Psalm 1/Synopsis
(This is an attempt at a summary analysis, consolidating the most relevant information from the main page and anticipatory to structural & rhetorical outline. These are therefore preliminary attempts at connecting structural/rhetorical devices and derived interpretation.)
Summary/Synopsis of main page
Canonical Context
Psalm 1 is both a complete Psalm and half of the larger complex, Psalm 1—2. This requires a nesting of the 'main point' within the 'main point' of the two Psalms.
Structure of message
The assumption here is that, when the message is reduced to its simplest, the rhetorical strategies used are irrelevant. But when one seeks the details of the message, the rhetorical strategies are essential. In the below, only at the third most basic does the structure of the psalm become relevant.
|
Success comes from God |
>> |
Success
|
>> |
|
Structure of imagery
The primary opening and closing imagery is a mixture of motion and pathways (representing an individual making decisions) and judicial imagery (decisions being made about an individual). The inner imagery is agricultural, both success (fruitfulness) and failure (vanishing like chaff).
| Verse | Motion & pathway | Judicial | Agricultural | Function |
| 1 | walk/stand in way/sit in seat | advice/sit in seat | defines the righteous (negatively) | |
| 2 | Torah | defines the righteous (positively) | ||
| 3 | tree, water, fruit, season, foliage, wither | defines success | ||
| 4 | chaff, wind blows | defines failure (agriculturally) | ||
| 5 | stand | judgment, assembly | defines failure (judicially) | |
| 6 | way/way | summary outcome of both |
Message of the imagery
|
Decisions determine success |
>> |
Decisions made by an individual
|
>> |
|
|
Flow
The Psalm opens with motion and pathway imagery representing wrong decision-making tied with wrong group membership: choose which advice to follow, which leads to choosing with which group to identify, which leads to proclaiming membership in that group. By contrast, in place of a progression culminating in anything good, all that matters is: Torah. Torah alone (not group membership) must be the central passion (and, consequently, guide to life). Those who cling to Torah can expect ongoing success. The wicked (who reject Torah) should expect to not last. Like chaff, they will quickly disappear from the scene, unable to maintain their case in any judgment situation. Verse 6 reveals the reason for the two different fates: the intimate relationship with the Lord identifies the righteous (and is the reason for success), while those without, the wicked, can only perish.
Phonology
Phonologically, the most prominent feature is the אשרי / רשע play, aptly recognised by Fokkelman as linking the two righteous and wicked in reverse: the one is praised and the other condemned. The interpretive value may be in the representation of reality: are there two separate groups, the righteous and wicked, and one needs membership in the correct group? Or is the image of an ongoing series of events requiring decisions to be made, and the 'way' of the righteous describes one method of decision-making and the 'way' of the wicked is the reverse (same events, different decisions made)? The goal of the Psalm would be quite different: that one needs to be vigilant to adhere to the right kind of decision-making rather than seek a given group membership.
The alliteration between יהגה יומם and פלגי מים seems deliberate: the water is the source of life for the tree, enabling it to prosper and bear fruit. Consuming Torah is the source of life for the blessed, enabling them to bear fruit. The wisdom encapsulated here is not a checklist of laws required of the righteous, but rather implicit warnings and one explicit command: keep Torah on your lips. The 'law/Torah' is not here something to be done, but rather a source of speech/meditation/thought/reasoning (and, consequently, life). The path to success that emerges is not one that flows from 'making the right decisions' but rather from being planted in the right place: in Torah.
The logical flow is twofold, which is throughout the Psalter:
- Torah > right decisions > success
- Lord in relationship with righteous > success
This is the source of much tension which must be maintained: people are commanded to live by Torah and told success will come thereby, but simultaneously success comes only from the Lord's intimate involvement in our lives. This tension must not be dispelled by a notion of 'two ways' in which all we need to do is choose the right way.
Lexical & Verbal Semantics
The most pregnant wordplay in the Psalm may be the 'fruit' borne by the righteous because the Lord 'knows' their way. To 'know' is to be in intimate relationship with, and a successful intimate relationship produces fruit. This is not inherently sexual, but rather a sexual relationship is the physical manifestation of this idea (with children the physical 'fruit'). The overarching theme is thus: those who refrain from evil ways but devote themselves to Torah are known intimately by God, and this relationship brings forth ever-new fruit of success. This marries the pathway and agricultural imagery.
The image of a 'path' or 'way' is challenging because it can be interpreted so variously. If the first verse is viewed as markedly past or perfect, it might seem the righteous is one who in the past has rejected the way of the wicked (and has now embraced the way of the righteous). If viewed as markedly imperfective, the righteous are those who continually reject the ways of the wicked: day and night choosing instead to devote themselves to Torah. By contrast, if this is an unmarked/perfective, it could simply be those who reject the ways of the wicked with no further nuance implied: neither past tense nor ongoing aspect. In my (Elizabeth's) mind, this can lead decisively to interpretations, good or bad. If past/perfect, there risks being little urgency to continue rejecting wickedness. If imperfective, it's hard to justify the translation from what we know of Hebrew grammar. The unmarked verb seems most likely, which allows for imperfective meaning but does not mark it, which suggests the unmarked verb of the target language should also be used.
The definition of the group later termed 'righteous' is those who refrain from the ways of the wicked and embrace the Torah. Alignment with the Torah of the Lord is everything. If the righteous are defined as those aligned with the Torah, then one cannot claim membership within the righteous unless one is also aligned with Torah.
(Rejected) Progression of wickedness
Go in the way > stand in the path > sit in the seat hints both at the inevitable progression of engagement with wickedness, once chosen (start with standing, and it will end up with being entrenched, sitting), as well as the nature of the wickedness (resulting in mockery, despising wisdom rather than embracing it).
(Chosen) progression of righteousness
If one has devoted oneself to Torah, the progression is transplanting to an ever-present source of life > fruitfulness > lack of withering > all-around success.
Alternative: Chaff
The brevity of v. 4 compared to v. 3 adds subtle weight to the point: whereas the righteous will succeed in a lasting form, the wicked will not last.
Conclusions
Key issues
- The semantics of 'way' imagery and group membership in the 'wicked' or 'righteous' and possible misunderstandings
- The semantics of 'know': not semantically passive (the Lord 'recognises') but rather agentive (the Lord is intimately involved and in fact causes the success)
Still needed
There is an immense amount of structural information that needs to be more intuitively displayed: mostly graphically. All of the phonology and repetitions need to be displayed visually so as to not be bewildering and have the forest lost for the trees. Also, the structural value needs to be ranked, at least as to whether the features determine, reinforce or simply echo structures actually determined otherwise.
Possibilities include: (mixing both colour & shape to draw attention to the pattern) [note: this was done in tedious HTML, but there are better ways to do it!]
- For א/ע-שׁ-ר, in which all 3 is red and fewer is pink (just the first 2 verses):
| 1 | X-x
X . . x X . . . . x . . x |
| 2 | . . . . x
. . . . |