Psalm 1
Encyclopedia
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
. The righteous person is one who takes care to know the laws of God and so has good judgment and avoids bad company. The result is the ability to withstand difficult times in life supported by God's protection. On the other hand, the wicked person's behavior makes them vulnerable to disaster, like chaff
Chaff
Chaff is the dry, scaly protective casings of the seeds of cereal grain, or similar fine, dry, scaly plant material such as scaly parts of flowers, or finely chopped straw...
blowing away in the wind. The point that the wicked and the righteous will not mingle at the judgment
Last Judgment
The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, or The Day of the Lord in Christian theology, is the final and eternal judgment by God of every nation. The concept is found in all the Canonical gospels, particularly the Gospel of Matthew. It will purportedly take place after the...
is clearly stated by the writer. The path the wicked have chosen leads to destruction, and at the judgment they receive the natural consequences of that choice.
Righteous
Several attributes of a righteous man are described in Psalm 1. A righteous man does not listen to the advice of a wicked man, and he does not socialize with them. A righteous man does not set himself up to mock and scoff at others. According to the Book of ProverbsBook of Proverbs
The Book of Proverbs , commonly referred to simply as Proverbs, is a book of the Hebrew Bible.The original Hebrew title of the book of Proverbs is "Míshlê Shlomoh" . When translated into Greek and Latin, the title took on different forms. In the Greek Septuagint the title became "paroimai paroimiae"...
, the mocker does not seek wise advice, and God’s response is to mock them in return; in contrast, he gives grace to the humble.
The righteous man is not even sharing the same road as the wicked. In Psalm 23, David likens God’s guidance in the paths of righteousness to a shepherd’s guidance of his sheep and in Psalm 25, he asks for further understanding of God’s path. In Psalm 119, David writes emphatically “I hate every wrong path,” that is, ways that deviate from the ways of God. Not only will a righteous man ignore the advice of the wicked, he studies the law of Yahweh every day for guidance and understanding. In Psalm 119, David refers to the word of Yahweh as a light revealing the path of life. He is happy studying the law.
A righteous man is compared to a tree planted by a stream. His harvest is plentiful, and whatever he does flourishes. The prophet Jeremiah
Jeremiah
Jeremiah Hebrew：יִרְמְיָה , Modern Hebrew:Yirməyāhū, IPA: jirməˈjaːhu, Tiberian:Yirmĭyahu, Greek:Ἰερεμίας), meaning "Yahweh exalts", or called the "Weeping prophet" was one of the main prophets of the Hebrew Bible...
wrote a similar passage: “But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.” He elaborated: “It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” Jeremiah implied that an advantage of trusting in the LORD was the ability to withstand difficult times. Some commentators have also interpreted this to mean that the actions of the righteous man (the fruit) are a consistent representation of his professed faith.
Wicked
The word “wicked” refers to people who break YahwehYahweh
Yahweh is the name of God in the Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Jews and Christians.The word Yahweh is a modern scholarly convention for the Hebrew , transcribed into Roman letters as YHWH and known as the Tetragrammaton, for which the original pronunciation is unknown...
’s commandments. It refers to a person whose mind is toward wrongdoing and who gives in to evil impulses. “Sinner” refers to those who sinned in the presence of Yahweh and who are unclean, banished from among the Israelite
Israelite
According to the Bible the Israelites were a Hebrew-speaking people of the Ancient Near East who inhabited the Land of Canaan during the monarchic period .The word "Israelite" derives from the Biblical Hebrew ישראל...
people. The wicked are vulnerable to destruction in difficult times. They are compared to chaff blowing away in the wind. The wicked need not be judged, as they have already chosen their path.
Attributes of Yahweh
Yahweh is specifically mentioned in this closing to Psalm 1. He blesses those who are righteous and walk in his ways. Yahweh causes the righteous person to delight in his law. He hates the wicked and wants his people to stay separate from them. Yahweh will make sure that the righteous are cared for. Yahweh makes sure that the ways of the wicked men will die with them and not be passed down into the righteous generations. Yahweh watches over the righteous men, but he does not protect the wicked from the natural end of their choices.Background
The book of PsalmsPsalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
is divided into 5 books. Psalm 1 is part of the first book. It has been counted as the beginning of book one in some translations, in some counted as a prologue, and in others Psalm 1 is combined with Psalm 2. Some scholars believe that Psalm 1 was written by Solomon as an introduction to his father's work due to its style, which is similar to the book of Proverbs.
Patrick D. Miller suggests that Psalm 1 "sets the agenda for the Psalter through its "identification of the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked as well as their respective fates" as well as "its emphasis on the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
, the joy of studying it and its positive benefits for those who do." Stephen Dempster
Stephen Dempster
Stephen G. Dempster is the Stuart E. Murray Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Crandall University. He holds degrees from the University of Western Ontario, Westminster Theological Seminary and the University of Toronto and is the author of Dominion and Dynasty: A Biblical Theology of the...
suggests that the psalm serves also as an introduction to the Writings
Ketuvim
Ketuvim or Kəṯûḇîm in actual Biblical Hebrew is the third and final section of the Tanak , after Torah and Nevi'im . In English translations of the Hebrew Bible, this section is usually entitled "Writings" or "Hagiographa"...
, the third section of the Tanakh
Tanakh
The Tanakh is a name used in Judaism for the canon of the Hebrew Bible. The Tanakh is also known as the Masoretic Text or the Miqra. The name is an acronym formed from the initial Hebrew letters of the Masoretic Text's three traditional subdivisions: The Torah , Nevi'im and Ketuvim —hence...
. Dempster points out the similarities between Psalm 1:2-3 and Joshua 1:8-9 (the first chapter of the [Nevi'im|Prophets]]). In both passages, the one who meditates on the law prospers.
Cultural use
Many different people have put music to the words of Psalm 1. English poet John MiltonJohn Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
translated Psalm 1 into English verse in 1653. Scottish poet Robert Burns
Robert Burns
Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...
wrote a paraphrase of it. Music artist Kim Hill has a song named Psalm 1. Psalm 1 also has been read aloud in a few different languages with musical accompaniment. The original Hebrew words in Psalm 1 have been analyzed and commented on by many.
- Verse 1 is found in Pirkei Avot Chapter 3, no. 3.
See Also
Psalm 1 read aloud in Hebrew with musical accompaniment.Psalm 1 read aloud in German with musical accompaniment
Psalm 1 in Hebrew and English with commentary on specific Hebrew words.
Analysis of the Hebrew Poetry in Psalm 1