Psalms · Psalm 15

"A psalm. Hashem, who shall sojourn in Your tent" — [meaning] Your house. And similarly: "every man to his tents, O Israel" (1 Kings 12:16). "In Your holy mountain" — Mount Moriah or Mount Zion — [said] before it was known that it was Mount Moriah — when the Ark dwelt in Zion, in the house that David had prepared for it, as is written in Chronicles.

'A psalm of David. Hashem, who shall sojourn in Your tent, and who' [the vav here was added by a second scribe; this person was, apparently, a great and mighty grammarian] 'shall dwell on Your holy mountain? Your tent' refers to the heavens; he called them a 'tent' because they are stretched out like a tent. And 'Your holy mountain' is Mount Moriah, where the Temple stood, because it is the most honored place on earth. He likewise called the heavens a 'palace,' as he said (Psalms 11:4), 'Hashem is in His holy palace, Hashem, His throne is in heaven,' as we have explained. And likewise, 'he shall hear my voice from His palace' (Psalms 18:7). 'Who shall sojourn, and who shall dwell' refer to the supernal soul. He is saying: whoever performs these deeds in his lifetime, his soul shall dwell in the place of glory after his death. And what are these deeds?

"Who shall sojourn" — as if [David] asks: You, Hashem — who is fit to dwell in Your tent? This refers to the Temple, for not everyone is fit, as it is written, "Who has required... to trample My courts?" (Isaiah 1:12).

"A Psalm of David" — he considers the things a person should do and live by, so as to be among the servants of Hashem who stand in His courts. "Who shall sojourn in Your tent" — and he adds, even also, "who shall dwell," by way of a temporary dwelling, "on Your holy mountain," which is in front of the tent — that is, who is worthy to stand before Hashem, among those who walk before Him.

"and speaks truth in his heart" — The good that he says in his heart is true. He is not a hypocrite [lit. one in mouth and one in heart].

"He who walks [uprightly]" — this is the answer to "who shall sojourn in Your tent." "Blameless" [tamim] — this is an adjective, and the noun it modifies is omitted; [understand it as]: "he who walks in a way that is blameless in his affairs and his words." "And works righteousness" — with his fellows. "And speaks truth in his heart" — and this applies to every person.

'He who walks uprightly [tamim]' — if 'tamim' is an adjective, he means: 'he walks' in a way that is 'upright,' as in 'he who walks in the way of the upright, he shall serve me' (Psalms 101:6); and if it is a noun, as in 'if in truth and in wholeness [tamim]' (Judges 9:16), he means: he walks in wholeness, as in 'and I shall walk in my wholeness' (Psalms 26:1) — and the sense is the same either way. And the 'whole/upright' person is one who conducts his affairs in this world with wholeness, not delving deeply in his thinking into the schemes of the world. 'And works righteousness' — that he does all his deeds 'with righteousness.' Now, the teachings incumbent on man — the positive and negative commandments — are of three kinds: one in deed, one in speech, and one in the heart. And here he mentioned the deed; 'and speaks truth in his heart' — this is speech and heart. He says: that he 'speaks truth' — one will never find falsehood in his words. And the 'truth' that he speaks with his mouth is 'in his heart,' for he does not say one thing with his mouth and another in his heart. And just as the words of his mouth are 'true,' so too are the thoughts of 'his heart.' Also included in the statement 'and speaks truth in his heart' is that he fulfills what he thought 'in his heart' to do good — and this concerns matters of business dealings. That is to say: it need not be said that he fulfills what he speaks with his mouth, but even what he merely thinks, he fulfills, making his thought true. Also included in this is the greatness of the existence of God and His oneness, which is 'true' — he 'speaks' it with his mouth, and thinks it 'in his heart,' understanding it by way of proof, as wisdom teaches it to him.

"He who walks uprightly" — as if [David] answers: the one who walks in the path of integrity, etc. — he is the one who shall sojourn there. "In his heart" — he makes the thought of his heart true/genuine in a matter of commandment.

"He who walks" [הולך] — regarding the commandments between man and the Omnipresent, in which he walks before Hashem, he must be "one who walks uprightly" [tamim], for the definition of tamim ("wholeness/uprightness") is that he does all his deeds for the sake of Hashem alone, without any external ulterior motive. And regarding the commandments between man and his fellow, he is "one who works righteousness." And in the matter of faith, he is "one who speaks truth in his heart" — so that his faith should not be a matter of the lips alone and no further, for the definition of faith is the agreement of the heart with what the mouth utters.

"He did not slander with his tongue" — Ankuza in Old French, to accuse, as (in II Sam. 19:28) “And he slandered (וירגל) your servant.” This psalm is to inform us of the [proper] measure of piety. "neither did he take up reproach" — Rapporta in Old French, to report. "upon his kinsman" — If his kinsman committed a transgression for which he was punishable, he would punish him with justice, and he did not bear upon himself his reproach, that the reproacher should have an excuse to say, “So-and-so, your relative, committed such-and-such a sin, and you covered up for him.”

"He has no slander upon his tongue" [lo ragal] — like "and he has slandered your servant" (2 Samuel 19:28); and the meaning is: to uncover hidden things, in the manner of spies [meraglim]. "He does not take up" [lo nasa] — in the manner of "you shall not take up a false report" (Exodus 23:1). And some say [it means]: he has done nothing that would cause his relatives to be shamed on his account.

'Has no slander upon his tongue' — in this verse he stated negative commandments concerning speech and deed, but there was no need to mention the heart, since he already said, 'and speaks truth in his heart'; and if his thoughts are true and righteous, there is no evil in his thoughts. And he said 'has no slander upon his tongue' and did not mention the other negative commandments that concern speech, such as 'you shall not bear false witness against your fellow' (Exodus 20:16), 'you shall not curse God' (Exodus 22:27), and the like, because he stated this one even though it is true, and all the more so the others; for talebearing, even though it is true, causes great evil to result from it. Therefore he said 'and speaks truth in his heart,' for the truth that is harmful he does not speak — and that is talebearing. 'Nor does evil to his fellow' — 'his fellow' and 'his kinsman [karvo]' is one with whom he has business dealings, or his neighbor. And when it says 'nor does evil to his fellow,' it does not mean that he may do evil to others, but rather Scripture speaks of the usual case; just as 'and you shall not wrong one another [ish et amito]' (Leviticus 25:17) does not mean that he is permitted to wrong another person who is a stranger and not his 'amit' (fellow). Likewise, 'you shall not bear false witness against your fellow [re'akha]' (Exodus 20:16) does not mean that against another who is not his fellow it is permitted to bear false witness; rather, it is stated this way because his business dealings and affairs are with him. And this is the manner of the language in many places. And when it says 'nor does evil to his fellow,' it includes all the negative commandments that pertain between a person and his fellow. And he then spoke concerning the category of speech: 'nor takes up a reproach against his kinsman' — that he does not insult or curse a person, even though that person insulted or harmed him. And he says 'takes up' [nasa] in the sense of raising the tongue, as in 'you shall not take [tissa] the name of Hashem your God in vain' (Exodus 20:7); 'you shall not raise [tissa] a false report' (Exodus 23:1). And when it says 'his kinsman [karvo],' the same law applies to another, but Scripture speaks of the usual case as we have explained. And 'his kinsman' is like 'his fellow' — one who is close to him in his business dealings, or his neighbor who is closer than the rest, since a person's words and dealings are for the most part with these.

"He has not taken up" — he has not cast upon his fellow any matter of disgrace.

'Ragal' — a term meaning gossip and slander (lashon hara), as in 'and he has slandered your servant' (2 Samuel 19). 'Lo nasa' — meaning, he did not cast/bring.

"[He] does not" [לא] — since it is the nature of man to seek out the disgrace of his fellow and to bring evil upon him out of a sense of honor and out of jealousy, he says "that he has no slander upon his tongue" — that is, he does not speak about him in a way that, through his tongue, would amount to talebearing, as our Sages, of blessed memory, said: what is the definition of [euphemistic] evil speech? One who says, "There's a fire in so-and-so's house." And likewise, "that he does no evil" at all "to his fellow." And since it is the nature of man to favor his relatives and to cover for them, he says that he does no evil to his fellow even when doing so would bring benefit to his relatives — for "he takes up no reproach" on behalf of "his kinsman," [meaning] that he would cover for him out of love of relatives; rather, on the contrary, "in his eyes" his kinsman who is "contemptible" in his deeds is "despised." And this is what our Sages, of blessed memory, said about Hezekiah, that he dragged the bones of his father on a bier of ropes. But "he honors those who fear Hashem," even though they are not his relatives — from which it is clear that the essential feeling of his heart is for the honor of Hashem: to honor those who fear Him and to despise those who transgress His commandments. And not only is he unmoved by love of relatives, he is not even moved by love of himself — for he "swears" and undertakes by vow "to do himself harm," to fast and afflict himself, "and does not change" his vow.

"A base person is despised in his eyes" — One who is base with his wickedness is despised in the eyes of the righteous man, e.g. Hezekiah, who dragged his father’s remains in disgrace. "he swears to hurt" — himself. "and does not retract" — his oath. How much more does he not retract it if it concerns something that is not to his hurt!

"Vile" [nivzeh] — connected with "in his eyes," and also [meaning] despised. And the meaning is: that one who serves Hashem regards every commandment he has kept and every good deed he has done as base and lightly regarded in his own eyes, compared with what he is obligated to do for the honor of his Creator; and such is the way of the righteous, that they seek to rise to the level of one holier and more honored than themselves. And it says "he honors" opposite "vile." "Who swears to his own hurt" — [namely,] his soul, as in swearing to fast, for [fasting] weakens the flesh.

'He is despised in his own eyes, and rejected' — and he continues to describe more of his good qualities: for even though he 'walked uprightly, worked righteousness, and spoke truth,' he does not become proud because of this; rather, he himself is 'despised in his own eyes and rejected,' thinking in his heart that he has not done even one part in a thousand of what is incumbent upon him to do for the honor of the Creator. 'but he honors those who fear Hashem' — he is 'despised in his own eyes, and honors those who fear Hashem'; for all the good deeds that he himself has done, he considers as nothing compared to what he thinks he ought to do, whereas the good deeds that others besides him do, he considers to be great things. And he thinks that those who 'fear Hashem' other than himself have a higher standing than he does, and that they fear Hashem more than he does, so he grants them a higher standing than himself and 'honors' them. And he continues to describe more of his good qualities: 'he swears to his own hurt' — and the meaning of 'to his hurt' is: to harm his body through fasting and abstaining from pleasures; and likewise to diminish his money for charity and for a mitzvah. 'and does not change' [written beside it in the Masorah between the columns: '(written) defectively; (occurring) uniquely'] — what he swore, even though it harms his body. 'He does not change,' but fulfills it just as he said. And the reason it says 'swears' is that because it is something difficult for the body to bear, he 'swears,' so that the evil inclination should not distract him from doing it. And so David said (Psalms 119:106), 'I have sworn, and I will confirm it, to keep Your righteous ordinances.'

"Despised" — a despicable man is loathsome in his eyes, and he does not flatter anyone. "To his hurt" — to afflict himself.

'Yamir' — from the language of temurah (exchange) and substitution.

"nor did he accept a bribe, etc." — against a poor man, to condemn him in judgment by judging perversely. Our Sages explained it further to mean that he would not accept a bribe to exonerate him in judgment, and he certainly will not take a bribe to pervert the judgment. "shall not falter" — and he deserves to sojourn in Your tent. "shall not falter forever" — If he falters, his faltering will not be permanent faltering, but he will falter and ascend.

"His money" — it says "he does not take" opposite "he does not give," and this concerns judging an unjust case. "He who does these things" — includes both positive and negative commandments, like "to observe the Sabbath day" (cf. Deuteronomy 5:15), for the sense [of "to do"] is in the manner of proper preparation, like "and he hurried to prepare it" (Genesis 18:7).

'He who puts not out his money on interest' — He has already said, 'He has done no evil to his fellow,' which includes that he did not defraud him, nor rob him, nor steal from him; and now he says that even when given willingly, he did not take his money in a matter that involves a prohibition, namely 'interest.' For even though [the borrower] gives it to him willingly, he is compelled to give it, since he needs to borrow from him; so he returns [the lender's] money, plus the interest as well. Thus he takes his fellow's money unlawfully, even though it is given willingly. And because people become accustomed to this practice — for it is not called violence the way robbery and theft are — the Torah was strict about it and warned against it at length. The prophets listed it among the grave sins. And one who is habituated to it will lose his wealth in a short time. David and Ezekiel forbade only what the Torah forbade; and the Torah forbade it only [when lending] to a fellow Israelite, but toward a foreigner it is permitted, as it says (Deuteronomy 23:21), 'You may lend on interest to a foreigner.' This is not said regarding robbery, theft, lost property, or fraud, for even toward a foreigner it is forbidden to defraud him, rob him, or steal his money; but interest, which he takes from him willingly and knowingly, is permitted. For an Israelite is obligated to do kindness with his fellow Israelite, and lending without interest is a kindness and a good deed — and in some cases a greater good deed than a gift, for many are ashamed to accept a gift but are not ashamed to accept a loan. It is not so with an Israelite toward a gentile, for he is not obligated to do him kindness and lend him his money for free, since for the most part they hate Israel. But certainly, if a gentile does kindness and good toward an Israelite, the Israelite is likewise obligated to do him kindness and good. I have elaborated on this so that you will find in it an answer for the Christians, who say that David did not distinguish between Israel and the gentile, but that all interest is forbidden **). This cannot be so, for David did not forbid what Moses our teacher permitted at the word of God — behold, the Torah says (Deuteronomy 13:2), 'You shall not add to it, nor take away from it.' 'Nor takes a bribe against the innocent' — This too is money [given] willingly by the giver; and if it were to pervert judgment, he already said, 'He has done no evil to his fellow,' and this case is included in that. Rather, [this refers to a case] where he did not even pervert judgment, for [the party in whose favor he ruled] is truly innocent in the case, but the giver did not think that he would rule so [uprightly] — nevertheless, he never took money from a litigant at all, as Samuel the prophet said, since he was judging Israel (I Samuel 12:3), 'Whose ox have I taken,' and so on. 'He who does these things' — the good deeds that we have mentioned. 'Shall never be moved' — even at his death 'he shall not be moved,' for his soul shall dwell in the place of glory.

"Against the innocent" — to pervert the judgment of the innocent. "Shall never be moved" — he will not incline to fall, for he has done what is good, and therefore he is worthy to dwell in the Temple, for Hashem desires him.

'Banashech' — meaning, with interest (ribbit).

"His money" [כספו] — and also he is not moved by love of money: he is gracious to the poor with a kindly loan and does not take interest; and he judges righteously, to vindicate the innocent, and does not take a bribe from him — even though it would not thereby pervert the judgment — for "[he does not] take a bribe against the innocent" [includes] even a fee for his trouble. "He who does these things" — for even passive restraint (lit. "sitting and not doing") is counted as an act, since man's [evil] inclination incites him toward these things, and he performs an act [of self-mastery] to subdue his inclination. And then "he shall never be moved," for he shall dwell forever before God, and kindness and truth shall guard him.