in the commentary of The Psalms, Soncino, (10th
impression, 1971) p. 85., only a
late-life loss of body heat and need for a body-warming companion, Abishag the
Shunammite (1 Kings 1:1-4), is ever recorded. But the
illness of verse 3 was extremely grave and painful and David was certain he
would die, because verse 3 and
verse 4 are actually a couplet. They
show how this illness and near death experience shook King David, and highlight the fear of death and the Underworld
lingered in his mind.
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ג יְהוָה אֱלֹהָי-- שִׁוַּעְתִּי אֵלֶיךָ, .וַתִּרְפָּאֵנִי |
3 O ETERNAL, my God, I cried
unto Thee, and Thou didst heal me: (by Divine intervention); |
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ד יְהוָה--הֶעֱלִיתָ מִן-שְׁאוֹל נַפְשִׁי; חִיִּיתַנִי, מיורדי-
(מִיָּרְדִי-) בוֹר. |
4 O ETERNAL, Thou broughtest up
my soul from the nether-world; Thou didst keep me alive, that I should not go
down to the pit. |
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David clearly believed he was doomed by this illness and
should have died without special Divine intervention: justifying the use of vav
hahefuch וַתִּרְפָּאֵנִי , Thou didst heal me.
As noted above, this severe illness
is never mentioned in the Hebrew texts: from 1 Samuel 16 and David’s secret
anointment through his defeat of Goliath (1 Samuel 17) and on through the rest
of 1 Samuel and all of 2 Samuel until his death in 1 Kings 2. Nor is it mentioned in I Chronicles ch. 11
through ch. 29.
But this extreme illness is the detailed
subject of another Psalm, Psalm 38.
Rashi interpreted Psalm 38 as a
metaphor for the suffering of the Nation of Israel, but as the Soncino The Psalms points out (opening
commentary p.117), it is far more likely to be personal and refers to its
author, David.
As the psalm notes that David’s enemies
conspire and gloat at his physical suffering and impending death (verse 13, 20-21), this overwhelming illness
must have taken place after he entered the national stage: when king of
breakaway Judah for 7 years[iii],
or during his 33 year reign as king of all 12 tribes. (1 Kings 2:11; 1
Chronicles 29:27)
This ‘illness’ affected his flesh
with soars that emitted a foul odor (v.6), made his bones ache and loins
‘burn’, affected his vision and hearing and made him feel weak all day (verses
4-15).
His is so loathsome that his
friends and companions avoid him (v. 12).
While Christian Bibles translate
the Hebrew illness term נִגְעִי variously as: sores (KJV
1611), disease, affliction and sickness, some use the term ‘plague’ as do
Jewish translations ever since the landmark JPS (1917)[iv].
As the Soncino notes on verse 12,
the term נִגְעִי is regularly used in Scriptural texts for leprosy.
David’s many symptoms are consistent with leprosy[v] and
as it was until recent times untreatable, his escape from the disease -- or a
similar disease -- and restoration to good health, would have been truly
miraculous and a Divine gift.
In Psalm 38, David acknowledges the illness is a
Divine punishment for his sins (v.2, 19), and by the end of Psalm 38 he is not
yet healed.
But by Psalm 30, he has been cured, and therefore
uses the vav hahefuch for ,וַתִּרְפָּאֵנִי “You have healed me.”
SECOND VAV HAHEFUCH
In the second last verse of Psalm 30, David again uses a vav hahefuch
verb.
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יב הָפַכְתָּ מִסְפְּדִי, לְמָחוֹל לִי: פִּתַּחְתָּ שַׂקִּי; וַתְּאַזְּרֵנִי שִׂמְחָה. |
12 Thou
didst turn for me my mourning into dancing; Thou didst loosen my sackcloth,
and : (by Divine intervention) girded
me with gladness; |
Here, King David refers to a death that made him
wear sackcloth and be in extreme mourning, but eventually God turned back his
spirit from pain and desolation to joy and gladness.
What was this tragic death?
There are 3 possibilities:
·
The death soon after birth of his first child by Bath
Sheba. (2 Samuel 12:15-24)
While the newborn child lingered between life and
death for days, David withdrew from his royal duties, fasted, continually prayed
to God and prostrated himself all night on the ground. (2 Samuel 12: 16-17)
But once the child died, David, to everyone’s
surprise, rose and returned to normal instantly: no mourning period.
Consequently, this tragic death does not
fit Psalm 30’s verse 12 reference to “mourning” and “sackcloth”.
·
The death of his grown son, prince Amnon. (2
Samuel 13)
Amnon was killed by his half-brother Absalom for
raping Absalom’s virgin sister, Tamar, and refusing to marry her; thereby
shaming Absalom’s family and leaving Tamar in permanent disgrace.
David, when he learned of this, was “very wroth” (2
Samuel 13: 21) but did nothing.
Two years later, Absalom avenged Tamar by having
Amnon murdered.
Absalom himself had to flee to Geshur for three
years while David “mourned for his son every
day.”
2 Samuel 13:
Eventually, Absalom was allowed to return to
Jerusalem (2 Samuel 14: 21-24) but was banned from David’s palace for two more
years (2 Samuel 14:28). David finally
reconciled with Absalom thereafter ( 2 Samuel 14:33).
So, was Amnon’s murder the trigger for the
“mourning” and “sackcloth” of Psalm 30?
Possibly yes.
The Samuel account focuses on the inter-actions
of Amnon-Tamar-Absalom and any reference to David’s mourning is minimized:
probably due to the horrible rape of Tamar that triggered the deadly revenge.
But the text nevertheless makes clear that David
was devastated by Amnon’s death and only reconciled with Absalom after 5
years.
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ABSALOM’S DEATH
The last setting for such mourning and pain was Absalom’s
death – even after he led a rebellion against David (2 Samuel 15-18).
Absalom was always a favorite of David’s. David
missed him greatly during his exile after killing Amnon (2 Samuel 13:39, 14: 33)
and his handsome appearance made him admired by all (2 Samuel 14:25).
After his reconciliation with King David, he soon
started systematically to attract attention and build his own following.
He would have 50 men running before his chariot,
and daily conversed with people coming to the royal court and would hug and
kiss these ordinary people. (2 Samuel
15: 1-6)
And so, as verse 6 states, “Absalom stole the
hearts of the men of Israel.”
With the support of leaders of all 12 tribes,
Absalom declared himself the ‘new king’ at a secret gathering at Hebron.
When news of this reached David in Jerusalem, he
and his retinue fled the city ( 2 Samuel 15:14) and soon Absalom entered Jerusalem
as the new ruler of all Israel (2 Samuel 16:15).
A major battle between the forces of Absalom and
David ensued, and David’s troops won out.
Absalom, fleeing on his mule, had his long hair become entwined in a
tree’s branches and while dangling there, was killed by David’s general, Joab
and his men. (2 Samuel ch. 18)
2 Samuel 19:1-5 is David’s response to the news
of Absalom’s defeat and death.
It is not joy, but a great and most powerful lamentation
for his son, Absalom.
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א וַיִּרְגַּז הַמֶּלֶךְ, וַיַּעַל
עַל-עֲלִיַּת הַשַּׁעַר--וַיֵּבְךְּ; וְכֹה אָמַר בְּלֶכְתּוֹ, בְּנִי
אַבְשָׁלוֹם בְּנִי בְנִי אַבְשָׁלוֹם, מִי-יִתֵּן מוּתִי אֲנִי תַחְתֶּיךָ,
אַבְשָׁלוֹם בְּנִי בְנִי. |
1 And the king was much
moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept; and as he went,
thus he said: 'O my son Absalom,
my son, my son Absalom! would I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my
son!' |
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ב וַיֻּגַּד,
לְיוֹאָב: הִנֵּה הַמֶּלֶךְ בֹּכֶה וַיִּתְאַבֵּל, עַל-אַבְשָׁלוֹם. |
2 And it was told Joab: 'Behold, the king weepeth
and mourneth for Absalom.' |
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ג וַתְּהִי
הַתְּשֻׁעָה בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא, לְאֵבֶל--לְכָל-הָעָם: כִּי-שָׁמַע הָעָם,
בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא לֵאמֹר, נֶעֱצַב הַמֶּלֶךְ, עַל-בְּנוֹ. |
3 And the victory that day was turned into mourning unto all
the people; for the people heard say that day: 'The king grieveth for his
son.' |
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ד וַיִּתְגַּנֵּב
הָעָם בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא, לָבוֹא הָעִיר: כַּאֲשֶׁר יִתְגַּנֵּב, הָעָם
הַנִּכְלָמִים--בְּנוּסָם, בַּמִּלְחָמָה. |
4 And the people got them by stealth that day into
the city, as people that are ashamed steal away when they flee in battle. |
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ה וְהַמֶּלֶךְ
לָאַט אֶת-פָּנָיו, וַיִּזְעַק הַמֶּלֶךְ קוֹל גָּדוֹל: בְּנִי,
אַבְשָׁלוֹם, אַבְשָׁלוֹם, בְּנִי בְנִי. {ס} |
5 And the king
covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice: 'O my son Absalom, O
Absalom, my son, my son!' |
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So, to which son’s death is David referring in Psalm 30? Amnon or Absalom?
Neither son was ‘ideal’. And Absalom
committed the greatest violation of filial duty to a parent: trying to
overthrow is father as king, and seeking his father’s death.
Yet, if we are guided by how the author of 2 Samuel composed the texts re:
Amnon and Absalom, it is the death of the prodigal son, Absalom, that gets the
most attention.
And one cannot close one’s eyes and ears to the text of David’s sorrow at
Absalom’s death.
As stated in verse 1, David would have preferred his own death rather than Absalom’s!
So, I suggest, it is Absalom’s death that is the subject of Psalm 30’s last
part.
That David lived to see positive events thereafter, that his spirits were
lifted to song and joy, is made clear in the ensuing 2 Samuel 22, which is
also, Psalm 18 (with some polishing as noted by The Psalms, Soncino, p. 43)[vi].
Having overcome all his enemies from King Saul
onward, David joyfully sings praise to his Rock and Redeemer, God, The Eternal.
(My underlining.)
By inserting vav hahefuch in Psalm 30:12, for וַתְּאַזְּרֵנִי שִׂמְחָה, David made clear that his subsequent
ability to be joyful again was a special ‘gift’ from God.
“You
transformed my mourning into dancing for me; You have opened my sackcloth and surrounded me (by Divine intervention) with joy.”
Conclusion
Twice in this poem King David incorporates the Divine vav hahefuch, and in
both instances they can be seen as reflecting his pious belief and affirmation
that his ‘healing’ from some unknown and deadly illness was by the grace of God
and, near the end, that it was God who allowed him to escape from mourning and
sackcloth and allowed his spirit to rise and be “surrounded with joy”.
Such crescendo moments and deeper meanings are lost in standard
translations so only the Hebrew
reader has until now been able to fully appreciate the text and its use of the
Divine link: vav hahefuch.
Ideally, all translations, in instances of vav hahefuch beyond God as
narrator in the Chumash, should be
‘marked’ to make the reader aware of its special usage and deeper meaning: by
putting the vav hahefuch words in bold, italics, a different font
or colour, with a bracketed phrase that fits: e.g., by Divine intervention,
through Divine will, or acronyms thereof, e.g. bDi, tDw.
Otherwise, a disservice is done to the text, its author, and the
reader who is left – when not reading the original Hebrew – oblivious to the
use and special Divine ‘link’ that is vav hahefuch.
THREE CHALLENGES IN ONE PSALM
As noted at the outset, Psalm 30
is unique as it thanks The Eternal for His help in three different
situations.
It may well have been created
near the end of David’s life as a kind of ‘summary’ of his key challenges and
how, through The Eternal’s interventions, he had overcome and outlived all
dangers and sorrows.
a. Defeat of
Enemies
Verse 2 thanks The Eternal for
saving David from his enemies.
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ב אֲרוֹמִמְךָ יְהוָה, כִּי דִלִּיתָנִי;
וְלֹא-שִׂמַּחְתָּ אֹיְבַי לִי. |
2 I will extol thee, O
LORD, for Thou hast raised me up, and hast not
suffered mine enemies to rejoice over me. |
While here his enemies receive a
brief, opening line, anyone familiar with the Book of Psalms knows his ‘rescue from enemies’ was a major theme and appears more fleshed
out numerous times in psalms 3 (Absalom), 6, 7 (Cush the Benjamite), 9, 13, 17,
18 (Saul, etc.), 27, 31, 35, 38, 41, 52, 54, 55, 57, 59, 63, 64, 69, 70, 71, 109,
119, 120, 140, 142 and 143.
Psalm 30, then, would post-date
all these others, and assumes the reader is familiar with them – and the
numerous chapters of Samuel 1 and 2 and 1 Chronicles that cover his life: enemy
challenges that lasted for well over 40 years.
b. Salvation from
illness
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ג יְהוָה אֱלֹהָי-- שִׁוַּעְתִּי
אֵלֶיךָ, וַתִּרְפָּאֵנִי. |
3 O LORD
my God, I cried unto Thee, and Thou didst heal me; |
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ד יְהוָה--הֶעֱלִיתָ מִן-שְׁאוֹל נַפְשִׁי;
חִיִּיתַנִי, מיורדי- (מִיָּרְדִי-) בוֹר. |
4 O LORD,
Thou broughtest up my soul from the nether-world; Thou didst keep me alive,
that I should not go down to the pit. |
As
explained above, it was some horrendous and horrible illness that may have been
leprosy or a very similar disease. His
survival and return to good health was seen as a Divine miracle. And to understand what this Psalm 30 illness
was, one must first read Psalm 38 where it is detailed.
c. Replaced mourning with Joy
The
third issue in Psalm 30 is near the end, verse 12.
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יב הָפַכְתָּ מִסְפְּדִי, לְמָחוֹל לִי:
פִּתַּחְתָּ שַׂקִּי; וַתְּאַזְּרֵנִי שִׂמְחָה. |
12 Thou didst turn for me my mourning into dancing; Thou didst loose
my sackcloth, and gird me with gladness; |
King David refers to an event that made him wear
sackcloth and be in extreme mourning.
Thankfully, God turned back his spirit from pain and desolation to joy
and gladness.
As argued above, it probably refers to the death of
Absalom; his beloved prodigal son.
So,
in conclusion, Psalm 30 assumes familiarity with David’s many years on the
national stage, familiarity with some 38 psalms re: enemies, Psalm 38 to
understand the ‘illness’ theme, and Absalom’s revolt and death (2 Samuel ch.
15-18) and David’s poetic lament found only in 2 Samuel 19:1-5.
Psalm
30, in fact, is so very brief and vague in describing/explaining its three (3) issues
that it cannot be understood without this multi-layered and lengthy
‘background’ knowledge.
Consequently,
it appears to be a late-in-life, reflective ‘summary’.
Opening DEDICATION to Psalm 30
The opening verse of this
psalm associates
it with King David and the “dedication of the house”.
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א מִזְמוֹר:
שִׁיר-חֲנֻכַּת הַבַּיִת לְדָוִד. |
1 A Psalm; a Song at the Dedication of the House; of David. |
What exactly was this ”house” (and its dedication) has long
been disputed.
Ibn Ezra’s suggests the poem refers to David’s own palace of
cedar wood (2 Samuel 5:11) or
the purchase of the Temple Mount site as mentioned in 1 Chronicles 22:1.
Rashi and Radak believe that
David composed Psalm 30 to be sung in future: when Solomon builds and dedicates
the Temple David had planned[vii].
Ibn
Ezra also notes some believe it is prophetic and refers to the future building
of the Second – and even a Third – Temple[viii].
Soncino, The Psalms (10th Impression, p.85)
notes that modern scholars believe that the dedication title may be a later
addition as the poem was used for the dedication of the Second Temple and
again by the Maccabees when restoring the Temple at Chanukah.
The
Malbim, however, does not associate the rubric with any Temple or royal palace
at all. He sees the rubric as metaphorical
and stresses the poem’s focus on illness in David’s body. I.e., the ‘house’ is the human body[ix].
So who is right?
As argued above, Psalm 30 was composed late in King
David’s life and after Absalom’s death and David’s mourning.
Consequently, Ibn Ezra’s suggestion that Psalm 30
was composed for the dedication of David’s new palace or purchase of Temple
land does not work.
David built his palace (and Temple land) soon after
he became King of all 12 tribes and immediately conquered Jerusalem (12 Samuel
5:5-11).
I.e., at the very start of his 33 year reign over
all Israel and decades before Amnon’s murder and Absalom’s revolt.
Also, if David had composed a dedication psalm for
his new palace, it is very likely it would have been mentioned -- and text
included -- in the relevant section of 2 Samuel 6:12-17 and certainly in 1
Chronicles.
The only psalm of David’s known to 1 Chronicles from this specific
period was on the relocation of the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem and its
placement in a special tent set up by David (1 Chronicles ch.15).
The move of the Ark to Jerusalem so excited David that
he personally chose the various Priests and Levites to carry out the ceremonial
procession. And especially the musical aspect:
1 Chron. 15: 16
(1 Chronicles 15 / Hebrew Bible in English /
Mechon-Mamre (mechon-mamre.org)
16 And
David spoke to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brethren the singers, with
instruments of music, psalteries and harps and cymbals, sounding aloud and
lifting up the voice with joy.
David himself
then led the procession: dressed in fine linen, singing and dancing (2 Samuel
6:14, 1 Chronicles 15:27; 16:1).
Now one
might argue that it is this ‘tent’; the new home for the Ark of the Covenant,
that the rubic refers to: i.e., the ‘residence’ or ‘house’ where God resides.
Yes, the Mishcan/Tabernacle: the centre for daily
sacrifices and holy worship from Moses’s Mount Sinai times through that of Eli
at Shiloh (1 Samuel ch 1) to Gibeon (1 Chronicles 16:39) was not replaced until
the day Solomon dedicated his Temple and moved the Mishcan to the Temple site (2 Chronicles 5:5).
But David
had sacrifices made in Jerusalem before the tent of the Ark (2 Samuel 6:17; 1 Chronicles 15: 26),
assigned Levites and Priests to minister and take care of the Ark and its tent,
and to play music there daily.
( 1 Chronicles 16:4-6; 2 Chronicles 1:3)
So the
rubric of Psalm 30 might apply to this event, i.e., the relocation of the Holy Ark
of the Covenant to Jerusalem and its new tent.
But we know the
psalm David composed for this occasion; and it was NOT Psalm 30.
His special
dedication psalm is not even found in the Book
of Psalms[x]:
but everyone who prayers Shacharit daily knows it well. It is the first 1/2 of
the prayer הוֹדוּ לַיהוָה, קִרְאוּ
בִשְׁמוֹ—“O give thanks
unto the LORD, call upon His name”.
1 Chronicles
16: 7 states:
|
ז בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא, אָז
נָתַן דָּוִיד בָּרֹאשׁ, לְהֹדוֹת, לַיהוָה--בְּיַד-אָסָף, וְאֶחָיו. {ש} |
7 Then on that day did David
first ordain to give thanks unto the LORD, by the hand of Asaph and his brethren. {P} |
David’s
special composition -- given to Asaph and his brethren – the group identified
in the rubrics of twelve (12) psalms[xi]
-- is recorded in 1 Chronicles 16: 8-36.
It begins:
|
ח הוֹדוּ
לַיהוָה, קִרְאוּ בִשְׁמוֹ-- {ס} הוֹדִיעוּ בָעַמִּים, עֲלִילֹתָיו.
{ר} |
8 O give thanks unto the LORD,
call upon His name; make known His doings among the peoples. |
|
ט שִׁירוּ לוֹ,
זַמְּרוּ-לוֹ-- {ס} שִׂיחוּ, בְּכָל-נִפְלְאֹתָיו. {ר} |
9 Sing unto Him, sing praises
unto Him; speak ye of all His marvellous works. |
Most
importantly, regarding Psalm 30 and its rubric, it should be noted that all the
psalms with David’s name fall into one of two distinct categories.
1. Poems about his personal challenges:
enemies, illness, etc. that reflect his mindset and situation of the moment as
he reaches out to the Eternal for aid and salvation.
They are ‘reflective’ and the kind of thoughts one might put in a diary:
for personal meditation.
2. Poems that focus not on the ‘I’ but the collective ‘WE’. That laud God, the
Eternal as the great Creator of the universe, Creator of all creatures, and that
acknowledge His invisible -- and at times visible -- ‘hand’ in the events of
the Earth, animal life and mankind.
And as the God of justice and protector of the weak: especially his
chosen people, Israel.
The content
of Psalm 30 falls into the first category, and, as such, is a poor fit
for any national celebration or dedication: let alone any future Temple as
God’s home.
The content
of the psalm does not align in anyway with the current rubric whether
intended to refer to Solomon’s (future) Temple, the restored Second Temple
hundreds of years later, or the millennium later Maccabee rededication at
Chanukah: which was made a perpetual national holiday of eight (8) days
duration.
In summary,
then, choosing Psalm 30 for any Temple dedication seems to me bizarre.
The psalm is
so very personal in content and noteworthy for its brevity.
It is not
a good fit for a major dedication ceremony before the entire nation.
Only the
Malbim seems to have recognized this incongruity re: palace or temple
dedication.
But his
‘body ‘solution only fits the illness theme and not the enemies or sackcloth
and mourning issues.
So, I
believe, it too is off.
For the
relocation of the Ark of the Covenant into a special tent in Jerusalem, David
composed and sang a psalm of praise which in its content and length was truly
worthy of a major dedication and national event:
הוֹדוּ לַיהוָה, קִרְאוּ בִשְׁמוֹ-- הוֹדִיעוּ בָעַמִּים,
עֲלִילֹתָיו.
And there
are many far better praises of God in David’s Psalms to choose from: Psalm 8,
19, 20, 24, 29, 61, 65, 68, 86 and especially 103 or 145.
Psalm 145 is
said three times daily as the main part of סֶּלָה יְהַלְלוּךָ עוֹד,
בֵיתֶךָ יוֹשְׁבֵי אַשְׁרֵי .
Psalm 103 is not read as part of any Jewish
religious service, but many of its verses are recited:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psalm_103
§ Verse 1 is the final verse of Nishmat.[9]
§ Verses 2, 10, and 13 are recited during Selichot.[10]
§ Verses 10, 13, and 14 are part of the Tachanun prayer.[10] Verse 14 is also recited during a burial
service.[10]
§ Verse 17 is recited during the blessings
before the Shema on the second day of Rosh Hashanah.[11]
§ Verse 19 is part of the Yehi kevod prayer recited during Pesukei Dezimra.[12][10]
In closing, the
rubric of Psalm 30 does not fit the poem.
I suspect it
was added much later.
And in error.
The Afterlife
David’s fear
and dread of the Afterlife is elaborated in verse 4: the underworld of שְׁאוֹל which he refers to again in
the second half of the verse as “the pit” בוֹר.
|
ד יְהוָה--הֶעֱלִיתָ מִן-שְׁאוֹל נַפְשִׁי;
חִיִּיתַנִי, מיורדי- (מִיָּרְדִי-) בוֹר. |
4 O ETERNAL, Thou
broughtest up my soul from the nether-world;
Thou didst keep me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. |
Psalm 30 is not the only time David talks about his
fear of the underworld
of שְׁאוֹל.
He repeatedly praises and thanks The Eternal for
keeping him alive and avoiding the underworld of שְׁאוֹל in no less than ten (10) other psalms: 6:6,
16:10, 18:6, 49:15-16, 55:16 (and “the pit” 24), 63:10, 86:13, 88:4 (and “the
pit” 5), 89:37, 49 and 116:3.
In fact, all of psalms 88 and 116 are about
David’s fear of death and thanks for Divine intervention to keep him alive.
Even in Psalm 30, he again thanks The Eternal for
saving his life in verse 10.
|
י מַה-בֶּצַע בְּדָמִי,
בְּרִדְתִּי אֶל-שָׁחַת: |
10 “What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to
the pit? (שָׁחַת : the verb means to destroy or slaughter, so a better translation of the
noun is “The place of destruction”) Shall the dust praise Thee? Shall it declare Thy truth?” |
Verse 10 twice stresses that death is undesirable,
using two classic Bible images:
d.
Blood is a key Biblical symbol of
life. And we die without blood running through our bodies.
For
example, Genesis 4: 10 on the death of Abel:
|
י וַיֹּאמֶר, מֶה עָשִׂיתָ; קוֹל דְּמֵי אָחִיךָ, צֹעֲקִים אֵלַי מִן-הָאֲדָמָה. |
e.
10 And He
said: 'What hast thou done? the voice of thy
brother's blood crieth unto Me from the ground. |
And
repeatedly in Leviticus:
Leviticus 7
Leviticus 17
|
י וְאִישׁ אִישׁ מִבֵּית
יִשְׂרָאֵל, וּמִן-הַגֵּר הַגָּר בְּתוֹכָם, אֲשֶׁר יֹאכַל,
כָּל-דָּם--וְנָתַתִּי פָנַי, בַּנֶּפֶשׁ הָאֹכֶלֶת אֶת-הַדָּם, וְהִכְרַתִּי
אֹתָהּ, מִקֶּרֶב עַמָּהּ. |
10 And whatsoever
man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among
them, that eateth any manner of blood, I will set My
face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his
people. |
|
יא כִּי נֶפֶשׁ הַבָּשָׂר, בַּדָּם הִוא, וַאֲנִי נְתַתִּיו לָכֶם
עַל-הַמִּזְבֵּחַ, לְכַפֵּר עַל-נַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶם: כִּי-הַדָּם הוּא,
בַּנֶּפֶשׁ יְכַפֵּר. |
11 For the life of the flesh
is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make
atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that maketh atonement by reason
of the life. |
|
יב עַל-כֵּן אָמַרְתִּי לִבְנֵי
יִשְׂרָאֵל, כָּל-נֶפֶשׁ מִכֶּם לֹא-תֹאכַל דָּם;
וְהַגֵּר הַגָּר בְּתוֹכְכֶם, לֹא-יֹאכַל דָּם. |
12 Therefore I said
unto the children of Israel: No soul of you shall eat
blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood. |
|
יג וְאִישׁ אִישׁ מִבְּנֵי
יִשְׂרָאֵל, וּמִן-הַגֵּר הַגָּר בְּתוֹכָם, אֲשֶׁר יָצוּד צֵיד חַיָּה
אוֹ-עוֹף, אֲשֶׁר יֵאָכֵל--וְשָׁפַךְ, אֶת-דָּמוֹ,
וְכִסָּהוּ, בֶּעָפָר. |
13 And whatsoever
man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn
among them, that taketh in hunting any beast or fowl that may be eaten, he shall pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with
dust. |
|
יד כִּי-נֶפֶשׁ
כָּל-בָּשָׂר, דָּמוֹ בְנַפְשׁוֹ הוּא, וָאֹמַר לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, דַּם כָּל-בָּשָׂר לֹא תֹאכֵלוּ: כִּי נֶפֶשׁ
כָּל-בָּשָׂר דָּמוֹ הִוא, כָּל-אֹכְלָיו יִכָּרֵת. |
14 For as to the life of all flesh, the blood thereof is all
one with the life thereof; therefore I said unto the children of
Israel: Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh;
for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof; whosoever eateth it shall be
cut off. |
2. That we return to dust.
Genesis 3:19
|
יט עַד שׁוּבְךָ אֶל-הָאֲדָמָה, כִּי מִמֶּנָּה
לֻקָּחְתָּ: כִּי-עָפָר אַתָּה, וְאֶל-עָפָר תָּשׁוּב. |
19 … till thou return unto the ground; for out of it
wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.' |
So, in verse 10, David succinctly calls up these
Biblical ideas, and adds a reminder to God – yes, a reminder to God a la Moses
whenever God was ready to destroy the rebellious Israelites at the Golden Calf
and thereafter -- that only the living can praise Him.
As
he says: “Shall the dust praise
Thee? Shall it declare Thy truth?”
All of the extended poetic language and allusions of
verse 4 and verse 10 repeat the core idea of an earlier psalm of David -- Psalm
6:
|
ו כִּי אֵין בַּמָּוֶת זִכְרֶךָ;
בִּשְׁאוֹל, מִי יוֹדֶה-לָּךְ. |
6 For in death there is no
remembrance of Thee; in the nether-world who will
give Thee thanks? |
Put simply, David’s perception of the Afterlife as
presented in Psalm 30 and ten (10) other psalms is totally negative.
There is no
heaven for the good and faithful such as himself (Psalm 89:34-37).
Once dead, he would pass on in ghost-like form to the
Underworld of שְׁאוֹל , which he also
calls in the latter part of verse 4 (and elsewhere) “the pit” בוֹר.
I.e., The dark
pit where the spirits of the dead walk around like sad zombies.
Ancient Near Eastern religions
This imagery and afterlife concept was commonplace in
the Near East, dating back to early Mesopotamian times (The Baal Cycle text[xii]
and Gilgamesh[xiii]).
Even as stated by Jacob in Genesis 37:35 and again
42:38, any existence after death took place in the שְׁאוֹל Underworld.
|
לה וַיָּקֻמוּ
כָל-בָּנָיו וְכָל-בְּנֹתָיו לְנַחֲמוֹ, וַיְמָאֵן לְהִתְנַחֵם, וַיֹּאמֶר, כִּי-אֵרֵד
אֶל-בְּנִי אָבֵל שְׁאֹלָה; וַיֵּבְךְּ
אֹתוֹ, אָבִיו. |
35 And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to
comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said: “I will go down to [meet] my son in the Underworld mourning.' And his
father wept for him. (My
English translation.) |
|
לח וַיֹּאמֶר, לֹא-יֵרֵד בְּנִי
עִמָּכֶם: כִּי-אָחִיו מֵת וְהוּא לְבַדּוֹ נִשְׁאָר, וּקְרָאָהוּ אָסוֹן
בַּדֶּרֶךְ אֲשֶׁר תֵּלְכוּ-בָהּ, וְהוֹרַדְתֶּם אֶת-שֵׂיבָתִי בְּיָגוֹן, שְׁאוֹלָה. |
38 And he said: 'My son shall not go down
with you; for his brother is dead, and he only is left; if harm befall him by
the way in which ye go, then will ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to
the (My English translation/correction.) |
As Jacob
laments, believing his beloved son Joseph has been torn to pieces by a wild
animal, he explicitly states he will be mourning all his days until he too dies
and enters the שְׁאוֹל
Underworld to again meet his son, Joseph.
The שְׁאוֹל Underworld of the Baal Cycle and Gilgamesh and
thereafter the Greek Odyssey (book
11) and Roman Aeneid (book VI) is a
dark and dreary world: where by and large the spirits of the dead walk sad and
aimless like zombies.
It is the
world ruled by the god MOT/MAVIT (= “death”) in the north-west Mesopotamian
Baal Cycle, Sumerian Ereshkigal (Queen of the
Underworld)[xiv] Hades (Greek) and Pluto (Roman).
Only the
ancient Egyptians envisioned a happy afterlife; but one available only to the
very few: namely, semi-divine Pharaohs, royal family members and nobility.
They
alone had the needed wealth for crucial mummification, a chamber tomb filled
with all food and all goods needed in the afterlife Paradise, and priestly
incantations.
Only they
could avoid a gloomy afterlife ruled over by the resurrected – now penis-less
-- Osiris.
If one’s
mummy became damaged and the corpse deteriorated, then for that individual
Paradise would come to an end[xv].
In
summation, there is no glorious heaven, no paradise afterlife in Near Eastern
and even European ancient religious beliefs -- with the very limited Egyptian
exception.
Only the
pit and darkness of the שְׁאוֹל Underworld.
In Psalm
30 and elsewhere, King David – even though he is God’s chosen and faithful
(Psalm 89:34-37) -- fears death and what ensues thereafter.
In the
absence of a positive afterlife concept: no Heaven or Paradise for the
righteous dead: when only eternal sadness and a zombie existence await, joy and
happiness are only to be found in life in this world.
And so
David piously thanks the ETERNAL for the blessed gift of life and the
miraculous escapes through Divine interventions psalm after psalm after psalm.
UPDATE
Recently,
I came across Isaiah chapter 38 and its verse 18-19.
Chapter 38 records a serious illness of King Hezekiah
that brought him close to death.
The King prays to God Eternal pointing out he has
always be faithful to The Eternal and carried out His will.
And, copying King David in his psalms, reminds God:
King Hezekiah, who lived in the late 8th
century BCE and was the 13th king descended from David[xvi],
makes clear he has the same fear of death as did the pious David and the same
‘undesirable’ view of the Afterlife in שְׁאוֹל -- also referred to as the PIT בוֹר as in David’s psalms.
So, David’s fear of death due to his understanding of
the negative Afterlife is repeated by Hezekiah some 300 years later.
As Hezekiah emphasizes in verse 19, only the living –
yes, only the living – are able to praise God.
The spirits of the Dead cannot do so in the
netherworld of the pit, the שְׁאוֹל .
Consequently, the ancient Mesopotamian afterlife view
found in Gilgamesh held sway among the
Children of Israel not only in David’s time but even in Hezekiah’s time.
The prophet Isaiah, by including these words of
Hezekiah in the account of Hezekiah’s grave illness and his recovery, in effect
gives his own ‘stamp of approval’ to the negative Afterlife view expressed in
38:18-19; the negative view which Is repeatedly stated in the official psalms
of King David.
[i] See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentateuch_with_Rashi%27s_Commentary_Translated_into_English
[ii] https://www.mesacc.edu/~thoqh49081/handouts/divine-name.html
[iii] 2 Samuel 2:11 lists David’s rule of
Judah as seven and a half years (7 ½ years).
[iv] See Bible Hub where in the Christian numbering
it is verse 11. https://biblehub.com/psalms/38-11.htm
[v] https://www.healthline.com/health/leprosy
[vi] 2 Samuel 15:7 states Absalom’s rebellion began
“at the end of forty years.” As David ruled for 40 years and much
transpired after Absalom’s rebellion, the 40 year figure cannot be correct and needs
explanation. The Medieval commentary, the Radak, citing the Sages says the 40
years refers to the years from when the people first asked Samuel for a king
(i.e., Saul reigned 1 year while Samuel lived and 2 years thereafter, and the rest is David’s
reign. This puts Absalom’s revolt in year 37 of David’s reign. However, as argued in the previous blog on
King Saul, he did not reign just 2 or 3 years but at least 20 to 40 years: so
the Radak and Sages’s explanation is faulty in its math. The JPS notes that
some ancient Septuagint versions and the Syriac translation have the number as
‘4’. In other words, 4 years after reconciliation – during which time Absalom
built up his following - Absalom revolted. This makes far more chronological
sense. (See Radak and JPS commentaries at https://www.sefaria.org/II_Samuel.15.7?lang=bi&with=Radak&lang2=en and https://www.sefaria.org/II_Samuel.15.7?lang=bi&with=JPS&lang2=en .)
[vii] See commentaries at Psalms 30:1 with Commentary (sefaria.org)
[viii]
Ibid.
[ix] Ibid.
[x] Psalm 105 has the identical first 15
verses but thereafter turns in a different direction: a history lesson focusing
on the stay in Egypt -- beginning with Joseph through Moses, the 40 years in
the desert and ending with the conquest
of Canaan.
[xi] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psalms_of_Asaph
[xiii]
See Epic of Gilgamesh - Wikipedia re tablet 12 and the Underworld.
[xiv]
See https://www.worldhistory.org/Ereshkigal/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ereshkigal#:~:text=In%20Mesopotamian%20mythology%2C%20Ereshkigal%20(Sumerian,Irkalla%20alongside%20her%20husband%20Nergal.
[xv] See https://religioninancientegypt.weebly.com/mummies-and-the-afterlife.html#:~:text=Mummies%20are%20made%20to%20last%20an%20eternity.%20They,afterlife.%20Mummies%20are%20very%20amazing%20in%20all%20aspects
, https://australian.museum/learn/cultures/international-collection/ancient-egyptian/the-underworld-and-the-afterlife-in-ancient-egypt/
and
https://psy-minds.com/osiris-god/#:~:text=Osiris%2C%20the%20Egyptian%20god%20of%20the%20underworld%2C%20appears,of%20the%20dead%2C%20the%20underworld%2C%20and%20the%20afterlife.
[xvi] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hezekiah
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