Psalms · Psalm 111

"Hallelujah, I shall thank, etc." — This psalm was based on the alphabet, one letter at the beginning of the verse and one in the middle of it, and so all of them [this psalm’s verses are] from “aleph” to “tav,” and so too is the second psalm. The first one speaks in praises of the Holy One, blessed be He, and the second one speaks in praise of a righteous, God-fearing person.

"Hallelujah, I will give thanks to Hashem" — "Hallelujah" are the words of the poet: "Praise Hashem, as I do, for I will give thanks to Hashem with my whole heart." "In the council of the upright" — meaning in private. "And in the congregation" — meaning in public; and this is the sense of "I will give thanks."

"Hallelujah" — this psalm is composed as an alphabetical acrostic (aleph-bet), two letters in each verse, and in the last two verses, three letters each — for the psalm is short, yet it is an esteemed psalm; it speaks of contemplating the works of God and always remembering His wonders, and it speaks of occupying oneself with the fear of God and with wisdom. And every psalm that is composed as an alphabetical acrostic, it appears that, in keeping with its greatness and the esteemed matters spoken in it, it was composed thus by the Holy Spirit (ruach ha-kodesh). He says to the singers, "Hallelujah" — for so I too shall do: "I will give thanks to Hashem with my whole heart," meaning with the whole intention of my heart. "In the council of the upright, and in the congregation" — in the counsel of the upright, and that is Israel, for they are upright in their deeds according to the laws that God, blessed be He, gave them. "And congregation" — is to be understood as if it were written "and in a congregation"; the bet of "be-sod" [in the council] stands for both — meaning: in the counsel of Israel and in their counsel I will thank Him, for they will all agree with him.

"Hallelujah" — You, all of you, praise Hashem (Hallelujah), and I too will give thanks to Hashem with my whole heart. "In the council" — In the counsel of the upright and the members of the congregation, that is to say, according to what the upright of heart and the rest of the people teach.

"The council" — an expression of "counsel," because it is done in secret so that it not be revealed; or it is from the language of "foundation" (yesod), because counsel is to the deed as the foundation is to the building.

"I will give thanks to Hashem" — These psalms were composed in alphabetical order because of their great importance, as our Sages, of blessed memory, said. He says: I "will give thanks to Hashem with my whole heart" — both "in the council of the upright," who are the people of understanding who comprehend the ways of Hashem and the perception of His divinity and its secrets, and also within "the congregation" — who are all the multitude gathered to hear my words.

"The works of Hashem are great, sought out" — meaning made clear. Rabbi Marinus said: that "chafetzeihem" (their delights) follows the grammatical pattern of "zikneihem" (their elders). And the meaning is: that whoever seeks them out will find in them all the desires that he seeks, as in "and all delights cannot compare to it."

"Great" — this is the beginning of the thanksgiving; he says the works of God that He performed among His creatures are great, even though they [the creatures] are great. They are "sought out of all those who have delight in them" — meaning, by anyone who desires to contemplate them and seeks them out, they are sought and found by him. "And chafetzeihem" [their delights] — is a descriptive noun-form (to'ar) from "chafetz" [desire], [plural] "chafetzim."

"The works of Hashem are great" — Although the works of Hashem are great, that is to say, made with wondrous wisdom, nevertheless they are accessible and available to all who wish to contemplate them.

"The works of Hashem are great" — He begins to describe three kinds of perception by which we apprehend Hashem's governance: "deeds," "actions," and "wonders." There is a difference between a "deed" and an "action": a deed refers to something completed, in which the hand of the doer no longer engages, whereas an action refers to an undertaking in which the doer is still occupied with his work. By these two perspectives we look upon the creation that Hashem made. From one side we view it as something made and completed in its perfection and the fullness of its order; and from the other side we view it insofar as the hands of the Creator still act continually within its creation, renewing every day the work of creation, so that the persistence of creation is always like a new creation. These two belong to the governance that follows the laws of nature. And there is yet another governance, in which He sometimes breaks and overturns the laws of nature — and this is called "wonders." He says: behold, "the works of Hashem" are exceedingly "great" in their abundance and the magnitude of their quantity, and nonetheless they are "sought out for all their purposes" — for every deed has a purpose, meaning there is an end toward which the doer directs himself in his deed, and according to which he orders his actions — just as the purpose of a house is to dwell in it, the purpose of a chair is to sit upon it, the purpose of a tent is to dwell beneath it, and so on. But Hashem — who did not create the creation for His own need — the purpose of the deed is not for His own sake, but only for the sake of the deed itself, for the end is bound up in the deed itself, and it is the purpose of the deed that it should achieve its own end. And there is a single natural law that serves several different purposes — such as the force of expansion that Hashem placed in the air, within which there are various purposes: through it vapors rise, winds settle, plants respire, and so forth. And of this he said that the works of Hashem are "sought out for all their purposes" — that all the purposes and ends belonging to them are sought out from them and are found within them.

"Glory" — even though His works are great, sought out by those who seek them, and made clear, [it says this] because the work of Hashem is visible to the eye; therefore [it is called] "glory and majesty." And the meaning of "and His righteousness" — that all His deeds are righteous.

"His work" — that is, the heavens and the earth; see, it is glory and majesty. "And His righteousness" — that is, the whole world, which is an act of righteousness from Him toward His creatures, endures forever.

"Endures for ever" — It is a thing that endures forever, unlike the righteousness of flesh and blood.

"His work is glory and majesty" — Now, His "work" — that is, that which He is still working and continually engaged in within the creation, it being a new creation at every moment — in this "work" of His is found "glory and majesty." It has been explained by us elsewhere that "glory" is the inward quality, while "majesty" is the outward splendor — meaning that He acts both in the externality of things, insofar as we perceive them by our senses, where an outward majesty is found spreading over all His actions; and also in the inward glory of the inner powers hidden within His deeds, which the eye of the investigator cannot behold. "And His righteousness stands forever" — it has been explained by us that the "righteousness" spoken of in relation to Hashem alludes to the sublime deeds that He performs according to the divinity within Him, not according to their bearing upon the created beings. And since, regarding the matter of "wonders" that will be explained afterward, He looks to the order of the deeds of created beings, he says that it is not so with His deeds and actions, which He arranged within the natural order — in these He looks to His own divinity, according to what He willed by His simple will, in accordance with His divine measure. And this does not change through all the days of the world, and it stands in constancy, the opposite of the "wonders," which are not fixed forever. And by this righteousness He continually maintains the creation, and its laws will not depart through all the days of the world.

"He made a memorial" — He set down for Israel Sabbaths and festivals and commandments, of which was stated (Deut. 5:15): “And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt,” because He is gracious and merciful to His children, and He wishes to make them righteous.

"A memorial" — the meaning is that in every generation He makes a memorial of the wonders He performed in Egypt, for He is gracious and compassionate, showing grace to those who cry out to Him, as in: "and I will hear, for I am gracious" (Exodus 22:26).

"He has made a memorial" — after he told of His works in the world, which are great and awesome, he tells of the chosen ones among the creatures below, who are Israel. And he says that He made a memorial for His wonders that He performed with them in Egypt, and those were the beginning of the wonders, and the wonders were so great that they are recalled in every generation. "Hashem is gracious and full of compassion" — for He was gracious to them and had compassion on them. It is also possible to interpret "He has made a memorial" [differently]: that the wonders He performs in every generation are made as a memorial to His first wonders, which He performed with them in Egypt — for a person remembers those [first wonders] by means of these later wonders.

"He has made a memorial for His wonderful works" — As it is written concerning the manna, "Take a jar..." etc., "and lay it up... for safekeeping" (Exodus 17), so that it should be a remembrance. "Gracious" — For He is gracious and compassionate, and therefore He made a remembrance of the miracles, so that they might improve their ways and receive reward.

"He has made a memorial for His wonders" — Indeed, the wonders, which are above the way of nature, Hashem does not perform continually, and He does not alter nature except at certain times, according to need, in order to make known to mankind His mighty deeds. This is His "memorial for a generation": through the wonders, people remember that He is the Creator and that He is able to alter the creation. Therefore He does not perform them continually, since they are only for a memorial, and once His wonders are remembered, they are no longer needed. And this He does because He is "gracious and compassionate" — meaning, either from the aspect of grace, as He did for the patriarchs, who found favor in His eyes; or from the aspect of compassion, as He did at the time of the Exodus from Egypt, out of compassion for their affliction and distress.

"He gave food" — Heb. טֶרֶף, food.

"Prey/food" — this refers to "and they despoiled the Egyptians" (Exodus 12:36), similar to "feed me" (Proverbs 30:8). The meaning of "He will ever be mindful of His covenant" — this is the covenant of Bein HaBetarim (the Covenant Between the Pieces), and there it is written: "and afterward they shall go out with great wealth" (Genesis 15:14).

"Prey" — the plunder of Egypt's wealth. "He remembers" — after a long time, His covenant that He made with Abraham our father at the Covenant Between the Pieces.

"Food" — This is the manna, with which He sustained the people of the generation of the wilderness. "He will ever be mindful" — For He remembers forever the covenant that He made with Abraham, to bring them to the land, and therefore, even though they rebelled against Him, they lacked nothing.

"Food" — an expression of "sustenance," as in "feed me with my allotted bread" (ibid. 30), and it is borrowed from the food of an animal that comes by means of prey.

"Prey" — The wonders that He performed for our forefathers had as their purpose to give them the land of Canaan, where they would find their sustenance abundantly and would be able to occupy themselves with Torah. This is "He has given prey to those who fear Him" — He called this sustenance by the name "prey," a term borrowed from the food of the lion, which comes about through its tearing the small animals from it. So too He gave them their sustenance through their consuming the nations, as it is written: "and you shall consume all the peoples that Hashem your God gives you." For just as vegetation is food for the animal, and the animal is food for the speaking being, so the idol-worshippers were prepared to be food for those who had risen to a rank exalted and lofty above their kind. And he explains that this was accomplished through: "He is ever mindful of His covenant" — that is, the covenant that He made with the patriarchs, to give them the Land of Israel. And the clauses are parallel: "He is ever mindful of His covenant, to give them the heritage of nations" and "He has declared to His people the power of His works, the works of His hands are truth and justice" — meaning that He was ever mindful of His covenant that He made with the patriarchs, to give them the heritage of the nations, and He declared to them the power of His works, that the works of His hands are truth and justice. For the power of the deed that He performed and the creation that He created is truth and justice; this is the inward force that sustains the whole of creation, to the point that truth and justice are the force, the soul, and the vitality of the entirety of Hashem's work. For Hashem arranged the creation so that it would be, in body and physical substance, directed toward truth in intellectual matters — so that through creation people would recognize the existence of Hashem, His unity, and the true faith — and toward justice between one person and another. And if there were no truth and justice, there would be no force, no vitality, and no soul in all the creation and the work that He made, and it would be like a body without a soul. Therefore the Canaanites, who violated truth and justice, could not endure in the world, and He commanded that their memory be blotted out, just as one burns the corpse of the dead, which has no inward force or soul. "All His precepts are faithful" — and from this it is clear that Hashem's precepts are faithful and enduring in their own right; and they are also "sustained forever, for all eternity" — meaning that they are "the supports of the world forever" — that is, they are the pillars and foundations upon which the world rests and leans forever and eternally. And should His precepts cease to support the world, the whole world would collapse and be unable to stand, having no supports. And he explains that this is because they are "done in truth and uprightness" — for the reason that "all His precepts are faithful" is that they are "done in truth," and truth is faithful; and the reason that they are "the supports of the world" is that they are "done in uprightness," and uprightness and the upright are the supports and pillars of the world, as it is written (above, Psalm 75), "I judge with equity ... I have set up its pillars" — meaning that equity is what supports the pillars of the world, as I explained there.

"The strength of His works He related to His people" — When He gave them the inheritance of the nations, He let them know His strength and His might. And Midrash Tanchuma (Buber, Bereishith 11): He wrote for Israel [about] the Creation to let them know that the earth is His and that it is in His power to settle in it anyone He wishes, and to move these out and settle others, so that the nations will not be able to say to Israel, “You are thieves, for you conquered the land of the seven nations.”

"Power" — the meaning is that Hashem performs kindness, justice, and righteousness; and this is what He declared to His people — that they should walk after Him — to give to them, in the manner [He promised], for you had not come [this way] until now. And it is written: "like the doings of the land of Egypt ... and like the doings of the land of Canaan" (Leviticus 18:3), and there it is written: "you shall do My judgments" (Leviticus 18:4); and here [in the psalm] He explained "the power of His works."

"The power of His works" — even though He showed them His wonders and great deeds, He declared it to His people when He told them that He would give them the heritage of the nations. For when He brought them out of Egypt, His power was not as manifest as it was when He drove out seven great and mighty nations from their land and settled Israel in it. And it says "He has declared" — for this was a greater wonder, since before the deed He told them of it, so that it could not be said to have happened by chance; therefore He declared it to them before He did it, and so He did.

"He has declared to His people" — He promised His people to show the power of His works, to dispossess the seven nations and to give them the heritage of those nations, and therefore He declared it, so that they would not say it came about by chance.

"All His precepts" — these are the laws and commandments planted in the heart of every person; therefore it says: "they are faithful/sure with them."

"The works of His hands" — what He did in the wars against the nations, driving them out of their land, let it not be said that this was an injustice; rather, it was truth and justice. "Truth" — for He fulfilled the word that He spoke to Abraham our father. "And justice" — for it was not right that they should continue to dwell there because of their evil deeds, and that land is the Holy Land, and it is not fitting that those who did such abominations should remain in it. Behold — truth and justice. "All His precepts are sure" — and not this alone, but all His precepts are faithful; there is no injustice in them.

"The works of His hands are truth" — His driving out of those nations was to fulfill His promise to Abraham, and it was done with justice, for the idol-worshippers were driven out because of their sin. "Sure" — For all His precepts are trustworthy, and no element of injustice is to be found in them.

"Steadfast" — are His commandments, supported by might, strengthened with punishments and warnings, and the chapters are set one next to the other in sequence and to expound on them. This is what Solomon said (Song 5:15): “His thighs are pillars of marble, etc.”

"Established" — Hashem supports them forever, therefore they stand; and He acted in truth and in an upright way.

"They are established" — for they will stand and never be shaken, forever, since they are made in truth and in an upright way. Therefore those who walk in them and keep them will not stumble.

"They are established" — His precepts are established and supported to endure forever, for they are made with truth and uprightness, and therefore there is no possibility that they should become void at any time.

"Redemption" — the meaning of "redemption" is that He will send redemption to His people forever, and they are the ones who keep His covenant, for His covenant stands forever, and He is holy, and no creature can profane His covenant; therefore the word "and awesome" [is used].

"He has sent" — them redemption, and commanded that His covenant be remembered forever. For, "Holy and awesome is His name" — therefore they will fear Him, and "you shall be holy," for He is holy, and it is He who sanctified them and set them apart from the nations.

"Redemption" — To redeem them from Egypt. "He has commanded" — Because He commanded them the Torah, given in a covenant that endures forever, and on account of their acceptance of it He sent the redemption. "Holy, etc." — And therefore He also sanctified them with His commandments, so that the fear of Hashem would be upon their faces.

'Redemption' — that is to say, through these precepts 'He has sent redemption to His people'; for it was on this condition that He redeemed them, that they keep the precepts, and if they do not keep them they will become enslaved and be servants. And through the precepts 'He has commanded His covenant forever' — for just as he said that He remembers His covenant forever through His having declared to His people the power of His works (which are truth and justice), so too the covenant's endurance forever comes only through the keeping of the precepts, as it is written, 'and gave them the lands of the nations... that they might keep His statutes' (Psalm 105:44-45).

"The beginning" — because He mentioned that He is awesome, it says "the beginning of wisdom is the fear of Hashem": all who do His precepts have good understanding, and each one of those who do so — "his praise endures forever," like "its branches run over the wall" (Genesis 49:22). And it is possible that the "vav" of "his praise" refers back to "good understanding." And Rabbi Moshe said: that the heh and mem of "oseihem" (those who do them) refer back to "wisdom" and "fear," and the meaning is that those who do [them] act according to their obligation, and in the manner that one should give thanks.

"The beginning" — He commanded them, "the beginning of wisdom is the fear of Hashem." And where did He command them this? When He said, "You shall fear Hashem your God, and Him you shall serve, and to Him you shall cleave..." First it says "you shall fear" — and the fear of Hashem is the keeping of the Torah and the commandments. And wisdom is the science of true inquiry, to know all the workings of Creation, and this is the honor of the blessed God, for through it a person comes to know his Creator; therefore it then says "and Him you shall serve." And when he secludes himself in that wisdom and removes from his heart all the concerns of this lowly world, then he cleaves to the blessed God — therefore it says "and to Him you shall cleave," for his soul is bound to the higher realms. And then he knows His name — this is "and by His name you shall swear," for one who does not know His name is not fit to swear by it. And in that verse fear of Hashem is placed before service, and likewise in this verse it commands that fear of Hashem precede wisdom. And it says, "the beginning of wisdom is the fear of Hashem" — meaning: whoever prepares his heart to engage in wisdom must first engage in the fear of Hashem, and make it the root and foundation, and conduct himself, in the wisdom he studies, according to its ways. For if a person studies the science of inquiry first, his spirit may be alarmed and he may grow brazen-faced enough to deny the signs and the great wonders found in the holy Scriptures. Therefore it is necessary to first study the Torah, which is the fear of Hashem, and to set in his heart the belief in everything written in it — the creation of the world and the change of nature through signs and wonders. And when a person contemplates the Torah, he will find in it the ways of the wise, as it is written, "for it is your wisdom and understanding in the eyes of the peoples..." For there is no need to speak of the Torah and commandments that are built upon a rational basis, since even the statutes about which it is said that they have no reason — it is only that their reason is not apparent to most people, but the wise person who contemplates them will find their reason clear and evident. And after the wise, understanding person has contemplated the words of the Torah and made it a foundation for wisdom, and strives in his heart to bring difficult matters closer to the intellect, and studies the science of philosophy — afterward his understanding will not go astray when he studies the wisdom, in light of the Torah he studied first, for he has already driven a peg into a trustworthy place, and he draws the ways of wisdom to it with all his strength. Therefore it says, "the beginning of wisdom is the fear of Hashem." And it says, "a good understanding for all who do them" — meaning: there is good understanding and good providence for one who does both, who engages in the fear of Hashem and in wisdom; or the meaning of "good understanding" is success, that is, whoever engages in both will succeed in this world and in the World to Come. "His praise endures forever" — for one who does upright deeds and keeps the Torah and the commandments, his praise will be in people's mouths for many generations, and his praise endures for his soul as well in the World to Come, forever and ever. We have already elaborated further on this verse in the introduction to our commentary on the Prophets.

"The beginning of wisdom" — The correct understanding is that at the beginning of the study of wisdom, a person should root the fear of Hashem in his heart, and it will be reckoned as good understanding to all who do so, for then his praise will endure forever, being praised for wisdom, since it will be lasting — unlike the case if the fear does not precede the wisdom, as our Rabbis of blessed memory said.

'The beginning' — but the beginning of wisdom, and its root, is the fear of Hashem. For since wisdom is received from the Master of wisdom, and its statutes and roots cannot be established through rational proofs, while desire and the evil inclination entice a person to depart from the statutes of wisdom, one must bind the soul with the restraints of fear/awe — so that if he fears Hashem he will not transgress the statutes of wisdom that He commanded, and he will keep His precepts and commandments. Then there will be 'a good understanding to all who do them' — the pronoun 'who do them' refers back to the precepts mentioned above, meaning that then the one who performs the precepts will find in them good understanding, and the spirit of Hashem will grant him understanding to grasp their reasons and their secrets. And then 'His praise endures forever,' for he will find in them everlasting happiness, and praise is fitting for the upright.