Monday, April 08, 2024

Psalm 1:2 and the Torah

Latin Vulgate: Sed in lege Domini voluntas eius et in lege eius meditabitur die ac nocte (Psalm 1:2).

Douay-Rheims Translation: "But his will is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he shall meditate day and night."

Amplified Bible: "But his delight and desire are in the law of the Lord, and on His law (the precepts, the instructions, the teachings of God) he habitually meditates (ponders and studies) by day and by night."

ASV: "But his delight is in the law of Jehovah; And on his law doth he meditate day and night."


The Cambridge History of the Bible 
states that ancient Judaism emphasized 'a renewed study of the Torah' after the book of Deuteronomy was written. We then read: "It [the Torah] was to be the Book of Meditation for every pious Jew, great and humble. Believed in its time to offer the most complete and up-to-date version of the 'Mosaic' code, it was to be the daily vade mecum of the king" (1:200). This information was written by G. Vermes, Reader of Jewish Studies at Oxford University during the year 1970.

Vermes then cites Deut. 17:18-19 where 
the King rather than a Levite priest is exhorted to make a copy of the Law and "read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD [YHWH] his God, by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them."

Compare Joshua 1:7-8.

But the CHOB does not stop there. It shows that the 
previously mentioned hortatory dicta were "extended to all Israel" as shown by Ps. 1:2 and 1 QS VI, 6-7. It was only later that "this wide preoccupation with the Bible created a demand for authoritative interpreters, and a particular class of men emerged from the ranks of priests and Levites whose sole business was professional exegesis." See Ecclesiasticus 39:1-8 and Neh. 8:1-8. 

Consult Pirke Aboth and Jub. 23:26 as well (cf. Malachi 2:7). Jub. 23:26 foretold that "In those days, children shall begin to study the laws and to seek the commandments, and to return to the path of righteousness." This text and others like it show that the ancient rabbis thought everyone, yes even children, should zealously study the Torah.

John Chrysostom: "
I also always entreat you, and do not cease entreating you, not only to pay attention here to what I say, but also when you are at home, to persevere continually in reading the divine Scriptures."

https://www.orthodox.net/journal/2011-09-08-saint-john-chrysostom-on-the-necessity-of-reading-scripture-daily.html

3 comments:

Duncan said...

Psalms 119 Lamedh & Mem

https://biblehub.com/text/psalms/119-89.htm

https://biblehub.com/hebrew/leolam_5769.htm

Edgar Foster said...

Psalm 7:11-12 (ASV):

I will make mention of the deeds of Jehovah;
For I will remember thy wonders of old.

I will meditate also upon all thy work,
And muse on thy doings

Duncan said...

https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.15699/jbl.1373.2018.345991#:~:text=Psalm%20119%20is%20a%20poem,torah%20is%20the%20poem%20itself.