Exegetical Notebook: OT 6217 Poetic and Prophetic Books

Tully

[Name]

Psalm 1:1-6
1. Briefly describe the literary context and the genre of this passage:

Literary context:
Psalm 1 sets the tone for much of the rest of the Psalter by contrasting the way of the righteous with the way of the ungodly
and sets the stage for the hostility of the ungodly. Along with Psalm 2, it forms the introduction to the entire collection. Psalm
2, a royal psalm, lays out the connection between Gods rule and the human monarchy. Psalm 1 says nothing about the king,
but it focuses on the way of the righteous that is to be lived out in accordance with the law of the Lord. Putting the two psalms
together we have the main themes of the book, the way the righteous are to live among the ungodly, and the salvation the
righteous have in their divinely chosen king. Psalm 1 then begins by reminding the reader that those who order their lives by
Gods word will find success in this life and in the life to come, but those who reject Gods word have no hope of escaping his
judgment. The message of the psalm centers on the importance of meditation on Gods word. (Ross 182)
Genre:
This psalm is an instructional psalm. Because of this classification, the suggestion has been made that the psalm should be
understood as having originated in an education setting, from whence it made its way into the cultic liturgy. The characteristic
of these type of Psalms is that often they include a dualistic comparison between the righteous and the wicked, the wise and the
fool, or Gods way and the worlds way. Some formal traits that occur in these psalms are happy are phrases and also a tone
of instruction. One subcategory of the instructional psalm is the Torah psalm, which expressly instructs regarding the Lords
Torah.(Nancy 58, 20)
2. Are these the actual exegetical boundaries of the passage? Why or why not?

Inmyopinion,Psalm1thematicallyfitswelltogether,thecontrastbetweentherighteousandthewickedlinksthewhole
psalm.Also,thereisaclearthematicshiftbetweenPsalm1andPsalm2.

Exegetical Notebook: OT 6217 Poetic and Prophetic Books

Tully

3. Text Analysis

1.1

Blessed is the man who do not

follow the advice of the wicked,
or stand in the pathway with
sinners, or sit in the seat of
scoffers;

Jl'h; - Verb qal pf 3 ms sg klh

- to walk, go
dm;[; - Verb qal pf 3 ms sg
dm[- to stand
bv;y: - Verb qal pf 3 ms sg
bvy - to sit , dwell

How would you outline this verse? How many

clauses are there and what is the relationship
between them?

I would follow Ross (184), who states that the verse begins
with an announcement of their spiritual state and then
qualifies it with three clauses.
Blessed is the man
who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or stand in the pathway with sinners
or sit in the seat of scoffers
In the clauses there are a threefold trilogy of ascending
intensity. First, the three terms for the people of the worlds
are ungodly. sinner, and scorners. In the three
descriptions of the unrighteousness there is growing intensity,
signifying that what may start as a harmless bit of advice
from an unbeliever may end up with a dangerously close
connection to those who want to destroy faith.
Also the verbs in this verse increase in force. To walk, to
stand, and to sit show that if people at first take their
spiritual guidance from unbelievers instead of GO, they will
gradually being living like the world and become more
entangled in it. (Ross 188)
Look up the word
. How does this kind of
person compare to the and the , also
mentioned in Proverbs?

Exegetical Notebook: OT 6217 Poetic and Prophetic Books

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The peti is someone who is in the situation of being easily

misled. Though intellectually flawed, the petayim are the
mildest sort of fools, for they are malleable, are capable of
being shaped and improved by education process (Prov 1:4;
8:5; 12:25; 21:11), and still have hope of joining the company
of the wise. (Waltke 111)
The kesil is the one who is overconfident and, therefore, falls
into smug obtuseness. There seems to be a connection
between his overconfidence and his stupidity. Instead of
perceiving knowledge as desirable and so consciously
cherished and sought after, fools are repulsed by it and try
to rid themselves of it. (Waltke 113)
The most hardened apostates are the mockers (lesim). Their
spiritual problem is rotted in their overweening pride (Prov
21:24). His supercilious arrogance blocks him from wisdom
(14:6). He has genius for invective and denigration that
impresses the gullible as long as he has his way
(19:25;21:11). To restore order he must be driven out of the
community by force (22:10). The scoffer is considered in
Prov 9:7-9 as someone who is incorrigible, and, therefore,
there is no point in exhorting that person. (Waltke 114)

1.2

But his delight is in the law of

the Lord, and on his law he
meditates day and night.

hG<h]y< - Verb qal impf 3

ms sg hgh - to meditate, moan,
speak

What does this mean? Look in a lexicon
or two as well as in Waltke and OConnor
39.3.5d.

Related to the uses of nka to restrict the immediately

preceding clause is the restrictive use of yK and a yK in a

Exegetical Notebook: OT 6217 Poetic and Prophetic Books

Tully

clause after a negative clause; the combination a yK can be

used to restrict generally preceding material. (Waltke and
OConnor 39.3.5.d)
Adversative clause with yK or a yK after a negative. After
a negative, a clause that begins with yK can be adversative.
When used in this way, yK is often followed by a pleonastic
a. (Willams Hebrew Syntax, 196)
The antithetical meaning of yK following a neg. is not
sufficiently taken into account by translators. Introduced by
a yK. Ps 1.2 blessed is the man who does not walkbut
his is in the law of Y.( also vs. 4). (Davidson Hebrew Syntax,
174).
Adversative and Exceptive Clause. After the negative
sentences (especially after prohibitions) the antithesis (but) is
introduced by a yK. (Gesenius Hebrew Grammar, 500)

1.3

The happy estate of the righteousness is illuminated in v. 3 by

the simile of the tree. A tree may flourish or fade, depending

He is like a tree planted by

w] - Particle conj - and
streams of water, which yields its
hy:h; - Verb qal pf 3 ms sg
fruit in its season, and its leaf
does not wither. In all that he
consec hyh - to be
does, he prospers.

lWtv; - Verb qal passive ms sg

abs ltv - to plant

upon its location and access to water. A tree transplanted from

some dry spot to a location beside an irrigation channel,
where water never cease to flow, would inevitably flourish. It
would become a green and fruitful tree. The simile not only
illustrates colorfully the prosperity of the righteous, but also
make a theological point. The sate of blessedness or
happiness is not a reward; rather, it is the result of a particular
type of life. Just as tree with a constant water supply naturally

Exegetical Notebook: OT 6217 Poetic and Prophetic Books

Tully

nTeyI - Verb qal impf 3 ms sg

ntn - to give, put, set
lwByI - Verb qal impf 3 ms sg
lbn - to fade, wither, droop

flourishes, so too the person who avoids evil and delights in

Torah naturally prospers, for such a person is living within the
guidelines set down by the Creator. Thus the prosperity of the
righteous reflects the wisdom of a life lived according to the
plan of the Giver of all life. (Craigie 60-61)

hc,[}y" - Verb qal impf 3 ms

sg hc[ - to do, make
j'ylix]y" - Verb hif impf 3 ms
sg jlx - to prosper, succeed, rush

1.4

The life of the wicked is summarized succinctly in the brief

The wicked are not so, but are

like chaff that the wind drives
away.

pD]Ti

Verb qal impf 3 fem sg

dn - to drive away

wN -suffix 3 ms sg energic

1.5

simile of v 4b. They are like chaff. The language reflects the
practice of winnowing grain at harvest time. The grain would
be tossed into the air with a pitchfork at the village threshing
floor; the wind would separate the light of chaff and husks
and blow them away; while the more substantial grain fell
back to the floor. Chaff is something light and useless, part of
the crop, but a part to be disposed by the farmer. The wicked
are thus depicted in the simile as lightweights, persons
without real substance or worth (Craigie 61).
To what does

refer? To what preceding

Exegetical Notebook: OT 6217 Poetic and Prophetic Books

Tully

Therefore the wicked will not
stand in the judgment, nor
sinners in the congregation of
the righteous;

1.6

al - Particle neg - not

wmqUy: - verb qal impf 3
ms pl wq - to arise, stand

For the Lord knows the way of

the righteous, but they way of
the wicked will perish.

AyKi - Particle conj

because, when

that,

['dEwyo - Verb qal ptc ms sg

abs [dy - to know
dbeaT - Verb qal impf 3 fem
sg dba - to perish, destroy

idea is it pointing?

The conjunction is pointing to the simile of the chaff in

verse 4. As Craigie states, the lightness of the wicked is
then elaborated in v 5. The two lines of v.5, in parallelism,
reflect essentially the same thought, namely that the
wicked hold no weight or influence in the important areas
of human society. Where the righteous meet for the
pursuit of justice and government, the wicked have no
place and are not recognized. They live for themselves
and cannot participate in the affairs of those who live for
other and for righteousness.( Craigie 61)
How do you think that
is parallel with

In the first colon, the way of the righteous is the object of

the verb. In the second, the way of the wicked is the
subject. By means of this nuanced alteration, the poem
means to say that being the author of ones own fate is to
march down the path of self-destruction. The wicked are
their own lords, and thus they autonomously move
toward their own judgment. The way of the righteous, by
theological and grammatical contrast, is the object of
Gods care. The righteouses are distinguished not by any
action of their own, but by an action of the Lords: God
watches over them. The message of this verse, and indeed
of the entire psalm, is that it is far better to give up
spurious claims to subjective autonomy and become the
object of the Lords care. This is the true path to
happiness and life. (Nancy 63)

Exegetical Notebook: OT 6217 Poetic and Prophetic Books

Tully

4. What is the main message or thrust of this passage?

By drawing a contrast between the righteous and the ungodly, the psalmist instructs believers not to live the way the world lives,
not to take spiritual, moral, or ethical advice from the unbelievers, and not to join them in their profane enterprises; rather,
believers must study the word of God in order to live an untarnished and productive life for God, and that life will be evidence of a
living faith that will see them through the judgment, when God judges the wicked. (Ross 194-195)