Psalms · Psalm 126

"When the Lord returns the returnees to Zion" — from the Babylonian exile, we were like dreamers.

"A Song of Ascents. 'When Hashem brought back'" — the theme of this song is like the theme of the psalm above. "'The return of'" — on the pattern of "shivtam" ["their sitting"] and "qimatam" ["their rising"]; so Israel will say, when Hashem brings back their captivity, that no one witnesses this wonder while awake — only in a dream.

"when...brought back [beshuv]" — it has the sense of "settling/resting" (hanachah), as in "Return [shuvah], Hashem, [to] the myriads..." (Numbers 10:36); or it may have the sense of "returning" (teshuvah), in which case it would be a transitive verb. "the return [shivat]" — has the sense of returning, that the children of Zion will return to her. "we were like those who dream" — like a dream that flies away, so will the distress of exile appear in our eyes, [vanishing] because of the greatness of the joy that will be ours when we return to our land. So explained my father, of blessed memory.

"When Hashem brought back" — when Hashem brings back the sons of Zion from the exile of Babylon, they will then say: behold, all the troubles that have passed are as though we dreamed a dream — meaning, because of the abundance of the good that will then be theirs, it will seem to them that the troubles were not real, but rather that they had only seen in a dream that troubles were upon them.

"When [Hashem] brought back" (be-shuv) — from the language of "hashavah" (restoring). "Those who returned" (shivat) — from the language of "shevi" (captivity).

"A Song of Ascents" — this was composed during the Babylonian exile, concerning the return to Zion and the exile. "When Hashem brought back" — the construction of the verse is: "We were like those who dream, when Hashem brought back the return to Zion; then our mouth was filled with laughter." This expresses Israel's hope — what they hoped, that Hashem would fulfill His promise made through His prophets to restore their captivity — like one who dreams a prophetic dream, who sees the future as though it were a present reality, as though it already existed, and rejoices over it as one rejoices over a good thing that exists in the present. As Jeremiah says of this: "Thereupon I awoke, and I beheld, and my sleep was sweet to me." There is no difference between the prophet's seeing something in a vision and his seeing the thing at the time it actually comes to pass — except that the prophet's joy is only in his heart, and he cannot bring the joy out into action through laughter and song with mouth and tongue. Therefore it says that already "we were like those who dream" — we already saw this thing in a vision — that at the time when Hashem would restore the return to Zion, in actuality

"Then... our mouth" — is a singular expression, like "our soul is like a bird, escaped" [Psalm 124:7]. And the meaning: that each and every one would then say this to another; or, alternatively, that messengers among the nations would say, "Hashem has done great things for these" — referring to those whose return to Zion He restored.

"with these [im eleh]" — with Israel He has done great things, and Israel say, "Hashem has done great things with us." Therefore we were joyful — that is to say, this great joy that you see in us, and the fact that our mouth is filled with laughter, come about because Hashem did great things with us: a great wonder and a great goodness.

"Hashem has done great things" — meaning, these great things are from Hashem, and did not come about by chance.

(Verses 2-3) "Then our mouth was filled with laughter" — the laughter that exists in our heart now, which cannot fill our mouth; then our mouth will be filled with it. "And our tongue," which sings now in the dream without [outward] motion, only in potential and not in actuality — then "it will be filled with song." Apart from this distinction, the matter was to us as though it had already come to pass in reality at the time we were like dreamers. "Then" — meaning, among the nations this will be a new thing, and they "will say then, Hashem has done great things with these," as though the matter had only now come into being. But to us it is not a new thing, for we already "rejoiced [that] Hashem did great things with us" — we already rejoiced over this in the past; at the time we were like dreamers, we saw and rejoiced, at the time of the vision, that Hashem had done great things with us. And to us it is an old joy, one we have rejoiced in from ancient times, for the matter was as clear to us as though it had already come to pass in reality at the time we saw it in the vision.

"Has done great things" — when we see this, then we rejoice.

"Hashem has done great things with us" — it is as though Israel responds, saying: indeed it is true that Hashem has done great things with us, and because of the assurance of that salvation we were rejoicing even while we were still in exile.

"like rivulets in arid land" — Like rivulets in arid land, which moisten it, so shall we be moistened [freshened] when You return [us from] our captivity, for those who sow in an arid land, with tears, worrying that it will not grow, reap with song through the rivulets of water, when they are directed into it [that land].

"Turn again" — the poet speaks in the voice of Israel. "Like streams" — like mighty waters. "In the Negev" — [a region] perpetually hot on account of the sun; or, from the language of the Targum, "the waters have dried up" [relating "Negev" to a root meaning "dry"].

"turn [shuvah]" — Israel say this while still in exile: "turn"; and its meaning is, "restore our captivity" — our exile. It is written with a vav [שבותנו] but read with a yod [שביתנו], and the meaning is the same. "as the streams in the dry land [ka'afikim ba-negev]" — the Negev is a dry land, as in "for you have given me a dry land [eretz ha-negev]" (Joshua 15:19); and it is thirsty for water. And if streams of water were to flow through it, it would be a great novelty and a great good — so is the return from our exile. He likened the exile to the Negev, and the redemption to streams of water.

"Turn [our captivity], Hashem" — while still in exile they say: bring the exiles back to their place, and let us be like streams in the south — meaning, like waters flowing forcefully in a place that is arid and dry.

"Turn back" (shuvah) — from the language of "hashavah" (restoring). "Our captivity" (shevitenu) — from the language of "shevi" (captivity). "Like streams" (ka-afikim) — its meaning is waters flowing with force, as in "channels of water" (above, Psalm 42:2). "In the [dry] south" (ba-negev) — an expression of dryness, as in "you have given me a south [dry] land" (Joshua 15:19).

(Verses 4-5) "Turn again" — On the basis of the proposition just stated, the psalmist asks that Hashem bring about the salvation through something new that they had not hoped for — namely, that He bring the redemption before its appointed time. For if the redemption comes at the time appointed by the prophets, after seventy years, it is like one who reaps a field of grain atop a valley of rich soil in a good land, who trusted in his heart that he would carry home his sheaves — and the joy is not so great, because it is not a new thing. Whereas if the redemption comes before its appointed time, it is like one who sowed in a parched land and had already despaired of finding any fruit of grain there, and suddenly streams of water came and watered the face of the ground, and when he came to reap, his mourning was turned into joy — for this is a thing he had not hoped for. And so it says, "Turn again our captivity, O Hashem" — before the appointed time — in a manner resembling "streams in the dry land," namely, "those who sow in tears" — who at the time of sowing had despaired of finding any reward for their labor, and suddenly "shall reap with joyful song." And [the psalmist] goes on to add an even greater image: that even afterward, once the streams had already come and watered the ground, the owner of the field did not know of it, so that even at the time he goes out to reap he is still weeping. And so it says [in the next verse].

"Those who sow" — he likened the exile to the Negev, where there is no water, and salvation to streams of water; and he likened the people of the exile to "those who sow." And the meaning: [these are] the keepers of the Torah.

"Those who sow" — Because he compared the exile to the land of the Negev, where one who sows there does so in tears, pleading with God, may He be blessed, to send rain upon it so that he may reap in blessing what he sowed — and it would be a far-fetched thing for one who sows there to reap from it unless it were for the mercy of God, may He be blessed — so too Israel in exile, with all their distress: the sowing is the performance of the commandments, which they perform in tears because of the distress of the exile, imploring God, may He be blessed, to bring them out of the exile so that they may reap in joyful song what they sowed in tears; and the reaping is the good reward.

"Those who sow" — those who sow in that arid place — do they not sow in tears, thinking that perhaps [the seed] will not sprout and they will lose the seed? "Shall reap in joy" — when the streams of water come there and [the seed] sprouts, then they will reap the produce in joy.

"He will go along weeping, etc." — So do Israel in exile sow charity in tears, and they will reap it when You pay their reward in the future.

"Goes... and weeps" — the meaning: he was weeping for fear that the seed would be lost. And the meaning of "measure" — the vessel that holds the seed. The vav of "his sheaves" — refers back to the seed; and this is a parable for the reward of the keepers of the Torah and those who endure the exile.

"Bearing the seed" [meshekh ha-zera] — meaning precious seed. A precious thing is called meshekh because its value draws [people] from afar. And seed is precious in the land of the Negev, and the poor man who carries it goes along weeping, fearing that it may be delayed and not sprout because of the dryness of the land. And God, may He be blessed, sees his tears and has mercy on him, and sends rain upon the land; and at the time of the harvest he comes to his house with joyful song, in place of how he had gone along weeping at the time of sowing, and he carries his sheaves of harvest to his house with joyful song. For Israel in exile bear the yoke of the exile and carry the burden of fulfilling the Torah and the commandments, which is the seed, allegorically; and at the time of the redemption, which is the time of the harvest, they will come to the land of Israel with joyful song, carrying the good sheaves with which God, may He be blessed, will benefit them, and it will be a good reward for them.

"He who bears the measure of seed" — meaning, at the time he was carrying and bringing the seed to the field, does he not go along weeping from fear that it might not sprout? "He shall surely come" — but he will come to his house in joy at the time he carries the sheaves from the field which Hashem has blessed and into which He has brought the streams of water; and this is a doubling of the same matter in different words. And it means: so it will be with us — for in exile we sow the deeds of the commandments in tears, because we think, God forbid, that our hope is lost and that all the deeds of the commandments are for nothing. But behold, when the time of redemption comes, then we will receive the reward with abundant joy.

"Bears" (moshekh) — from the language of "meshikhah" (drawing) and "holakhah" (carrying). "His sheaves" (alumotav) — an expression of bundles of grain, as in "binding sheaves" (Genesis 37:7).

"He goes on his way weeping" — for at the time of his going out to reap, he is still weeping, because he thinks "that he shall carry [only] the measure of the seed," meaning that he will carry from the field only what he sowed — for if he sowed a kor (a measure of grain), he does not expect to reap more than a kor, according to what he sowed. And then suddenly "he shall surely come" from the field to his house "with joyful song," for suddenly he is carrying "his sheaves" of the crop, and this joy is even greater, for it is a sudden joy. The meaning of the first parable is that the redemption will come before its appointed time; and the meaning of the second parable is that even though at the time of the redemption they had hoped for only a small salvation — as in the days of Cyrus, when they were under the authority of the kings of Persia — they will find a great salvation and carry home sheaves of success.