Psalms · Psalm 148

"Hallelujah" — this psalm is very glorious, and it contains deep secrets. And now he begins to speak of two worlds: the first, the upper world, which is the vast and great world; and afterward he mentions the lower world, which is like a point in the mind of one who conceives of a great circle. And he began to say: "Hallelujah, [you] of the heavens, praise Him in the heights" — the meaning is: you who dwell in the exalted heavens, namely the heaven of heavens.

'Hallelujah' — In this psalm he mentions all created beings, beginning with the greater world and ending with the smaller world. He first speaks in general of 'from the heavens,' meaning all things that come into being from the heavens — that is to say, from the element of the sun, which is the fifth element. And afterward he says: 'Praise Him in the heights' — those [beings] that are in the heights; and included in this are also the true [incorporeal] forms, which are neither bodies nor forces within bodies. And the sense of 'praise' here is not a command, but rather as if he said to them, 'it is fitting to praise.'

"Hallelujah, praise Hashem" — and it says "praise Hashem from the heavens," meaning, from the heavens the sound of the praise shall be heard. "Praise Him" — praise Him in the heights above; and he repeats the matter in different words.

"Praise Hashem from the heavens" — the psalmist depicts the praise of Hashem as descending from above to below, from the highest of the high worlds to the lowest of the low worlds, and then he begins to depict how the praise returns and ascends from the lowly place upward, higher and higher. For so too in the creation of the world, creation began to unfold first from above to below, and the more it descended downward, the more it became corporealized and thickened, until this lowly, physical world emerged, very far from the supernal light — for first He emanated the light of Atzilut (Emanation), and then a screen (masach) came into being and the light thickened in the world of the Throne (Kisei); and from there it devolved and thickened further in the world of the angels; and after it the world of the Ofanim (the celestial wheels) was made; until our lowly earthly sphere emerged — darkness, cloud, and thick fog. However, after it reached the extreme of corporeality and turbidity, existence began to return, to purify itself, and to go back to its place, higher and higher: for after the mineral (domem) was created, matter became refined and its materiality was stripped away little by little, until it was prepared to receive the vegetative soul (nefesh ha-tzomachat); and after that it was refined further until it was prepared for the animal soul (nefesh ha-chiyonit); and after that it was purified further and rose in level until it became fit to receive the form of the rational soul (nefesh ha-medaber), and man was made in the image of God and in His likeness — he is the ladder set upon the earth, with its top reaching to the heavens. And so his materiality was stripped away and he was perfected little by little, removing the husk (kelipah) and the screen (masach), until the turn came for the nation of Israel to ascend the mountain of Hashem, and Moses, His chosen one, went up to God, and the lower beings ascended upward, to the place where the King is at His banqueting-couch — in a manner that resembles existence (according to the words of Plato) to the geometric-logical circle, in which Hashem stands at the head of the dance-circle; and from Him existence began to descend downward and to thicken and become corporeal, until it reached the extreme lower end. And then it turned to ascend to the head of the circle, from earth to heaven, up to the Exalted One who stands at the head of the dance-circle — as it is said regarding this figure of speech, that the Holy One, blessed be He, is destined to be the head of the dance-circle for the righteous in the time to come, and they will point at Him with a finger, as stated elsewhere. According to this, he first depicts the praise (hillul) descending from above to below, and he begins: "Praise Hashem from the heavens," and he explains: "praise Him in the heights" — which are the very highest worlds, such as the world of Atzilut (Emanation) and the Throne. From there it descends down to the world of the angels, and he says.

"Praise Him, all His angels" — these are the ones that have no bodies. "And then, all His hosts" — these are pure bodies that are not composite, and they are the many stars that are in the sphere of the constellations. He then mentions the servants, mentioning first the sun and the moon, for they are the rulers; and then he mentions all the stars of light, because they have great light on account of their being close to the earth. Then he mentions the heaven of heavens, which is the sphere of fire adjacent to the sphere of the moon. Then he mentions the sphere of storm-clouds and the waters that are above the heavens — up to this point is the boundary of the upper world. Now, he began with the honored and finished with the lowly; and he did the reverse of this when mentioning the lower world. And concerning the upper world he said that its dwellers shall praise Him.

'Praise Him' — he first mentioned the two great lights, and afterward mentioned the five planets, which are the luminous bodies that shine upon the earth more than those in the eighth sphere do, because they are closer to the earth than they are. 'His angels' — these are the intellects that the spheres desire; they too are neither bodies nor forces within bodies. 'All His hosts' — these are the pure and bright bodies, namely the spheres [and] the stars that are in the eighth sphere. Therefore it says 'all His hosts,' because they are a great host; and it speaks in the plural because they are distinct forms.

"All His angels" — at first he said in a general way that they should praise Hashem in the heights above, and now he specifies who they are that shall praise Him. "All His hosts" — these are the spheres and the constellations.

(2-3) "Praise Him, all His angels" — he descends further to the world of the spheres, and says, "Praise Him, all His hosts" — for in it are found the two great lights; "sun and moon, and all stars of light" — from there he descends to the concave surface of the sphere of the moon, and says …

"stars of the night" — Heb. כוכבי אור, stars of the night.

"Stars of light" — these are the five wandering stars [planets], which shine more than the rest of the stars.

'You heavens of heavens' — Some say that the 'heavens of heavens' are that which is beneath the heavens, namely the sphere of fire, which is adjacent to the sphere of the moon; and 'the heavens' is what he calls that which is called 'heavens,' as in the phrase 'upon the face of the firmament of the heavens.' Its meaning would then be: 'and the waters that are above the heavens' — the sphere of ice. And some call it the sphere of storms, which is between the sphere of fire and the air close to us, and it is the place where the clouds reach their limit. But the philosopher-sages do not agree with this, for they say that there is nothing between us and the sphere of the moon except air and natural fire — unless one says that 'the waters' means the form of water, namely the place where the clouds reach their limit in the air; and in that place, [composed] of air, the clouds turn back into water and fall to the earth by their nature — not that there is another body there besides air, but that [air] is differentiated in quality. And of that place it is said, 'and the waters that are above the heavens.'

"Heavens of heavens" — these are the upper heavens which are above the heavens. "Above the heavens" — above the lower heavens.

"Praise Him, heavens of heavens" — for from the thick cloud-cover and upward is called by the name "heavens," as it is written, "And God called the firmament Heaven," as I explained in my commentary on Ma'aseh Bereishit [the Account of Creation]. And above them, up to the sphere of the moon, it is called "the heavens of heavens," and there are found the upper waters that are suspended by the word of the King, as I explained thoroughly in my commentary on Ma'aseh Bereishit. And it is for this that it says, "and you waters that are above the heavens."

"For He commanded, and they were created" — [meaning] He decreed, or He willed.

"Let them praise" — He says that all these mentioned upper beings shall praise the name of Hashem and acknowledge Him, for He is their Master; for even though they are exalted, He is exalted above them. "And He commanded, and they were created" — He alone is primordial, while they are newly created things.

"Let them praise" — They shall all praise Hashem, for He commanded that they be created, and behold, they were created.

"Let them praise the name of Hashem" — he explains that the praise offered by these worlds is distinct from the praise of the earth, which he will mention afterward, in three respects. First: "For He commanded, and they were created" — and this is as I have written elsewhere, that the workings of the heavens are distinct from the workings of the earth: in the heavens there was only creation [beriah] alone, whereas on the earth there was creation, formation [yetzirah], and making [asiyah] — for creation is the bringing forth of the very substance of a thing from nothing into existence; formation is the bringing forth of the form of a thing from one existing state into another; and making is the completion of the thing. In the heavens nothing further was fashioned; they simply remained as they were created at the first creation. On earth, however, after the creation there was also formation, in that He made the dry land, and making, in that He brought forth upon it vegetation and all its offspring — as it is written (Isaiah 45), "Thus says Hashem, who created the heavens — He is God, who formed the earth and made it, He established it," as I explained there. And it is for this that it says, "For He commanded, and they were created." This is the second [point]: that the earth is a world of coming-into-being and passing-away, and its offspring exist only as a species, whereas the heavens exist as individuals [continuing in their own being]. And it is for this that it says, "And He has established them forever and ever." Third: that the laws which He set as bounds upon the earth are subject to change, for on earth there is choice and will; but in the heavens, "He has set a law which shall not pass away" — for there is no choice there, and its laws endure forever.

"He issued a decree" — to them, that this one should serve by day and that one should serve by night. "which will not change" — That decree.

"And He has established them" — meaning, that they will never change, for they are not composed of the four elements. "He has made a decree which shall not be transgressed" — [meaning] each of them has its own statute, or [that] the statute shall never cease. And the reason is that Saturn completes its orbit twice in fifty-nine years, and likewise each [heavenly body] has an eternal statute [governing it]. And the prophet said: "If these statutes should depart" (Jeremiah 31:36). Now he begins to mention the lower world, beginning by mentioning the sea-monsters that are in the sea, for the earth and the waters are a single sphere according to conclusive proofs. And behold, sea-monsters, which are living, and the deeps, which are not living — thus he has mentioned these, which are beneath the inhabited earth. And then he mentions —

"He has also established them forever and ever" — for they are not like [other] creatures whose individuals perish while the species endures; rather, their individuals endure forever, just like the species. And the law that He gave them at the beginning of their creation — their order shall never change, forever.

"And He has established them" — He establishes them forever. "He has made a decree" — To each one He gave a statute [governing] when this one shall function and when that one shall function, and that statute shall not be transgressed.

"For ever and ever" (לעד לעולם) — a doubling of the term using synonyms, similar to "the dust of the earth" (אדמת עפר) (Daniel 12). "Decree" (חק) — its meaning is like "statute" (גזרה).

"sea monsters" — Heb. תנינים, huge fish.

"Praise" — Afterward he tells the creatures of the lower world to praise Hashem, and he says "and all the depths" — the waters that are beneath the earth and the waters that are above the earth. He mentions the water before the dry land, just as it was in the order of creation, and also the sea-monsters that are in them, which are what the verse means when it says, "And God created the sea-monsters," for they are larger than the beasts of the dry land. And as for what it says, "Praise Hashem" — since they [the depths and sea-monsters] do not possess understanding, he means that human beings shall praise Him for the wonders of God that they see in them and understand from them.

"Praise, etc." — That is to say, he said that from the earth the sound of praise shall be heard. "Sea-monsters" — Now he specifies who they are that shall praise Him from the earth, and he said: the sea-monsters and all who dwell in the depths.

"Sea-monsters" (תנינים) — these are a species of large fish that are in the sea. "Deeps" (תהומות) — [meaning] the depth of the sea.

"Praise" — after he has come, in his descent along the circle of the coming-into-being of existence, down to the earth, which is the lowest, most base extremity, the compass [tracing the circle] begins to ascend upward. Accordingly he says, "Praise Hashem from the earth," and he first enumerates the simple elements, which are the four elements: "sea-monsters, and all deeps" — this is the element of water.

"and hail" — Heb. וברד, gresle or grezle in Old French, hail. "snow" — Heb. שלג, neyf or nayf in old French, snow. "and vapor" — וקיטור, an expression of a mist called bruine or broine in Old French, mist, fog. "a storm wind" — which performs His word and His mission. Our Sages said (Chag. 12b): These things were originally hidden in heaven, and David came and brought them down to earth because they are kinds of punishment, and it is not fitting for them to be hidden in the dwellings of the Holy One, blessed be He.

"Fire and hail, snow and vapor" — and all of these are from the earth, according to the proofs of the science of nature. Fire is that which kills through burning, and its opposite is hail; and the opposite of snow is vapor, which is the mist that rises in the form of smoke, and it is hot. And "the stormy wind fulfills the word of Hashem" in every place. So he has mentioned these as well, which are upon the earth, and then he mentions —

"Fire and hail" — He mentions the things that come into being in the air, for they too are from the earth: fire, hail, snow, and vapor. Their formation is from the earth, and the natural philosophers establish this with complete proofs, and we also find this stated in the words of our Sages, of blessed memory. "Fire" — this is the fire of lightning, which burns whatever it falls upon. "Hail" — well known, and it is the opposite [of fire], for it is cold; likewise snow is cold. Its counterpart is vapor, which is hot — it is the air rising from the earth, resembling smoke. "Stormy wind, fulfilling His word" — this is the air in motion; and when it moves with force, it fells the tall cedars, buildings, and ships at sea. And it says "fulfilling His word" to make known that this does not happen by chance, but rather He commands it to move, and it is by His word and His command that it moves, to punish those who deserve it.

"Fulfilling His word" — [That is,] carrying out His decree, to uproot cedars and to overturn corners, and the like.

"And vapor" (וקיטור) — this is the mist that rises from the earth, resembling smoke.

"Fire" — this is the element of fire. And he enumerates the products of these two elements: "hail, snow" — products of water; "vapor" — a product of fire; "wind" — the element of air, whose product is "stormy wind, fulfilling His word" — for the storm-wind is sometimes made ready for Hashem's mission. And corresponding to the element of earth, he says.

"Mountains" — the word is from the same root as "I am pregnant" (II Samuel 11:5), for within them are the metals, as in: "and out of whose hills you shall dig copper" (Deuteronomy 8:9); "iron is taken out of the dust" (Job 28:2); whereas "hills" are without metals. He then mentions the plants, beginning with "fruit trees," and [then] "all cedars," which do not bear fruit. Then he mentions —

"The mountains" — After he mentioned the things that come into being in the air, mentioning them alongside the water — because it is on account of the water that the vapors rise into the air, from which come rain, snow, and lightning — he afterward mentions the dry land and what is on it, and says "the mountains and all hills," for these are the fixed and enduring things among the creatures of the earth. And after he had mentioned the entire inanimate/mineral category — for the metals are included within "the mountains" — and since he had mentioned the inanimate things, he then mentions the vegetative category, saying "fruit trees and all cedars," which is a general term for trees that bear no fruit; and he mentioned cedars because they are the largest of the trees.

"And all hills" — These are the lower mountains. "Fruitful trees" — Fruit trees.

"Mountains and all hills" — from here he begins to ascend higher and higher, from the simple to the composite: the inanimate [ha-domem] — "mountains and all hills"; above it, the vegetative [ha-tzomeach] — "fruitful trees and all cedars," meaning, fruit-bearing trees and non-fruit-bearing trees; above it, living creatures.

"Wild beast" — that which is not in settled areas; whereas every "cattle" is in settled areas, as in: "and for your cattle, and for the wild beast that is in your land" (Leviticus 25:7). He then mentions "creeping things of the earth," and above it, "fowl," which is [the phrase] "and winged bird." He then mentions all mankind, beginning with the honored ones, who are the kings of the earth and all the peoples under their hand; then he mentions "princes" — these are the ones who dominate to act by force without justice; and opposite them, "all judges of the earth." And mankind consists of males and females; therefore —

"Beasts" — after the vegetative, he mentions the living creature that does not speak [i.e., the non-rational animals]; and "beast" (chayah) refers to the wild creatures [of the uninhabited land]. "And all cattle" — that is, those that are in settled, inhabited areas. "And creeping things" — the small creatures. "And winged fowl" — this is the highest [rank] within the category of living creatures that do not speak.

"Creeping things" — These are the small animals. "And winged fowl" — Every bird that has wings.

"Creeping things" (רמש) — an expression of moving from place to place, as in "there are creeping things innumerable" (שם רמש ואין מספר) (above, Psalm 104).

"Beasts and all cattle" — and he enumerates beasts and cattle, which were created on the sixth day; "creeping things and winged fowl," which were created on the fifth day; above them, the speaking being [ha-medaber, i.e., man].

"Kings of the earth" — after he mentioned the living creature that does not speak, he mentions the living creature that does speak [i.e., man], who is the choicest being of the lower world; and likewise in [the order of] creation he is mentioned last, since he was created last, to indicate that he rules over all of them, and he is the final composite being according to nature. And he mentions among human beings the rank of honor and the rank of age, and says that they shall all praise Hashem — the honored as well as the lowly, the small as well as the great, men and women — and he says "and all peoples," for thus they shall all acknowledge Hashem when the redeemer comes for Israel.

"Peoples" (לאמים) — [meaning] nations (עמים).

(11-12) "Kings of the earth," etc. — he enumerates the kings, who hold governmental power, "and the peoples" [ha-le'umim], who hold religious authority; beneath them, "princes," with respect to government, [and] "judges of the earth," with respect to custom and religion. And he enumerates that they shall praise: "young men and also maidens," meaning males and females; "old men with youths," meaning great and small.

"Both young men and also maidens" — even the males change according to the seasons of life, for at one time their strength grows and at another it diminishes; therefore [it says]: "old men with youths." And he says afterward —

"Young men" — he says this also because, since it is not the way of maidens to occupy themselves with anything but the adornment of their bodies, he says that they too shall give praise to Hashem. "Old men with children" — for the old men shall teach them how to praise Hashem; this is the meaning of "with" — for children alone do not have the understanding to give praise; therefore he says that the old men shall be with the children and teach them.

"Let them praise the name of Hashem, for His name alone is exalted" — meaning, that it will not come to an end, as all these will come to an end and the individuals perish. And the meaning of "for His name alone is exalted" is that He preserves the general categories. Now, he has stated that all the creatures of the lower world will perish — except Israel alone. Therefore he says: "And He has lifted up a horn for His people, a praise for all His saints" — meaning that the pious ones of Israel, who are the pious ones of Hashem — not all of Israel — shall praise Him concerning this matter.

"Let them praise" — he says that all these creatures that are in the lower world shall praise the name of Hashem, meaning: those among them who possess understanding shall praise Him on their own behalf and on behalf of the rest of the creatures. And he says, "for His name alone is exalted" — and he did not say this regarding the upper beings, because, although the upper beings are [themselves] exalted, nevertheless he said that they should acknowledge Him, for He is exalted above them, since He created them. But among the lower beings there is nothing exalted, for their greatness has no permanence or stability; therefore the kings of the earth, the princes, and the judges of the earth should not be proud in their greatness, for in a short time their greatness will pass and come to an end — the exaltedness belongs to Hashem alone. "His glory is above the earth and heaven" — for all the creatures, upper and lower, all stand [exist] by His power.

"Let them praise" — They shall all praise the name of Hashem. "For [His name] is exalted" — For His name alone is mighty, and there is none among them all comparable to Him. "His glory" — His splendor is fitting over earth and heaven.

"Let them praise the name of Hashem" — meaning, and these shall praise inasmuch as "His name alone is exalted" — for even though they possess free choice, the name of Hashem is exalted in their eyes. And through this they ascend from below upward, up to the top of the ladder, to draw near to Hashem. And thereby, "His glory is above the earth and heaven" — for whereas at first, in the earlier order, the glory descended from the heavens to the earth, in this order the glory ascends, as a reflected light, from the earth to the heavens, and the circle returns to its highest root. And how will this happen? He goes on to explain by what means.

He said "His saints," and [then] mentioned "the children of Israel." The word "people" is not in construct with "near to Him" — rather, its meaning is that He is its "near one," that is, He is near to the people. And similar to it: "to Your pious one" (Deuteronomy 33:8).

"And He has lifted up" — He showed this to the whole world, that everything is by His power, when He raised a horn for His people — that He will bring them out of exile and gather them from among the peoples, and raise their horn above all the peoples. This is "a praise for all His saints" — they are the children of Israel, who are the people close to Him — and they shall all say Hallelujah.

"And He has lifted up" — He shall raise a horn of dominion for His people, and increase praise for all His saints, the people who are near to Hashem — Hallelujah. And therefore, from now on, praise Yah.

"A horn" (קרן) — they borrowed this word [to express] strength and dominion, because those possessing a horn use it to strengthen themselves when they fight with another.

"And He has lifted up a horn for His people" — for Israel has been raised up from the lowly world to ascend the mountain of Hashem, and they ascended the holy mountain to the top of the ladder, and drew near to Hashem. And thereby, "a praise for all His saints" — for the saints, who draw near as they ascend the steps up to Hashem, "shall praise, saying, that Israel are a people near to Him" — for they have drawn near to the head of the circle-dance, so that the praise of the saints rises together with the first praise with which he opened, "Praise Him in the heights" — for they too shall rise to the height, and they are "a people near to Him."