Psalm 145
Encyclopedia
Judaism
- The majority of the prayer AshreiAshreiThe Ashrei is a prayer that is recited at least three times daily in Jewish prayers, twice during Shacharit and once during Mincha. The prayer is composed primarily of Psalm 145 in its entirety, with a verse each from Psalms 84 and 144 added to the beginning, and a verse from Psalm 115 added to...
that is recited thrice daily is Psalm 145 (see the entry for AshreiAshreiThe Ashrei is a prayer that is recited at least three times daily in Jewish prayers, twice during Shacharit and once during Mincha. The prayer is composed primarily of Psalm 145 in its entirety, with a verse each from Psalms 84 and 144 added to the beginning, and a verse from Psalm 115 added to...
for further details on its use in Jewish liturgy). - Verse 13 is found in the repetition to the AmidahAmidahThe Amidah , also called the Shmoneh Esreh , is the central prayer of the Jewish liturgy. This prayer, among others, is found in the siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book...
on Rosh HashanahRosh HashanahRosh Hashanah , , is the Jewish New Year. It is the first of the High Holy Days or Yamim Nora'im which occur in the autumn...
. - Verse 16 is found in the final paragraph of Birkat HamazonBirkat HamazonBirkat Hamazon or Birkath Hammazon, , known in English as the Grace After Meals, , is a set of Hebrew blessings that Jewish Law prescribes following a meal that includes bread or matzoh made from one or all of wheat, barley, rye, oats, spelt...
. It is also recited while donning the tefillinTefillinTefillin also called phylacteries are a set of small black leather boxes containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah, which are worn by observant Jews during weekday morning prayers. Although "tefillin" is technically the plural form , it is loosely used as a singular as...
after the head tefillin is securely in place. - Verse 21 is recited by some following Psalm 126Psalm 126Psalm 126 or Shir Hama'alot is a psalm and common piece of liturgy. It is one of the Songs of Ascents.-Text:A song of Ascents...
(Shir Hama'alot) preceding Birkat HamazonBirkat HamazonBirkat Hamazon or Birkath Hammazon, , known in English as the Grace After Meals, , is a set of Hebrew blessings that Jewish Law prescribes following a meal that includes bread or matzoh made from one or all of wheat, barley, rye, oats, spelt...
.
Text
Psalms Chapter 145 תְּהִלִּיםA praise of David.
I shall exalt You, my God the King, and I shall bless Your name forever and ever.
Every day I shall bless You, and I shall praise Your name forever and ever.
The Lord is great and very much praised, and His greatness cannot be searched.
Generation to generation will praise Your works, and they will recite Your mighty deeds.
Of the majesty of the glory of Your splendor and the words of Your wonders I shall speak.
And the strength of Your awesome deeds they will tell, and Your greatness I shall sing.
Of the remembrance of Your abundant goodness they will speak, and of Your righteousness they will sing.
The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and of great kindness.
The Lord is good to all, and His mercies are on all His works.
All Your works will thank You, O Lord, and Your pious ones will bless You.
They will tell the glory of Your kingdom, and they will speak of Your might.
To make known to the children of men His mighty deeds and the glory of the majesty of His kingdom.
Your kingdom is a kingdom of all times, and Your ruling is in every generation.
The Lord supports all those who fall and straightens all who are bent down.
Everyone's eyes look to You with hope, and You give them their food in its time.
You open Your hand and satisfy every living thing [with] its desire.
The Lord is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His deeds.
The Lord is near to all who call Him, to all who call Him with sincerity.
He does the will of those who fear Him, and He hears their cry and saves them.
The Lord guards all who love Him, and He destroys all the wicked.
My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever.
תְּהִלָּה, לְדָוִד:
אֲרוֹמִמְךָ אֱלוֹהַי הַמֶּלֶךְ; וַאֲבָרְכָה שִׁמְךָ, לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד
בְּכָל-יוֹם אֲבָרְכֶךָּ; וַאֲהַלְלָה שִׁמְךָ, לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד
גָּדוֹל יְהוָה וּמְהֻלָּל מְאֹד; וְלִגְדֻלָּתוֹ, אֵין חֵקֶר
דּוֹר לְדוֹר, יְשַׁבַּח מַעֲשֶׂיךָ; וּגְבוּרֹתֶיךָ יַגִּידוּ
הֲדַר, כְּבוֹד הוֹדֶךָ-- וְדִבְרֵי נִפְלְאֹתֶיךָ אָשִׂיחָה
וֶעֱזוּז נוֹרְאֹתֶיךָ יֹאמֵרוּ; וגדלותיך (וּגְדֻלָּתְךָ) אֲסַפְּרֶנָּה
זֵכֶר רַב-טוּבְךָ יַבִּיעוּ; וְצִדְקָתְךָ יְרַנֵּנוּ
חַנּוּן וְרַחוּם יְהוָה; אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם, וּגְדָל-חָסֶד
טוֹב-יְהוָה לַכֹּל; וְרַחֲמָיו, עַל-כָּל-מַעֲשָׂי
יוֹדוּךָ יְהוָה, כָּל-מַעֲשֶׂיךָ; וַחֲסִידֶיךָ, יְבָרְכוּכָה
כְּבוֹד מַלְכוּתְךָ יֹאמֵרוּ; וּגְבוּרָתְךָ יְדַבֵּרוּ
לְהוֹדִיעַ, לִבְנֵי הָאָדָם--גְּבוּרֹתָיו; וּכְבוֹד, הֲדַר מַלְכוּתוֹ
מַלְכוּתְךָ, מַלְכוּת כָּל-עֹלָמִים; וּמֶמְשַׁלְתְּךָ, בְּכָל-דּוֹר וָדֹר
סוֹמֵךְ יְהוָה, לְכָל-הַנֹּפְלִים; וְזוֹקֵף, לְכָל-הַכְּפוּפִים
עֵינֵי-כֹל, אֵלֶיךָ יְשַׂבֵּרוּ; וְאַתָּה נוֹתֵן-לָהֶם אֶת-אָכְלָם בְּעִתּוֹ
פּוֹתֵחַ אֶת-יָדֶךָ; וּמַשְׂבִּיעַ לְכָל-חַי רָצוֹן
צַדִּיק יְהוָה, בְּכָל-דְּרָכָיו; וְחָסִיד, בְּכָל-מַעֲשָׂיו
קָרוֹב יְהוָה, לְכָל-קֹרְאָיו-- לְכֹל אֲשֶׁר יִקְרָאֻהוּ בֶאֱמֶת
רְצוֹן-יְרֵאָיו יַעֲשֶׂה; וְאֶת-שַׁוְעָתָם יִשְׁמַע, וְיוֹשִׁיעֵם
שׁוֹמֵר יְהוָה, אֶת-כָּל-אֹהֲבָיו; וְאֵת כָּל-הָרְשָׁעִים יַשְׁמִיד
תְּהִלַּת יְהוָה, יְדַבֶּר-פִּי: וִיבָרֵךְ כָּל-בָּשָׂר, שֵׁם קָדְשׁוֹ--לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד
Comments on the Text
This is the only chapter of the Book of Psalms that identifies itself as a תְּהִלָה (tehillawh) - as a psalm (namely, a hymn of praise). The version in the Dead Sea Scrolls instead describes itself as a "prayer" - although, in fact, it does not contain any request. The Dead Sea Scrolls version also ends each verse with the recurring (non-canonical) refrain, "Blessed be YHVH and blessed be His name forever and ever" and adds at the end of the Psalm the tag, "This is for a memorial". The Dead Sea Scrolls version also preserves a line beginning with the letter nun (discussed below).The "Missing Verse"
Psalm 145 is an alphabetic acrostic, the initial letter of each verse being the Hebrew alphabet in sequence. (For this purpose, the usual Hebrew numbering of verse 1, which begins with the title, "A Psalm of David", is ignored in favor of the non-Hebrew numbering which treats verse 1 as beginning ארוממך (Aromimkhaw, "I will exalt You"). But there is no verse beginning with the letter nun (נ), which would come between verses 13 and 14. A very common supposition is that there had been such a verse but it was omitted by a copyist's error. If so, that error must have occurred very early. By the 3rd century of the Christian era, Rabbi Johanan Ha-Nappah is quoted in the Talmud (b. Berachot 4b) as asking why is there no verse in Psalm 145 beginning with nun, and the explanation is given (presumably by the same Rabbi Johanan) that the word "fallen" (נפלה, nawflaw) begins with nun, as in the verse of Amos 5:2 ("Fallen is the Maiden of Israel, she shall arise nevermore"), and thus it is incompatible with the uplifting and universal theme of the Psalm. The explanation may not satisfy modern readers (it did not satisfy Rabbi David KimhiDavid Kimhi
David Kimhi , also known by the Hebrew acronym as the RaDaK , was a medieval rabbi, biblical commentator, philosopher, and grammarian. Born in Narbonne, Provence, he was the son of Rabbi Joseph Kimhi and the brother of Rabbi Moses Kimhi, both biblical commentators and grammarians...
of the 13th century ), but it demonstrates that the absence of a verse beginning with that letter was noticed and was undisputed even in antiquity.
However, the Septuagint, the Latin Vulgate
Vulgate
The Vulgate is a late 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. It was largely the work of St. Jerome, who was commissioned by Pope Damasus I in 382 to make a revision of the old Latin translations...
(which is largely based on the Septuagint), the Syriac Peshitta
Peshitta
The Peshitta is the standard version of the Bible for churches in the Syriac tradition.The Old Testament of the Peshitta was translated into Syriac from the Hebrew, probably in the 2nd century AD...
, and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Dead Sea scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of 972 texts from the Hebrew Bible and extra-biblical documents found between 1947 and 1956 on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, from which they derive their name...
(11QPs-ɑ)(which shows some affinity with the Septuagint, e.g., the inclusion of a non-canonical 151st Psalm) all provide a verse at this point which commences (in Hebrew) with nun -- נֶאֱמָן "Faithful is YHVH in all His ways, and merciful in all His works." This verse is now inserted in the appropriate line (sometimes numbered "verse 13b") in several Christian versions of the Bible including the New Revised Standard, the New American, the Today's English Version, the Moffat, and others. However, not everyone is convinced that this nun verse is authentic. It is, except for the first word, identical to verse 17 (צ) ("Righteous is YHVH in all His ways...."). These ancient versions all have other departures from the traditional Hebrew text which make them imperfect evidence of the original text; for example, the Dead Sea Scrolls version ends every verse in Psalm 145 with "Blessed be YHVH and blessed is His name forever and ever." And no such nun verse is found in other important ancient translations from the Hebrew - the Aramaic Targum, the Greek versions of Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion - nor is such a verse quoted anywhere in the Talmud. Additionally, there are other alphabetic acrostics in the Book of Psalms - specifically Psalms 25 and 34 -- that also imperfectly follow the alphabet. It is plausible that a nun verse was not part of the original text or if it was then it was completely lost many centuries before any of these other sources originated, and that this nun verse was independently arrived at, by various copyists and translators, who, when they noticed the absence of such a verse in their Hebrew manuscript, assumed it was the result of an error by a previous copyist, and each set about to contrive a replacement verse in the simplest and least objectionable way, coincidentally arriving at the same result.