TEHILLIM LIGHT

Commentaries

Mizmor 009, Verse 001

לַ֭מְנַצֵּחַ עַל־מ֥וּת לַבֵּ֗ן מִזְמ֥וֹר לְדָוִֽד

lamnatzeyach ʿal–mus labbeyn mizmor ledovid

To the conductor, to brighten the youth, a song of David.

MIDRASH TEHILLIM

1.....(9.1)
For the leader al mut libban
The phrase alemut libban is to be understood in the light of the verse: "He has made everything beautiful in its time; also He has set haolam [The world] in their hearts" (Kohelet - Ecclesiastes 3:11).
Rabbi Berechiah said in the name of rabbi Jonathan, Do not read haolam, the world, but haolelim, the little children, the verse means therefore that God set the love of little children in their fathers hearts.
In a different reading, He has set haolam (The unknown) in their hearts, rabbi Jonathan said, God has set the fear of the unknown angel of death in their hearts.
In another interpretation, the verse is read - God has caused to be hidden [haolam] from their hearts. The word haolom being written "defectively" without the letter VAV, is to be read he'elim (caused to be hidden) that is, God hid the day of death and the day of judgement from the hearts of His creatures. Therefore, David said, Because You hid them from me i will sing a Psalm, For the leader, alemut libban, in the praise of Your hidding of the day of death and the day of judgement from the heart.
1.....(9.4)
A.
Alemut libban (Faults hidden from a son) refers to the sins a son of Israel commits unwittingly, for these his Father in heaven, as He clenses men of their iniquities on the Day of Atonement, pardons and forgives him.
B.
Another comment, Read as Al mut labben (concerning death for the son), the phrase refers to the death which the Father decrees for the son, though if the son repents, God will purify him of his iniquities. Here Son clearly refers to the people of Israel, of whom God said: "Israel is My son, My first born" (Shemot - Exodus 4:22).
C.
Another comment, AL mut labber (concerning the son's death), refers, according to rabbi Abba, to the death of David's son. But the rabbis say, as long as that other son of his was alive, David knew that the heart of God was angry with him, but, when the son died, David knew that the heart of God became tender toward him.

RASHI

1.
...to brighten the youth...
Heb. על מות לבן. Some interpret לבן על מות, on the death of Absalom, but this interpretation is not plausible because he [David] states: לבן; he does not state הבן. Others interpret על מות לבן [as referring to] Nabal. Neither is this plausible, to invert the name. Moreover, no mention is made of him in the psalm. (The preceding paragraph does not appear in most editions.) I saw in the Great Masorah that it is one word, judging by the fact that it is compared to (below 48:15): “He will lead us as in youth (על מות).” Menachem and Dunash interpreted what they interpreted, but it does not seem correct to me. I saw in the Pesikta (d’Rav Kahana, p. 25a) that the chapter deals with Amalek and Esau (as in verse 6): You rebuked nations; You destroyed a wicked man. But I say that this song, למנצח על מות לבן, is for the future, when the childhood and the youth of Israel will be brightened; their righteousness will be revealed and their salvation will draw near, that Esau and his seed will be erased, according to our Torah. (The last phrase does not appear in most editions.) על מות means childhood. לבן is like ללבן, to whiten. Menachem interpreted מות לבן על, melodies to teach, and this is its interpretation: To the conductor למנצח, to the conductor, melodies to teach, in which case לבן is equivalent to להבין ולבונן, to understand and to comprehend; על מות, named for a musical instrument called עלמות, as is stated (below 46:1): “on alamoth-shir.” Dunash (p. 15f) interpreted לבן as the name of a man whose name was Labben, who fought with David in those days, and the Psalmist’s statement, “You rebuked nations, You destroyed a wicked man” this wicked man is Labben, who slew innocent people. Although you do not come upon a man named Labben anywhere else but this place, you find the same with other names, which are found in Scripture only once. (This entire account of Dunash’s interpretation does not appear in early mss. Menachem’s interpretation is presented very briefly.)

RADAK

1.
For the Precentor: 'al muth labben: A Psalm of David.
The majority of the interpreters (Rabbi Dunash the Levite and Ibn Ezra) say that David uttered it with reference to one of his enemies who died, one of the princes of the heathen, who oppressed Israel and whose name was Labben; and that when he died David uttered this Psalm. Some also say (Ibn Ezra, ad loc.) that Labben (לבן) is an inversion of Nabal (נבל), and they say that David uttered this Psalm when Nabal the Carmelite died. But this is very far-fetched; for the subject-matter of the Psalm tells of a man who did evil to Israel, while Nabal did no harm to anyone, but simply was avaricious. And some say (ibid.) that לבן is to be read as if written with a yodh (לבין), and then the reference is to Goliath, who is called a champion (הַבֵּנַיִם אִישׁ); and when David had killed him he uttered this Psalm. My revered father, of blessed memory, has (also) written that this Psalm was (originally) uttered with reference to Goliath; but he explained לבן (as referring) to a singer whose name was Ben (בֵּן), as it is written in Chronicles ( I Chron. 15:1 8): " and with them their brethren of the second degree, Zechariah, Ben, and Jaaziel; " and he explained מות על, which is two words [ = on the death of], as one word, עלמות, from (the expression) שׁיר עלמות; and similar instances of words divided into two, but with the significance of a single word, are קוח פקח (= release, Is. lxi. i), פיה יפה (= very fair, Jer. 46:20), and יונים לגאי ( = proud, Ps. 123:4). And although the lamedh of לַבֵּן, is vocalised with the vowel pathah, and this is not in accordance with usage in the case of a man's name – for you do not say ליצחק, לַידותון, because the article is not employed with a proper name – nevertheless the article here is employed to indicate that he speaks with reference to Ben the singer; for if he had said לְבן (pointed) with sheva it would not have been clear that he was speaking of the singer whose name was Ben. At all events, it is admissible to interpret the subject-matter of the Psalm as having reference to Goliath the Philistine.

Rabbi HIRSCH

1.
To Him Who grants victory.Immortality (eternal youth, insight into the mystery) to the “son" alone. A Psalm of David.
Rashi already observed that (MUT LaBEN) could not mean "death" or "the death of the son". If it did, the word would be (HaBEN) and not (LaBEN); moreover, there is nothing in this psalm that might indicate such a "death". Besides, it is quite evident that this psalm speaks of a nation rather than of one person, as we shall illustrate below. Israel, and not an individual such as David, is the speaker here, so that it is hardly probable that such a statement could refer to a son of David.
Rashi stated that, in accordance with the massorah, the phrase should read (ALMUT); i.e., it would not be a phrase at all, but one single word.
Eben Ezra and Kimchi, feel that, according to the same massorah,(AL MUT) is, indeed, a phrase consisting of two words.
In the Midrash, too, (AL-MUT) is interpreted either as two words; i.e. "He leads us forth over death to immortality”; or, as one word, ALMUT “in the vigor of youth”.
Finally, it is possible to interpret as - “the secret", that which is hidden.
We can see that these meanings are almost identical. “He leads us to immortality, in the eternal vigor of youth, through the present into the future” would be a thought closely akin to “He leads us forth over death”, etc. An explanation that would seem a little more remote would be “He leads us in a secret manner, in a fashion known but to Him".
Now we must attempt to determine the significance of the word BEN in this place. We feel we would not go too far afield if we were to interpret the word BEN, as it appears here, to refer to Israel's filial relationship to God, As we read in Psalm 80:17 - “Look down upon the son whom You has girded with strength.” OR as God also refers to Israel in Exodus 4:22 and elsewhere - "My firstborn son is Israel".
This psalm expresses the historical experiences of the people of Israel during its wanderings among the peoples of the world. This path through history is strewn with trials and tribulations, but it is also replete with lessons and possibilities for moral improvement. Israel passes before all the great powers in world history — or rather, these powers pass in review before Israel. These nations leave a trail of ruins upon their path to triumph and Israel must suffer at the hands of them all. Israel sees them all rise — but then it is also witness to their downfall. And in every such catastrophe Israel discerns the hand of God, heralding His ultimate judgment, “placing His throne into position”, as it were, for the judgment of the world. It is Israel whom God has appointed to be the messenger of that era of His kingdom on earth. The superscription AL-MUT LaBEN, in whatever way it may be interpreted, is in accordance with this idea. “Immortality,” “the eternal vigor of youth,” “the secret of the future” to “the son alone” simply means that only the “son”—only Israel, will enjoy such immortality because it is the only one to submit willingly to the guidance of its Father. It is Israel alone that has walked, and still walks, immortally and forever youthful, among the nations of the world that have fallen and all those that are still to crumble. Israel alone has preserved the secret of world history, because it alone has seen and understood the hidden workings of the hand of its God, just as only a son is capable of truly understanding the secret ways of his father.

WORDS