Psalm 30 with Selected Commentaries

ByRabbi Steven Schwarzman

Rabbinical Assembly

תהילים ל׳:א׳

מִזְמ֡וֹר שִׁיר־חֲנֻכַּ֖ת הַבַּ֣יִת לְדָוִֽד׃

Psalms 30:1

A psalm of David. A song for the dedication of the House.

Nahum M. Sarna, On the Book of Psalms, p. 139

A straightforward reading of this psalm conveys the picture of a pious worshiper who gives thanks to God for recovery from a deathly illness. Hence there is a bewildering discrepancy between the content and its title as recorded in verse 1...

רש"י על תהילים ל׳:א׳:א׳

שיר חנוכת הבית. שיאמרוהו הלוים בחנכת הבית בימי שלמה:

Rashi on Psalms 30:1:1

A song for the dedication of the Temple. That the Levites would say at the dedication of the Temple in Solomon's days.

אבן עזרא על תהילים ל׳:א׳:א׳

מזמור, חנוכת הבית - יש אומרים: שצוה דוד שינגנו המשוררים זה המזמור בחנוכת הבית הראשון. ויש אומרים: בחנוכת הבית השני או השלישי, כי דמה ימי הגלות לימי החולי כאשר אפרש. והקרוב אלי: כי זה המזמור חברו בחנוכת ביתו בית ארזים, כי הכתוב לא הזכיר בית השם וכמוהו: עור ופסח לא יבוא אל הבית כאשר פירשתי במקומו, ואותו הזמן חלה דוד ויחי מחליו. ויאמר רבי משה: כי דוד התאבל כאשר אמר לו נתן כי הוא לא יבנה הבית לשם וכאשר אמר לו, כי שלמה בנו יבנה הבית אז התאזר שמחה תחת אבלו כי בנו כמוהו ולא יחרפהו האויב. ואמר: כי יגון הנפש נמשל לחולי הגון ויותר קשה, כדרך: רוח איש יכלכל מחלהו.

Ibn Ezra on Psalms 30:1:1

A psalm; a song of dedication of the House – There are those who say that David commanded that the singers play this song at the dedication of the First Temple, and those who say at the dedication of the Second Temple or the Third, because he compared the time of exile to a time of sickness as I will explain. It seems to me that he composed this song at the dedication of his own house, the House of Cedars, because the psalm does not mention the House of God. This usage is similar to “The blind and the lame shall not come into the house,” (Samuel II 5:8) as I explained there. At that time David fell sick and then recovered from his sickness. R’ Moshe said that David mourned when Natan told him that he would not build the house for the Lord. When he told him that Shlomo his son would build the house he was clothed with joy in place of his mourning because his son was like him, and his enemies could not disparage him. And he said that suffering of the soul is similar to physical suffering, and even worse in the sense that “A man's spirit will sustain his illness…” (Proverbs 18:14)

מלבי"ם על תהילים ל׳:א׳:א׳

שיר חנוכת הבית, המזמור כולו יוסד לתת הודאה בחלותו ויחי מחליו, ולא נמצא בו שום ענין מחנוכת הבית ? ומבואר שהבית המוזכר פה הוא הבית המשלי, הוא הגוף שהוא מעון לנפש ובית להאדם הפנימי השוכן ודר בקרבו, כי הנפש הוא האדם באמת, והגוף החמרי הוא רק בית חומר לשבתה כל ימי היותה במצודה, (כמ''ש אף כי שוכני בתי חומר, ביום שיזועו שומרי הבית), ועת חלה אז רופפו עמודי הבית ומכונותיו, ואחר שנתרפא נבנה הבית על תילו וישב לימי עלומיו, לכן ציין שם השיר בשם

Malbim on Psalms 30:1:1

A song for the dedication of the house. The entire psalm was crafted to give thanks for his recovery from illness, and there is no connection in it to dedicating a house. It can be explained that the house in question here is a metaphor for the body, which is the residence of the soul and the inner home for the person who dwells within it, because the soul is the real person, while the physical body is only a material home for it to dwell in....

שמות כ״ה:ח׳

(ח) וְעָ֥שׂוּ לִ֖י מִקְדָּ֑שׁ וְשָׁכַנְתִּ֖י בְּתוֹכָֽם׃

Exodus 25:8

(8) And let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.

Sarna, Psalms, p. 149

At some period, the composition was wholly reinterpreted so that the worshiper became the entire community viewed as a collective personality. The implied sickness was understood as a metaphor for a national calamity, and the remarkable recovery was construed in terms of a great experience of national deliverance followed by the joyous rededication of the Temple....

What historic event occasioned this reinterpretation? Two possibilities come to mind. The first is the dedication of the Second Temple...in the spring of 515 B.C.E. As told in Ezra 6:15-18 the entire people "celebrated the dedication of the House of God with joy."

The other possibility...is the purification and rededication of the Temple in the autumn of 164 B.C.E. following the victory of Judah Maccabee over the Syro-Greeks. The events...have been celebrated by Jews ever since in the annual eight-day festival of Hanukkah ("dedication")...The post-Talmudic minor tractate called Soferim prescribes Psalm 30 as a liturgical reading for the festival.

תהילים ל׳:ב׳

אֲרוֹמִמְךָ֣ יְ֭הוָה כִּ֣י דִלִּיתָ֑נִי וְלֹא־שִׂמַּ֖חְתָּ אֹיְבַ֣י לִֽי׃

Psalms 30:2

I extol You, O LORD, for You have lifted me up, and not let my enemies rejoice over me.

Sarna, Psalms, p. 140

The psalmist is not talking to himself; he is sharing his personal experiences with a group....The religious experience achieves its fullest expression, not in an individual, private setting, but in a public social context.

תהילים ל׳:ג׳

יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהָ֑י שִׁוַּ֥עְתִּי אֵ֝לֶ֗יךָ וַתִּרְפָּאֵֽנִי׃

Psalms 30:3

O LORD, my God, I cried out to You, and You healed me.

רש"י על תהילים ל׳:ג׳:א׳

ותרפאני. היא סליחת עון כמו ושב ורפא לו (ישעיה ו'):

Rashi on Psalms 30:3:1

You healed me. This is forgiveness of sin, as in Isaiah 6.

תהילים ל׳:ד׳

יְֽהוָ֗ה הֶֽעֱלִ֣יתָ מִן־שְׁא֣וֹל נַפְשִׁ֑י חִ֝יִּיתַ֗נִי מיורדי־[מִיָּֽרְדִי־] בֽוֹר׃

Psalms 30:4

O LORD, You brought me up from Sheol, preserved me from going down into the Pit.

רש"י על תהילים ל׳:ד׳:א׳

מירדי בור. כמו מירידתי לבור שלא ארד לגיהנם:

Rashi on Psalms 30:4:1

From descent into the pit. That I not descend to Gehinnom.

נדרים כ״ב א:ט׳

אמר רבי שמואל בר נחמני אמר רבי יונתן כל הכועס כל מיני גיהנם שולטין בו שנאמר והסר כעס מלבך והעבר רעה מבשרך ואין רעה אלא גיהנם שנאמר כל פעל ה' למענהו וגם רשע ליום רעה

Nedarim 22a:9

§ Apropos the verse “There the wicked cease from troubling,” the Gemara cites a related statement: Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said that Rabbi Yonatan said: Anyone who gets angry, all kinds of Gehenna rule over him, because anger causes him to transgress all kinds of severe sins, as it is stated: “Therefore remove vexation from your heart and put away evil from your flesh” (Ecclesiastes 11:10), and the evil mentioned is nothing other than Gehenna, as it is stated: “The Lord has made everything for His own purpose and even the wicked for the day of evil” (Proverbs 16:4), which is interpreted to mean that ultimately the day of the evildoer in Gehenna will arrive.

תהילים ל׳:ה׳

זַמְּר֣וּ לַיהוָ֣ה חֲסִידָ֑יו וְ֝הוֹד֗וּ לְזֵ֣כֶר קָדְשֽׁוֹ׃

Psalms 30:5

O you faithful of the LORD, sing to Him, and praise His holy name.

רש"י על תהילים ל׳:ה׳:א׳

זמרו לה' חסידיו. על מה שעשה לי כי יכולים אתם לחסות בו שייטיב לכם ואפילו אתם שרוים בצער אל תיראו:

Rashi on Psalms 30:5:1

Sing to the Lord, you faithful ones. For what He has done for me, because you can trust in Him that He will be good to you; even if you are beset by sorrow, fear not.

תהילים ל׳:ו׳

כִּ֤י רֶ֨גַע ׀ בְּאַפּוֹ֮ חַיִּ֪ים בִּרְצ֫וֹנ֥וֹ בָּ֭עֶרֶב יָלִ֥ין בֶּ֗כִי וְלַבֹּ֥קֶר רִנָּֽה׃

Psalms 30:6

For He is angry but a moment, and when He is pleased there is life. One may lie down weeping at nightfall; but at dawn there are shouts of joy.

תהילים ל׳:ז׳

וַ֭אֲנִי אָמַ֣רְתִּי בְשַׁלְוִ֑י בַּל־אֶמּ֥וֹט לְעוֹלָֽם׃

Psalms 30:7

When I was untroubled, I thought, “I shall never be shaken,”

תהילים ל׳:ח׳

יְֽהוָ֗ה בִּרְצוֹנְךָ֮ הֶעֱמַ֪דְתָּה לְֽהַרְרִ֫י עֹ֥ז הִסְתַּ֥רְתָּ פָנֶ֗יךָ הָיִ֥יתִי נִבְהָֽל׃

Psalms 30:8

for You, O Lord, when You were pleased, made [me] firm as a mighty mountain. When You hid Your face, I was terrified.

Sarna, Psalms, p. 145

The "hiding of God's face" is a figure of speech much used in the psalms. It connotes God's self-willed withdrawal of His favor and providential care. This is how the psalmist interpreted his sudden, severe illness.

תהילים ל׳:ט׳

אֵלֶ֣יךָ יְהוָ֣ה אֶקְרָ֑א וְאֶל־אֲ֝דֹנָ֗י אֶתְחַנָּֽן׃

Psalms 30:9

I called to You, O LORD; to my Lord I made appeal,

תהילים ל׳:י׳

מַה־בֶּ֥צַע בְּדָמִי֮ בְּרִדְתִּ֪י אֶ֫ל־שָׁ֥חַת הֲיוֹדְךָ֥ עָפָ֑ר הֲיַגִּ֥יד אֲמִתֶּֽךָ׃

Psalms 30:10

“What is to be gained from my death, from my descent into the Pit? Can dust praise You? Can it declare Your faithfulness?

תהילים ל׳:י״א

שְׁמַע־יְהוָ֥ה וְחָנֵּ֑נִי יְ֝הוָה הֱ‍ֽיֵה־עֹזֵ֥ר לִֽי׃

Psalms 30:11

Hear, O LORD, and have mercy on me; O LORD, be my help!”

תהילים ל׳:י״ב

הָפַ֣כְתָּ מִסְפְּדִי֮ לְמָח֪וֹל לִ֥י פִּתַּ֥חְתָּ שַׂקִּ֑י וַֽתְּאַזְּרֵ֥נִי שִׂמְחָֽה׃

Psalms 30:12

You turned my lament into dancing, you undid my sackcloth and girded me with joy,

Sarna, Psalms, p. 144

The "lament" is the dirge, usually intoned over the dead by relatives and friends. Here, the sick psalmist has been reciting it over himself!

רש"י על תהילים ל׳:י״ב:א׳

פתחת. אלאק"ש בלע"ז, כמו (בראשית כד) ויפתח את הגמלים, ור"ד כל המזמור על מרדכי ואסתר והמן, בפסיקתא זוטא, ואני אמרתי בשלוי, אמר המן, אליך ה' אקרא, אמרה אסתר וכו' עד היה עוזר לי הפכת מספדי למחול לי, אמר מרדכי וכל ישראל:

Rashi on Psalms 30:12:1

....The entire psalm is about Mordechai, Esther, and Haman, according to Midrash Pesikta Zutra: "When I was untroubled, I thought" is what Haman said. "To you, God, will I call" and so on up to "Be my help" is what Esther said, and "You turned my lament into dancing" is what Mordechai and all Israel said.

תהילים ל׳:י״ג

לְמַ֤עַן ׀ יְזַמֶּרְךָ֣ כָ֭בוֹד וְלֹ֣א יִדֹּ֑ם יְהוָ֥ה אֱ֝לֹהַ֗י לְעוֹלָ֥ם אוֹדֶֽךָּ׃

Psalms 30:13

that [my] whole being might sing hymns to You endlessly; O LORD my God, I will praise You forever.