Commentaries

[א] Mizmor 1, Verse 1

אַֽשְֽׁרֵ֥י הָאִ֗ישׁ אֲשֶׁ֚ר לֹ֥א הָלַךְ֘ בַּֽעֲצַ֪ת רְשָׁ֫עִ֥ים וּבְדֶ֣רֶךְ חַ֖טָּאִים לֹ֥א עָמָ֑ד וּבְמוֹשַׁ֥ב לֵ֜צִ֗ים לֹ֣א יָשָֽׁב:

ashrey haʾiysh ʾasher loʾ halakh baʿatzat rəshaʿiym uvəderekh ḥattaʾiym loʾ ʿamad uvəmoshav leytziym loʾ yashav

Happy is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the wicked, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seat of the scornful.

MIDRASH TEHILLIM

1.
It is King David who is blessing Israel in words - "Blessed is the man"
2.
Considering the phrase - "Blessed is the man..." in light of Tanakh mentioning, that King David came and sat before G-d (in the Temple). No one is allowed to sit before G-d in the Temple, so what that phrase means? It means that he sits in prayer.
Also parallels are drawn between the achievements of Moses and King David. In his final words in Torah Moses blesses Israel, and here King David blessed Israel too.
3.
The Creator does not deliver improper speech, so David modeled himself after the Creator. Therefore instead of saying - "Cursed is the man who walks...", he said - "Blessed is the man who walks Not ...
4.
The idea of blessed man should be considered in the light of words (in Tanakh) that God is the Sun and the shield...and in multiple places it is described how Avraham was rewarded for being upright, and also it is mentioned that the one who walks upright is rewarded, and the wicked is punished...
5.
The way King David begins Sefer Tehillim ("Blessed...") is the way Moshe ends his blessings. Our rabbis explain that it is not a coincidence, instead it is a principal established by G-d Himself.
In the beginning G-d Himself used to bless His creation. He blessed Noah and his sons, He blessed Avraham. But He also conferred the Honor of blessing to Avraham, so from that point, if Avraham felt like blessing, He could bless too. Later this honor was passed to Yakov, Moses and eventually came to King David. Every time the next great profit started, where the previous one ended. King David followed this tradition, therefore He started His book with the word "Blessed...", because that was the way Moses ended His blessing to Israel.
6.
... "wisdom strengthens the wise"(Kohelet 7:19).
Ten authors of the Sefer Tehillim:
Adam, Melchizedek, Avraham, Moshe, David, Solomon, Asaph, and three sons of Korach.
David strengthened more than all other authors, so the Book of Tehillim bears his name.
Ten kinds of song: glory, melody, Psalm, song, praise, prayer, blessing, thanksgiving, Hallelujah, and exultation.
Hallelujah is the most excellent song of all, which in one word contains the name of God and the term of praise.
7.
If a man walks among the wicked. he will end up stand among them, and if he stands with them, he will end up sitting with them and if he sits, he will scoff with them too. One good deed leads to another good deed, so one wicked deed leads to another wicked deed.
If a man does not do evil things, does it mean that its enough to do neither good or evil. No, His delight is in the Torah of God.
Rabbi Shimon taught if the man sit and not commit iniquity, he is rewarded as if he performed a commandment, rabbi Zeira said that such a man is rewarded only if an occasion for a wicked deed came to hand and he abstained from it, for it is said - "Depart from evil and do good... (Tehillim 34:15)
8.
The word Blessed is written twenty two times in Tehillim, according to the twenty two letters of the alphabet. King David prayed to God to accept the words of His mouth, and for generations to treasure them, as if He is still alive.
9.
Adam's and Eve's eating from the tree is shown as an example of walking, standing and seating with a wicked serpent. The serpent is demonstrated as a scoffer.

RASHI

1.
The man is praised for not walking, as a result not standing and as a result not sitting

RADAK

1.
Happy (is) ...
The word "ASHREY" is always used in plural, because a person is not accepted as happy for one good in him or one success of his, which could be accidental, but for many, consistent good virtues that are really a part of him.
2.
who has not walked in the counsel of the wicked...
The negative is discussed first, because the desires of the world man learns first, from his youth up. Only later in life a man starts better distinguishing between the good and evil, so he is being warned to avoid the wicked and not to follow their advise.
The wicked are those for whom maximizing wealth and satisfying their world desires is the main purpose in life. Without distinguishing between good and evil, they rob, steal and murder, because of their insatiable greed.
One of the meanings of the word RASHA is - RESTLESNESS (according to Sefaria translation), based on - "When He giveth quietness who then can disturb?" (ירשׁיע disquiet)(irshia) (Job 34:29);
That is why the actions of rasha are linked with WALKING.
It is also linked to COUNCEL, because they are giving advise to men (especially to children) that the highest good is to amass wealth and to be merry. And very often people are deceived by this, because what is in front of one's eyes seems attractive, and they don't think about the consequences.

Rabbi HIRSCH

1.
Ashrey...
The phonetic relationship of the root indicate that one of the meanings is - "step", "to step forward", "to progress". "striding forward". In the context of the verse, a man is striding forward only if He behaves in a certain way....
2.
Rasha (Wicked)...
"Scorner of the law", "lawless". This person deliberately does not abide by law, and is guided only by his own will.
3.
Hatta (Sinner)...
"To miss (a mark)", like in the expression - "He slings a stone at a hairsbreadth and does not allow it to miss its mark" (Shoftim 20:16). It is Unintentional sinning against the law, because of levity or lack of seriousness. Sinfulness in this person is a character trait, because of his levity, it is not someone who goes astray at times, which is a very human failing.
4.
Lats (Scornful)...
The base phonetically related roots indicate "not keeping true to the same course","to remove oneself from that course". From those roots some words with positive connotations are derived, like - interpreter, spokesman, poetry. But some other derived words have negative meanings - the art of distorting speech and wicked irony. This type of a person mocks and ridicules all that is spiritually and morally high.
5.
Atsat (Counsel)...
Words with similar root do not have a primary meaning - "to give advise to another". but rather mean - "to reach a decision after deliberation and taking council", or "decision or plan arrived at after due deliberation".
Thus, ATSAT RASHAIYM is the counsel of the lawless, that deliberately disregards the law. But a righteous man, never takes a step guided by such counsel, no deliberate transgressions from the law in his life.
6.
()uvəderekh ḥattaʾiym loʾ ʿamad (nor stood in the way of sinners)...
Its difficult for almost any person not to end up sometimes on such a path, for all kinds of reasons. But once the error is recognized, not to remain on such path is required of an ethical human being.
7.
uvəmoshav leytziym loʾ yashav (nor sat in the seat of the scornful)...
No person can avoid a scorner in daily life or business activity. But the majority of those contacts occur in conversations during the leisure hours. It happens not while "walking or standing", but while "sitting". But anyone can control who to "seat" with during his leisure time.


WORDS

ashrey

אַֽשְֽׁרֵ֥י

ROOT: A(lef)-Sh(in)-R(esh)
1.
ESHER - happiness, blessedness...
2.
ASHAR - to go straight, go on, advance...

rasha

רָשַׁע

ROOT: R(esh)-Sh(in)-A(yin)
1.
meaning of being loose or disjointed, or irregular, abnormal, wicked
2.
RADAK - in the translation on Sefaria - "restlessness,"
(ישׁיע disquiet) (Job 34:29)
[[+++]
I COULDN'T FIND THIS ROOT MEANING ANYWHERE !!!!
One of the root meanings of the word "rasha" is DEPART (from the path), which can lead to a meaning - LOST (as a result of departing from the path). This is close to - TO BE WRONG, which could be linked to - TO DISTURB, TO CREATE TROUBLES.
(???: TO DISTURB if applied to the person himself can be linked with TO BE DISTURBED, which can be interpreted as RESTLESNESS???)
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