Psalm 19

Ps. 19: This psalm is recited in the preliminary morning service on Sabbath and festivals.

It divides into three sections: Vv. 2–7, a hymn focusing on creation, specifically on the sun; vv. 8– 11, a hymn focusing on torah; and vv. 12–15, which are connected to the immediately preceding section (see v. 12, them), a petition to be saved from sin, and for prayers to be heard.

Some scholars believe that either two psalms have been combined (vv. 2–7 and 8–15), or that a later psalmist who composed vv. 8–15 incorporated the earlier vv. 2–7, which have a different topic, style, and poetic structure. It has been suggested that vv. 2–7 may have been adapted from a non-Israelite hymn praising the sun. Vv. 8–15 show significant connections to wisdom ideas and
vocabulary (see below). The difference between vv. 2–7 and vv. 8–15 was realized already by the medieval Jewish interpreters, who suggested various ways that creation, the sun, and torah may be connected. The discovery of ancient Near Eastern texts, where justice is often part of the sun god’s realm (so, e.g., Shamash, the Mesopotamian sun god) since he traverses the earth seeing wrongdoings, has offered a new way of understanding the psalm’s unity. In fact, recent commentators stress the psalm’s unity, noting that the poem as a whole is focused on God’s revelation in heaven and on the earth (Radak is similar),

or that torah is associated with light (e.g., Prov. 6.23).

The wording unifies the two parts by using terms for light (normally associated
with creation) in connection with torah, and words for speaking (associated with torah) in
reference to creation. The message is, then, that God reveals Himself both through His creation and through His torah or teaching, that is, His revelation to humans, later formulated in writing in the books of the Torah.

2–4: The cosmos praises God; the creation testifies to God’s greatness. It is unclear if the sound is metaphorical, or if some Israelites believed in the music of the spheres, an idea later associated with Pythagoras, or if this refers to the praise of God by the heavenly beings (see e.g., Isa. 6.3). An Ugaritic epic speaks of “Speech of tree and whisper of
stone, converse of heaven with earth” (ANET, p. 136). An alternative rendering of v. 4, “their sound is not heard,” means that the celestial bodies “speak” soundlessly; they convey their message simply by their being. 5–7: The sun was typically associated with a major deity in the ancient Near East, and cylinder seals with winged sundisks have been found in Israel, and 2 Kings 23.11 and other sources offer evidence for solar worship in ancient Israel.

6–7: The sun, shining and eager, traverses the sky.

8–11: This section is suffused with wisdom terminology, including simple, wise, fear of the LORD, and wisdom or torah being compared to gold (of great value, and in this case, also the color of the sun). The highly stylized, repetitive form of vv. 8–10 is very striking, though in Heb, v. 10 is slightly different in structure from the previous vv.; v. 11 concludes this section by breaking the structure altogether. Heb “torah” is here translated as instruction, on the assumption that this psalm was written before the Torah was canonized; traditional Jewish interpretation, which assumes that this is a Davidic composition from the period after a Mosaic Torah, understands “torah” as the Torah.

13: The v. assumes that human sinning is inevitable (see similarly 1 Kings 8.46). In Heb, unperceived guilt (“nistarot”) plays
with v. 7, “escapes” (“nistar”), lending additional unity to the psalm. (See similarly v. 9, “light up,” which as Rashi points out [v. 8], connects back to the sun.)

14: Willful sins are distinguished from inadvertent ones.

15: This v. appears as a coda at the conclusion of the “ʿAmidah,” the main daily prayer. In its original context, it is unclear if the words of my mouth / and the prayer of my heart refer to the immediately preceding vv., asking forgiveness from sins, or if this entire psalm served as an introduction to a larger liturgical complex.

(Jewish Study Bible)