1. Activity
Find all the words you can in the Psalm that relate to the sun or light.
2. Structure
How many distinct sections do you find in this Psalm? How do the parts relate to one another?
3. Difficult words/phrases
Verse 4 Try to come up with at least two different ways this perplexing verse can be understood.
Verse 5 אהל/הלל : see Job 25:5, Isaiah 13:10, Job 29:3. This word does not necessarily mean tent. It can be related to light.
Verse 14 איתם this word is often understood as two words put together אהיה תם. Even Shushan lists the word under the root תמם. How do you understand this word?
4. Biblical and rabbinic parallels
General sources: Proverbs 6:23, Micah 7:9, Malachi 3:20
Verse 8: עדות: Exodus 25:22, 31:18, 38:21, I Kings 2:3, Psalms 78:5, 132:12
Verse 10: יראת ה’: Ps. 34:12, 2 Kings 17:25-28, עומדת לעד: Psalm 72:5, 89:37
Verse 11: דבש: Prov. 24:13-14, 16:24, Ezekiel 2:8-3:3, Psalm 119:103
Verse 13: Jeremiah 17:9-10
Verse 14: Psalm 86:14, Prov. 21:24, Malachi 3:15, 19, Psalm 119:51, 69, 78
Verse 15: Exodus 28:38, Leviticus 1:3, Psalm 141:2, Exodus 12:5
Biblical Sources on Worship of Sun -
Deuteronomy 17:3-5
2 Kings 23:5, 11
Ezekiel 8:16-18
(ד) חֲסִידִים וְאַנְשֵׁי מַעֲשֶׂה הָיוּ מְרַקְּדִים לִפְנֵיהֶם בַּאֲבוּקוֹת שֶׁל אוֹר שֶׁבִּידֵיהֶן, וְאוֹמְרִים לִפְנֵיהֶן דִּבְרֵי שִׁירוֹת וְתִשְׁבָּחוֹת. וְהַלְוִיִּם בְּכִנּוֹרוֹת וּבִנְבָלִים וּבִמְצִלְתַּיִם וּבַחֲצוֹצְרוֹת וּבִכְלֵי שִׁיר בְּלֹא מִסְפָּר, עַל חֲמֵשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה מַעֲלוֹת הַיּוֹרְדוֹת מֵעֶזְרַת יִשְׂרָאֵל לְעֶזְרַת נָשִׁים, כְּנֶגֶד חֲמִשָּׁה עָשָׂר שִׁיר הַמַּעֲלוֹת שֶׁבַּתְּהִלִּים, שֶׁעֲלֵיהֶן לְוִיִּים עוֹמְדִין בִּכְלֵי שִׁיר וְאוֹמְרִים שִׁירָה. וְעָמְדוּ שְׁנֵי כֹהֲנִים בַּשַּׁעַר הָעֶלְיוֹן שֶׁיּוֹרֵד מֵעֶזְרַת יִשְׂרָאֵל לְעֶזְרַת נָשִׁים, וּשְׁתֵּי חֲצוֹצְרוֹת בִּידֵיהֶן. קָרָא הַגֶּבֶר, תָּקְעוּ וְהֵרִיעוּ וְתָקָעוּ. הִגִּיעוּ לְמַעְלָה עֲשִׂירִית, תָּקְעוּ וְהֵרִיעוּ וְתָקָעוּ. הִגִּיעוּ לָעֲזָרָה, תָּקְעוּ וְהֵרִיעוּ וְתָקָעוּ. הָיוּ תוֹקְעִין וְהוֹלְכִין, עַד שֶׁמַּגִּיעִין לַשַּׁעַר הַיּוֹצֵא מִזְרָח. הִגִּיעוּ לַשַּׁעַר הַיּוֹצֵא מִמִּזְרָח, הָפְכוּ פְנֵיהֶן לַמַּעֲרָב, וְאָמְרוּ, אֲבוֹתֵינוּ שֶׁהָיוּ בַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה אֲחוֹרֵיהֶם אֶל הֵיכַל ה' וּפְנֵיהֶם קֵדְמָה, וְהֵמָּה מִשְׁתַּחֲוִים קֵדְמָה לַשָּׁמֶשׁ, וְאָנוּ לְיָהּ עֵינֵינוּ. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר, הָיוּ שׁוֹנִין וְאוֹמְרִין, אָנוּ לְיָהּ, וּלְיָהּ עֵינֵינוּ:
(4) Pious people and men of [great] deeds would dance before them with lit torches in their hands, and says before them words of song and praise. And the Levites [would play] with lutes, and harps, and cymbals, and trumpets, and countless musical instruments, upon the fifteen steps which descent into the women's court, corresponding with the fifteen songs of ascents in the Psalms, that upon them the Levites would stand with their musical instruments and sing. And two priests would stand at the upper gate, which descends from the court of the Israelites to the women's court, with two trumpets in their hands. When the rooster [first] crowed, they would blow a tekiyah [a steady blast], and a teruah [a broken blast], and [another] tekiyah. When they arrived at the tenth step, they would [again] blow a tekiyah, and a teruah, and a tekiyah. When they arrived at the court, they would [for a third time] blow a tekiyah, and a teruah, and a tekiyah. They went on, blowing and walking, until they arrived at the gate that goes out to the east. When they arrived at the gate that goes out to the east, they turned their faces westward [towards the Temple], and said, "Our ancestors, who were in this place, their backs were [turned] towards the Temple of Hashem, and their faces eastwards, and they would bow eastward to the sun; but we, our eyes are [raised] towards God." Rabbi Yehudah says: they would repeat and say, "We are for God, and our eyes are towards God."
Additional Biblical verses on this concept:
Exodus 20:4-5, Deuteronomy 4:19, 2 Kings 21:3-5, Jeremiah 8:1-2
5. Setting
The Bible engages in tacit polemic against the basic ideas and concepts that animated the pagan religions Often the technique is to use the very terminology and phraseology of pagan myth or liturgy, empty them of their objectionable content, and transform them to make them compatible with the religion of Israel. (Sarna, pp. 71-72)
Most of the epithets applied to the Torah [in this Psalm] occur as attributes of the sun god in the ancient near eastern literature. (Sarna, p. 83)
Citations from Sarna, Nahum M., Songs of the Heart, (Schocken Books, New York, 1993)
How does Sarnas explanation help you understand the relationship between Torah and Nature as presented in this Psalm?