Psalms · Psalm 85

"For the leader; of the sons of Korah" — this psalm concerns the Babylonian exile, and also, by way of prophecy, our [present] exile.

"For the Leader" — this psalm was spoken concerning the Babylonian exile, or others [i.e., another exile].

"For the leader" — This [psalm] was composed in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, who returned from the Babylonian exile and began to rebuild the House, and he prayed that this redemption would be an eternal redemption. And he mentions God's response to this (verses 2-3): "You have favored, Hashem" — He showed favor to His people in three things: (1) that He showed favor to His desolate land, as it says, "You have favored, Hashem, Your land"; (2) to His exiled people, whose captivity He restored, "You have restored the captivity of Jacob"; (3) that He forgave their iniquities, "You have borne the iniquity of Your people. Selah" — the conclusion of the matter. Now, the psalmist mentioned, in each of these three things, a condition that he regarded as a deficiency, on account of which he saw that this redemption would not be an eternal one, and he prays regarding each one that Hashem should change it for the better. For regarding the first matter, that He showed favor to His land, he mentions the Name Havayah [Hashem], meaning that he sees that His showing favor to the land was not with the agreement of the attribute of judgment, but only from the side of mercy — that He had mercy on its desolation and its ruin. And it is clear that there is a great difference between a salvation that is only temporary, arising because He could not bear to see the distress of the downtrodden — after which, once the mercy passes, it is conceivable that He will grow angry again — as opposed to a salvation that comes through the attribute of judgment, where justice itself requires it, for then the salvation would be eternal. (2) In that He restored the captivity of His people, he likewise saw a deficiency, in the phrase "the captivity [shevit] of Jacob," namely that they were still in captivity, for they were still under the authority of the kings of Persia, whereas the true redemption ought to be a complete redemption. And (the Qere) [the Ketiv] reads "shevut Ya'akov," with a vav — and this too points to a deficiency, in that the redemption came about through their own effort and by the permission of Cyrus, so that it was they who restored the restoration that they had prepared for themselves and that is attributed to them — and this is a sign that it is not the promised redemption, which is to come through Hashem (not through human effort) and with signs and wonders. (3) Regarding the forgiveness of iniquities, he likewise saw a deficiency, in that it says that Hashem "bore their iniquity and covered their sin" — for the bearing of iniquity indicates that the iniquity still exists in reality, only that Hashem carries it, and likewise the sin, which is the unwitting sin, still has existence, only that Hashem covered it for a time; but in the final redemption Hashem will remove the iniquities entirely, so that they will no longer exist at all — and this is a sign that it was not the true redemption that we were promised: (1) that the ingathering would be general and the redemption complete, and without human effort; (2) that it would not be merely an arousal of mercy that is temporary, but would be eternal, as it says, "but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you"; (3) that the attribute of His anger would be nullified entirely and there would be no iniquity in existence at all, as it says, "for you shall forget the shame of your youth," as I explained there. And this is what is meant afterward by "You have gathered in all Your wrath." And there is a difference between "wrath" [evrah] and "burning anger" [charon af]: burning anger is directed at the sinner, while wrath is when, through anger at the sinner, [God] crosses the boundary and grows furious even at one who did not sin. Accordingly, the punishment of Israel corresponds to burning anger, since they sinned, while the punishment of the land corresponds to wrath, since the land did not sin. And now, since "You have favored, Hashem, Your land," "You have gathered in all Your wrath"; and since "You have restored the captivity of Jacob," "You have turned back from Your burning anger." If so, since now there is neither wrath nor burning anger, why do the prophecies not now come to fulfillment, that the eternal salvation should now occur? He therefore asks, "restore us," which includes three requests: (1) Corresponding to what was said, "You have restored the captivity of Jacob" — that the restoration was not complete, for they were still captive and under the authority of Cyrus, and likewise, according to the Ketiv "shevut," the restoration was not through Hashem alone but through their own effort — he asks, "restore us," [meaning] You Yourself, and that the restoration be complete, so that we will no longer be under the authority of flesh and blood. (2) Corresponding to the deficiency in "You have favored, Hashem, Your land," that it came only from the arousal of the attribute of mercy, not with the agreement of the attribute of judgment, he asks, "restore us, O God of our salvation" — for "Elohim" [God] represents the attribute of judgment, [asking] that the attribute of judgment, too, should agree to this. (3) Corresponding to what was said, that "You have only borne the iniquity of Your people," but the iniquity still exists in reality, and it is conceivable that anger could again be aroused against it since it was not entirely forgiven, he asks, "and annul Your anger toward us," so that no anger whatsoever should be found to exist.

"O Lord, You have appeased Your land, etc." — If You have returned the captivity of Jacob and forgiven their iniquity, and have concealed their sin and withdrawn Your wrath from them and retreated from Your fierce anger, then You have appeased Your land, and Your world will be appeased. But as long as You do not do this, Your land and Your world will not be appeased.

"Hashem, You have been favorable to Your land" — [this occurred] in the time of the Second Temple. "As You have forgiven" — for it was because of their iniquity and their sin that they went into exile, and the proof is that You forgave [their] iniquity.

"You have been favorable" — he prophesies concerning the redemption in the first three verses, and afterward he mentions the prayer of the exile, and afterward he says that [Hashem] heard his prayer, for God truly promises concerning the redemption. And there are those who explain: just as You were favorable in [the time of] the Second Temple, and forgave the iniquity of Your people, and gathered in all Your wrath — so [may You] restore us from the exile of Media. He says "You have been favorable," for just as You were angry at it for so many years, now You have been favorable toward them. "Shavta" (You have turned) — [is] a transitive verb, as if it said "You caused to return" (heshivota); and there are those who explain it in the sense of "rest," and this is the opinion of Rabbi Judah Chayyuj. "Shevut" — read (kri) with a yod, and written (ketiv) with a vav; and they are one and the same [word].

"You have been favorable" — just as You were favorable to Your land of old, and You brought back the captivity of Jacob from the exile of Babylon.

"You have been favorable" — from the language of ratzon ("favor," "goodwill").

"You have forgiven" (nasata) — I have already explained the sense of "nasata" and "kisita" (forgiven and covered) in the psalm "Happy is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered."

"You have forgiven" — for You forgave their iniquity and covered their sin, so that it will never be remembered forever.

"You have forgiven" — an expression of pardoning iniquity.

"You have withdrawn" — in the manner of "they have gathered in their brightness"; and the object of "You have turned" is "Your anger." And behold, "me-charon" [from anger] is like "me-charot" — an infinitive noun.

"Me-charon" (from Your wrath) — this is an infinitive with an added nun, like "mecharot," and it is not like [the phrase] "turn from the fierceness of Your anger" (shuv me-charon apecha) [elsewhere], for there "charon" (fierceness) is a noun in construct with the word "apecha" (Your anger). Had it been like that here, it would have had to say "shavta me-charon apecha." But "heshivota" is a transitive verb, and its object is "apecha" (Your anger), as if it said: "You caused Your anger to turn back, so that it would not burn (yechereh)."

"You have withdrawn" — You gathered in Your wrath so as not to be angry with them. "You have turned back" — You turned away from the fierceness of Your anger.

"You have withdrawn" — an expression of gathering in, as in "and there was no man to take them in" (Judges 19:15). "Your wrath" — from the language of evrah ("wrath") and za'am ("fury").

"Return us" — You return and bring us back.

"Restore us" — behold, the sense is that the poet speaks in the voice of Israel concerning our [present] exile: just as [You] turned back the captivity of Jacob in the days of the Second Temple, restore us now as well. "And cause Your indignation to cease" — corresponds to "You have withdrawn all Your wrath."

"Restore us" (shuvenu) — I have [already] explained it. "God of our salvation" — for our salvation depends on You, and You will save us, and no other. "And cause Your indignation to cease" — [Your indignation] that has been with us these many years — annul it and nullify it.

"Restore us" — so too restore us from the last exile, and annul Your anger that is upon us.

"Will You be angry with us forever" — because the Babylonian exile lasted seventy years, whereas this present exile [has continued] from generation to generation, until today.

"Will it be forever?" — [meaning:] the length of the exile is not so great [as to warrant this] — will You be angry with us forever? "Will You draw out Your anger" — that is to say, will You prolong Your anger from generation to generation.

"Will it be forever" — will You be angry with us forever, and will You draw out Your anger to the end of all generations?

"Will You be angry" — from the language of af ("anger") and cheimah ("wrath").

"Forever?" — Will Your anger against us not necessarily come to an end at some point in time? There is a difference between af (anger) and anaf (to vent/exhaust anger): af indicates that the anger is revealed through punishment, while anaf indicates that the anger is used up and consumed through the punishment. The punishment that comes through af can be imagined as a partial punishment — for example, if one is liable for a hundred lashes, he strikes him one and leaves the rest for future days — whereas the punishment that comes through anaf ("inuf," the exhausting of the anger) is a total punishment, after which no anger or punishment remains at all. There is also a difference between le'olam ("forever") and ledor vador ("from generation to generation"): le'olam is said of eternal, undivided time, while ledor vador is said of time that is divided according to generations. That is to say: if You were to grow enraged (te'anaf) and use up the burning anger by completing the entire punishment against us in a single stroke — would that be "will You be enraged with us forever"? Would that be a punishment of total destruction, such that we would be destroyed forever? But if "You draw out Your anger" — if You do not punish us all at once, but rather draw the anger out over many days, punishing little by little, dividing us between two generations, punishing generation after generation — would that be "will You draw out Your anger from generation to generation"? Would it not necessarily be exhausted within a single generation, rather than extending to the end of all generations? And he explains that it is impossible that You would be enraged with us forever, for behold, "You will surely revive us again" — and if so, it is impossible that You would bring about with us eternal destruction. For even if we picture the collective body of the nation of Israel in its exile as dry bones, dead corpses, behold, You will revive this collective body again, as it is written, "Behold, I will open your graves, My people" (Ezekiel 37:12). And likewise it is impossible that You would draw out Your anger from generation to generation, for behold, then "Your people will rejoice in You," for You will once again delight in them for good. And so I ask: "Show us, Hashem, Your kindness" — that the eternal salvation should come now, in our days, in this generation; "and grant us Your salvation" — and that it should not be a temporary redemption for the moment, stirred by an arousal of mercy, but rather that it should come through "Your kindness." For it is a condition of kindness (chesed) that it never ceases — for mercy (rachamim) and all the other attributes depend on the one shown mercy or favor, according to his situation or his deeds, but not so kindness, which comes from the side of God and not according to the recipient; hence it says, "With everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you." "And also grant us Your salvation" — that the salvation should not come according to our deeds or our own effort, but should be Yours, from the side of Your kindness.

"Will You not" — ultimately return and revive us, for [so] You promised us through Your prophet.

"Will You not" — the sense is: we are counted, in exile, as the dead, and there is none who can revive us but You.

"Will You not" — [i.e.,] You, for there is none besides You who can revive us from the death of exile; and then Your people will rejoice in You.

"Will You not" — will it not be that in the end You will again revive us from our troubles, and Your people will rejoice in Your salvation?

"Show us" — for even if our sins have overwhelmed [us], You deal kindly with sinners and do not repay them according to their transgressions; show that kindness to us. "And grant us Your salvation" (ve-yish'akha) — the yod is [vocalized] with a segol.

"Show us" — therefore, show us Your mercy speedily in our days.

"I shall hear what God will speak" — I shall merit to hear what the Holy One, blessed be He, will speak when He speaks peace to His people. "to folly" — Heb. לכסלה, to foolishness, to sin before Him.

"I will hear" — these are the words of the poet; he seeks this by way of prophecy, like "I will stand upon my watch," until he saw in a vision that even the anger of Hashem would turn away from Israel, and that He would speak peace to His people... "[Let them not return] to folly" — from the root of "kesil" [fool], in the manner of "and Your people, all of them, are righteous."

"I will hear" — The prophet says, "I hear what God, Hashem, has spoken, and what He speaks; for He will speak peace to His people, to bring them out of exile." "and to His pious ones" — and the pious ones of the nations of the world, who will return to the religion of Israel when the exile ends. "but let them not turn back to folly" — and let them not return again to folly and to the way of evil.

"Let me hear" — behold, I hear what God will speak, for He will speak peace to His people, and He assures them that they will not return to sin again.

"To folly" — from the language of kesil ("fool"), meaning, to sin.

"I will hear" — after presenting this prayer, he relates that he heard what God would say in answer to this prayer of his: "I heard that He will speak peace to His people and to His pious ones" — that is, Hashem answered him that He wants the redemption of Israel now to be intermediate between the attribute of kindness (chesed) and the attribute of truth (emet). The one way is what Hashem would do purely from the side of His kindness, without regard at all to the deeds of the generation, their righteousness or wickedness; truth is what Hashem would do according to the deeds of the generation and their righteousness. Both of these have a deficiency: for if Hashem were to act only from the side of kindness — even though His kindness is unlimited, and the salvation brought about through kindness is an eternal salvation — there is a deficiency in that we could not take honor in this salvation, since we did not attain it through our own deeds, and so we would have no honor. And if Hashem were to act only from the side of truth alone, according to the righteousness of the generation — even though then we would have honor through this salvation — there is another deficiency, in that then it would not be an eternal salvation, since it would depend on deeds: if our merits were to diminish, the salvation would cease. Therefore He chose an intermediate way between kindness and truth, combining the two together: the beginning of the salvation and its cause would be through the attribute of truth, that is, through the merit of the generation and their righteousness, and thereby we would have honor; but after the salvation is revealed through the attribute of truth, the attribute of kindness will be aroused afterward, so that the salvation will not be limited by truth alone, according to the righteousness of the generation, but will spread out and expand through the kindnesses of Hashem — in such a way that "kindness and truth will meet each other." That is, the beginning of the salvation and its cause will be for the sake of truth and the merit of the generation, but the salvation itself, its quantity and its quality, will be according to the kindness of Hashem — not according to the merit, which is limited, but according to a supreme kindness that is without limit and never ceases. And since this kindness was aroused because of truth — that is, because of the merit of the generation — it necessarily follows that the power of this supreme kindness will also preserve the cause on account of which it was aroused: namely, that it will guard us so that we do not return again to folly, and that it will remove the spirit of impurity from the land, so that we will not sin again and the pillar on which the kindness rests will not collapse. This matter he called by the name "peace" (shalom), for shalom indicates permanence. Hence it says, "that Hashem intends peace for His people and for His pious ones" — that they should always stand whole (shelemim) with their God, and whole in their well-being, provided that "they do not return again to folly" — that they never return to sin, so that the cause on account of which Hashem extended His kindness over them should not be removed.

"Surely" — let His people not be troubled over the length of the exile, for the salvation is near: if Israel returns to fear Hashem, then Hashem will turn back from His fierce anger to let His glory dwell among them — this is indeed near. And behold, this psalm bears witness that the [divine] glory was not present in the Second Temple.

"Surely" — if all Israel will be those who fear Him, His salvation will be near to them, for the redemption depends on repentance. "that glory may dwell in our land" — for when the Redeemer comes, the glory will dwell there, as it is written, "And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and I will not forsake My people Israel." And when it says, "for I am Hashem, the God of Israel," that is included within this. He is speaking of the glory that will be in the Temple.

"Surely near" — that is to say, the matter is not difficult, for it is near before Hashem, and it is easy in His eyes to bring His salvation to those who fear Him, and to have glory dwell in our land.

"Surely near" — that is to say, the salvation will not be from the attribute of kindness alone, without the merit of the generation and their righteousness, for then the salvation would be distant from those who fear Him, since the salvation would not come by their own hand but only through Hashem from above. And likewise the salvation will not be from the attribute of truth alone, which follows strictly according to the deeds of the generation and no more, for then those who fear Him would be the ones effecting the salvation, and it would be attributed to them and not to Hashem. Therefore it will come about in an intermediate way: "surely near to those who fear Him is His salvation" — in that, insofar as it comes through the attribute of kindness, exceeding what the deeds and preparation of the generation warrant, it is called "His [Hashem's] salvation"; and in that its beginning comes through the attribute of truth, through the deeds of those who fear Him and their righteousness, it will be "near to those who fear Him," and there will be a closeness with them, since it began through their righteousness. Thus, although it is Hashem's own salvation, without limit, it is nonetheless near to those who fear Him. And through this they will gain two things. First, "glory in our land" — for if the salvation were only from the side of kindness, we would have no honor, since it would be unearned kindness (chesed chinam); but now we will attain honor. Second, "that glory may dwell" — that this glory will dwell forever and never be nullified at any time; for if the salvation were only for the sake of the attribute of truth, according to our deeds, the glory would depart once our merits ran out — but not so now: now the glory will dwell forever.

"Kindness and truth have met" — That Israel will speak truth, and from heaven kindness will meet them. "righteousness and peace have kissed" — The righteousness [or charity] that Israel was performing and the peace from the Holy One, blessed be He, will kiss one another, i.e., the act of charity will be peace (Isa. 32:12).

"Mercy" — the sense is: when the [divine] glory dwells in the land of Israel, then all [the people] will be pious, and there will be true peace, because [heavenly] decrees depend on man's deeds in the land. Therefore it says: "let the earth open, and let salvation flourish."

"Mercy" — then, at the time of the redemption, when the glory will dwell in the Temple, there will be mercy and truth in the world, for all Israel will serve Hashem in the way of truth, and there will be righteousness and peace in the world. "have kissed" — that is, like brothers and friends; since there will be truth and righteousness among people, they will have, from God, may He be blessed, mercy and peace.

"Mercy and truth" — mercy and truth meet one another; that is to say, one depends on the other: when truth is spoken, the mercy of God will come. "Have kissed" — they met one another and kissed together; that is to say, they depend on one another: when righteousness is done, peace will come.

"Are met together" — an expression of encounter. "Have kissed" — from the language of neshikah ("a kiss").

"Mercy and truth are met together" — Now he explains how this will be, saying that in this salvation mercy and truth will meet, so that it will be composed of both mercy and truth together, until the two of them meet as two companions meeting one another in the middle of the road: truth rises up from the earth, which is the merit of the generation, and opposite it mercy descends from heaven, which is the great salvation, boundless, exceeding what the deeds alone would warrant. Now, the offspring of this meeting in which mercy and truth meet are "righteousness and peace" — for the definition of righteousness (tzedek) is that it is an intermediate between strict judgment (mishpat) and mercy (chesed): for recompense that is limited according to the deed, which is truth, proceeds by way of judgment; but the definition of righteousness, and its distinction from judgment, is that it does not look to the general rules of judgment but acts beyond the strict letter of the law — it is something intermediate between truth, which is complete judgment, and complete mercy, for it is mercy combined with judgment, so that in righteousness mercy and truth meet together: that which is given according to truth and judgment, and that which is given according to mercy and beyond the strict letter of the law. And we have already explained that because the mercy that Hashem performs is founded upon truth, which is the deed itself, He must necessarily "speak peace" to His people and to His faithful ones — that is, He watches so that the recipient of the mercy will have endurance and will not collapse from the pillar upon which the mercy rests; my meaning is that he should not come to sin, as it is written, "and let them not return to folly." According to this, through "mercy and truth meeting," thereby "righteousness and peace have kissed" — for from the meeting of mercy with truth, righteousness comes from above in the footsteps of the mercy that comes from there, and peace comes from below in the footsteps of the truth that rises from below to above, and the two of them kiss and join together. And he then explains: "truth springs up from the earth" — he compares the matter to the sprouting of grain, in which the divine abundance joins with human effort: for if they do not plow and sow and prepare the earth to sprout enough grain, the abundance from above, from dew and rain, will not avail; only after the earth is prepared and sown and sprouting do the heavens then pour out upon it dew and showers and the blessing of Hashem. So too, "truth springs up from the earth," which is the merit of those below, by which they become prepared to receive the mercy of Hashem, and then "righteousness looks down from heaven," which is the mercy that He pours out upon their deeds, which is called righteousness, as above.

"Truth will sprout from the earth, etc." — When Israel will speak truth, the charity that they perform on earth will look down from heaven.

"Truth" — when they do good deeds on earth, righteousness will look down upon them from heaven, for the decrees that descend from heaven are according to the deeds of people on earth.

"Truth" — when truth increases in the land, then righteousness will look down from heaven to appear over the face of the land.

"Has looked down" — an expression of gazing.

"God too will give good" — He will open His treasury, the heavens, to give rain, in order that His land yield its produce.

"Indeed" — this is the rain: "[from] His good storehouse."

"Indeed" — just as they will do good, Hashem too will give them good, which is rain, as it is written, "Hashem will open for you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain of your land in its season." "and our land shall yield her produce" — for good will no longer be lacking to them.

"Indeed Hashem, etc." — that is to say, aside from the reward for deeds, He will also give the good that He promised in His mercy.

"Her produce" — her yield and her fruit.

"Indeed, Hashem" — At first he depicted the beginning of the sprouting and the beginning of the looking-down, comparing truth to a seed beginning to sprout from the ground, and righteousness, correspondingly, to the rain of heaven looking down from above and ready to descend at the time truth sprouts from the ground. Now he depicts the completion of their growth, how they go forth and meet one another: for "Hashem will give the good" from above, "and our land will give its produce" from below.

"and He will place it on the way of his steps" — And the Holy One, blessed be He, will place the righteousness in the ways of his steps, with which he leads his sons.

"Righteousness" — [by one view,] Hashem makes righteousness go before Him, by way of metaphor. But the correct [view] is that "tzedek" [righteousness] is an abstract noun, and the word "ish" [a man] is elided, as if it were written: "a man of righteousness [shall walk] before Him." "Shall go" — [referring to] Hashem, in the manner of "my fathers walked before Him" — Abraham and Isaac. And the sense is that He will help a righteous man to walk before Him, and [the word] "ish" [a man] is missing, as in "be not rebellion" [i.e., be not rebellious] and "and I am prayer" — [likewise here] "tzedek" stands in place of another [word], and so too: "he shall set his footsteps toward the way of righteousness." And behold, the sense here is doubled [repeated].

"Righteousness" — for every man, righteousness shall walk before him; that is, righteousness will always be present before him. "and shall make His footsteps a way" — and he shall set his footsteps to the way of righteousness; the repetition is for emphasis.

"Righteousness" — righteousness shall walk before every man; that is to say, righteousness will always be before his eyes, and he will set his steps toward the way of righteousness to walk after it; and the matter is doubled for emphasis.

"His footsteps" — his steps, as in "establish my steps" (below, Psalm 119).

"Righteousness" — He depicts, in his lofty poetic style, that the good which Hashem will give does not wish to travel the road alone, until a guide walks before it, which is righteousness — so that righteousness is likened to a guide and leader who walks before the good, showing it the way and leading it, and then the good goes along, drawn after it. This is the meaning of "righteousness shall go before Him" (that is, before the good mentioned in the preceding verse), and then (the good) "shall set its footsteps to the way" — then the good will ready its footsteps to walk in its path, in the footsteps of righteousness; the intent being that the good will come in the footsteps of righteousness.