The masters of homiletics interpret Psalm 64 as a reference to Daniel being thrown into the lion’s den. With divine inspiration, David foresaw the event and prayed for him. Daniel was a descendant of David, as can be inferred from G-d’s statement to Hezekiah (himself of David’s lineage): “And of thy children which shall come forth of thee shall they take, and they (referring to, under other, Daniel) will be servants in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
- Text Psalm 64
- Hebrew text of Psalm 64 – תהילים סד
- Listen to Psalm 64
- Explanation of Psalm 64 by Rabbi Yitzchok Rubin
- Commentary by Rashi on Psalm 64
- Further explanation of the above Jewish comments
- Psalm 1 to 92
Text Psalm 64
For the conductor, a psalm by David. Hear my voice, O G‑d, when I tell [my misery]; protect my life from the fear of the enemy. Defend me from the schemes of the wicked, from the conspiracy of evildoers, who have sharpened their tongue like the sword, pointing their arrow a bitter word to shoot at the innocent from hidden places; suddenly they shoot at him, they are not afraid. They encourage themselves in a bad thing, they speak of snares; they say, ,Who will see them?, They looked for pretexts; [and when] they completed a diligent search, every man kept [the plot] hidden, deep in the heart. But G-d shot an arrow at them; unexpectedly they are seriously injured. Their own tongues caused them to stumble; everyone who sees them shakes their heads [mockingly]. Then all feared and declared the work of God; they have observed his deed. Let the righteous rejoice in the Lord and take refuge in Him, and let them be proud, all of the upright in heart.
Hebrew text of Psalm 64 – תהילים סד
A to sing a psalm to David. Hear my voice, O God, in my speech. 3. Hide me from the secret of evil from the emotion of Owen’s actions. 4 Those who slept like a sword in their tongue, the arrow of a bitter word. The shooting of secrets will suddenly be seen and not be seen. And they will tell him a bad thing, they will tell about the pitfalls, they will say who will see him. 7. They will look for Olat Tamnu, look for a man who is close, and a deep heart. 8 And suddenly God lifted up an arrow and they were covered. 9 And they shall cast them upon him, so that all who see them shall be shaken. 10 And all men feared and said God’s work and his work they understood. 11 Let the righteous rejoice in the Lord and keep him, and let all the upright in heart rejoice.
Listen to Psalm 64
Listen to Psalm 64 in Hebrew.
Explanation of Psalm 64 by Rabbi Yitzchok Rubin
Daniel in the lion’s den
David originally wrote this Psalm for Daniel in the lion’s den. When this Psalm is applied to today’s life we see that life is full of dangers. There are many forces surrounding us with threatening actions, not only as a people but also as individuals. A person’s life is in danger with emotional fear. Words from others can cause mental scars. Just as Daniel asks G-d to save his life, so do the Jews. Because without a sense of self-confidence they are lost.
Safe place Jews need a safe place. They must ask Hashem for wisdom to discern which things are real and which things are driven by evil motivations. There is nothing more piercing than a bitter word aimed at the heart of a vulnerable soul. This is bullying and the results are devastating. With self-righteous indignation we no longer see the difference between good and evil. We cannot see that we are acting in an ugly way, nor that what we are doing will destroy innocent souls.
Weaknesses Perpetrators have no fear, because all their sensitivities are overwritten by the adrenaline of their own ego. Those involved are becoming more and more encouraged. People build a web that they think will support their own weaknesses.
Evil tendency Man’s greatest weakness is his ability to talk himself into something. Whatever man does, he justifies his actions to himself. So the yetzer hara (evil tendency ) gives him a thousand reasons to do evil, and allows him to anchor it so deeply in his heart that he no longer sees things as they are. It’s all just smoke and vapor. With one quick stroke, everything can change. Hashem changes the script we call life and those who tried to do evil ended up discovering their own words. On the one hand, professing G-d and lying at the same time cannot go together. Man just needs to keep his focus and never lose his way.
Commentary by Rashi on Psalm 64
Per verse the commentary of Rashi, the Jewish Bible commentator who lived from 1040-1105. Rashi is considered the teacher of teachers. All traditional Jews regard Rashi as an authority on the Jewish Bible and Talmud. Hence it is important to record his commentary on the Psalms. Rashi uses new Hebrew supplemented with Old French words. His language is sometimes somewhat oracularly short. For further explanation it is wise to consult an orthodox Jewish rabbi.
Verse 2
Hear my voice, O G-d, when I tell [my affliction]; protect my life from the fear of the enemy.
Hear my voice, O G-d : The authors of Aggadoth Tehllim interpreted this psalm as referring to Daniel being thrown into the lion’s den. The language of the psalm fits the Aggadah very well. David with the holy spirit foresaw everything that would happen to him [Daniel] and prayed for him, because Daniel was his descendant. As it was said to Hezekiah (Isaiah 39:7), ,And they shall take [some] of thy sons, etc., whom thou shalt raise up, and they shall be officers in the palace of the king of Babylon., Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.
against the fear of the enemy : These are the satraps, who plotted against him, as is stated (Daniel 6:5): ,Then the viziers and the satraps sought to find a pretext against Daniel.,
Verse 3
Protect me from the schemes of the wicked, from the conspiracy of evildoers
against the conspiracy of evildoers : For they gather against him a pretext of death, as it is written (Dan.6:7): ,… gathered together the king, etc.,
Verse 4
who sharpened their tongue like a sword, aimed their arrow – a bitter word
aimed their arrow : This is their slander.
Verse 5
to shoot at the innocent from hidden places; suddenly they shoot at him, they are not afraid
to shoot at the innocent from hidden places : They shoot him with their arrows.
Verse 6
They encourage themselves in an evil thing, they speak of snares; they say, ,Who will see them?,
they speak of snares : They speak cunningly of the king’s secret words, for even the king did not know why they did this. But they intended to conceal snares to catch Daniel, for they said to Darius, “All the viziers of the kingdom, etc., have given consent to establish the king’s law, etc.” [Declaring] that no one should offer prayer to any god except you until thirty days [have passed].
Verse 7
They looked for pretexts; [and when] they completed a diligent search, every man kept [the plot] hidden, deep in the heart.
They looked for pretexts : Hebrew עולות. They look for pretexts (עלילות), as it says (Daniel 6:5): “sought a pretext against Daniel.”
they hid : Hebrew טמנו. They hid their thoughts in their hearts and did not reveal the search for a pretext, which was selected by them, and in the center of their thoughts and the depth of their hearts.
every human being kept [the plot] hidden : every human being. Everyone hid their thoughts.
Verse 8
But God shot an arrow at them; they are unexpectedly injured.
But G‑d shot an arrow at them : He cast them into the lions’ den, as it is written (Daniel 6:25): ,And the king commanded, and they brought these men which had slandered Daniel, and cast them into the lions’ den, etc. ,
Verse 9
Their own tongues caused them to stumble; everyone who sees them shakes their heads [mockingly].
Their own tongues caused them to stumble : The stumbling block they intended to inflict on him, their tongues handed them.
everyone who sees them shakes their heads [mockingly]. : Hebrew יתנודדו, will shake their heads; everyone who sees them nods and laughs at them.
Verse 11
Let the righteous rejoice in the Lord and take refuge in Him, and let them be proud – all of them upright in heart.
Let the righteous rejoice in the Lord : This is Daniel.
and let them be proud – all of them upright in heart : They will boast of the uprightness of their hearts, and they will praise themselves because they trust that the Holy One, blessed be he, will help them.
Further explanation of the above Jewish comments
Who is Daniel?
Daniel lived about 400 before the beginning of the common era. Together with Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, he was exiled to Babylon and trained to become a chamberlain in the royal court. After successfully interpreting Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, he was appointed to a high government position. During the reign of Belshazzar, Daniel deciphered the writing that mysteriously appeared, predicting the fall of Babylon. He was thrown into a lion’s den during the reign of Darius for praying to G-d; miraculously he was not harmed.
Daniel in the Lion’s Den It was important to Darius to quickly establish control over the vast kingdom of Babylon, so he appointed 120 officials to direct the affairs of the many lands under his rule. A board of trustees of three, one of whom was Daniel, would preside over all activities of the officers. Over time, it became increasingly clear that Daniel was far wiser than his colleagues, prompting Darius to appoint him over the entire kingdom. When his colleagues became aware of this, they conspired to make Daniel guilty of treason.
Claiming to act in the king’s interest to consolidate control over the empire, they proposed a decree that no citizen of the kingdom should be allowed to make any request to any god or man outside the king for 30 years. to dawn. Disobeying this command could be punished by being thrown into a lion’s den. The decree was approved by the king, who signed the proclamation and issued the ban.
Daniel prays to G-d Daniel was not impressed by the ban. He then climbed to the top part of his house where his windows faced Jerusalem, to pray three times a day as he had always done (proof that the Jews have prayed three times a day since time immemorial). His enemies wasted no time in reporting his illegal prayers to the king. Darius, who had learned to love and respect Daniel, was deeply disturbed by this development, realizing that he would now be forced to carry out his decision. After first trying to delay the order, Darius ordered Daniel to be thrown to the lions, wishing him, “May your G-d, whom you constantly worship, save you!”
At daybreak, Darius ran to the lion’s den and shouted, ,Daniel, was the God you used to worship present to save you?, Miraculously, Daniel was not harmed. My G‑d, said Daniel, “sent his angel who shut the mouths of the lions so that they would not harm me!”
After witnessing this miraculous incident, Darius ordered those who had slandered Daniel, along with their families, to be condemned to the lion’s den.
The Talmud explains that Daniel was brought to endure this ordeal because he had advised King Nebuchadnezzar to provide charity to the Jewish poor to avoid divine retribution. However, the Midrash takes the position that this incident occurred to sanctify the name of G-d.
It is interesting to note that portions of Daniel’s prayers are included in the daily liturgy as part of the penitential Tachanun prayer.
The Talmud also records that in later generations Jewish people would walk considerable distances on Shabbat to gather and pray at the location where Daniel prayed, which was three miles from the town of Barnish.
Psalm 1 to 92
Would you like to read more Psalms with a Jewish interpretation? Go to: Psalms 1 through 92.