The Sabbath Day in Ps 92

Introduction

The superscription of Psalm 92 is unique in its mention of the Sabbath day:

מִזְמ֥וֹר שִׁ֗יר לְי֣וֹם הַשַּׁבָּֽת׃ "A psalm. A song for the Sabbath day."

Despite suggestions that the psalm itself––both its text and interpretation––has evolved to follow the liturgical use indicated by the superscription, we find only plausible that the liturgical use suggested by the superscription and indicated from very early traditions reflect the text of the psalm itself, its theme and message. The pertinent question, then, is how Sabbath is reflected in the message of the psalm, which has received numerous interpretations, "taking us from the beginning of history to its end." We discuss two primary possibilities below.

Creation

The Sabbath makes reference to and is a celebration of the seventh day of creation.

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[Creation]: The superscription of Ps 92 highlights its thematic connections to creation and the following day of rest.#dispreferred
 + <Creation language>: v. 5 speaks of "the work of your hands," which can refer to creation elsewhere.#dispreferred
  + [Ps 102:26]: לְ֭פָנִים הָאָ֣רֶץ יָסַ֑דְתָּ וּֽמַעֲשֵׂ֖ה יָדֶ֣יךָ שָׁמָֽיִם "Long ago your established the earth. Heaven is the work of your hands."
  <_ <Ps 95:9>: In the literary co-text, similarly terms (though lacking "hands") may instead refer to the Exodus and wilderness provision, as in Ps 95:9 (רָא֥וּ פָעֳלִֽי "they saw my works").
 + <Chaos motif>: v. 10 finds striking parallels in Ugaritic literature, which speaks of Baal's victory over his enemies, indicating the adoption of this motif to describe YHWH establishing his dominance over creation (Sarna 1962 :A:; Friedmann 2020, 248 :A:). The same theme is central to Ps 93, which follows 92 and the two are considered a unit, recited together in both Ashkenazi and Sephardic Sabbath liturgy (Boeckler 2015 :A:).#dispreferred
  + [Chaos motif]: v. 10: כִּ֤י הִנֵּ֪ה אֹיְבֶ֡יךָ׀ יְֽהוָ֗ה כִּֽי־הִנֵּ֣ה אֹיְבֶ֣יךָ יֹאבֵ֑דוּ יִ֝תְפָּרְד֗וּ כָּל־פֹּ֥עֲלֵי אָֽוֶן (For look, YHWH, for look, your enemies will perish; all evildoers will be scattered); CTA IV (68) 8-9: ht ibk b'lm ht ibk tmẖṣ ht tṣmt ṣrtk (Now your enemy, O Baal, Now your enemy will you smite, Now will you cut off your adversary; Avishur 1994, 235 :M:).#dispreferred
  <_ <Judg 5:31>: Notwithstanding the verb-gapping parallelism, the same phraseology may be borrowed from Judg 5:31: יֹאבְד֤וּ כָל־אוֹיְבֶ֙יךָ֙ יְהוָ֔ה "All your enemies will perish, YHWH."
  <_ <Verb tenses>: The verb forms are best understood future yiqtols both in Ps 92:10 and CTA IV (68), so cannot readily refer to a past victory over chaos in Ps 92.

Eschaton (Preferred)

The Sabbath makes reference to and is an anticipation of the future state, which will be perfect rest.

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[Eschaton]: The superscription of Ps 92 highlights its thematic connections to the perfect state of the future Sabbath (Athanasius :C:, cited in Delitszch 1877, 66; Theodoret of Cyrus :C:; Rashi :C:; Delitszch 1877 :C:).
 + <Vindication language>: The language of the psalm is comparable to that of Pss 37 and 73 (Alonso Schökel 1992 :C:), encouraging those struggling with the apparent flourishing of the wicked (vv. 7-8; Theodoret of Cyrus :C:; Delitszch 1877 :C:; Vogel 2000, 217 :A:).
  + [Ps 73 parallels]: See Ps 73:17 (עַד־אָ֭בוֹא אֶל־מִקְדְּשֵׁי־אֵ֑ל אָ֝בִ֗ינָה לְאַחֲרִיתָֽם "Until I went into the holy place of God, I began to understand their end") and 92:14 (שְׁ֭תוּלִים בְּבֵ֣ית יְהוָ֑ה בְּחַצְר֖וֹת אֱלֹהֵ֣ינוּ יַפְרִֽיחוּ "Being transplanted in the house of YHWH, they will flourish in the courtyards of our God"); Ps 73:22 (וַאֲנִי־בַ֭עַר וְלֹ֣א אֵדָ֑ע "But I was stupid and I did not know") and 92:7 (אִֽישׁ־בַּ֭עַר לֹ֣א יֵדָ֑ע "As stupid man does not know"); Ps 73:26 (צוּר־לְבָבִ֥י וְחֶלְקִ֗י אֱלֹהִ֥ים לְעוֹלָֽם "The rock of my heart and my portion will be God forever") and 92:16 (יָשָׁ֣ר יְהוָ֑ה צ֝וּרִ֗י "YHWH, my rock, is fair"); 73:23 (כִּֽי־הִנֵּ֣ה רְחֵקֶ֣יךָ יֹאבֵ֑דוּ "For look, those distant from you will perish") and 92:10 (כִּֽי־הִנֵּ֣ה אֹיְבֶ֣יךָ יֹאבֵ֑דוּ "For look, your enemies will perish").
  + [Ps 37 parallels]: See Ps 37:2 (כִּ֣י כֶ֭חָצִיר מְהֵרָ֣ה יִמָּ֑לוּ וּכְיֶ֥רֶק דֶּ֝֗שֶׁא יִבּוֹלֽוּן׃ "For they will soon wither like grass, and they will fade like green leaves on plants") and 92:8 (בִּפְרֹ֤חַ רְשָׁעִ֨ים׀ כְּמ֥וֹ עֵ֗שֶׂב וַ֭יָּצִיצוּ כָּל־פֹּ֣עֲלֵי אָ֑וֶן לְהִשָּֽׁמְדָ֥ם עֲדֵי־עַֽד "when wicked people flourish like a green plant and any evildoers prosper, (it is) for them to be destroyed forever"); Ps 37:20 (כִּ֤י רְשָׁעִ֨ים׀ יֹאבֵ֗דוּ וְאֹיְבֵ֣י יְ֭הוָה כִּיקַ֣ר כָּרִ֑ים "For the wicked will perish, and YHWH’s enemies (will perish) like flowers in a pasture") and 92:10 (כִּ֤י הִנֵּ֪ה אֹיְבֶ֡יךָ׀ יְֽהוָ֗ה כִּֽי־הִנֵּ֣ה אֹיְבֶ֣יךָ יֹאבֵ֑דוּ "For look, your enemies, YHWH; for look, your enemies will perish").
 + <Ancient Traditions>: The Mishna claims that the psalm is a song concerning the future Sabbath rest.
  + [Ancient Traditions]: Mishna Tamid 7:4: "On Shabbat (the Levites) would recite the psalm beginning: “A psalm, a song for Shabbat day” (Psalms, chapter 92). This is interpreted as a psalm, a song for the future, for the day that will be entirely Shabbat and rest for everlasting life (מִזְמוֹר שִׁיר לֶעָתִיד לָבֹא, לְיוֹם שֶׁכֻּלּוֹ שַׁבָּת מְנוּחָה לְחַיֵּי הָעוֹלָמִים)."
 + <Ps 95>: The psalm is closely followed by Ps 95, which speaks of entering into YHWH's future rest (cf. Heb 4:9: "there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God," ESV).
  + [Ps 95:9, 11]: גַּם־רָא֥וּ פָעֳלִֽי׃ ... אִם־יְ֝בֹא֗וּן אֶל־מְנוּחָתִֽי "They even saw my works... they shall not enter into my rest."

Conclusion (A)

Despite the apparent allusion to creation language in "the work of your hands" in Ps 92:5, and the Ugaritic parallel with v. 10, it seems, rather, that the pattern of order in creation was supplementary to the order which YHWH will one day bring about in the perfect future Sabbath. If the Sabbath reference were simply a celebration of the previous victory over chaos, it would make little sense of the ongoing tension of the psalm.

The hope of the psalm, in parallel fashion to both Pss 37 and 73 (which both share much common languages with Ps 92) is that one day all wrongs will be made right. It is thus preferable to follow the tradition attested in Mishna Tamid 7:4, and continued by Rashi, in understanding the Sabbath reference of Ps 92 to point towards the eschaton and future restoration of all justice. This is apparent in the psalm's message, which encourages the righteous to consider the wicked's future destruction (vv. 7-8), but their own future flourishing (vv. 9-16). The psalm's final didactic note states that the result of this future flourishing will be in order to declare that YHWH is, in fact, fair (v. 16)––a timely reminder, perhaps against the apparent evidence of the present.

Research

Secondary Literature

Alonso Schökel, Luis. 1992. Salmos: Salmos 73-150. Estella: Verbo Divino.

Avishur, Yitzhak. 1994. Studies in Hebrew and Ugaritic Psalms. Jerusalem: Magnes Press.

Boeckler, Annette M. 2015. "The Liturgical Understanding of Psalms in Judaism: Demonstrated with Samples from Psalms 90-106, with a Special Focus on Psalm 92, Mizmor shir leYom haShabbat." European Judaism: A Journal for the New Europe 48, no. 2: 70-82.

Delitzsch, Franz. 1877. Biblical Commentary on the Psalms. Edinburgh: T&T Clark.

Friedmann, Jonathan L. 2020. "Psalm 92, Shabbat, and the Temple." JBQ 48, no. 4: 245-252.

Gillingham, Susan E. 2014. "The Levites and the Editorial Composition of the Psalms." Pages 200-213 in The Oxford Handbook of the Psalms. William P. Brown (ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Hitzig, Ferdinand. 1863. Die Psalmen: Übersetzt und Ausgelegt. Leipzig und Heidelberg: C. F. Winter’sche Verlagshandlung.

Hossfeld, Frank-Lothar & Zenger, Erich. 2005. Psalms 2: A Commentary on Psalms 51-100. Trans. Linda M. Maloney. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.

Kirkpatrick, Alexander F. 1903. The Book of Psalms: Books IV and V. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Radak (Kimchi, David) on Psalms.

Rashi (Yitzchaki, Shlomo) on Psalms.

Sarna, Nahum. S. 1962. "The Psalm for the Sabbath Day (Ps 92)." JBL 81, no. 2: 155-168.

Simon, Uriel. 1991. Four Approaches to the Book of Psalms: From Saadiah Gaon to Abraham Ibn Ezra. New York, NY: State University of New York.

Stec, David M. 2004. The Targum of Psalms: Translated with a Critical Introduction, Apparatus and Notes. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press.

Theodoret of Cyrus, 2001. Commentary on the Psalms: Psalms 73-150. Trans. Robert C. Hill. Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press.

Trudinger, Peter. 2003. The Psalms of the Tamid Service: A Liturgical Text from the Second Temple. Boston: Brill.

Vogel, Dan. 2000. "A Psalm for the Sabbath? A Literary View of Psalm 92." JBQ 28, no. 4: 211-221.

References

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