Psalms · Psalm 90

"A prayer of Moses" — Moses recited all the eleven psalms from here to (ch. 101) “Of David, a song.” Corresponding to them, he [Moses] blessed eleven tribes with eleven blessings, in (Deut. 33): “And this is the blessing.” "You have been our dwelling place" — Heb. מעון, an abode and a refuge in which to enter. [That is what] You have been for us. "throughout all generations" — From time immemorial, for You preceded all.

"A Prayer of Moses, the man of God" — in my opinion, Moses our master composed this prayer, because it is [written] in the plural voice, and David's words are not so. Furthermore, [note] that he opens with "Hashem, You have been a dwelling place," and in the Torah [it is written]: "[a] dwelling place [is] the God of old" (Deuteronomy 33:27). Rabbi Moshe said that "ma'on" (dwelling place) is from the same root as "ayin" (eye) — a place where the eye gazes. But what is correct in my view is that it is [related to] "from Your holy habitation" (Deuteronomy 26:15), and it means the upper covering, as in [the phrase]: "in Salem also is His tabernacle" (Psalm 76:3) — so His dwelling place corresponds to His tabernacle. And the meaning is that the heavens are not truly a dwelling place for us; rather, You alone are the true dwelling place; and generation goes and generation comes, but the dwelling place stands and does not change. The meaning of "You," together with the word "have been," is: You alone.

"A prayer" — David found this prayer already written, and it was a received tradition among them that it belonged to Moses our teacher; and he wrote it into this book of his. It speaks of the weakness of man and the shortness of his days, and prays that the Creator not punish him according to his deeds. "The man of God" — [meaning] that he was a prophet. "Dwelling-place" (ma'on) — its meaning is a place and a refuge, for He is the place of the world. And thus he speaks in the voice of Israel throughout all generations: "You have been for us a place and a refuge."

"A Prayer of Moses" — There are eleven psalms, from this one until [the psalm inscribed] "Of David, a Psalm," that Moses composed, and David established them in his book. "[The] man of God" — meaning that he was a prophet. "Hashem, [our] dwelling place" — You are for us a refuge in every generation, like a dwelling that shelters from storm and rain.

"Dwelling-place" — a dwelling, as in "look forth from Your holy habitation" (Deuteronomy 26:15).

"A prayer of Moses" — this psalm, together with the one after it, is a single subject: he prayed about the brevity of human life and about his days being spent in vanity, without his being able to attain through them the purpose for which he was created; and in the psalm that follows he received an answer to his prayer — that the person who takes shelter in the shadow of Hashem is protected from the mishaps of time and will lengthen his days until he completes in his lifetime what he is meant to complete — so that the brevity of man's days, and his mishaps and events, are caused by his not having taken shelter in the shadow of Hashem; for that reason he is abandoned to the chance occurrences of time and its reversals. "Hashem is a dwelling-place" — with this statement he announced a very precious foundational point: that the spirits and souls destined to be created already had existence from eternity in their sublime source, in Hashem, God of spirits; and there is no difference in man's existence between before he came out into [physical] existence and after he came out into existence, except that in his present existence he has taken on, as it were, a garment — a material garment placed under [the constraints of] time and place and the laws of nature of this physical world — and this is merely an incidental occurrence that has happened to man's essence, not something that has become part of his essence. For in the essence of man himself, as he is in his essence — which is his spiritual soul, which is man's essence — no change at all has occurred, only a change of location, like a drop of water flowing out from its source, where there is no difference between after it has flowed from the source and when it was in its source, only a change of place alone, not that it changed in its essence. And how much more so is it not correct to say that this drop came into being anew after not having existed, for the newness that occurred in it now is only that it is now found in a place other than its original place. So too, after a man's death, no change occurs in his essence except a change of location; it cannot be said that then his essence changes from existence to non-existence, for his spiritual soul, which is man's essential self, still exists and is found — it has not perished and has not undergone change — only that it has ascended from its lower dwelling-place, where it sat among creatures of flesh, affected by its material neighbors, to a spiritual dwelling-place, to the place where its tent was originally, to the source from which it flowed. And so it says, "Hashem, You have been a dwelling-place for us in every generation" — that in all the generations that passed before the formation of man, Hashem was his dwelling-place, for during all that time his soul dwelt in its sublime source in God, blessed be He, and He was its dwelling-place. And do not say that this only began from the days of the creation of heaven and earth, [so as] to say that the souls, too, were created anew then and dwelt in the dwelling-place of God, blessed be He — this is not so, for even "before the mountains were brought forth" and before "the earth and the world were formed" — while the earth had not yet given birth to its offspring — and likewise "from everlasting to everlasting" ("You have been a dwelling-place for us") "You are God" — for You are the source from which the spirits went out and to which they will return, and in You they placed, and will place, their dwelling and their abode from everlasting to everlasting.

"Before the mountains were born" — [i.e., before they] were created, and before You brought forth the earth and the inhabited world, and from the first world to the last world, You are God.

"Before" — he mentioned the heavens, which are above man, and now he mentions the earth. And the word "before" serves for both [clauses], meaning: "and before You had brought forth the earth and the world." And the reason for mentioning "the mountains" is that they stand [firm] as though they were primeval, like [the phrase]: "and from the ancient mountains" (Deuteronomy 33:15). And the meaning of "were brought forth" is that the winds/spirits generated them [the mountains]; and the earth, which was beneath the water at its creation. "And the world" — is the dry land where habitation is. And Rabbi Moshe said that "You are God" [means] mighty forever. But in my opinion, "God" (el) is here a descriptive term. And thus its meaning is: before the mountains and the earth existed, and from everlasting to everlasting, You are God — this being said in view of what is said afterward concerning "a son of man crushed" [v. 3].

"Before" — he mentions the earth and not the heavens, because he wishes to speak about man, who remains but a short while in the world. Therefore he speaks of the earth, whose individual beings do not endure even though its species do endure, whereas in the heavens even the individual bodies endure. And he mentions "the mountains" — for they endure longer than the other parts of the earth. "Were brought forth" — for the [elemental] foundations gave birth to them by the command of God, may He be blessed. "And You had formed the earth and the world" — its meaning is: "and before You had formed the earth and the world." "Erets" (earth) refers to both the inhabited and uninhabited [land]; and when it is mentioned together with "tevel" (world), it refers to the uninhabited [land]. He also hints by this that at the birth of the mountains, the earth came into being. "And from everlasting" (u-me'olam) — its meaning is "from before the world existed." And the meaning of "El" [God] is "powerful" (i.e., the Almighty).

"Before" — Before the mountains were born and created, and before You had formed the earth and the world; and from before the world existed until the end of the world's days, at every time You are God — meaning mighty and possessing power.

"You had formed" — an expression of forming, as in "behold, I was brought forth in iniquity" (above, Psalm 51). "Earth and world" — when these two words appear together, "eretz" indicates a place that is not inhabited, while "tevel" indicates a place that is inhabited.

"You bring man to the crushing point" — You bring agonies upon man until You reduce him to a weakened state, near death, and You tell him with these agonies, “Return, O sons of men from your evil ways.”

'Tashev' [You turn back] — You are God, and not a powerful man, for You turn man back in the days of old age until he becomes crushed. 'And You say, Return, you children of man' — to the dust from which you were taken.

"You turn" — [man,] until he becomes crushed in the days of old age; meaning, the strength of his youthful days will not avail him, for You turn him back to a crushed state. "And say: Return, you children of men" — that the children of men should return in repentance; and He says this to them through their sufferings, for the sufferings are the messengers [that summon them to repent].

"You turn man" — You turn man back from the full strength of his vigor, so that he becomes crushed by afflictions that weaken his strength; and by this it is as if You say to the children of men, "Return from your evil ways," for there are no afflictions without sin.

"You turn" — just as You have been the dwelling-place of the spirits from eternity, so too at the time You "turn man back to contrition [dust]" — that the body's powers become nullified until it is crushed and returns to nothingness — at this You "say, Return, you children of men" — You command the children of men to return from the life of matter to their dwelling-place where they dwelt originally, that is, that they should return to You, God, for in You they dwelt from everlasting to everlasting.

"For a thousand years are in Your eyes" — A thousand years of man are like one day of the Holy One, blessed be He, and part of the night with it; for one day of the Holy One, blessed He, and a little of the night of the Holy One, blessed be He, are a thousand years, for the text does not say that the day of the Holy One, blessed be He, is like a thousand years, but that when a little of the night elapses with it, then His day is complete, and it is a thousand years. Therefore, Adam died within a thousand [years] for had he lived a thousand [years] it would be more than the day of the Holy One, blessed be He. Perhaps the amount of that watch equals the time from the death of Adam until a thousand years, but we do not know how much that watch was, except from conjecture. I found [this]: "For a thousand years are in Your eyes, etc." — And when repentance came into Your thoughts from the beginning, You judged well and created it. Now those years were appropriate for it because people’s days were many, so that a thousand years were in Your eyes like one passing day, which passed and was gone, with a little of the night with it, for You said to Adam (Gen. 2:17): “for on the day you eat of it, you will surely die,” and he lived nine hundred and thirty years. We find that a thousand years equal one whole day and a little of the night with it. "like yesterday, which passed" — Which already passed.

'Ki, be'einecha' [For, in Your eyes] — Hashem speaks with the children of man, so do not be puzzled that 'shuvu' [return] is in the plural, and afterward 'be'einecha' [in Your eyes] is singular — for such is the rule of the language — [as in] 'remember the days of old, consider'; [and] 'your little ones, your wives, and your stranger.' And the meaning of 'like a day' — perhaps if you, a human being, lived a thousand years, they would be like yesterday once it has passed, for it passes like something already past, or like a watch in the night. And according to the plain sense, what would be the point of saying 'like a day'? 'Yesterday' alone would have sufficed, and it would be as if he had lived a thousand years. And what points to the correct understanding — my own explanation — is that he means to say: the days of our years are seventy years, which do not reach a thousand; and to interpret it as referring to the generation of the Flood is far-fetched.

"For" — You also said to him: what are your days worth? For even if it seems long in your eyes, and you were to imagine that you would live a thousand years — which not even the first man lived — they are as nothing, since his end is to die. Therefore do not be proud of your life even if you live long, for all of it is reckoned like yesterday that has passed, or like a single watch among the watches of the night — all of it is toil and weariness. And our Rabbis, may their memory be for a blessing, interpreted "in Your eyes" as referring to God, may He be blessed, and said: "A day of the Holy One, blessed be He, is a thousand years" — meaning that a thousand years are reckoned by Him as no more than a single day.

"For a thousand years" — That is, through the afflictions, it is as if You say to man: even if you were to live a thousand years, would it not appear in your eyes like yesterday once it has passed? For once time has passed, what does it matter to him whether it was a great deal of time or a little time — it is gone, and it is no more. "And as a watch in the night" — and like a single watch among the watches of the night; for once time has passed, a single watch and a thousand years are counted the same.

"And a watch" — this is one of the three divisions of the night, each of which is called an "ashmurah" in biblical language.

"For a thousand" — so You say to the children of men: return from this temporal world, for "a thousand years" that you lived here in the material world — do they not seem "in your eyes as yesterday when it has passed," and also seem in your eyes "as a watch" in the night? And he explains, corresponding to what he said, "as yesterday when it has passed" — [the word] "You flowed them away" — that You flowed away the thousand years just as You flowed away yesterday. (This denotes the flow of time like the flow of a stream of water, where each wave sweeps along and moves on, and each wave sweeps along the one before it; so too every moment of time sweeps away the moment preceding it from the present into the past, and there is no difference whether the past was one day or a thousand years, for the past is not in the present, and time that has passed is nothing in terms of existence.) And corresponding to what he said, "and as a watch in the night," he said, "they are as a sleep" — just as during nighttime no motion or action occurs, but rather in it the living creature sleeps and does nothing at all, so too the entire thousand years were as though You had slept through them — so that from this perspective, the thousand years that you lived were as though they had not been, for two reasons: first, because they were flowed away and swept out of existence like yesterday; second, because even while they were in existence, You slept through them and did nothing. "In the morning" — the meaning of the verse is: the thousand years seem in your eyes, "in the morning, like grass that passes away, like yesterday when it has passed" — he likens the coming morning in the present as though it sprouted and emerged in time like a new plant; that is to say, in the morning, when it sprouts like grass into existence, the span of a thousand years that has passed seems like yesterday.

"You carry them away as a flood; they are like a sleep" — Now you have seized those years and had them become a few days, which are merely like a sleep of slumber, for the years of the generations are seventy years, as is explained at the end of the chapter: “The days of our years because of them are seventy years,” and they are regarded as one sleep. As the matter that is said (below 126:1) “When the Lord returns the returnees to Zion, we shall be like dreamers.” This was stated regarding the Babylonian exile, which lasted seventy years. "You carry them away as a flood" — Heb. זרמתם, an expression of flooding, as (Hab. 3:10): “A stream (זרם) of water.” "in the morning, like grass it passes away" — If one is born at night, he dies in the morning at the end of his sleep. And if,...

'Zeramtam' [You have swept them away] — he returns to speaking to Hashem, [saying] that You make the years [pass] like a flood of water that has swept over them, like sleep; or the meaning is that they sleep an eternal sleep.

"You carry them away as with a flood" — the psalmist speaks addressing God, may He be blessed, and says: "You carry them away as with a flood" — that all mankind is like a flood of water that flows and sweeps away swiftly. Or it means that it is like sleep, that is, like a dream in sleep, for upon waking nothing of the dream's words remains.

"You carry them away" — the course of their lives is like the dream of sleep; for when one awakens, nothing remains of the matters of the dream — so there is no substance in the life of man. "In the morning" — meaning, only in the days of youth does he renew and gain fresh strength, like this grass, which renews its strength only in the morning.

"You carry them away" — an expression of the rushing of water, as it is said, "like a flood of water" (Isaiah 28:2); and it is borrowed to describe the swift passage of years. "Grows up" — an expression of renewal, as in "they shall renew their strength" (Isaiah 41).

"In the morning, it blossoms" — it passes away immediately, and when evening comes, it is cut off and withered. Why?

'Baboker yatzitz' [In the morning it flourishes] — generation after generation. And 'chalaf' [passes away] is from the same root as 'chalifot semalot' [changes of garments], in the manner of: 'if He slew them, then they sought Him,' 'You send forth Your spirit, they are created.' 'Baboker' [In the morning] — the generation that flourishes and passes away is comparable to a frail blossom that has no strength in it, which by evening withers and dries up. And behold, he has compared the life of man to [the span] from morning to evening.

"In the morning it is like grass that passes away" — like grass, so does he pass away and depart swiftly, even in the morning; meaning that he may die in the days of his youth, like grass that is moist before the sun rises, and in the morning, when the sun comes out upon it, it dries up. "And it passes away" (ve-chalaf) — this is related to the sense of "im yikkaret ve'od yachalif" ("though it is cut down, it will yet renew itself") and also to "yachalifu koach" ("they shall renew their strength") — the sense of renewal. He says: "if in the morning it renews" — meaning, sometimes he is at ease and tranquil — by evening, which is old age, he is cut down and dried up, like the crop, even if he had in him the strength of freshness in the morning, when the sun does not yet have so much heat; by evening he is cut down and dried up, for the sun has beaten upon him all day. "It withers" (yimolel) — is from the quadriliteral (doubled-root) verb pattern, and it is an intransitive verb; its meaning is "it is cut off."

"In the morning it flourishes" — If in the morning it flourishes and renews its strength, is it not so that by evening, in the days of old age, it is cut down and withers? And it is like grass that has dried out after the sun has shone upon it all day.

"It flourishes" — it blossoms. "It is cut down" — an expression of cutting, as in "for I will cut them off" (below, Psalm 118). "And withers" — meaning, it has already become dry; and likewise, "You were wroth, and we sinned" (Isaiah 64:4).

"In the morning" — that is to say, so too they seem [like] "the morning" of the present, which "blossoms and passes away" now and comes out into existence — [morning] whose very growth "withers and dries up by evening," for even the present morning that now exists does not endure, but is like a blossom that flowers and lasts one day, then withers and dries up in the evening.

"For we perish from Your wrath, and from Your anger, etc." — That is to say: And because of all this,...

'Ki' [For] — as if You were angry with us, therefore our days are consumed. 'And by Your wrath we are dismayed' — like: 'and He consumed their days in futility, and their years in terror.'

"For" — now he speaks in the voice of the exile. He says: every man is vanity, even those who are at ease — how much more so we, who are in exile. "By Your anger" — that You have been angry with us for our sins. And the verse repeats the same idea in different words.

"For we are consumed" — Now he speaks in the voice of the exiles of Babylon, saying: if the life of every man is vanity even when they are at ease, how much more so are we, who are consumed by Your anger, which You directed against us on account of our sins. "And by Your wrath" — This repeats the same idea in different words.

"For we are consumed" — after he set forth that God is the eternal dwelling-place of souls, that from Him they came and to Him they shall return, he began to lament the brevity of human life, which does not suffice for him to complete the purpose for which he was sent from his dwelling-place into this world. Now, the brevity of man's life comes about in two ways: first, through punishment for an individual sin; second, through the general punishment by which death was decreed upon man and his offspring. And he laments both of these here. Against the individual punishment he says, "for we are consumed by Your anger" — [meaning] if we are consumed by the anger You have on account of the sins we have sinned; "and by Your wrath we are hurried away" — there is a difference between anger (af) and wrath (cheimah): anger is the open indignation, while wrath is the anger held [hidden] in the heart. That is to say: apart from being consumed by Your open anger, we are also hurried away by Your hidden wrath. And he explains, corresponding to what he said, "for we are consumed by Your anger" — "You have set our iniquities before You" — that the anger which is revealed comes about through the iniquities. (And he also means that You set their iniquities before You, that is, that You reckon the sin according to the measure of the greatness of the One against whom they sinned, who is infinite; and accordingly the sinner incurs a very great and heavy punishment.) And corresponding to what he said, "and by Your wrath we are hurried away," he explains: "(our iniquities) of our youth (You have set) in the light of Your countenance" — even the sins of our youth, which we ourselves have already forgotten, You set them against the light of Your countenance, where there is no darkness or forgetting, but everything is revealed and seen — as if You still keep hidden wrath for the sins of youth.

"You have placed our iniquities before You" — and our youth, the sins of our youth, You have placed before the light of Your countenance. "our youth" — Heb. עלמנו, our youth, as (I Sam. 17:56): “whose son is this youth (העלם).” "before the light of Your countenance" — opposite You and to look at them.

'Shatah' [You have set] — and in truth You have cause to be angry with us; on account of our iniquities You punish us little by little. Rabbi Moshe said: that 'alumeinu' [our hidden things] means 'the sins of our youth.' And what is correct in my view is that it is from the root 'ta'alumah' [hidden thing], hence [what follows]: 'in the light of Your countenance.'

"You have set" (shatah) — its grammatical rule would be "shatata," with the tav of the third root letter absorbed, marked by a dagesh, into the tav of the second-person form. It is written without a heh but read with a heh — yet it is one and the same in meaning, for the silent letter that follows the kamatz is sometimes written and sometimes not written. The word is accented on the final syllable (milra), which is not the usual pattern, and we have written the reason for this in the book Mikhlol, in its grammar section. He says: "You have set our iniquities before You" — meaning, that You constantly observe them and punish us for them. "Our secret sins [are] in the light of Your countenance" — "alumenu" is missing the yod of the plural, or it is in the singular form; and its meaning is that whatever is hidden is in the light of Your countenance, for nothing is concealed from You, since everything is [exposed] in the light of Your countenance. And some explain "alumeinu" as "the sin of our youth," and according to this interpretation it is missing the yod of the plural, for "alumim" (youth), like "ne'urim" (youth) and "zekunim" (old age), is not found in the singular form.

"You have set" — You have placed our iniquities before You, to remember them and to exact requital for them. "Our hidden [sins]" — The errors that are hidden from us, You set before the light of Your countenance, to remember them as well, and to render requital for them.

"Our secret sins" — from the language of concealment and lack of knowledge.

"have passed away in Your anger" — Have turned, have been cleared away, and have gone away in Your anger. "as a murmur" — Like speech, which hastens to disappear.

'Ki' [For] — behold, this is the explanation of the meaning of 'for we are consumed by Your anger': that our years are consumed like a murmur (hegeh), as in: 'and a murmur goes forth from his mouth' — for speech has no permanence, since at the very moment the speaker speaks, it exists, and afterward it is as if it had never been.

"For" — for there were no good days among them, but all of them passed away in Your wrath. "We bring our years to an end as a sigh" — he says "kilinu" (we bring to an end), which is a transitive verb, to say that we ourselves cause the ending [of our years] through our sins. "As a sigh" (hegeh) — the speech that goes out from the mouth passes away swiftly; so too our years pass away swiftly.

"Have passed away" — They have gone their way through the wrath and fury that comes from You. "We bring to an end" — We, through our sins, cause the ending of our years, so that [the span of our lives] amounts to no more than the time it takes to speak a mere word.

"They have passed away" — from the language of turning. "A tale" — a matter of speech, as in 'and my tongue speaks [Your righteousness]' (above, Psalms 35).

"For" — Referring to the natural death that was decreed because of the sin of Adam, the first man, it says, "For all our days have passed away in Your wrath" — for the definition of the word "wrath" (evrah) is that through His anger and fury He crosses the boundary and becomes angry even with one who has not sinned. This refers to the punishment decreed upon all the generations who did not sin the sin of Adam, the first man — that this is, through "wrath," to punish the one who is not a sinner. And through this "wrath" all our days have passed away, until "we have consumed our years like a sigh" — meaning, just as a sigh, a word, and a decree go forth, so He sighed and decreed and said, "the days of our years among them are seventy years" — that if the days of our years are among them, in the ordinary years (the word "among them" refers back to "our years"), then they will be "seventy years." "And if" (the days of our years are) "by strength" — if they are by strength beyond the ordinary nature, then they will extend to "eighty years." "And their pride" — meaning, the pride and self-exaltation of the days will be "toil and iniquity" — that is, the deeds a person performs in the days of his life, by which his days are made to seem exalted, will be toil and iniquity. "For it passes quickly" — meaning, in any case, "swiftly it passes" — the flow of time rushes and hurries in its course; this is called "quickly." It "passes" — it is cut off from existence at every moment, for at every moment the moment of the present is cut off from the present into the past. "And we fly away" — we fly together with the swiftness and speed of time, from existence into non-existence, for time is the life of man, and at every moment a moment of time, and with it a portion of man's life, is cut off from existence into an abyss, like nothing — until, "who knows the strength of Your anger" — meaning, we fly along with the flow of time, and we cannot know even the strength of Your anger, with which You punish us for individual sins, about which it says, "for we are consumed by Your anger." "Nor Your wrath, in proportion to the fear due You" — there is no one who can know Your general wrath, which stems from the sin of Adam, the first man (about which it said, "all our days have passed away in Your wrath"), which is comparable to Your great fear/awe — for it encompasses all flesh in which there is a living spirit, all of whom have death bound at their heels, and who can know it? And so I ask: "to number our days, so teach us, that we may bring a heart of wisdom" — since, because of the shortness of our days, we know nothing, neither of Your anger nor of Your wrath, and we die without attaining the perfection for which we were created — is it not fitting that You inform us, so that we may number our days in such a way that we can thereby bring a heart of wisdom? In contrast to what was said, "and their pride is toil and iniquity," teach us so that we may bring, in the days of our lives, a heart of wisdom, and our days will not be for naught and for emptiness.

"The days of our years because of them are seventy years" — The days of these years of ours, because of these iniquities of ours and because of these sins of our youth, are seventy years. "and if with increase" — And if his days are much increased, they are eighty years. "but their pride is toil and pain" — But all the greatness and the dominion that a person enjoys in these days are only toil and pain. Why? Because it passes quickly and we fly away. During its swift passing, we fly away and die. "it passes" — Heb. גז, an expression of passing, as (Nahum 1:12): “they have crossed (נגוזו)”; (Num. 11: 31), “and drove (ויגז) quails up from the sea.”

'Yemei' [The days of...] — perhaps someone will argue: did not Moshe live 120 years? How then could he say 'seventy years'? This would indicate that the psalmist was a [different] man named Moshe. And the answer: we could say the same about Noach, Daniel, and Iyov [Job], who are not [otherwise] known — but behold, it states at the beginning 'a man of God,' and for this reason he mentioned that he did not occupy himself with the vanities of the world; and such is the theme of this psalm. Moshe speaks in the language of every generation, including his own, which was so until this day. Perhaps he composed this prayer before his prophecy, when he was eighty years old and his hands were heavy. And the meaning of 'bahem' [in them] — it would be a great thing if their number amounted to seventy years. 'Rahbam' [their pride] — the days of their 'rahbam' are the days of power and strength, which are the days of youth; all of them are toil and sorrow. 'Ki gaz' [for it is quickly gone] — that they are cut off swiftly, like 'gozzi nizrech' [shear off your hair]; and this is the meaning of 'chish' [swiftly] and 'na'ufah' [we fly away] — and behold, we become like a bird wandering from its place. Or 'na'ufah' [relates to] 'to dwell in a land of darkness,' 'a land of gloom,' 'that turns the dawn to gloom'; or the word is from the root of 'af'af' [eyelid], like 'te'ufah' [a glance/flight] — 'in the morning it will be there; you will glance your eyes upon it, and it is gone' — and as if our years were a fleeting glance.

"The days of" — Moses our teacher speaks of the majority [of people]. He speaks of the shortness of days, of which every generation complains in the exile: "for our days are short, and we cannot hope to see the salvation unless the redemption comes soon." "Or even by reason of strength, eighty years" — it turns out that these are the very least of the least. "Yet their pride is [but] travail and vanity" — [rohbam refers to] the vigor of one's days, and it is either an infinitive or a noun; meaning, even one whose days are spent in tranquility — they are [still] travail and vanity, for his days will not be lengthened for him. "For it is speedily gone, and we fly away" — the strength of those days departs by happenstance. "And we fly away" — to the grave; meaning, we go there swiftly, like a bird. "Gaz" (it is gone) — its meaning is "it departs from its place," and it is an intransitive verb.

"In them" — Their number will be seventy years. "And if by reason of strength" — And if by the intensification of natural power, they will be eighty years. "Yet their pride" — Even the vigor and might of those years are toil and sorrow. "For it is speedily gone" — Since the days of vigor do not last long, for it is quickly cut off and flies away; thus the vigor that was there at first causes the sorrow to increase when it is gone.

"Their pride" — a term for boldness/assertiveness, as in 'the youth shall behave insolently against the old man' (Isaiah 3:5). "It is gone" — a term for cutting off and plucking, as in 'cut off your hair' (Jeremiah 7). "Speedily" — quickly, as in 'hasten to my aid' (above, Psalms 38).

"Who knows the might of Your wrath" — In these few days, who can acquire intelligence to know the might of Your wrath and to fear You, and as for You—Your fear is Your anger. Just as You are feared, so is Your anger harsh, and You exact retribution from the sinners.

'Mi' [Who] — Rabbi Moshe said: that this verse is connected to the one that follows it, and the meaning is: any man who knows the power of Your anger, and knows [how] to number our days, has the truth made known to him, and he is a prophet, for he has a heart of wisdom; and he explains it similarly to [the matter of] the daughters of Tzelofchad. And the word 'hoda' [make known] is like 'hushav kaspi' [my money was returned], and in the same way: 'or his sin which he committed is made known to him.' But in my opinion: 'who knows' — who is it that could know the power of Your anger? And according to the fear of You, so is Your wrath — in the manner of 'through those near to Me I will be sanctified,' as our predecessors expounded concerning the phrase 'and all around Him it storms mightily.'

"Who" — who can guard himself against Your anger, and how great is the power of Your anger? For we see that just as the fear of You rests upon a man, so does Your wrath rest upon him; meaning, the more one fears You, the more You bring Your wrath upon him when he sins even a little. So it says regarding the sons of Aaron: "Through those near to Me I will be sanctified."

"Who knows" — In such few days, who can know the intensity of Your anger — what it is for — and be guarded against it? "And Your wrath according to the fear that is due to You" — Just as [the knowledge of] fearing You is hidden from us — how we should fear Hashem — so too Your wrath is hidden from us — why You become filled with wrath and rage — for it cannot be grasped in such few days.

"So teach the number of our days" — And just as in the beginning, make known in the world the number of our long days, and since we enjoy longevity, we will be able to acquire intelligence, and we will acquire in them a heart of wisdom. The word נביא is an expression of bringing [rather than of a prophet. Cf. B.B. 12a, Targum ad. loc, Redak below]. (Some say: According to the number of our days כן, according to the numerical value of כן, seventy years. He says: According to the number of our years, which are few, so shall You chastise us, as [Jud. 8:16]: “and with them he chastised (ויודע) the men of Succoth.” This does not appear in all editions.)

'Limnot' [To number] — in the manner of 'Make me know, Hashem, my end' — 'give us a heart to know how to number our days.' And the meaning: that we should know that their number will be few, and bring [wisdom] into our midst; or, [it means] 'build in us a heart of wisdom.' And behold, 'navi' [we shall bring] — like: 'and what shall we bring to the man?'

"To number" — [teach us] to number our days, how many they are, that are known to You; so make them known to us, and then "we shall bring a heart of wisdom" — that is, we shall bring wisdom into our heart, and we shall exert ourselves more in wisdom when we know our end. And it may be explained that this speaks of the exile, for the words of Daniel are obscure, and even the angel told him to seal up what he understood from it. And he means: let us know when the prophet will come to Israel, as it is written, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet," for then we shall have "a heart of wisdom," as it is written.

"To number" — In proportion to the number of our days, which are short, so make known to us Your ways; that is, in proportion to the small number of years, so increase wisdom for us, to know everything in a short time. And then we too will bring a heart of wisdom — that is, if You give us abundant wisdom, then we will think to search and inquire with it, so as to arrive at the depth of the matter.

"That we may bring" — from the language of bringing.

"Return, O Lord" — from Your burning wrath. "And repent" — Think well about Your servants.

'Shuvah' [Return] — the meaning is: from Your burning anger, for above it is written: 'for we are consumed by Your anger.' 'Vehinachem' [And relent] — by way of figurative language, [drawn] from a human being who relents.

"Return" — its accent is on the last syllable (milra). He says: Return to us — how long will You cast us off? — and relent concerning Your servants; relent concerning them, for they have already borne their punishment.

"Return, O Hashem" — Turn back from Your burning anger; how much longer will You continue to be angry? "And let it repent You" — Think another thought concerning Your servants, so as to be reconciled to them.

"Return, Hashem, how long" — Turn back from the fierceness of Your anger, how long? Until we bring a heart of wisdom; for until that time when we are able to bring a heart of wisdom, You should turn back and not punish us in Your anger for our sins. And also, "and relent concerning Your servants" — that Your general wrath, which stems from the sin of Adam, the first man, should not fall upon Your righteous servants.

"Satiate us in the morning" — On the day of the redemption and the salvation, which is the morning of the night of the trouble, the sighing, and the darkness. "and let us sing praises and rejoice with all our days" — i.e., with all the troubles that passed over us in these days of ours.

'Sabe'einu' [Satisfy us] — if You satisfy us with Your kindness in the morning, then we shall rejoice all day. And the meaning: if You deal kindly with us in our youth, teaching us the straight path, then we shall rejoice all our days, even in old age.

"Satisfy us" — the time of salvation is called "morning" and "light." "All our days" — for there will no longer be any trouble.

"In the morning" — Every morning. "That we may rejoice" — With thanksgiving and praise. "And be glad, etc." — For You will return to do good to us because of the abundance of our thanksgiving and praise, and so it will continue, going back and forth again and again, all our days.

(14-15) "Satisfy us" — meaning, that it should be one of two things: either immediately, "in the morning" (which is a figure of speech for the beginning of the dawning of life and the years of youth), "let Your kindness satisfy us," and we will not see the evil of the time and its reversals at all, so that through this "we will sing for joy and rejoice all our days," and the evil of the time will not be seen at all — or, at least, if it has been decreed upon us to drink the cup of evil in the morning, that is, in the days of youth, "gladden us in accordance with the days You afflicted us," so that we find joy corresponding to the affliction.

"Cause us to rejoice according to the days that You afflicted us" — Cause us to rejoice in the days of our Messiah according to the number of days that You afflicted us in the exiles and according to the number of years that we experienced evil.

'Sammecheinu kimot initanu' [Make us glad according to the days You have afflicted us] — with illnesses and troubles.

"Make us glad" — he does not mean [that we should be glad] in the same measure as the number of days that You have afflicted us, as the midrash says, that the days of salvation will equal the days of the exile and after that the world will be destroyed; rather he means: just as You have afflicted us these days and shown us evil in them, so shall You make us glad forever.

"According to the days" — According to the number of days in which You afflicted us, and according to the years in which we saw evil; and the matter is repeated in different words.

'Yera'eh' [Let it appear] — that the help of Hashem should be seen by them, for He desires them.

"Your work" — the working of salvation. "Upon their children" — that the fathers and the children should see the salvation; in every generation the fathers beseech that the salvation destined to appear in the days of their children draw near and be in their own days as well, so that the fathers and the children come [to witness it] together.

"Let... appear" — The work of Your hands will be seen by Your servants, and also upon their children after them will the glory from You rest.

"And Your glory" — from the language of splendor and beauty.

"Let it appear" — that is, so that we may see and grasp Your deed, how You act and are engaged in Your world; and through this, may there appear "Your glory upon their children" — for through observing the deeds of Hashem, who is still acting in His world (for the continued existence of creation is a constant, ongoing creation), through this their children will grasp the glory of Hashem, His honor, and His providence, and they will attain the purpose for which they were created.

"And may the pleasantness of the Lord our God be upon us" — His presence and His consolations. "and the work of our hands establish for us" — Heb. כוננה. This is an expression of supplication. כוֹננה is like שמרה, watch, שפטה, judge. "establish it" — Establish it. The two times “and the work of our hands establish” [are mentioned are for the following purposes]: One is for the work of the Tabernacle, when he blessed Israel and prayed that the Shechinah should rest on the work of their hands in the Tabernacle, and one is that there should be a blessing in the work of their hands.

'Vihi' [And let it be] — the meaning of 'konenah aleinu' [establish upon us] — to set right the causes and circumstances, so that there will be no toil or hardship for them in all their deeds. And the meaning of 'konenehu' [establish it] — that it should be complete, in the manner of: 'If Hashem does not build the house...'

"And let it be" — then, in the days of salvation, the work of our hands will be established; and the verse is repeated for emphasis.

"And let the graciousness... be" — The graciousness of Hashem will be upon us. "Establish upon us" — Prepare for us [things] to be made right by our hands, and let no mishap befall us at the time we do the deed. "Establish it" — Prepare that deed so that no mishap or loss whatsoever occurs in it.

"Graciousness" — a term for sweetness and pleasantness, as in 'and bread eaten in secret is pleasant' (Proverbs 9).

"And let the graciousness of Hashem our God be upon us" — (the graciousness/pleasantness is the delight that the doer attains from his deed, in that through his deed he has achieved the intended purpose) — and because we shall attain perfection, through this Hashem will find pleasantness/delight in the whole of creation which He created for His glory, in that the creatures will attain His glory and serve Him; and this will be seen upon us, for we shall be the purpose of creation and the desire of Hashem in His world, and in us will be found the purpose of His deeds and His actions. "And establish the work of our hands upon us" — meaning, that the work of a person's hands in lowly matters is not established upon him — that is, it does not become a foundation and basis for his deeds. For example, one who builds a house to dwell in it: the house is established upon a foundation of stones, and the stones are established upon the dust of the earth, not upon the craftsman who builds it; on the contrary, the craftsman is established by his house, to dwell in it and find shelter from storm and from rain. Not so a good deed in matters of the soul: it becomes a foundation and basis for one's handiwork. For example, one who studies Torah — his Torah is established upon the person's intellect and soul; and one who performs a commandment for its own sake — the commandment has, in this way, a foundation in the soul of the one performing it. And so it says that the work of our hands should be established upon us, not upon something that is outside our own selves. "And the work of our hands" will be things which "establish it" — that whatever we do, Hashem will establish, because it is good in His eyes. Up to here are the words of the man of God who is praying, and it is a general prayer, and also a specific one, for he prayed also concerning himself, regarding what had been decreed upon him, that he would not enter the Land — for he said that he does not understand the strength of Hashem's anger nor His wrath — and he asked that Hashem relent concerning His servant, and that the deeds of Hashem appear to him at the time he would enter the Land, so as to attain his own perfection; and that the glory of Hashem would appear upon his children, who would inherit his place after him; and that the work of his hands — what he brought out with Hashem from Egypt — should be established upon him, and not upon someone else. Thus far is the prayer.