Psalm 1/Notes/Lexical.v. 2.107893

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The key word[1] instruction (תּוׂרָה) has been translated as "law,"[2] "Law,"[3]" instruction,"[4] "Teaching,"[5] "teachings,"[6] and "commands."[7] Given Psalm 1's allusion to Joshua 1:8 and the usage of the phrase "the instruction of YHWH" (תורת יהוה) elsewhere, the phrase probably refers, at the very least, to the written Law of Moses.[8] Yet Psalm 1's use of other biblical books may suggest that the Psalmist had a larger corpus in mind than just the Pentateuch. As Botha notes, "Psalm 1 has made use of a wide variety of texts, most probably all of which were considered to be authoritative material by him: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Psalms, Job, and Proverbs seem to be the most important corpora. All these contexts were probably included when he thought of the ‘Torah’ of Yahweh as the comprehensive teaching of Yahweh in Scripture."[9]

In Psalm 1, where the metaphor of a journey is so dominant, it is also worth noting that the word "instruction" (תּוׂרָה) is related to a Hebrew verb (ירה) which "occurs in such practical contexts as the giving of directions in travel (Gen 46:28)."[10] Indeed, "instruction" (תּוׂרָה) is often associated with the image of walking on a pathway.[11]

  1. ↑ "Our comprehension of this verse and of the whole psalm now depends on the interpretation of the term תורה (Torah)" (Kraus 1988, 116).
  2. ↑ KJV, NIV, NLT, ESV, NEB.
  3. ↑ GNT.
  4. ↑ CSB, ISV.
  5. ↑ CEV.
  6. ↑ GWT.
  7. ↑ NET.
  8. ↑ "At least for the postexilic period, תורת יהוה was regularly associated with a law of Moses, sometimes specified as written. Such a reading would also fit quite well with Ps 1:2, not least if taking Josh 1:8 into consideration" (Willgren 2018, 384-397; cf. Schnittjer 2021: "The allusions in Ps 1:1 and 1:2–3 to Deut 6:7 and Josh 1:8 means that 'Torah' in Ps 1:2 refers to the Mosaic Torah not the Psalter." See also Botha 2005, 503-520; Lefebvre 2016, 439–450.
  9. ↑ Botha 2005; cf. Kraus: "The תורה is the complete, written revelation of the will of God... [T]he תורה in this sense is the authoritatively valid 'Sacred Scripture'" (Kraus 1988, 116).
  10. ↑ NIDOTTE.
  11. ↑ See Exod 16:4; 2 Kgs 10:31; Isa 2:3; 42:24; Ps 119:1, 29; cf. Seow 2013.