TEHILLIM LIGHT

Commentaries

Mizmor 024, Verse 006

זֶ֭ה דּ֣וֹר דֹּרְשָׁ֑ו מְבַקְשֵׁ֨י פָנֶ֖יךָ יַעֲקֹ֣ב סֶֽלָה

Zeh dor doreshov mevakshei foneicho ya'akov seloh

This is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face O Yaakov. Selah.

RADAK

1.
This is the generation of them that seek Him...
Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord and in His Holy Place, because he is clean of hand and pure of heart?
This is the generation of the seekers of the Lord, and they are Israel.
And this happened in the days of Solomon, who built the House. And the KETIV דרשו (him that seeks Him) corresponds to דּוֹר (generation), which is a collective term, singular; and the KERI דֹּרְשָׁיו (them that seek Him) corresponds to the individuals, who are many.
[NOTE:
keri (the way a word is read)
ketiv (the way it is written in the actual scroll)
]
2.
...That seek Your face, (even) Yaakov
The singer speaks as to God. These are they who seek Your face in the Holy House, Yaakov, and they are Israel; for all the seed of Yaakov are called by the name Yaakov, as (Yirmiyahu - Jeremiah 30:10) "And you, fear not, My servant Yaakov" with other instances besides; And there is no need to supply - "seed of" as the interpreters have done.

Rabbi HIRSCH

1.
[זֶה] (zeh) This
Such is only the generation that "seeks after Him,” that turns to Him for "help and guidance".
[דָּרַשׁ] (darash)
denote both "seeking Him" and "turning to Him for guidance".
doreshov is read as if it were in the plural form, and spelled as a singular. Each nation may still retain its own characteristics and peculiarities, but must always use them and the way of life based upon them only in conformity with the supreme Divine moral Law. It is this spiritual and moral subordination to the One God and to His Law that unites all the diverse cultures and national entities of the world into one harmonious whole.
2.
(mevakshei foneicho) - seek Your face
may be understood either as “they seek your favor, they seek instruction and guidance from you" or as “they seek that which you, too, seek; they strive toward the same goal toward which your face also is turned; they seek your guidance.”
Verses 26—32 of Psalm 22 refer to the wanderings of “Yaakov,” the exiled nation, among the other nations of the world. Therefore the name used here is "Yaakov" instead of "Israel".

WORDS