Psalm 1

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Beginning of Psalm 1 in the Dagulf Psalter (around 790)

Psalm 1 is part of the (Jewish) Tanakh or the (Christian) Old Testament and the first of a total of 150 psalms in the book of psalms . Psalm 1 is considered the entrance gate to the Psalter and together with Ps 2 forms the “Proömium” of the Psalter.

Antiphon and psalm melody in the IV. Tone to Psalm 1,1 from the Roman Catholic. Praise to God (1975)

heading

Psalm 1 (together with Psalm 2) forms the preamble of the entire book of psalms. Formed into an editorial unit, Psalm 1 and Psalm 2 stand out from the following Psalms in that they have no headings. Which is why Thomas Aquinas writes about this psalm: “Hic Psalmus distinguitur contra totum opus: non enim habet titulum, sed est quasi titulus totius operis. [This psalm differs from the rest of the work: because it has no title, but is, so to speak, the title of the whole work.] "

The text of Psalm 1

verse Biblia Hebraica Standard translation Luther Bible 1912
1 אַשְׁרֵי־הָאִישׁ * אֲשֶׁר לֹא הָלַךְ בַּעֲצַת רְשָׁעִים וּבְדֶרֶךְ חַטָּאִים לֹא עָמָד וּבְמֹושַׁב לֵצִים לֹא יָשָׁב׃ Good for the man who does not follow the advice of the wicked, does not walk on the path of sinners, does not sit in the circle of mockers, Blessed are those who do not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor step on the path of sinners, nor sit when mockers sit,
2 כִּי אִמ * בְּתֹורַת יְהוָה חֶפְצֹו וּבְתֹורָתֹו יֶהְגֶּה יֹוםָם וָלָיְלָה׃ but has joy in the instruction of the Lord, contemplating his instruction day and night. but delights in the law of the Lord, and speaks of his law day and night.
3 וְהָיָה כְּעֵץ שָׁתוּל עַל־פַּלְגֵי מָיִם אֲשֶׁר פִּרְיֹו יִתֵּן בְּעִתֹּו וְעָלֵהוּ לֹא־יִבֹּול וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר־יַעֲשֶׂה יַצְלִיחַ׃ It is like a tree that is planted by streams of water, which bears its fruit at the right time and whose leaves do not wither. Anything he does will turn out fine. It is like a tree, planted by the streams of water, which bears its fruit in due time, and its leaves do not wither; and what he does, that turns out well.
4th לֹא־כֵן הָרְשָׁעִים כִּי אִם־כַּמֹּץ אֲשֶׁר־תִּדְּפֶנּוּ רוּחַ׃ Not so with the wicked: they are like chaff blown by the wind. But the wicked are not like that, but like chaff that the wind scatters.
5 עַל־כֵּן לֹא־יָקֻמוּ רְשָׁעִים בַּמִּשְׁפָּט וְחַטָּאִים בַּעֲדַת צַדִּיקִים׃ That is why the wicked will not stand in judgment, nor will sinners in the church of the righteous. That is why the wicked do not remain in judgment, nor do sinners in the church of the righteous.
6th כִּי־יֹודֵעַ יְהוָה דֶּרֶךְ צַדִּיקִים וְדֶרֶךְ רְשָׁעִים תֹּאבֵד׃ For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads into the abyss. For the LORD knows the way of the righteous; but the wicked way passes away.

Content, form and interpretation

Hermann Gunkel describes this psalm as a "wisdom song". It cannot be determined in more detail with regard to the time of its creation. A post-exilic final version of the Psalm (i.e. everything between the 6th century BC and 3rd century BC) is very likely. The structure of the psalm is easy to understand. Verses 1-3 deal with the life of the righteous; 4–5 of the way of life of the wicked; a final justification follows in verse 6. From “A to Z” - the first word begins with אַ ( Aleph ) and the last word with תֹּ ( Taw ) - this psalm offers a holistic doctrine of the believer's life, which is further elaborated and explored throughout the entire book of psalms.

In terms of content, this wisdom psalm describes two opposing paths in life (cf. Jer 17 : 5–8  EU ), on which man can travel: a good path and a bad one. The way of the Word of God is the good way in which life succeeds; the path of mockers, wrongdoers and sinners leads into the abyss and fails. However, the final statement (1,6a) in particular leaves open how the knowledge of YHWH actually takes place and how the path of the righteous should run. The optimism, which at first glance appears very simple, therefore unfolds as less transparent. The optimism expressed in this psalm comes less from its clear guidelines for a blissful life. Rather, it is carried by the awareness of being-based in God. "This is how it sounds in Ps 1," write Hossfeld and Zenger, "that the Psalms are signposts in a life threatened by evil and evil, which has its deepest reason for hope that YHWH is 'there'."

The decisive guide to the righteous is without a doubt the תּוֹרָה ( Torah ). This “instruction” is to be understood as a completed, written declaration of God's will, which can be read out ( Dtn 31,9–11  EU ) and read ( Jos 1,7  EU ). But it can also - more than just a written collection of words - be understood abstractly as a “gracious revelation of God's will”. He who takes pleasure in this “instruction” from God and who recites and recites it, will be like a tree that is firmly rooted in the world. “It does not mean 'planted' here,” says the Midrash Tehillim (Jewish interpretations of the Psalm), “but: שָׁתוּל ('instituted') to teach you that even all storms, when they come and blow him, do not able to move from its place. ”. The one who fears God will not be like chaff, which blows the wind in a thousand directions. Rather, he will be like a steadfast tree, above the capricious times and weather. Such a person will constantly strive towards God with his crown full of sky-high thoughts and at the same time not forget that he is one who is rooted and perishable in the world. Therefore, whoever recites the Psalms, reads them and deals with God's instructions on a daily basis, will, according to Psalm 1, grow and live in the world in a balanced and well-founded manner.

In this religious scripture there is neither a childish, optimistic, divine determinism , nor an arbitrary, hidden God at work. Here people do not swim hopelessly in a "drunken flood that surrounds the soul" ( Gottfried Benn ); Here, too, man is not caught under the resolution of “the Immortal Council”, which “destined man to perish, that he would become a song of the grandchildren” ( Homer ); he still lives in a polytheistic world that can be thrown upside down at any time by a disruptive power like Fortuna with a "sharp flutter of wings" ( Horace ). Rather, it shows a conception of God that is guided by the belief that YHWH is a power that participates positively and actively in life in the world by allowing man to be guided by him. If man thinks and lives towards this power, he escapes an inner distraction and lives in harmony with himself and the world. In short: This psalm achieves, in the words of Jürgen Habermas , an "articulation of an awareness of what is missing [in modern times]."

literature

Introductions

Comments

  • Frank-Lothar Hossfeld , Erich Zenger : The Psalms I. Psalm 1-50. (= NEB.AT 29) Würzburg 1993.
  • Artur Weiser : The Psalms (= series Das Alte Testament Deutsch, Volume 14/15), Göttingen 1935 (7th edition 1966)
  • Alfons Deissler : The Psalms. Düsseldorf: Patmos 1963.1964.1965 (7th edition 1993). ISBN 3-491-69062-5
  • Heinrich Groß, Heinz Reinelt: The Book of Psalms. Part I (Ps 1-72), Part II (Ps 73-150). (= Spiritual reading, Volume 18 / 1.2). Leipzig: St. Benno 1979.
  • Erhard S. Gerstenberger : Psalms. Part I (Ps 1-60). The Forms of the Old Testament Literature. Grand Rapids 1991.

Essays

  • Bernd Janowski : Enjoyment of the Torah. Psalm 1 as the gateway to the Psalter . In: Evangelische Theologie 67 (2007), pp. 18–31.
  • Rainer Gregor Kratz: The Torah of David. Psalm 1 and the doxological division of the Psalter into five. In: Zeitschrift für Theologie und Kirche 93 (1996), pp. 1–34.
  • Beat Weber : The contribution of Psalm 1 to a “Theology of Scripture” . In: Yearbook for Evangelical Theology 20 (2006), pp. 83–113.
  • Beat Weber: Psalm 1 as the gateway to YHWH's Torah. How Ps 1 (and Ps 2) connects the Psalter to the Pentateuch . In: Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament 21 (2007), pp. 179-200.
  • Josef Wehrle: Ps 1 - The gateway to the Psalter. Exegesis and theological focuses , in: Münchener Theologische Zeitschrift 46 (1995), pp. 215–229.
  • John T. Willis: Psalm 1 - An Entity , in: Journal of Old Testament Science 81 (1979), pp. 381-401.

Settings

Web links

Commons : Psalm 1  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Psalm text and translations

Psalm settings

Sermons and Commentaries on Psalm 1

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Thomas Aquinas: Super Psalmo 1 , in: “In psalmos Davidis expositio” http://www.corpusthomisticum.org/cps01.html
  2. ↑ Hermann Gunkel: The Psalms . Göttingen 1926, p. 1 .
  3. ↑ Hans-Joachim Kraus: Psalms 1-63 . 1st subband. Neukirchen-Vluyn 1972, p. 2 f .
  4. ↑ Frank-Lothar Hossfeld, Erich Zenger: The Psalms . 1, Psalm 1-50. Würzburg 1993, p. 46 .
  5. ↑ Gerhard von Rad: Theology of the Old Testament (=  Kaiser pocket books . Volume 2 ). Munich 1992, p. 235 .
  6. ↑ Midrash Tehillim or Haggadic Explanation of the Psalms, based on the text edition by Salomon Buber, trans. v. Aug. Wünsche, Vol. 1, Trier 1892, p. 9
  7. ↑ Gottfried Benn : Drunken Flood . In: Drunken Flood. Selected poems . Wiesbaden 1949, p. 8 .
  8. ↑ "τὸν δὲ θεοὶ μὲν τεῦξαν, ἐπεκλώσαντο δ 'ὄλεθρον ἀνθρώποισ', ἵνα ᾖσι καὶ ἐσσομένοισιν ἀοιδ5ή80" Homer, Odyssey
  9. ↑ "rapax / Fortuna cum stridore acuto sustulit" Horaz, Ode I, 34
  10. ↑ Jürgen Habermas: Between Naturalism and Religion. Philosophical essays (=  Suhrkamp-Taschenbuch Wissenschaft . Volume 1918 ). Frankfurt am Main 2009, p. 13 .