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[1] “All but twenty-four psalms have some sort of
heading in the Hebrew. The LXX (Greek
version) adds a heading to each psalm without one, with the exception of
Pss.1 and 2, and makes changes to several others: the variances between the
Greek and Hebrew superscriptions show that this process was long and complex”
(S.E. Gillingham, The Poems and Psalms of the Hebrew Bible [1994,
Oxford University Press, Oxford] pp.245). See also comments at Psalm 30. |
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[2] Psalm 1, like Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken, emphasizes two ways . Fitting with this theme
it is helpful to recognize that the first word of Psalm 1, blessed (˒ešer), is related to a Hebrew word meaning proceed/lead (˒āšar) (cf. Deut.33:2; Prov.4:14; 9:6; 14:15;
23:19; Isa.3:12; 9:15). Blessedness
is related to the pathway we travel in life. Not walking according to Torah ends in
curse (v.6; see Genesis 2-3). Psalm 1 begins with blessedness and Psalm 2 ends with
blessedness. The last two Psalms of
Book 1 of the Psalter also begin and end with the note of blessedness (Psalm
40:4; 41:1,13). |
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[3] “The verse almost always consists of two or three
cola, never more. Sometimes, however,
we encounter a verse that consists of only one colon [e.g. Psalm 90:1]. The book of Psalms contains twenty-one of
these versets functioning as verses.
There are none at all in Job, and almost none in Proverbs” (J.P.
Fokkelman, Reading Biblical Poetry
p.38). Fokkelman notes that almost
12.5 percent of the verses in the Psalms are tricola (e.g. Psalm 1:1). Could it be that Hebrew parallelism is a literary form highlighting the
law’s requirement that a matter be established on the testimony of two or
three witnesses (Deuteronomy 19:15; see Deuteronomy 17:18; Joshua 8:32; cf.
Matthew 18:16)? |
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[4]
“There is also an ethical element to חֵפֶץ. When his people are disobedient, he has
no delight (חֵפֶץ) in them (Mal 1:10), even when they present him offerings. On
the contrary, the man is blessed who finds his delight (חֵפֶץ) in God’s law (Ps 1:2)” (David Talley in New International Dictionary of
Old Testament Theology and Exegesis; [Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing
House, 1997] Volume 2:234). |
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[5] It is perhaps significant that the first
Psalm emphasizes Torah and the Book of Psalms is divided into five parts. |
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[6] I have chosen to transliterate the divine Name instead of using “LORD.” The reason is because biblical names are typically transliterated; including some biblical words (e.g. Hallelujah, Hosanna, Amen, Abba, Maranatha, cherub, minion, Jubilee, shalom, etc.). There are several problems
rendering the Tetragrammaton (YHWH), “LORD.”
First, “LORD” obscures the fact that Yahweh is a name and not a title
or an epithet” (Terence Freitheim, “Yahweh” in NIDOTTE 4:1296). One of my
titles is “Mister.” My name
is “Aaron.” There is a difference when
a person calls me Aaron versus Mister.
Translations that use the title “LORD”
miss the intimacy of God when the “I AM” said to Moses, “Certainly I will be
with you” (Exodus 3:12-15). Terence Freitheim says God giving His Name
to His people, …entails a certain kind of
relationship; it opens up the possibility of, indeed admits a desire for, a
certain intimacy in relationship. A relationship without a name inevitably
means some distance; naming the name is necessary for closeness. Naming makes
true communication and encounter possible. Naming entails availability. By
giving the name, God becomes accessible. God and people can now meet and
address each other. Yet, because name is not person or identity or character (an
oft-repeated mistake), there remains an otherness, even a mystery about the
one who is named (NIDOTTE 4:1297). The intimacy and nearness of
Yahweh with His covenant people is especially important for the struggles
believers experience (cf. Psalm 34:15-22).
It is also important because other religions deny the intimacy and
nearness of God, “For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is Yahweh
our God whenever we call on Him” (Deuteronomy
4:7; see also Deuteronomy 4:29-40; 2 Samuel 7:23-24; Matthew 28:18-20)? A second problem is that YHWH does not mean “lord.” “LORD” gives English readers the impression that this is a translation of the Hebrew when in fact it is not. And so we are left with the question: If “LORD” is not a translation or a transliteration then how do we account for its occurrence in so many English Bibles (a few exceptions include the Jerusalem and New Jerusalem Bible, Holman Christian Standard Bible)? It seems to be a superstition based on the unbiblical belief that God’s Name should not be pronounced. When discussing why YHWH is rendered “LORD” the Preface to the New American Standard Bible explains, “This name has not been pronounced by the Jews because of reverence for the great sacredness of the divine name. Therefore, it has been consistently translated LORD.” Is Jewish superstition adequate justification for rendering the Tetragrammaton “LORD”? Does this imply that the Name of Jesus is less revered since it is transliterated and pronounced by Christians? It is commonly believed that before Jesus was born reverence for the Name of God led translators of the Septuagint (LXX) to translate YHWH by the Greek title for Lord (kurios). Take for example the following assertions, Ř “Despite
the permission to do so reverently (implicit in Leviticus 19:12) - they
[Jews] felt that their own Post-Mosaic (mis)interpretations of Exodus 20:7
and especially of Leviticus 24:16 required that the divine name JHVH revealed
by God to Moses for man’s use - should never be uttered by man. “That Judaistic error or
superstition can be seen already in the Jews’ own B.C. 270 f translation
of the Hebrew Holy Scriptures into the Greek Septuagint. There, some
6800 times, the word JHVH is
rendered Kurios (meaning ‘Lord’)” (Dr. Nigel Lee, “JeHoVaH, YaHWeH,
and the Lord-Jesus” pp.3,4). Ř “In several passages, when Paul ascribes
Lordship to Jesus, using of course the word Kyrios, he has in mind the
Septuagintal use of the word in place of the unsayable Tetragrammaton,YHWH.
[E.g. Rom. 10.13, quoting Joel 3.5 LXX]” (NT Wright, “Paul's Gospel and
Caesar's Empire”). This seems to be mistaken. Manuscript evidence indicates that LXX rendering of the Tetragrammaton as kurios did not happen until the 2nd or 3rd century A.D. In fact, LXX fragments dating from 50 BC to 50 AD contain the divine Name (George Howard, “Tetragrammaton in the New Testament”; Anchor Bible Dictionary, Vol. 6, pp.392f.). For further comments on the Tetragrammaton see Psalm 68:4. |
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[7] The word translated meditate (hagah) here is found in Psalm 2:1 where it is
translated “devising.” The righteous meditate
on how to keep Yahweh’s Law while the wicked meditate on how they
might disobey it. Meditate (hagah) occurs 11x in the Psalms and 15x in the rest of the Old Testament. The emphasis upon meditation in Psalm 1 reminds us of the words Yahweh spoke to Joshua as he was preparing to enter the Promised Land, Joshua 1:7-8 Mediation was typically not a silent activity (however, see Proverbs 15:28; 24:2; Isaiah 33:18). It could involve reading/recitation aloud, singing aloud or praying aloud (cf. Proverbs 8:7; Isaiah 31:4; 38:14; 59:3,11 [2x],13). For example, And my tongue shall declare (hagah)
Your righteousness And Your
praise all day long. (Psalm 35:28) The mouth of the righteous utters (hagah) wisdom,
And his tongue speaks justice. (Psalm 37:30) When I remember You on my bed, I meditate (hagah) on
You in the night watches, For You have
been my help, And in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy. (Psalm
63:6-7) My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to You; And my soul, which
You have redeemed. Psalm 1 may be thought of not only as an invitation to recite Yahweh’s Law, as Yahweh urged Joshua, but also an invitation to sing the Psalms aloud (See Michael LeFebre, “Psalm One and Torah-Meditation: An Invitation to 'Sound Out' Torah” in Interpreting the Psalms: issues and approaches; edited by David Firth and Philip S. Johnston). |
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[8]
Question 114 of the Heidelberg
Catechism cites Psalm 1:2 when it asks, But can those who are converted to God perfectly
keep these commandments? No: but even the holiest men, while in this life, have only a small
beginning of this obedience; (1 John 1:8–10; Rom. 7:14, 15; Eccl. 7:20; 1
Cor. 13:9) yet so, that with a sincere resolution they begin to live, not
only according to some, but all the commandments of God. (Rom. 7:22; Ps. 1:2;
James 2:10.) |
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[9] “There are lessons about righteousness here, but
there are also lessons about trees. I believe
that when God made trees, and established the way the tree’s order of being
takes water from root to trunk to branch to twig to leaf, he had this analogy
in mind. Creation is such that the
affinity between righteousness and trees is built into the order of reality,
the trees reminding us of how righteousness works, and the righteous and
spiritually sensitive appreciating how trees word” (Ken Myers, Mars Hill
Audio Letter, October 2005). |
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[10] The yield (nathan) of righteousness
in the life of the believer parallels the abundant yield of the land
(Leviticus 25:19; 26:20; Deuteronomy 3:12-20; Psalm 67:6; 85:12; Proverbs
31:31; cf. Matthew 21:43). |
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[11] Wicked and righteous are antonyms. It is also important to note that the righteous is synonymous with the
blessed man. The righteous here in
Psalm 1 and throughout the Psalter are those who walk in the way of Torah.
Some Christians believe there is now a third way of living/walking that is
contrary to the way of Torah and contrary to the way of the wicked. They call this living “in the Spirit.” But the New Testament doesn’t introduce a
third way of life, but emphasizes that we must walk in the way of Torah with
circumcised hearts. This is also
emphasized in the Torah (Deuteronomy 30:6; cf. Jeremiah 31:31-34). |
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[12] It is helpful to think of covenant as the way of life. Our first parents, Adam and Eve, did not choose God’s way and they were therefore driven from the Garden of Eden because of sin, “So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life” (Genesis 3:24). The Scriptures deal primarily with the way back to God’s blessed presence (a.k.a. the Covenant of Grace; cf. Genesis 18:19; Psalm 1:1,6; 2:12; 25:4,8,9,12; etc.). “When Jesus contrasts the two
ways, the two doors and the two destinations in the Sermon on the Mount (Mt
7:13–14), he is basically repeating the concept of ˒ōraḥ
and derek, as taught in Hebrew wisdom literature” (Victor Hamilton, in
Theological
Wordbook of the Old Testament, p.71). In fact, Jesus
is “the way” (John 14:6-7) and Christianity is “The Way” (Acts 9:2; 16:17;
18:25,26; 19:9,23; 22:4; 24:14,22 ). |
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[13] Notice the ABBA pattern of vv.5-6: (A) wicked (B) righteous (B’) righteous (A’) wicked |
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[14] Yahweh’s presence in 6a and “absence” in 6b is
notable. Yahweh is on the side of the
righteous (6a) but not “on the side of the wicked” (6b). During their life the wicked choose to know
a way that Yahweh does not know. They
therefore perish. Psalm 2 gives a
similar warning, “Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you
perish in the way” (v.12). Psalm 1 ends with what has been called a “terminative term” –
perish. In fact, the first word blessed begins with the first letter
of the Hebrew alphabet (‘aleph). The last word of Psalm 1 will perish begins with the last letter of
the Hebrew alphabet (tav). Other Psalms ending with “terminative terms” are 15 [forever]; 16 [forever]; 18 [forever]; 23 [forever]; 28 [forever]; 39 [and am no more]; 45 [forever and ever]; 48 [until death]; 49 [perish]; 56 [life]; 57 [Your glory]; 88 [darkness]; 111 [forever]; 112 [perish]; 115 [forever Praise Yah]; 121 [forever]; 131 [forever]; 133 [life forever]; 136 [His lovingkindness is everlasting]; 138 [do not forsake]; 139 [in the everlasting way]; 145 [forever and ever]; 146 [to all generations Praise Yah]. |
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[15] To hear Psalm 1 sung listen to Sons of
Korah and New Song. |
