Rabbi Danyiel's Drash on Psalm 23
“A psalm by David, HaShem is my Shepard, I shall not lack. In lush meadows He lays me down, beside tranquil waters He leads me. He restores my soul. He leads me on paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake. Though I walk through the valley overshadowed by death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me, Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in view of my tormentors. You anointed my head with oil, my cup overflows. May only goodness and kindness pursue me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the House of HaShem for long days.” (Psalms 23:1-6, The Stone Edition Tanach, Feb 2016)
This psalm is probably the most common of all psalms. It is very comforting and because of this it is very common at funerals. However, upon studying this one in the Hebrew language, it is very hard to convey the true depth of this psalm in any other language. The poetic nature of the language with the rhyming scheme is obviously lost through translation, however , f a person wants to hear the beautiful sounds of the poetic rhyme then they can watch YouTube videos of individuals singing psalm 23 in Hebrew. My personal favorite is by Gad Elbaz.
A few points to expound about the meaning for the word Shephard, in Hebrew the word “Ro’e” means my shepherd however it is very close to the word “Re’a”, in the Hebrew language that does not show vowels it is spelled the exact way. So when it says that HaShem is my Shepard it also has the double meaning to say that HaShem is my friend. A friend is a person that will look after you, like a shepherd looks after sheep.
The phrase “He leads me down paths of righteousness”. Does not mean what most people think. The Hebrew word “Tzedek” often translated as “righteousness” is misleading. The English conception is similar to a concept to be free of sin or guilt. In Hebrew the conception is related to charity. The work “Tzedakah” means charity and it holds the same three letter root. A person that is righteous is one that follows the laws of God, and one of those important laws is giving charity. So when it says that God leads me down the path of righteousness, David is saying that God shows him how to be a charitable individual in all things i.e., monetary, physical and spiritual.
The next piece that speaks to the soul is the strange Hebrew word “Tzalmavet” what is translated as “Shadow of death”. This a word that I have not seen repeated in scripture. It is a crasis of two words. The first word is “Tzal” which means “Shadow”. It is important to point out that the word “Tzal” has to Hebrew letters. The first Hebrew letter is a Tzade and it represents righteousness. The second letter is a Lamed and it represents learning. As these two letter combine they form the word “Tzal” for shadow. A concept of a shadow is something that is carrying forward an image of what causes the shadow to be cast. So when this is put with the word “Mavet” or death, we see that the poet David is talking about how God is giving him a righteous or charitable lesson on what death is all about.
I picture King David a warrior describing a scene where he is forced to go through a valley that has hills on both side. This is very reasonable since the mountain passes of Judea are described the same way. In this imagery I can see that all though David has to go through this mountain pass he is not going to let it stop him. There could be people on the hilltops with bows drawn upon him, but he will be okay because God is with him.
There is another phrase in the poem that stands out. Where David says to God, “I will fear no evil because You are with me”. The common Hebrew expression of “with me” is “Eeme”, however in this poem the Hebrew word used is “Emadi”. It is not saying “With me”, it is saying “Stand me”. David is saying that he will fear no evil because God is standing him up.
The phrase “Your rod and Your staff, the comfort me.” There is a reason for both of these items. The first one is used for discipline one when they go astray, the second is used to guide animals into a pen. David as a Shephard is explaining how both are used to make him a better person and as such they are a comfort to him.
The next word that stands out to me is the word “Shulchan”, this is a very common word. It simple means table. In most cases this word would not carry any significant weight in the sentence, it makes perfect sense. However, once while studying Psalms 23 this meaning of this word struck me. The root of this word is “SHaLaCH” which means to send out. A person sends out invitations for another to come to their table. In conflict an olive branch is extended for peace and both parties come to a table. This concept struck me because the sentence is “You prepare a table before me in the view of my tormentors”, or as other versions state “You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies”. In other words, God sends out the spiritual presence to allow for peace. Due to the fact that David follows in the paths of righteousness before God, the enemies of David are presented before David.
The anointment of oil in the ancient world was reserved for Kings, Prophets and Priests. This is the point where David is acknowledging that God has made him a King. The wine cup is a symbol of joy. So when it overflows it is showing that King David is blessed by God.
The last piece is in the sentence, “May only goodness and kindness pursue me all the days of my life”, the word for “Pursue” is a very strong word in the Hebrew language. And in context of the Psalm it gives an image of a person being chased by their enemy. However, in this case it is not an enemy but the goodness and kindness that can only come from God.
Overall, this Psalm has a deeper meaning then what most people attach to it. It is important in order to get a depth of the passage that a person needs to look to the Hebrew context, the Hebrew language itself and to the life of David as a warrior King and a beloved of God, as his name indicates.