Psalms · Psalm 120

"A song of ascents" — which the Levites will recite on the fifteen steps that go down from the Israelites’ court to the Women’s court, and there are fifteen psalms entitled “A song of ascents” (Suc. 5:4, Mid 2:5). And our Rabbis said that David composed them to raise the deep, as is explained in Tractate Succah (53a). And according to the Aggadah (Yerushalmi Sanh. 10:2, 52b), it is to be interpreted: A song for a hundred steps (שיר למאה עולות).

"A Song of Ascents" — The Gaon said that these fifteen songs correspond to the fifteen steps [of the Temple]. He also said it is possible that it means [songs] to be sung in a high voice. And I have already mentioned, at the beginning of the book, what appears to be a liturgical poem; and this song is sung to the tune of "the pleasantness of the ascents," and it does not mention the name of the poet. Perhaps it was said with the holy spirit concerning the people of our exile, who are in distress and do not know what to do, except to call upon the honored Name.

"A song" — These "Songs of Ascents" are fifteen, and it is said that the Levites would recite them upon the fifteen steps that were on the Temple Mount, between the Court of Israel and the Court of Women, by which they would go up from the Court of Women to the Court of Israel, reciting one song on each step. And our Rabbis, of blessed memory, said: when David dug the foundations for the Temple over the abyss (tehom), they feared it would flood the world. Ahitophel wrote the Explicit Name and placed it into the abyss, and the abyss sank sixteen thousand cubits. They said it would have been better for the world had the abyss not sunk so far, for water is needed by the world, and the earth is moistened from the abyss. So he recited the fifteen Songs of Ascents, and it rose fifteen thousand cubits and settled at a thousand cubits. And it may also be said that "ascents" refers to the ascents of the exile, that Israel is destined to go up to the Land of Israel; and these songs are spoken in the voice of all the children of the exile, and in them is mentioned the distress of the exile, and in them is mentioned the hope of the redemption and the promise that it will come to be. "To [Hashem]" — He speaks of the children of the exile in the singular, as a way of speaking of the community as a whole. "In my distress" (batzaratah) — the extra heh indicates the greatness of the distress; so too "yeshu'atah" indicates the greatness of the salvation. "And He answered me" — the past tense is used in place of the future tense; there are many similar examples.

"A Song of Ascents" — These are the fifteen Songs of Ascents; David composed them for the Levites to recite on the fifteen steps that ascend from the Women's Courtyard to the Men's Courtyard, one song for each step. "To Hashem, etc." — That is to say: when I was in distress I turned to Hashem; I called to Him and He answered me.

"A Song of Ascents" — he prays to Hashem that He deliver him from slanderers (ba'alei lashon hara). "To Hashem" — behold, "in every distress I called to Hashem, and He answered me." But there is a distress greater than this, one for which I cannot wait until the distress arrives and until I call out and pray — namely, the mouth of deceitful men and slanderers. For from an open enemy and an open distress, I know to be on guard and to call out to Hashem; not so with those who cloak hatred in deceit. Therefore I plead —

"from false lips" — The arm of those who hunt people with their mouth with wicked accusations.

"Hashem, [deliver my soul] from lying lips" — [meaning] from a man of lying lips. "deceitful" — I have [already] explained it.

"O Hashem, deliver" — You, Hashem, deliver my soul now as well from men of lying lips and from men of a deceitful tongue.

"O Hashem, deliver my soul from a lying lip" — for I cannot wait until their evil arrives; rather, deliver me from them at once. "A lying lip" is one that utters lies and slander not to [the victim's] face, while "a deceitful tongue" is one that speaks to him deceitfully to his face — appearing as a friend, while inwardly setting an ambush for him.

"What can He give you" — [What can] the Holy One, blessed be He [give you]? "and what can He add to you" — [What] safeguard and walls? Behold you are placed within two walls.

"What" — He speaks against Babylon, which speaks falsehood and fabricates false charges against Israel in exile: What do you gain by your deceitful tongue, and what will it give you, and what will it add for you?

"What shall be given to you, etc." — You, deceitful tongue, what further safeguard could be placed upon you, and what more could be added? Are you not already set within the wall of the lips and the teeth? And if these did not avail to guard you, what more could be added to guard you?

"What shall be given to you" — you, deceitful tongue: what benefit does this thing give you, or what gain does it add for you, beyond what you already possess? As they say to a slanderer, "What pleasure do you get from this?"

"Sharpened arrows of a mighty man" — Behold you kill in a distant place like an arrow. "with coals of brooms" — All coals, when extinguished on the outside, are extinguished on the inside, but these extinguish themselves on the outside but not on the inside (ibid.). Another explanation: What will He give you? What is the Holy One, blessed be He, destined to decree upon you? Arrows of a mighty man with coals of brooms. His arrows from above and Gehinnom from below.

"Sharp arrows" — he likened the words that come out of his mouth to sharp arrows; so may they die. "with coals of" — because arrows, in their flight, grow hot in the air, like coals of broom-wood. Now, the meaning is uncertain — whether this poet [speaks] of himself, or it is a prophecy concerning Israel, who are weeping in exile — for he is a man of truth who dwells in his exile among the nations; and not only that, but there are some among them who speak lies about him and slander him, so that he might be killed.

"Sharp arrows of a mighty man" — He compares the evil words to the sharp arrows of a mighty man, shot forth from the hand of a mighty man; and he likewise compares them to coals of broom, which are extremely hot and do not go out for a long time — even when they appear extinguished on the outside and seem to be ash, inside them a fire still burns. So too are the words of the deceitful tongue: it shows a person a face as though it bears him no ill will, so that he will not be on guard against it, while it speaks evil of him. And he said "with" [between the two images] because the arrows and the coals are both included together in it.

"Sharp arrows of the mighty" — You are like sharp arrows in the hand of a warrior, with which he kills at a distance; so too you, the mouth, speak slander and kill the one who stands far away. "With coals of broom" — You are like coals from broom-wood, for although they appear extinguished on the outside, they burn on the inside; so too you speak smoothly, and in secret you speak slander against him.

"Sharp" (shenunim) — [meaning] sharpened, as in "they have sharpened their tongue like a sword" (above, Psalm 64:4).

"Sharp arrows of the mighty" — you are like the sharp arrows of a warrior, which kill from afar, "and like coals of broom," which one does not guard against, and which burn with fire up close. This corresponds to the lying lip, which speaks slander from afar and kills, and the deceitful tongue, which deceives from up close and burns him with the breath of its mouth.

"Woe is to me" — says the congregation of Israel, for I have already suffered in many exiles. Behold I sojourned in Meshech with the sons of Japheth in the kingdom of Persia, Greece, and Meshech.

"Woe is me" — Yosef ben Gurion said: that "Meshech" are the people of Toshkanah, [and] "the tents of Kedar" are the Arabs; and Israel is scattered among Meshech and among the tents of Kedar.

"Woe is me" — [that I sojourn] in exile among Meshech; that is to say, my exile has been drawn out (nimshechah) greatly, and I have dwelt with evil ones, with the tents of Kedar. He mentions the exile that is among Ishmael and does not mention the one in Edom, for the greater part of Israel's exile is among the Ishmaelites. And he mentions "Kedar" — these are the distinguished families among Ishmael, and they are the chief of the kingdom. And some commentators explain that "Meshech" is [the same as] "Kedar," and they were called this because they are drawers of the bow (moshchei keshet); and the meaning is "I have sojourned with Meshech," the matter being repeated in different words.

"Woe is me" — This is said in the voice of the children of the exile, who complain about the abundance of slander among them, and say: Woe is me, how have I not taken correction? Is this not the very thing on whose account I have been in exile, dwelling like a stranger among the children of Meshech, and dwelling in exile beside the Kedarites, dwellers in tents?

"Meshech" — the name of a nation, mentioned in the Torah; and it, along with Kedar, are among the kingdoms of Ishmael, and most of the [Jewish] exile dwells among them.

"Woe is me" — woe is already to me if "I sojourn with Meshech," or if "I dwell beside the tents of Kedar" — who are wild men, enemies, and oppressors. But —

"Long" (רבת) — the tav stands in place of a heh, as in "ve-shavat" (ושבת) used of a prince; it is an adjective whose noun is elided, like "a measure of time" (מדת זמן) and the like. And this alludes to the length of the exile.

"Long" (rabbat) — the tav stands in place of a heh, and it is not [an indication] of the construct form; he says: it has been much for me to dwell in exile with a nation that hates peace.

"Long" — For a long time my soul has dwelt with those who hate peace.

"Long" — this evil is even greater: that "my soul has long had her dwelling with the one who hates peace" — that I dwell among my brothers, among the children of Israel, and they hate peace, which is worse even than [dwelling among] the sons of Kedar and Meshech. For —

"I am at peace" — With them. "but when I speak" — peacefully with them, they come to wage war with me.

"I am" — [means] a man of peace, like "but I am prayer" (ואני תפלה). "but when I speak of peace" — the men of Meshech and Kedar make war against me.

"I" — In my own mouth, for I speak peace concerning them, but they — their hands are for war.

"I am peace" — I, with my mouth, speak peace, but when I speak peace to them, they rouse themselves for war.

"I am all peace" — even though I am at peace with them, and though I speak peace to them, "they" [speak peace] only [as a means] for war — for when I speak, my inside matches my outside, whereas they speak peace, yet in their hearts they lay their ambush, out of baseless hatred. And this is worse than Meshech and the tents of Kedar, whose evil is open, and I know to guard against their evil.