Translated by Qwen.
Introduction: The Excellence of the Psalm
This psalm is most excellent, in which David compares himself to a sheep, but God to a shepherd—which comparison is beautiful in the mouth of David, who was once a shepherd himself. He also adorns this poem with another comparison, namely, that of a host who liberally receives a guest or traveler, with whom he compares God. But by both comparisons he wishes to show how much care God has for him.
It appears altogether that this psalm was composed by David when, his enemies having been defeated and his kingdom established, he was enjoying leisure and happy peace; for the entire discourse of this psalm seems to proceed from a peaceful and tranquil soul. Here David does not, as is his custom, lament his calamities, but only gives thanks to God and sweetly delights himself in Him, whom alone he acknowledges as the author and likewise the preserver of his prosperous state.
Ps 23:1: "The Lord is my shepherd..."
"The Lord is my shepherd, and I shall not want..." (v. 1)
The sum of the entire poem is contained in this verse. For he pours forth once, from a mighty affection of soul, all that which he is about to say at greater length, and which, according to his poetic custom, he will afterwards amplify.
"I certainly know," he says, "that nothing will ever be lacking to me, since I have God as my shepherd."
Moreover, he affirms this from experience, inasmuch as he had hitherto sensed God to be disposed toward him with the same affection with which a shepherd is disposed toward his sheep. To this pertains that passage from Isaiah 40:11: "Like a shepherd He will feed His flock; the Lord will gather the lambs with His arm, and He will lift them—or carry them—in His bosom; He will gently lead those that are with young."
"My shepherd": Greek: ποιμαίνει με ("He feeds me"); Latin: "He rules me."
Ps 23:2-3: The Shepherd's Provision
"In grassy shelters... He makes me lie down." (v. 2)
[Hebrew: In pastures of tender grass He makes me recline.]
It seems to refer especially to the midday resting of sheep, which in hot regions—such as Judea—is done near tabernacles and enclosures, not far from the pastures, indeed in the pastures themselves, in order to avoid the heat of the sun. These enclosures or tabernacles he therefore calls here "grassy shelters," as if to say: shelters fixed in the very pastures, or not far from the pastures.
Moreover, when David says this, he wishes to signify that he is most excellently provided for by God, not only concerning those things that pertain to sustenance, but also against all the inconveniences of life.
Furthermore, the verb "to lie down" in the noted signification is read in Canticles 1:7: "Tell me, O you whom my soul loves, where you feed, where you make [your flock] lie down at midday." And likewise Ezekiel 34:15: "I will feed My sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God."
"Beside quiet waters... He leads me." (v. 2)
[Hebrew: He leads me beside waters of rest—literally, "water of rest" in the genitive case, according to Hebrew custom, and not without emphasis.]
Just as a prudent shepherd is accustomed to lead sheep to water—to placid and gently flowing waters, not to rapid torrents, which would terrify the little sheep by their noise and carry them away by their velocity—so, when David says this, he wishes to signify that he is treated clemently by God, and that in afflictions and calamities he is sweetly refreshed and recreated by the word of God, as if by a drink.
Ps 23:3: "He restores my soul..."
"My soul"—that is, me—"He gently leads." (v. 3)
Ezra and Kimchi explain the Hebrew verb יְשׁוֹבֵב (yeshobeb): "He gently leads," just as a good shepherd is accustomed [to lead] his sheep, lest they be wearied.
"He leads [me] upon the paths of justice."
Just as a good shepherd does not lead sheep through the precipitous and winding paths of hills or valleys, but through level and easy ways, so He leads me in an unharmed and stable way. And He does this not on account of me, who am unworthy, but "for His name's sake," that He may indeed be celebrated throughout the whole world.
Thus, approximately, Ezra and Kimchi.
"He gently leads": The Greek and Latin [versions have] "He converts." And according to the mind of Rashi, it can be translated: "He has recalled my soul, wearied by miseries and the evils of exile, to its former state."
Ps 23:4: Confidence in the Valley of Shadow
"Even if I should walk..." (v. 4)
Even in the midst of dangers, I will fear nothing.
"Valley of the shadow of death": He names the sepulcher, which elsewhere is called "the land of darkness and of the shadow of death" (Job 10:21-22); but by the sepulcher he denotes immense dangers. Thus, approximately, Kimchi.
"In the valley": The Greek and Latin [have] "in the midst"—who seem to have read גּוֹא (go, "midst") in Chaldee, instead of גַּיְא (ge, "valley"); or they attended only to the sense.
"Your rod and Your staff..." (v. 4)
He continues in the comparison he has instituted; for a shepherd rules his sheep with a rod, and with the same he drives away wild beasts. But by "rod" and "staff" understand the chastisements, or the law, or the doctrine of God.
Note, moreover, in these verses the sudden apostrophe to God. And he explains immediately: "Indeed," he says, "Your goodness..."
Verse 5: The Banquet of the Host
"You prepare..." (v. 5)
Now he undertakes the other comparison: that of a host who lavishly receives a guest.
"Opposite those who afflict me": [those] whom this my happiness burns.
"You make fat..." (v. 5)
This is said according to the custom of that people; for they were accustomed to pour balsam or other fragrant unguents over guests whom they received lavishly.
Ezra observes on this verse that this psalm is to be understood concerning the servants of God who, abandoning worldly things and content with their bread and water in place of all delicacies and pleasures, are solicitous only concerning eternal delights, esteeming the perishing and brief delights of this world as nothing.
"My cup..." (v. 5)
The sense is: "You give drink from a full cup, and liberally."
The Latin has here: "My cup which inebriates, how excellent it is!" For he reads the first words of the following verse, אַךְ טוֹב (akh tov), which can signify "indeed it is good," together with these: "my cup which inebriates"; and thus he has most excellently expressed the sense: "My cup which inebriates, how excellent it is!"
In the Greek today it is ποτήριόν σου ("Your cup"). But St. Jerome, in his letter to Sunnia and Fretella, affirms that the Hebrews, the Seventy [i.e., the LXX], and all interpreters have "my cup," and that "your cup" has obtained in the Greek through error.
Verse 6: Mercy and Eternal Dwelling
"Indeed, goodness and mercy..." (v. 6)
[Supply from the Greek and Latin: "Your."]
What he has hitherto said figuratively, he now [expresses] simply and plainly: "And Your goodness and mercy shall pursue me..."
That is: "Never will Your benignity desert me, but it will pursue me to the very last breath of life."
He has said with great weight: "shall pursue," and indeed "all the days of my life."
"That I may dwell in the house of the Lord..." (v. 6)
In this latter clause he explains concerning what benignity he especially understands: namely, that through the grace and mercy of God he will always remain in the Church, which he calls "the house of the Lord."
I cannot agree with those who understand by "the house of the Lord" the heavenly dwelling, because there follows "for length of days"—that is, for long and many days only—which would not suffice for expressing that eternal life which the blessed are to live with God and the angels.
"That I may dwell": literally, "and I shall dwell," which can be resolved thus: "so that I may dwell." For וְ (ve, "and") is thus often explained and resolved by interpreters. Nevertheless, one may read "and I shall dwell" without detriment to the sense.
In Hebrew it is וְשַׁבְתִּי (veshavti), which here, as I think, is for וְיָשַׁבְתִּי (veyashavti), with the first radical letter omitted, just as רָד (rad) is for יָרַד (yarad, "he descended"), Judges 19.
Moreover, it is added that verbs quiescent in י (yod) and second ו (vav) are sometimes used interchangeably, as those skilled in the Hebrew language know; for example, צוּר (tsur) has the signification of יָצַר (yatsar), Psalm 139:5; and יָרַע (yara) and רָעַע (ra'a) are confused.
Others translate: "and as if I may rest," with the same sense.
Kimchi's Interpretation
Kimchi takes this verse as a petition, and thus explains it:
"I acknowledge what benefits You have conferred upon me hitherto; nevertheless, I ask of You that Your goodness and mercy may pursue me as long as I live, nor may wars or other secular affairs distract me—namely, that I may be able for a long time to rest in the house of the Lord, and there, in leisure and security, to devote myself to Your worship."
Thus, approximately, he; who thinks that the Hebrew verb of which we have spoken signifies "and I may rest," although he also thinks it can be taken as וְשַׁבְתִּי (veshavti) for "and I shall return," as if he wished to say that he would go again and again to the house of the Lord, and would return thence repeatedly.
By "the house of the Lord" this interpreter understands the place of the Ark; and "for length of days" he says is the same as "all the days of my life."
But, he says, he prays that he may be granted to live well for a long time and to measure out the span of human life, when he says "for length of days."
Final Rendering
Therefore, according to his mind, it ought to be translated:
"Nevertheless, may Your goodness and mercy pursue me all the days of my life, and that I may rest in the house of the Lord..." or: "and that I may return to the house of the Lord..."
CONTINUE
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