Psalms · Psalm 3

"A song of David, when he fled" — The Aggadists expounded many homilies on this matter. Our Sages said (Ber. 7a): When the prophet said to him (in II Sam. 12:11), “Behold I will raise up against you evil out of your own house etc.,” his heart was quaking, perhaps a slave or a mamzer [a child of an illicit union] will rise up against me, who will not have mercy on me. As soon as he found out that it was his son, he was happy. The Midrash Aggadah (Midrash Psalms 3:3) [states]: Because he saw his order intact, for his servants, and the Kerethite and Pelethite, who were the Sanhedrin were affirming his lordship over themselves. When he said to them (ibid. 15:14), “Arise and let us flee etc. from Absalom,” what is written there? (verse 15) “Whatever my lord the king shall choose, behold your servants [are ready to do].” And when he came to Mahanaim (ibid. 17:27), “Shobi, etc. and Machir the son of Amiel, etc. and Barzilai the Gileadite” came to meet him and sustained him there.

"A Psalm of David, when he fled" — Rav Saadia Gaon wanted to connect all the psalms to one another, and said that, after "why do the nations rage," it would happen to them as it happened in the incident of Absalom. But a commentator has no license to make such connections. And this psalm is written in the first book [of Psalms], for there are five books; therefore there is no cause for wonder if we find, in the fifth [book], "[A prayer,] when he was in the cave" (Psalm 142), which [chronologically] preceded the Absalom affair — for a psalm may be composed in a prophetic manner, [David] having prophesied that he would be victorious, based on [the phrase] "and He answered me from His holy mountain," like the prayer of Jonah, "and my prayer came to You" (Jonah 2:8).

“A psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son” — Our rabbis, of blessed memory, expounded on this (Midrash Shocher Tov, ad loc.; Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 7b): when he was going up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, David recited this psalm, as it is said (II Samuel 15:30), “And David went up by the ascent of the Mount of Olives, and wept as he went up.” If he was weeping, why was he singing praise? And if he was singing praise, why was he weeping? Rather, once the prophet had said to him (ibid. 12:11), “Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house,” he said, “Perhaps it is a slave [or a temple servant (natin)] or a mamzer among the members of the household who has no compassion on me?” Once he saw that it was his own son, he thought his son would have compassion on him, and so he said, “A psalm.” They further said (Midrash Shocher Tov, ad loc.): David said [this]: “Our father Jacob fled” (Genesis 27:43), as it is said (Hosea 12:13), “And Jacob fled to the field of Aram”; Moses fled, as it is said (Exodus 2:15), “And Moses fled”; and I am fleeing like them. I had thought that I had incurred the penalty of death; but now that I am going into exile, exile atones for sin (Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 56a; Sanhedrin 37b). He said, “I remembered Your judgments of old, Hashem, and comforted myself” (Psalms 119:52) — I remembered the former generations, and You dealt with me as You dealt with them, and I was comforted, and I knew that through my fleeing my sin was forgiven me; he began and said, “A psalm of David.” And according to the plain sense (peshat): the psalms were not necessarily named for the time of the event itself, but rather because they used to sing them by these names in the Temple. So too, “when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul” (Psalms 52:2); so too, “when the Ziphites came” (Psalms 54:2); so too, “and they watched the house to kill him” (Psalms 59:1). So too those that speak of the exile and of the destruction of Jerusalem, such as, “A psalm of Asaph. O God, the nations have come into Your inheritance” (Psalms 79:1). So too all those that are said of David at the time of the event, when David was in danger in them — rather, after he had been saved from all of them, they became psalms of praise and thanksgiving to God, may He be blessed. And those that speak of the exile became psalms upon the return from exile. And it is possible that this psalm was placed next to the one before it because the Philistines came against David to stir up strife over the kingship and to make war with him, and likewise Absalom his son thought to take the kingship from his father's hand and to kill him, yet David triumphed over all and remained in his kingdom. And our rabbis, of blessed memory, who interpreted the second psalm as referring to Gog and Magog, said (Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 7b): Why was the chapter about Absalom placed next to the chapter about Gog and Magog? So that if a person should say to you, “Is there ever a servant who rebels against his master?!” — say to him, “Is there ever a son who rebels against his father?!” Yet it happened with the son; so too here it happened with the servant.

"A Psalm" — That prayer was recited with song. "Of David" — Belonging to David, for he composed it. "When he fled" — And he foresaw then, through the holy spirit, that he would be restored to his kingship, and he recited that prayer with song.

"A Psalm." — From the language of song.

"A psalm of David" — in this psalm is found the account of the events of the war of Absalom from beginning to end, divided into three parts, each part ending with the word "Selah": (Part One) "Hashem, how many are my adversaries" — for David's enemies were divided into two groups: some were hostile to David himself and did not want him to reign, but wanted Absalom his son to reign instead; and others rose up against him because they considered him a sinful and worthless man, not saved by Hashem — like Shimei, who called him "a man of blood, a man of Belial [worthlessness]." And this is [the meaning of] "many rise up against me" — namely, against my kingship.

"Great men rise up against me" — Men great in Torah, great in wisdom, great in wealth, tall in stature, such as Saul; the children of Raphah; Doeg, and Ahitophel.

"Hashem, how [many]" — in the holy tongue, [the word "how"] applies to both something honored and something lowly, as in "how many are Your works" (Psalm 104:24) [and] "what is man, that You are mindful of him" (Psalm 8:5); and in this place it expresses astonishment. And Israel was divided, at that time, into three parts: some of them were adversaries, like the sons of Benjamin; some of them were rising up [in rebellion] — namely his son [Absalom] and Amasa and their relatives; and others say [a third group said of David]: "he has fallen and will not rise again."

“Hashem, how many my adversaries have become” — for even his own son turned into an enemy against him, and Amasa, his sister's son, was with Absalom, and the majority of Israel whose hearts inclined after Absalom; and this is the reason for the doubling [of the thought in this verse]. “Many are those who rise up against me” — and all of them “rise up” against him and take counsel together to make war with him; and Shimei son of Gera, who had the impudence to curse him and to pelt him with stones.

"How many my adversaries have become" — To the point that even my own son has risen up against me. "Many" — Great men, such as Shimei, Doeg, and Ahithophel.

"say concerning my soul" — Heb. לנפשי, concerning my soul. "“He has no salvation in God to eternity”" — Because he was intimate with a married woman.

"Of my soul" — [meaning] concerning my soul, in the manner of "and Pharaoh will say of the Israelites" (Exodus 14:3) [and] "say of me, 'he is my brother'" (Genesis 20:13). "Yeshu'atah" ("salvation") — has two feminine markers, as a matter of stylistic elegance, like "eimatah" ("terror") (Exodus 15:16) [and] "tzaratah" ("her distress"). And it speaks of his soul in the third person, as in "to leave a hungry soul empty" (Isaiah 32:6). And many interpret "Selah" as meaning "forever," but this is not correct. And the one who translated the Book of Psalms for others said that the word "Selah" has no [semantic] meaning, but rather it serves to adjust the melody's tune; and the proof is that this word is not found anywhere else in Scripture except in the prayer of Habakkuk, three times, which is composed in the manner of psalms concerning "shigyonot" — like "A Shigayon of David" (Psalm 7:1) — and [it likewise ends] "For the leader, with my stringed instruments" (Habakkuk 3:19). And if the meaning of "Selah" were "forever," [note that] it is also written, "upon the waters of Meribah, Selah" (Psalm 81:8), and elsewhere it is also written, "and the Holy One from Mount Paran, Selah" (Habakkuk 3:3). And some say that "Selah" refers back to [the word] "and holy." And it is also written, "they laid bare the foundation, up to the neck, Selah" (Habakkuk 3:13). And the correct view is that the meaning of "Selah" is like "so it is," or "thus," and the matter is true and correct.

“Many there are who say of my soul (le-nafshi)” — meaning, “concerning my soul” (be-avur nafshi), like “Say of me (imri li), he is my brother” (Genesis 20:14); and “the men of the place asked about his wife” (ibid. 26:7), and others like them. And the reason is that many of the sages of Israel, such as Ahitophel and others, thought that this punishment had come upon him on account of the matter of Bathsheba, as indeed it had. And they also thought that the kingship would never return to him; therefore they sided with Absalom and rebelled against him, and said that he had no share in the World to Come; therefore it says “le-nafshi” [of my soul]. And it says: “There is no salvation for him in God” — there is no salvation for him in this world, for he will not escape from the hand of Absalom, and there is no salvation for his soul in the World to Come. Therefore it also says “yeshu'atah” [salvation, with the extra letter], meaning: salvation and salvation — for every such doubling [in the form of a word] is an addition expressing a doubling of the matter. Likewise “ezratah” [help] (Psalm 44:27; 63:5; 94:17): abundant help; “tevu'atah” [her produce] (Deuteronomy 33:16); “niflatah” [wondrous] (II Samuel 1:26); “heḥeva'tah” [you hid] (Joshua 6:17) — as I have written in the grammatical section of the book Mikhlol. And so it is said in the midrash (Midrash Shocher Tov, ad loc.): “Many there are who say” — many in the Torah... Doeg was the head of the court (av beit din), as it is said, “the mightiest of the herdsmen who belonged to Saul” (I Samuel 21:8). And Ahitophel was a counselor (I Chronicles 27:33); “and the counsel of Ahitophel, which he counseled in those days, was as if a man had inquired of the word of God” (II Samuel 16:53). And what were they saying? Is it possible that a man who stole the ewe-lamb and killed the shepherd and felled Israel by the sword should have salvation? “There is no salvation for him in God!” “Selah” — Most of the commentators have said that the word “Selah” is like “forever” (le-olam). And so did [Targum] Jonathan translate it in the prayer of Habakkuk (Habakkuk 3:3, 9, 13): “le-'almin” [forever]; and this word is likewise common in our prayers in this same sense. And the sage Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra, may the memory of the righteous be for a blessing, explained (ad loc.) that it is like “truly” (emet). But I say that it is not a word of independent meaning; rather, its sense is an expression of raising, from “Raise up, raise up the highway (solu solu ha-mesillah)” (Isaiah 62:10). That is to say: in the place where this word is mentioned and recited, there was a raising of the voice in the psalm. And the proof is that you will find it only in this book [Psalms] and in the prayer of Habakkuk, which was a song, as is likewise written there (3:19), “For the leader, with my stringed instruments.”

"Of my soul" — Concerning my soul they say that there will never be salvation for him from Hashem, and that just as he began to fall, he will rise no more.

"Selah." — Its meaning everywhere is like "forever."

"And many say concerning my soul" — regarding the well-being of the soul, that "he has no salvation in God" — because of his sin and rebellion. With this the first section concludes, with the word "Selah." And I have already explained in my commentary on Samuel that among Absalom's advisers there were two groups: one group wanted to kill him, which was the counsel of Ahithophel — and this is the group that said he has no salvation in God; and the second group wanted only to take the kingship from him while he remained alive, which was the counsel of Hushai the Archite — and they are the ones who "rise up" against him solely regarding his kingship, not against his life, to kill him. (Part Two) "But You" — he answers those who rise up against his kingship: "but You, Hashem, are a shield about me"; and against those who say he has no salvation in God because of his sin, he says, You are "my glory, and the One who lifts up my head" — for his glory comes from his holy soul, upon which the glory of Hashem rests, and by this his head is lifted up on high.

"But You, a shield" — ["shield" here] is a noun, not a verb, for had it been a verb it ought to have been on the pattern of "hineni mesav" ("behold, I will turn back") (Jeremiah 21:4). And the sense of "shield" is that He does not come into battle [directly]. And the sense of "my glory" is that whoever is victorious has glory.

“But You, Hashem, are a shield about me” — the opposite of their words, who say that I have no hope, neither in this world nor in the World to Come. They think and say so; but You will act with me in the opposite way, and You will be a shield about me to save me in this world, and a shield about me for the World to Come. “My glory” — and “glory” here refers to the soul, as in “my glory rejoices” (Psalms 16:9); “so that glory may sing praise to You” (Psalms 30:13). And the word “shield” that he mentioned stands in place of two: “a shield about me” and “a shield about my glory.” Or the explanation of “my glory” is: the opposite of the disgrace that he had in his fleeing. “And the lifter up of my head” — so that I should not be ashamed and my face should not fall before my enemies, but rather I should walk upright and with my head held high; for when You save me, they will recognize and know that You have forgiven me my sin through this punishment with which You have punished me.

"But you, Hashem" — But it is not so, for You are a shield about me, and You support my glory and lift up my head, for I shall return to my kingship.

"A shield." — An expression of shelter, like this shield which saves the one bearing it from the blow of sword and spear. "About me." — Facing me.

"My voice" — and the sense is: I will not go into battle, but rather I will raise my voice in prayer. "From His holy mountain" — because of the Ark that was in Zion, it is called the holy mountain; and this was before the incident of Aravnah the Jebusite.

“With my voice I call to Hashem, my voice to Hashem” — meaning, that I call to Him out of distress. “And He answers me” (va-ya'aneni) — this is a past-tense form used in place of the future, [meaning] “and He will answer me,” and there are many examples like it. Or it is to be understood according to its plain sense, for he was confident of this. Or the holy spirit shone forth upon his tongue [as he spoke]; and this is the correct view, for we have already explained that all the psalms were spoken through the holy spirit; and in most prophecy one finds this, that [the prophet] speaks in the past tense in place of the future, for it is as though the thing has already happened, since it was spoken through the holy spirit. “From His holy mountain. Selah” — we can explain this as referring to Mount Moriah. And even though it was not yet holy [at that time], perhaps there was a tradition among them that the Temple would be there. And for this reason David, in his fleeing, went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, and from there bowed down to God, for from there a person can see that place. Or the explanation of “from His holy mountain” is: from Mount Zion, where the Ark was. Or the explanation of “from His holy mountain” is: from heaven, as in “Who shall dwell in Your holy mountain?” (Psalms 15:1).

"With my voice" — When I call with my voice to Hashem, I know that He will answer me from His holy mountain, which is Zion, the place of His Shechinah. "Selah" — Forever He will answer me; that is to say, it will be an eternal redemption, for I will no longer be an exile and a fugitive.

"With my voice I call to Hashem" — this alludes to what is told (II Samuel 15:24), that at the time David fled from Absalom, the priests took the Ark of the Covenant with them, and the king said to Zadok, "Carry the Ark of God back into the city; if I find favor in the eyes of Hashem, He will show me both it and His habitation" — for he trusted that Hashem would answer him from afar just as from near. And regarding this he said, "with my voice I call to Hashem," in whatever place I may be, and "He answers me from His holy mountain," from afar just as from near — "Selah" concludes the matter. (Part Three) "I lay down" — this alludes to what is told there, that Ahithophel advised Absalom to choose twelve thousand men and pursue David by night while he was asleep, weary, and weak-handed, to terrify his men and strike down David alone; and Hushai the Archite frustrated his counsel, saying that David would not be asleep, and would not lodge among the troops, and his own counsel was that Absalom should wait until all Israel gathered to him, and fight David with a great multitude. And the text testifies there that Ahithophel's counsel was good counsel, for had he acted on it, he would have found David asleep and weary, and would have killed him; only that Hashem brought this about, to frustrate Ahithophel's counsel, in order to save David. And Ahithophel, seeing that his counsel had not been followed, set his house in order and hanged himself; and Hushai informed David of all this. And this is what is written: "and I lay down and slept" — meaning: in truth it was not as Hushai the Archite had said, that [David] would not sleep among the people but only keep watch against Absalom — for in truth I lay down and also slept, and had Ahithophel's counsel been carried out, I would never have awoken again, for I would have been killed that very night; and nevertheless "I awoke," and this was "for Hashem sustains me," in that He frustrated Ahithophel's counsel. And from now on, "I will not fear the myriads of people" [that surround me] — since Ahithophel's counsel was not carried out, and it would only be by means of a great host gathering against me on every side that they could fight me, as was Hushai the Archite's counsel — of them I will no longer be afraid.

"I lay down and slept" — My heart was clogged from worry and fear. "I awoke" — from my worry, because I trusted that the Lord would support me.

"I" — I lay down in safety and slept, on the night following the battle. And some say that when a person's fortune declines, he is comparable to one who sleeps, and when his fortune awakens to do him good, he is comparable to one who wakes.

"I lay me down, and I sleep" — "I lay down" in safety; "and I sleep" — in peace, like a person who has no fear. "I awake" — and I am not startled, like a person who sleeps in the midst of distress, who is startled when he awakes; for while he is still asleep he sees bad dreams, in keeping with what he imagines in his heart out of his fear. And why do I trust in You so much? For I knew — "for Hashem sustains me" — for so I saw in a dream. And in the midrash (Midrash Shocher Tov, ad loc.): "I lay me down" — from prophecy; "and I sleep" — from the holy spirit; "I awake" — through Hushai the Archite; "for Hashem sustains me" — through Nathan the prophet. His meaning is this: David's holy spirit had departed from him because of the sorrow and fear that were upon him, and the holy spirit rests upon a person only through joy (Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 30b; Pesachim 117a). And when he saw Hushai the Archite, he rejoiced, for he knew that he would frustrate the counsel of Ahithophel for him, and he awoke, and the holy spirit rested upon him, and he said: "for Hashem sustains me" — through Nathan the prophet, who had said to him: "Hashem has also put away your sin; you shall not die" (II Samuel 12:13).

"I lay me down" — When I lie down and fall asleep from the greatness of my sorrow. "I awake" — That is to say, I relieved my sorrow when I remembered that Hashem sustains me.

"I awake." — Awakening from sleep.

"have set themselves" — Heb. שתו, an expression of desolation, gatiront in Old French, to destroy. Others say that שתו is like שמו, they placed, like (Exod. 10:1): “in order that I set up (שתי) my signs.”

"They have set themselves against me" — like "shatu," meaning "aimed," [as in] "they aimed at a hair" (cf. Judges 20:16), meaning "they fought." And some interpreted it as "ha-shatot" ("the foundations"), with the sense like "reshatot" ("nets") — hence the word "around."

"I am not afraid of ten thousands of people" — for all Israel was with Absalom, except those who were with David in Jerusalem who went out with him, and those who gathered to him afterward. "who have set themselves against me round about" — "they have set" their war against me. Or the meaning of "they have set" is: they made war; and likewise "they have set the battle in array at the gate" (Isaiah 22:7); "he sets his waves in majesty" (Job 35:11).

"I am not afraid" — Therefore I am not afraid of the multitude of people who are with Absalom, who have set their faces to fight against me.

"Have set." — Have placed, as in "they have set their mouth against the heavens" (below, 73:9).

"for You have struck all my enemies on the cheek" — This is a disgraceful blow, as you say (Lam. 3: 30): “Let him offer his cheek to the smiter”; (Micah 4:14), “with a rod they strike...on the cheek.” According to the Midrash Aggadah (Mid. Ps. 3:7), this is a sickness of the mouth, [choking, croup] as you say (II Sam. 17:23): “And he [Ahithophel] gave charge to his household and he strangled himself. "the teeth of the wicked" — Their might.

"Arise" — know that the infinitive [the verbal noun] is [implicitly] present in every verb, past or future, even though it is not written; sometimes it is written, as in "and He blessed, and I cannot reverse it" (Numbers 23:20), meaning "and He blessed with a blessing." And likewise, "but with many counselors, a plan stands" (Proverbs 15:22) [implying "a plan" as the cognate object]. And likewise, "for You have smitten all my enemies" [implies] "a blow on the cheek." Or, alternatively, the letter bet is missing, as in "that which is found [in] the House of Hashem" (2 Kings 12:11), [and] "for in six days He made [it]" (Exodus 20:11) — and so here too, "cheek" functions as "on the cheek." And the sense of "and the teeth of the wicked" is the counterpart to "many say of my soul" (v. 3); then it will become clear to all that salvation belongs to Hashem, for He saves whomever He desires. And the sense of "upon Your people" is: they are the ones fighting on behalf of David, for they are truly the people of Hashem — not so those who help a son conspire against his father. And behold, he prayed that Hashem would bless them, and that not a single man among them would be lost in battle — or, alternatively, he prophesied [this].

"Arise, O Hashem, save me, O my God" — "arise" (kumah) — the accent is on the last syllable (milra); and so is every instance of "kumah" in this book, except "and arise (u-kumah) to my help" (Psalms 35:2), which is accented on the penultimate syllable (mil'el). "for You have smitten all my enemies" — many times You have saved me and struck my enemies; so do now as well. Or its meaning refers to this present war, and it is as we explained regarding "and He answered me from His holy mountain." And the meaning of — "upon the cheek" — a blow on the cheek, which is a blow of humiliation. And likewise — "You have broken the teeth of the wicked" — these are the ones who were saying they would tear him to pieces; and it follows the pattern of "and I broke the fangs of the unrighteous" (Job 29:17).

"Arise, Hashem" — Since I have trusted in You, it is fitting that You arise to save me. "For You have smitten" — Have You not always smitten my enemies upon the cheek — that is, a blow of disgrace, as it is written, "Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes him, let him be filled with reproach" (Lamentations 3:30) — meaning that a blow to the cheek is considered a disgrace. "The teeth of the wicked" — who used to gnash their teeth at me in the heat of their anger against me — have You not always broken them? Therefore now too, do not withhold Your hand from me.

"Cheek." — This is the place adjacent to the eye, below it.

"Arise, Hashem" — now he describes the battle between David's servants and Absalom's army, asking, "Hashem, arise," and since You are "my God," through Your special providence over me, "save me, for" — You have already "struck all my enemies on the cheek" by "breaking the teeth of the wicked," meaning: by nullifying Ahithophel's counsel, so that he hanged himself — by this You gave them a blow on the cheek, a blow of humiliation.

"It is incumbent upon the Lord to save, etc." — It is incumbent upon Him to save His servants and His people, and it is incumbent upon His people to bless Him and thank Him forever.

"Salvation belongs to Hashem" — and when You save me, I will give thanks and say: "salvation belongs to Hashem," and no man is saved except by Him. "Your blessing be upon Your people. Selah" — that "Your people" not die in this war.

"Salvation belongs to Hashem" — Is not salvation in the hand of Hashem, and He is fully able to save me from their hand? And also upon Your people may Your blessing be forever — that is, save me so that they cannot harm me, and may Your blessing be upon them too, so that they also not be struck down; as if to say: I do not pray for their downfall, but only for my own salvation.

"Salvation belongs to Hashem" — indeed, since this war was against the people of Israel, and there would be a great plague among the people, he asked that a great multitude of Israel not perish in the war. And so it was, that through Absalom's death the war ceased. And this is what he says: since this salvation belongs to Hashem, I ask "that upon Your people" Your blessing remain, so that they not perish in the war.