Psalm 1/Features

Diagnostic Questions

Rhetorical questions

(none)

Distribution of divine names

יְהוָ֗ה only in v. 2 (בְּתֹורַ֥ת יְהוָ֗ה) and v. 6 (יֹודֵ֣עַ יְ֭הוָה דֶּ֣רֶךְ צַדִּיקִ֑ים). No other words for God. The Lord is thus the genitive for the Torah, the object of the blessed one's study, and also the one in the end 'knowing' the way of the righteous. By implication, the Lord 'knowing' the way of the righteous is what causes it to prosper, for the flip side is that the way of the wicked perishes. Any semantic nuance is more on the side of 'knowing' than the name, 'LORD'.

Structurally, the divine name frames vv. 2-6, if v. 1 is considered an opening, introducing the main body.

Changes in perspective

Third person throughout. The subjects are:

• the blessed man > the tree that represents him
• the wicked > the wind that blows away chaff representing them > wicked/sinners
• the LORD
• way of the wicked

(The last two form one couplet, whereas the first two each form, separately, multiple cola.)

Change in addressee

No second-person forms or vocatives. The topic shifts, as seen above:

• blessed one (subject)
• wicked one (patient)
• closing
  • wicked (subject w/ negative verb)
  • righteous (object, known by God)
  • wicked (effective subject)

Change in semantic roles

(Righteous as agent / positive undergoer)

1. The blessed (righteous) avoids the wicked's ways.
2. The righteous seeks the Torah of the LORD.
3. He will prosper like a tree.
   (Wicked as patient & wind as agent)
4. The wicked are like chaff
5. Which the wind blows away
   (The LORD as experiencer > implied agent / way of the wicked as undergoer)
6. The wicked will not withstand judgment, nor sinners the assembly of the righteous
7. The Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked perishes

There is a shift from agency (especially active, deliberate choices of the righteous) to the passivity of the wicked, who only receives his due. The only time the wicked are a subject is denying their ability to survive judgment.

>> The Lord has an implicit role, which may set up the book of Psalms: his agency does need to be explicit in order to be present. He is the source of the Torah which leads to good choices, and he is the one overseeing and thus ensuring the results. The wicked doesn't need to do anything additional to receive the punishment for his wickedness: it comes as a natural result to his prior choices to become wicked.

Distribution of verb TAM

The negative choices of the righteous are all qatal forms, and the rest of the psalm entirely yiqtol/weqatal/participle. The semantics fit with present perfect for v. 1: these are things the righteous 'have not done', whereas v. 2 has what the righteous do and the rest of the psalm has the results that 'will/do happen' to the general classes of righteous & wicked. The split is thus

• past/perfective (what has not happened, v. 1)
• present habitual (verbless & yiqtol) for the righteous
• present habitual / future for the results

This means every verb is non-specific: it either refers to the class of the righteous/wicked or it refers to a typical behaviour/action of the LORD. The entire psalm speaks in categories, rather than specifics.

The implications are myriad, in terms of the regularity and reliability of how people's decisions / alignment with righteousness or wickedness bring on their own results.

>> The purpose of this psalm is not to instruct on proper actions (although that is covered briefly and is an assumption); the purpose of this psalm is to instruct on the outcomes of one's prior choices.

Appearance of the imperative

(none)

Paragogic he and nun

(none)

Long wayyiqtol

(none)

Distribution of verb stem types

All verbs are qal apart from v. 3, in which יַצְלִֽיחַ may be parsed as either an intransitive hiphil ('whatever he does prospers') or causative hiphil ('whatever he does [God] causes to prosper'). The natural reading of the text is the former, however, for one would expect a direct object marker before the כֹ֖ל אֲשֶׁר־יַעֲשֶׂ֣ה or something to indicate it is not the subject of what follows.

>> Notably, then, there is no outside agency reflected in the verbal forms: there is no hint that people may deflect responsibility for their actions. Simple verb forms convey simple truths about reality.

Repetition/distribution of exact words/phrases/roots

For nouns:

• רְ֭שָׁעִים has 4 occurrences (חַ֭טָּאִים has 2 and לֵ֝צִ֗ים has 1), for 7 for the semantic group of the 'wicked'
• דֶּ֣רֶךְ has 3
• יְהוָ֗ה has 2, as well as תוֹרָה (for a total of 4 for the LORD/law)
• צַדִּיקִ֑ים has 2

Distribution of semantically-themed words/phrases

The sequence רְשָׁ֫עִ֥ים / חַ֭טָּאִים / לֵ֝צִ֗ים is all introduced in v. 1 as that which the blessed/righteous person shuns. It seems to go from generic to specific, with the mocker being the one who despises wisdom, the polar opposite of the one who seeks wisdom in the Torah. The intensification of their accompanying verbs, הָלַךְ֮ / עָמָ֑ד / יָשָֽׁב, starts with a fairly generic verb and proceeds to a specific semantic notion of 'sitting' and even 'dwelling', given more weight with the cognate noun 'seat/dwelling'. The frame is one of righteousness: 'blessed is the one who does not . . .' but then the next 3 lines are all stepping further into wickedness. The righteous is actively choosing to avoid these, suggesting that the first thing a seeker of blessing must do is:

>> To stop all things leading to wickedness and, then, one can devote oneself to the Torah.

>> The source of wisdom is not in oneself / humans (as the mocker might presume) but rather in the Torah alone.

The negative structure of intensification is a foil for a positive intensification of the tree, which

• is planted by water,
• bears fruit in season,
• has foliage that doesn't wither,
• and prospers in all things.

This whole prospering of the tree is contrasted with its semantic opposite, both in terms of agriculture (tree brings food, chaff is inedible and useless) and morality (righteous vs wicked). Interestingly, the agricultural object used as an analogy for the righteous is not grain or the crops we tend to perceive of as regularly sown and harvested, but rather that which is planted once (e.g. olive/fig tree) and carefully tended over the years. If שָׁת֪וּל is to be understood as 'transplanted', then there may be in view a former position/life of the tree/person, such that the it needs to be removed from its former context and placed in a new context in order to flourish. This would fit with a sense of rejecting wickedness to devote oneself to the Torah. Note the asymmetry: rejecting walking/standing/sitting among the wicked in order to delight in/meditate on the Torah. There isn't even any 'walking according to the Law of the Lord' but only delighting in it and meditating on it day and night.

>> This psalm is not about our actions but rather our allegiance.

יֹומָ֥ם וָלָֽיְלָה is the timeframe for meditating on the Torah: a merism indicating 'at all times'. If walking/standing/sitting might refer to different parts of life, each of which requires rejecting wickedness, there is no part of life that excludes the Torah.

The psalm begins with the righteous being declared blessed because he rejects the ways of the wicked, while it ends with the wicked being excluded from the assembly of the righteous. One must choose either to reject or to be rejected; either:

• reject wickedness > choose righteousness, or
• choose wicked > be rejected from the righteous

(To consider: 'judgment' > 'place of judgment' > courts/city gates, with or without eschatological overtones?)

The metaphor of 'The Way' is used extensively, from walk/stand/sit to explicit uses of 'way', with the culmination of the psalm that Lord 'knowing' the way of the righteous but the way of the wicked perishing. A title for the psalm might be: 'The Way of the Righteous v the Way of the Wicked'.

Rare / Uncommon words

• אַ֥שְֽׁרֵי־הָאִ֗ישׁ — 'formal introduction of a blessing' per Zimmerli ZAW 51:185 (pursue)
• שָׁת֪וּל (see above)

Distribution of negative markers

• Verse one has a threefold לֹ֥א : the blessed one does not walk, does not stand, does not sit with the wicked.
• In v. 3, the foliage of the (righteous) tree does not wither.
• "Not so" (like the prospering tree) are the wicked, v. 4.
• Consequently, the wicked will 'not' stand in judgment / or sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

The first occurrences of negative markers are all the righteous either abstaining from wicked behaviour or experiencing the absence of results of wicked behaviour. The last two are the wicked not experiencing the results of righteousness.