Psalm 73 addresses the question of why the righteous suffer while the wicked prosper and prays for an end to the long exile of the Jews. The wicked depend on self-help guides because they are not truly happy inside. The righteous have G-d as their support and support. Read and you will find rest for your soul.
- Text Psalm 73
- Hebrew text of Psalm 73 – תהילים עג
- Listen to Psalm 73
- Explanation of Psalm 73 by Rabbi Yitzchok Rubin
- Commentary by Rashi on Psalm 73
- Further explanation of the above Jewish comments
- Psalm 1 to 92
Text Psalm 73
A song by Asaph. G‑d is truly good to Israel, pure in heart. But as for me, my feet were almost turned away, in an instant my steps would have been swept away. For I envied the perverse; I would see the rest of the wicked. For there are no fetters for their death, and their health is good.
….For whom have I in heaven, and I desired none with Thee on earth. My flesh and my heart desire ; G‑d is the rock of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who have turned away from You will perish; You have cut off all who stray from You. But as for me, G‑d’s nearness is my good; I have placed my refuge in the Lord G-d, to tell all Your mission.
Hebrew text of Psalm 73 – תהילים עג
A psalm for Osaphach is good for Israel, God for the pure in heart. 2 And I am a little inclined (natiu) my feet like where Assyria spilled (shofku). 3 Because I was jealous of the harlots, peace, wickedness I will see. D because there are no wounds for their death and yet they are healthy. In the work of a human being he is not silent and with a human being they will not touch. And that’s why we gave him pride, and he wrapped Shit Hamas around him. Z came out of Helv, his eyes were filled with heart attacks. They will laugh and talk about evil from on high they will talk. 9 Drink from the sky in their mouth and you will walk in the land with their tongue. Therefore he will return (returns) his people who are in shock and full of water will be exhausted for him. And they said, How does God know, and there is wisdom in the Most High? 12 Behold, these are evil, and the peace of their world is the army. 13 Ah-Rik I have won my heart and I will wash my hands cleanly. My hand was infected all day and I was sick in the morning. If I had said a story like this, here is the generation of your children, I have betrayed you. 16 And I thought to know that this labor is (he) in my eyes. 17 Until I came to the mosques of my father after them. 18 So in parts you will be destroyed, why did you fall into the beacons. 19. How were they for a moment when they were filled with confusion. Like a dream from the summer, my Lord, in the city of Tzlemam you will be despised. Because my heart will be sour and my kidneys will be eight. 22 And I was in the fire and did not know when I was with you. 23 And I am always with you holding my right hand. But with your advice you will let me go and after honor you will take me. This is how I am in heaven and with you I did not desire on earth. So my bride remains and my heart is made of my heart and my part is God forever. 27 For behold, your distance will be lost; every harlot among you will die. Strength and I am God’s nearness to me, I have taken refuge in the Lord Jehovah, my refuge to tell all your angels.
Listen to Psalm 73
Listen to Psalm 73 in Hebrew.
Explanation of Psalm 73 by Rabbi Yitzchok Rubin
King David begins this Psalm by saying that HaShem is good to His people. This truth lasts forever. Sometimes the Jews doubt this immutable fact, but that is because they then build walls between themselves and G-d. David also admits that he almost lost his way. The uncertainty has overcome him. This can happen because of a single wrong footstep. A life without G-d is compared to nothingness. Then one spends life on earth without a real deeper meaning.
The Psalm goes on to describe how the righteous can be deceived by the gentle words of the wicked. It also explains that theirs is a world of myth and illusion. Because how do you recover from a broken heart? A Jew must see that there is more. The sanctity of the mitzvot (obligations) makes him sensitive to another realm. Holiness brings a consciousness that transcends this mortal place. By clinging to Hashem, the Jew feels the support of His spiritual love, even when things are going very badly. By adhering to the commandments, the wall between the Jew and G-d is removed little by little. In the olam haemes, the real world, Jews will see what true glory is, and it will be in that glory that Hashem will lead them.
Again and again, Jews must realize that only G-d is the truth. Everything else on earth is secondary. The Jew’s spiritual and physical life is aligned with His ways.
David ends by stating that every person has a divine mission. G-d created every person for a specific purpose. It is not always understood why certain things happen. But if one realizes in his heart that there is a Master who guides all this, then G-d’s support takes him further.
Commentary by Rashi on Psalm 73
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 1
A song of Asaph. G‑d is truly good to Israel, pure in heart.
A song by Asaph. Truly G‑d is Good to Israel, etc. : Since the subject of this psalm deals with the troubles that befall Israel, he begins it this way. And this is the meaning: Although I cry out and am dismayed at the troubles of Israel, I knew that the Holy One, blessed be He, is good to them, and that He brings evil upon them for their own good, to give them merit in the life of the world to come.
Verse 2
But as for me, my feet were almost turned away, in a moment my steps would have been swept away.
But as for me : before I put this to my heart.
my feet were almost turned away : and my steps faded away to turn away from following the Omnipresent.
Verse 3
For I envied the perverse; I would see the rest of the wicked.
For I envied the perverse : Those who pervert their ways, whose peace I would see.
the perverse : Hebrew בהוללים, mixed, as (Isaiah 1:22): ,your wine is diluted (מהול) with water.,
Verse 4
For there are no fetters for their death, and their health is good.
For there are no obstacles to their death : Hebrew חרצבות, an expression of tying, as (Isaiah 58:6): ,to loose the bonds (חרצבות) of wickedness,, that is, the locks of the fetters with which they tie arms. Here too, their deaths do not hurt. Those who die among them die healthy, [strong as] a palace, without pain. But our rabbis interpreted חַרְצֻבּוֹת as an abbreviation, meaning that they are not (שאין) afraid (חרדין) or grieved (עצבין) on the day of death (Shab. 31b). Another explanation: that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not delay (מאחר) their desire (צביונם).
Verse 6
Therefore they wear pride like a chain; the robbery they commit envelops their hips.
Therefore they wear pride like a chain : Therefore pride adorns them like a necklace, as far as it rises on his neck.
the robbery they commit envelops their hips : The robbery they commit makes them fat and envelops their buttocks and hips with thickness of fat and flesh.
Verse 7
Because of their fat their eyes bulge out; they surpassed the imagination of their hearts.
Because of their fat their eyes bulge : Their eyes bulge because of the excess fat, for in a starved person the eyes are sunken.
they surpassed the imagination of their hearts : More than what their hearts hoped and waited for came to them. In reaching their hand they surpassed the desire of their hearts.
Verse 8
They consume and speak wickedly about oppression; they speak of the Most High.
They consume : their neighbors.
and speak wickedly of oppression : To oppress the needy.
they speak of the Most High : e.g. Pharaoh, Sennacherib and Nebuchadnezzar. [Pharaoh said] (Exod. 5:2), “Who is the Lord that I should obey Him?” [Sennacherib said] (Isaiah 36:20): “Who are these among all the gods of the land…?” [Nebuchadnezzar said] (Isaiah 14:14), “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.” That is the meaning of, “They have set their mouths against heaven.”
Verse 10
Therefore His people will return here, and the waters of the entire [stream] will bring down water for them.
Therefore His people will return here : Because His people see that the way of the wicked is prosperous, they will return to the way of the wicked, to follow their ways.
here : Hebrew הלם, as (Judges 18:3): ,Who brought you here (הלום)?, [Equal to] פֹּה.
and the waters of the full [stream] drain water for them : And the waters of the full stream are words of Torahare which are regarded by them as water that runs away and they despise them.
Verse 11
And they say, ,How does God know, and is there knowledge in the Most High?,
And they say: ,How does G-d know : How can we say that there is knowledge in the Holy One, blessed be He, and that his Torah is true?
Verse 12
Behold, these are evil, yet they are tranquil in the world and have greater wealth.
Behold, these are evil : They [are evil] and transgress His Torah; yet they are quiet in the world and increase power and wealth.
yet they are quiet in the world : An expression of rest.
they increase : Heb. השגו, have increased. Menachem (p. 72) explains: יָשוּב עַמו ֹהֲלוֹם, the wicked will return to crush the people of the Holy One (להלם), blessed be He. The first interpretation I learned from the words of Rabbi Meir, the son of Isaac, the cantor, may the memory of the righteous be for a blessing.
Verse 13
But for nothing I purified my heart and bathed my hands with purity.
But for nothing I purified my heart : All this refers back to: And they say, ‘How does God know?’ They also say, But in vain and in vain do we keep the commandments of the Holy One, blessed be He, for behold, we are afflicted all the day long.”
Verse 14
And I was afflicted all the day long, and my chastening was every morning.
and my chastisement : appears all the day long; constantly, from morning to morning, new problems are renewed.
Verse 15
If I said, “I will tell it as it is,” behold, I have turned the generation of Your children into traitors.
If I said, ,I will tell it as it is, : Asaph said, ,If I said in my heart to tell everything as it is, everything that His people say about this.,
behold, I have made the generation of Your children traitors : That is, I would make them traitors and wicked men.
Verse 16
And when I consider to know this, it is unrighteousness in my eyes.
And when I think about it : in my heart.
to know this : what is the manner of the Holy One, blessed be He.
it is unrighteousness in my sight : This way seemed to me unrighteousness and not righteousness.
Verse 17
Until I came to the shrines of G-d and I understood their end.
Until : I came to the shrines of G-d which are in Jerusalem, and saw what happened to Sennacherib. Then I understood the end of the wicked, that it is for destruction. Then I said, ”All the good things that are due to them are only slippery places; For the Holy One, blessed be He, makes their way smooth, that it may be easy and smooth, so that they should not set their hearts on Him, and they will perish.,
Verse 18
Only in slippery places You set them; You cast them down to ruin.
Only in slippery places You set them up : All the goodness due to them, for in the end You cast them down to destruction.
Verse 19
How they were immediately forsaken! They were completely consumed by terrors.
by terrors : by demons .
Verse 20
Like a dream without waking: O Lord, in the city You will despise their form.
Like a dream without waking : Like a sleep without end (without awakening), which is an eternal sleep, they had ( Isaiah 37:36): ,And an angel of the Lord went and slew… out of the camp of Assyria.,
O Lord, in the city you will despise their stature : In Jerusalem, wherein they dealt wickedly, their stature was despised and they were all burned.
Verse 21
For my heart was fermented, and my spirit was on edge.
For my heart was fermented : Before I saw this destruction with the holy spirit, my heart was fermented because the way of the wicked was prosperous and my mind was on edge (אשתונן), an expression of a sharp sword (שנון). When it is reflexive, the ,tav, is placed in the middle of the radical, as is the case with any word whose radical begins with ,shin,.
Verse 22
But I was bold and did not know it; I was [a] beast with You.
But I was bold, and I knew not what this way was, and I was as a beast with You.
Verse 23
Yet I was with You continually; You grabbed my right hand.
Yet I : Though I saw all this constantly, I was with You and did not move for fear of You.
You took hold of my right hand : to strengthen me in Your fear when my feet are about to turn from Your way, as it says above (verse 2), “my feet were almost turned aside.”
Verse 24
With Your counsel You led me, and then You took me [for] glory.
You led me : Hebrew תנחני, [as] נחיתני, You led me.
and afterward You took me [for] glory : If the cantillation sign was on כָּבוֹד, its interpretation would be: After You have granted Sennacherib all the glory You have bestowed upon him, You will bring me to You. You have performed wondrous miracles for Israel and destroyed Sennacherib. Now that the cantillation mark is on ואחר, this is the interpretation: (and after that) You have brought me to glory; You drew me to You for glory and beauty.
Verse 25
For whom have I in heaven, and I desired no one with You on earth.
and afterward You took me [for] glory : If the cantillation mark was on כָּבוֹד, its interpretation would be: After You have granted Sennacherib all the glory You have bestowed upon him, You will bring me to You. You have performed wondrous miracles for Israel and destroyed Sennacherib. Now that the cantillation mark is on ואחר, this is the interpretation: (and after) You have brought me to glory; You drew me to You for glory and beauty.
Verse 26
My flesh and my heart desire; G‑d is the rock of my heart and my portion forever.
My flesh…desire : My flesh and my heart long for You.
desire : Hebrew כלה, an expression of longing, as (119:81): ,My soul longed (כלתה) for Your salvation.,
Verse 27
For behold, those who have turned away from You will perish; You have cut off all who stray from You.
who have separated themselves from You : Who separates themselves from You.
Verse 28
But as for me, God’s nearness is my good; I have placed my refuge in the Lord G-d, to tell all Your mission.
Your shipment : Your message; the holy spirit coming into my heart to say it.
Further explanation of the above Jewish comments
Asaph speaks in Psalm 73 about the age-old question: why do the righteous encounter trouble while the wicked seem to find success at every turn? Asaph ultimately understands that the success of the wicked is limited to the material realm, while those who toil in their service to G-d earn eternal good in the world to come.
The question was already asked by Moses. And the entire book of Job is dedicated to it. The Jewish sages clarify G’d ‘s actions by referring to a father punishing his child. The father does not do this for his own benefit, but for the good of the child. Likewise, G-d also punishes righteous people for their sake. In this way they grow closer to G-d.
Moses did ask G-d this question, but it did not prevent him from observing the Torah and the mitzvot. Likewise, Jews have observed the Torah despite persecution, martyrdom and suffering. Once the Messiah comes, it will become apparent that the entire long and dark exile was a blessing in disguise.
The Chabad Rebbe advised that if Jews are experiencing doubts and questions, they should have their phylacteries checked to see if they are still kosher. The phylacteries purify the heart and mind and make them more observant. It is also important to strictly observe the kosher laws of foods and beverages.
Psalm 1 to 92
Would you like to read more Psalms with a Jewish interpretation? Go to: Psalms 1 through 92.