1Hallelujah.
Happy the man who fears the LORD.ℵ
His commands he keenly desires.ב
2A great figure in the land his seed shall be, ג
the generation of the upright shall be blessed.ד
3Abundance and wealth in his home, ה
and his righteousness stands forever.ו
4Light dawns in darkness for the upright, ז
gracious and merciful and just.ח
5Good is the man who shows grace and lends, ט
he sustains his words with justice. י
6For he shall never stumble, כ
an eternal remembrance the just man shall be. ל
7From evil rumor he shall not fear. מ
His heart is firm, he trusts in the LORD. נ
8His heart is staunch, he shall not fear, ס
till he sees the defeat of his foes. ע
9He disperses, he gives to the needy, פ
his righteousness stands forever. צ
His horn shall be raised in glory. ק
10The wicked man sees and is vexed, ר
he gnashes his teeth and he quails. ש
The desire of the wicked shall perish. ת
PSALM 112 NOTES
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1. Happy the man. Like the previous psalm, this is a short acrostic, one letter of the Hebrew alphabet in sequence beginning each verset, or two to a line. As in Psalm 111, the last two lines, corresponding to verses 9 and 10, are triadic, thus incorporating three letters of the alphabet instead of two. As a result, in both psalms, we have ten lines of poetry, ten verses, for the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The initial formula, “Happy the man,” announces this as a Wisdom psalm (compare Psalm 1). If Psalm 111 is a catalogue of God’s attributes of beneficence, this psalm is a catalogue of the exemplary attributes of the virtuous person and the reward they will bring him. Given the subject, it is hardly surprising that the language is stereotypical.
2. A great figure. The Hebrew gibor usually means “warrior” or “hero,” but in Ruth 2:1 it is used to designate Boaz as a prosperous landowner, and prosperity is immediately invoked at the beginning of the next line.
7. From evil rumor. This is the counterpoint of the eternal remembrance in the previous line. The name of the good person is always mentioned for the good deeds he has done, even after he is dead. So it goes without saying that in his lifetime he has no reason to fear evil rumor.
8. the defeat. As elsewhere, this word is added in the translation to indicate what the elliptical Hebrew idiom implies.
10. The wicked man sees and is vexed. As in many Wisdom texts—again, compare Psalm 1—the wicked man is introduced as a neat foil in acts and fate to the prospering just man.
quails. The literal sense of the Hebrew verb is “to melt” or “to dissolve.”