Psalm 1/Participant Analysis/Notes
From Psalms: Layer by Layer
Notes
- vv. 1-3. On the identify of the one and his relation to the righteous, see The Identity of the Person in Psalm1:1.
- v. 2b. His instruction or his instruction? Some commentators think that the antecedent of the pronoun in the phrase "his instruction" (v. 2b) is the one rather than YHWH. Rashi, for example, writes, "At first it is called ' YHWH's instruction,' but after he has labored over it it is called his instruction" (מתחלה היא נקראת תורת י״י, ומשעמל בה היא נקראת תורתו). But the parallel between בְּתוֹרַת יְהוָה in v. 2a and בְתוֹרָתוֹ in v. 2b suggests that YHWH is the antecedent of the pronoun in the b-line.
- v. 3b. Its season or its season? The antecedent of the pronoun in the phrase "its season" (עִתּוֹ) is probably the fruit rather than the tree. Cf. Lev 26:4—וְנָתַתִּ֥י גִשְׁמֵיכֶ֖ם בְּעִתָּ֑ם.
- v. 3d. The one, the tree or YHWH? On the subject of the verbs in v. 3d, see The Grammar of Psalm1:3d.