Psalm 145

Ludwig Richter (1866), illustration for the verses, often used as grace , "All eyes are waiting for you ..."
( Ps 145.15–16  EU )

The 145th Psalm is in the fifth book of the Psalter in the Bible . It is headed as EIN PRAISE OF DAVID and thus belongs to the group of the David psalms .

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The theme of the psalm is the rule of God. First, the psalmist praises God and urges all generations to praise his works (verses 1-6). He praised the Lord for his grace, mercy, and goodness, which he showed to all (verses 8–9), and extolled his kingship, so that his great deeds could be known to all people (verses 10–12). He praises the reliability and faithfulness of God (v. 13) and reminds us that God stands by the downcast (v. 14). Verses 15 and 16 address God directly. It deals with trust in God and the gift of food. Then the righteousness of God is praised (v. 17) and God's closeness to all who call on him (v. 18). Help for the righteous and the punishment of the wicked are addressed (verses 19-20), before the last verse calls again to praise God (verse 21).

Stylistic peculiarities

The psalm is an alphabetical poetry . As with various other psalms (e.g. Psalm 25 or 119 ) in the original Hebrew text, the first letters of the individual verses follow the Hebrew alphabet .

However, the נ Nun verse is missing in the Masoretic text . However , it is present in the LXX and in 11QPs ^a . It reads: πιστὸς κύριος ἐν τοῖς λόγοις αὐτοῦ καὶ ὅσιος ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἔργοις αὐτοῦ .

Rabbinical literature

In the Babylonian Talmud the following is told about the peculiarity of the Psalm:

"Rabbi Eleazar said in the name of Rabbi Avina: 'Everyone who speaks “ A song of praise to David ”three times a day ( Ps 145.1  EU ) is promised to belong to the world to come.' What is the reason for that? If you want to say that he goes according to the alphabet, say 'Blessed are those whose way is without blame' ( Ps 119 : 1  EU ), for he goes eight times [according to the alphabet]. But [when you say], because it contains 'You open your hand' ( Ps 145,16 EU ), say the great praise ( Ps 116  EU ), because in it it says ' Who  gives food to all flesh' ( Ps 136.25  EU ). But [in Ps 145] there are both. Rabbi Jochanan said: 'Why does Ps 145 not begin a verse with [the letter] Well ? Because it deals with the fall of Israel, as it is said, “She has fallen and will not rise again, the virgin Israel” ”( Am 5,2  EU ). In the West [in Palestine] it is interpreted this way: it has fallen, but it will not fall again; get up, virgin Israel! Rab Nachman bar Jizchaq said: 'Here too David went and helped with the Holy Spirit, when it says: “The Lord supports all who fall”' ( Ps 145,14  EU ). "

- Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Berachot, chapter 1, page 4b

Psalm 145 is so outstanding that it should be spoken three times a day, because the first letters of its verses are in alphabetical order and because it contains a request for food. The question is asked why there is no verse that begins with the letter nun . The reason is that this letter is associated with the fall of Israel ( נָפְלָה n āfəlāh , German 'fallen' ). This fall is softened by the following verse "The LORD supports all who fall" ( Ps 145 : 14  EU ).

Web links

Commons : Psalm 145  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Psalm 145 in the standard translation , the Luther Bible and other translations from bibleserver.com
• Psalm 145 in the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS) on bibelwissenschaft.de
• Sheet music in the public domain of settings for Psalm 145 in the Choral Public Domain Library - ChoralWiki (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Psalm 145: 13a in the Septuagint (144 LXX)
2. ↑ Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Berachot, Chapter 1, Page 4b , on sefaria.org.il (Hebrew and English).