There are four participants/characters in Psalm 112:
Profile List
| Leader
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| "The man who fears YHWH" (v. 1)
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| "A light" (v. 4)
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| "Righteous one" (v. 6)
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| Offspring
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| "A generation of upright people" (v. 2)
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| Upright Ones
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| "The poor" (v. 9)
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| Wicked
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| "Adversaries" (v. 8)
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Profile Notes
- Leader: The "man who fears YHWH" (v. 1), also referred to as the "righteous one" (v. 6b) and depicted as "a (source of) light" (v. 4a), is probably a king (see discussion here). The description of this man in Ps. 112 closely parallels the description of YHWH in Ps. 111.
- Upright Ones: The upright (v. 4a) are those who live their lives in accordance with YHWH's law. Also known as "the poor" (v. 9a), they are those who lack life's basic necessities and are therefore financially dependent upon others, including especially YHWH (cf. SDBH). Because poverty leads to dependence on YHWH, poverty and uprightness are, in the Biblical world, closely related realities (cf. Ps. 37:14). In Psalm 112, both the upright are the beneficiaries of the man's justice and generosity.
- Wicked: The wicked (v. 10) are those who do not live according to YHWH's law (cf. SDBH). Instead of serving YHWH, they serve their desires (v. 10c), which, under the reign of the man who fears YHWH, will come to an end. The man's adversaries (v. 8b) are probably a foreign power that represents a military threat (see Story behind). In the psalm, both the wicked and the adversaries play a similar role—they both express hostility towards the man—and so they are grouped together here.