Psalms · Psalm 14

"The fool said in his heart, etc." — David recited two psalms in this Book, in one manner [with almost identical wording]: the first one concerning Nebuchadnezzar and the second one (ch. 53) concerning Titus. In this one, he prophesied concerning Nebuchadnezzar, who was destined to enter the Temple and to destroy it, with not one [man] of all his armies protesting against him. "“There is no God”" — and “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.” "they have committed abominable deeds" — Heb. עלילה, deeds.

"For the leader... The fool has said" — [the fool, naval] is the opposite of "wise" [chakham]; because he imagines that there is no God, on account of this "they have corrupted their way and made their deeds abominable," like "and I will speak of Your doings" (Psalm 77:13); "there is none who does good."

"For the leader, of David" — this psalm, too, speaks with reference to the exile. "The fool has said in his heart, there is no God" — the "fool" is the king of the nations in whose hand Israel finds itself, and he thinks "in his heart," as he does evil to Israel and oppresses them, that "there is no God," and there is no judge and no justice in the world to repay a man according to his deeds. "They have dealt corruptly" — he and his people. "They have done abominably" — they have done an abominable deed. "There is none who does good" — there is not one among them who "does good"; rather, they have all "dealt corruptly" in their deeds, and all their deeds are for evil, for they think that Hashem does not see.

"The fool has said" — Nebuzaradan, who destroyed the Temple, said in his heart, "There is no God; everything happens by chance." "They have acted corruptly" — he and his people; and it is all said in the past tense, because in a prophetic vision one sees [the future] as though it had already been done. "They have committed abominable deeds" — they performed abominable acts, and there is no one among them who does good.

'Naval' — a base and lowly person. 'Alilah' — an act/deed.

"For the Leader. [A Psalm] of David." — this psalm is duplicated in this book (Psalm 53), with a slight variation. It has been explained by me that David said this psalm concerning a miracle that happened to him, that he was saved from an enemy who did evil and oppressed Israel. And when the miracle of Sennacherib occurred in the days of Hezekiah, they saw that this psalm was fitting to give thanks with also for that miracle, so they emended it with a slight addition and attributed it to David, since he was the one who had originally composed it. With this we come to the explanation: "The fool has said in his heart: 'There is no God'" — that the king who came against him denied the existence of Hashem, just as Sennacherib likewise denied Hashem and sent [messengers] to blaspheme the living God. And also, "they have dealt corruptly, they have done abominably" — that his entire army, all of them, corrupted their deeds to commit evils and abominations, to the point that "there is none who does good," not even the conventional good of kindness or mercy. And since there was found among them one man who appeared to believe in Hashem and give Him honor (as was the case in Sennacherib's camp, where our Sages said that Nebuchadnezzar gave honor to Hashem and ran after the messenger sent by Merodach-baladan, who had placed the name of Hezekiah before the name of the Holy One, blessed be He — and because of this, he and ten more men with him were the ones left of Sennacherib's camp, as our Sages said) — lest you say that these have merit, it therefore says, "Hashem looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any who understood" — for in truth even they did not [truly] believe in God, since although they inquired about God rationally, [seeking] to understand His truth and to seek out His ways and paths, this was only lip service, and Hashem, who knows the secrets of the heart, looked to see whether they truly believed in Him by way of understanding His ways and seeking His paths — and He saw that "they had all turned aside," that even these individuals had turned aside from the way, "and together they became corrupt" through abominations, to the point that "there is none who does good, no, not one" — that even the one who appeared to us to give honor to Hashem also did no good, for his heart was full of iniquity and he too was a denier and a heretic.

"Hashem looked forth" — because His glory is [described as being] in a high place, namely the heavens; and this is a figure of speech, for He knows everything and the way of all.

"Hashem looked forth from heaven upon the sons of men" — even though He is high above them and hidden from their eyes, He "looks forth" upon them and watches over [them], "to see if there is any man of understanding, who seeks after God" — [to see] if there is even one man of understanding among them who seeks "God," and thinks that there is a "God" who judges; but behold —

"He looked forth" — to observe the deeds of that people. "Is there any who is wise" — to protest against the matter. "Who seeks" — to be one who seeks and investigates God, meaning: to know that there is a God who judges.

'Hishkif' — a term meaning gazing/looking.

"All have turned away, etc." — Not one man of his armies protested against him. "they have spoiled" — Heb. נאלחו, have turned to rot.

"They are all turned aside" — from the straight path. "Together they have become corrupt" [ne'elachu] — like "they have been ruined" [nishchatu]. "There is not even one" — meaning not even a single one, like "even in laughter the heart is sad" (Proverbs 14:13), "even his neighbor hates the poor" (Proverbs 14:20). And these wicked ones are those who hate Israel, and the proof is "they have devoured My people."

"They are all turned aside" — turned aside from the good way. And some explain it as similar to "sag," as it says in the second book (Psalms 53:4), "they are all together turned aside [sag]"; and it is related to "they are turned back" (Isaiah 42:17), the meaning being the same; and the gimel and resh interchange according to the atbash cipher (in which gimel corresponds to resh). And some explain it in the sense of "and [the river] became foul [va-yiv'ash]" and "putrid [sirri]" (Exodus 7:21, and other places). And so it says: "Together they have become impure" — meaning that they have become abominable and foul; [the root is] the reverse of [the letters in] "the pot whose rust is in it" (Ezekiel 24:6), which means "filth"; and likewise, "how much less one that is abominable and impure" (Job 15:16) "There is none who does good, no, not one" — not even "one"; and likewise "even" in "even his neighbor hates the poor" (Proverbs 14:20).

"They have all turned aside" — they have all turned away from the good path. "Together" — all of them together corrupted their deeds.

'Ne'elachu' — meaning, they have become putrid, as in 'abominable and corrupt' (Job 15). 'Gam' — it is like the word afilu (even).

"Did not...know?" — Did they not know at the end what had befallen them? "Those who devoured My people" — The seed of Nebuchadnezzar. "partook of a feast" — Heb. לחם, lit. bread. They made a feast (as in Dan. 5:1) “made a huge feast (לחם).” "they did not call upon the Lord" — They neither considered Him nor remembered His wondrous and awesome deeds at their feast, and [they] used His vessels.

"Do they not know" — [expressed] in astonishment, that is: do these workers of iniquity not know — while they devoured My people as though they ate bread — and did not say that Hashem had given them their strength, in the manner of "our hand is exalted" (Deuteronomy 32:27)? And this is [the meaning of] "they did not call upon Hashem."

"Shall not all the workers of iniquity know" — "shall not" is in the manner of astonishment: how is it that they are all so foolish and "do not know"! And its meaning is: they have no understanding or wisdom when they say that there is none who sees or knows the deeds of all these who are "workers of iniquity" and do evil to Israel. "Who eat up My people as they eat bread" — and [these] "eaters of My people" [devour them] just as one would "eat bread." "And do not call upon Hashem" — that is, it did not occur to them that Hashem sees them; therefore "they do not call upon" Him. And some explain: since they are "eaters of My people" and still "eat bread" — that is, since they have not died and have not been punished, they thought there is no judge and no judgment; therefore "they do not call upon Hashem." And some explain "they do not call" [to mean]: that they persist in their wickedness and do not return in repentance.

"Is it not" — meaning: how can they say "there is no God"? Indeed the workers of iniquity ought to know that their devouring of My people, as one eats bread, is because My people did not call upon Hashem.

(4-5) "Shall not" — its sense is: "Shall not all the workers of iniquity know it, that God is with the righteous generation?" [meaning] that after a miracle was done for Israel and they were saved, then these workers of iniquity, "who eat up My people," would know that God is with the righteous generation and watches over them with His individual providence. And what is said, "they ate bread," refers to Israel — for it is stated in the Midrash that in the days of David a hundred children were dying every day, and he instituted a hundred blessings for them; this shows that in the days of David they were not careful about the blessings of praise, for the root of these blessings branches out from what is written, "and you shall eat and be satisfied and bless" (Deuteronomy 8:10) — that one is obligated to bless Hashem for eating food — and from this they learned that likewise one must bless Him for all His goodness and kindnesses, both general and particular. And since they were not careful about all this in the days of David, they were punished for it, and they examined their deeds and corrected the matter. From this it is clear how righteous they were, that over the fact "they ate bread and did not call upon Hashem" — meaning that they did not bless Hashem over the bread — for this, "there they were in great fear," and they became afraid of punishment and repented. So then, shall not the workers of iniquity, the devourers of My people, know this — yet they utterly deny God — whereas with Israel it was the opposite, that they feared even when they did not call upon Hashem over the eating of bread. And on this basis it would be fitting that Hashem help Israel, who believe in Him, against these deniers, until they know that God is with the righteous generation.

"There they were in great fear" — For recompense was paid to Belshazzar king of Babylon [causing him] to be in great fear, as it is stated (in Dan. 5:6): “Then the king’s color changed, his thoughts terrified him, the joints of his loins came loose, and his knees knocked against each other.” But our Sages explained this (Sanh. 104b, Mid. Ps. 14:4) as referring to the heathens: Whoever does not rob Israel does not experience a pleasant taste in his food. Those who devoured my people felt as though they ate bread, for they experienced a pleasant taste. "for God is in the generation of a righteous man" — In the generation of Jeconiah, who were righteous.

"There" — in the place where they devoured My people, there they feared, in the distress that came upon them, until they knew that Hashem is with the help of the righteous generation, like "to the help of Hashem against the mighty" (Judges 5:23).

"There are they in great fear" — "pachadu" is like "they will fear." He says: that there, in the place of their greatness and pride, they will yet fear a [great] "fear" and will know "that God is with the righteous generation" — He will be with them and their help.

"There" — for indeed, there in Jerusalem itself, at the time Sennacherib came against it, did they not fear a great fear there, for dead corpses fell? And our Rabbis, of blessed memory, said that Nebuchadnezzar himself was among them, and was one of those who remained [survived]. "For God" — that fear was because Hashem was [present] in that generation, which was a righteous generation; but in the days of Nebuchadnezzar they were wicked — so why did Hashem not help them? But nothing falls out by chance.

"You put to shame the counsel of the poor" — You say that the counsel of Israel is shameful, for they trust in the Lord because He is their refuge.

"The counsel of the poor" — that is Israel, and my whole explanation is that Hashem is his refuge.

'You would put to shame the counsel of the poor' — and now, 'you would put to shame the counsel of the poor,' 'for Hashem is his refuge' — because he made 'Hashem his refuge'; this is his plan and his understanding, to escape from your hand, for he has no other refuge, yet you put his plan to shame because you do not see the punishment coming quickly, and you say to the poor: 'Where are your gods? Let them arise and help you!' (Deuteronomy 32:38)

"The counsel of the poor" — you shame the counsel of the poor people, who say in their counsel that Hashem is their refuge, for you deny it by saying, "there is no God."

"The counsel" [עצת] — you "would put to shame the counsel of the poor," who is Israel, who prepared no counsel and might for war, relying only on "Hashem is his refuge," trusting in the miracle that Hashem would help him — and this was a laughingstock in your eyes, as Sennacherib said: "Lest Hezekiah incite you, saying: Hashem will save us — have the gods of the nations saved [their peoples]?" etc. But "Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion" — when the salvation comes through Hashem who dwells in Zion, then "Jacob shall rejoice," for through this the name of Hashem will be sanctified before the eyes of the nations. And since he foresaw here, by the holy spirit, the future — what would happen through the miracle of Sennacherib, that the salvation would come from Zion and Hashem would then return the captivity of His people — they instituted it (this psalm) a second time concerning the miracle of Sennacherib, as will be explained in Psalm 53.

"O that" — Then the day will arrive when He will give out of Zion the salvation of Israel in the future; then Jacob shall rejoice; Israel shall be glad.

"Oh that" [mi yiten] — the sense of "out of Zion" is like "Hashem shall send forth the rod of Your strength out of Zion" (Psalm 110:2) and "and support you out of Zion" (Psalm 20:3), because the [divine] glory was with the Ark in the days of David. And it is possible that men of Israel had been taken captive, or that this refers to the future; and the meaning would be, "out of Zion the glory will return" — and "oh that" [mi yiten] is in the manner of "oh that all the people of Hashem were prophets" (Numbers 11:29).

'Oh that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion' — because Zion is the head of the kingdom of Israel, and there the Glory dwelt, he says: 'that out of Zion' shall come 'the salvation of Israel.' And he says 'oh that' [mi yiten], meaning that it should happen soon; or 'oh that' meaning that we may merit it and see the salvation, 'when Hashem turns the captivity of His people'; and then 'let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad' — for now they are in sorrow and mourning in exile. And the meaning of 'turns' [beshuv] is a transitive verb, like 'causing to return' [behashiv]; or its meaning is 'resting,' from 'in returning and rest you shall be saved' (Isaiah 30:15).

"Oh that" — would that the salvation of Israel would come quickly from Him who dwells in Zion. "When [Hashem] turns [the captivity]" — at the time when Hashem gives rest to the returning children, meaning: it will be recognized by all that Hashem gave them rest. "Let [Jacob] rejoice" — then they will be glad, for they succeeded in their counsel to take refuge in Hashem, and [their opponents] will be forced to acknowledge it about them.

'Beshuv' — a term meaning tranquility, as in 'in returning and rest' (Isaiah 30). 'Shevut' — from the language of shevi (captivity).