TEHILLIM LIGHT

Commentaries

Mizmor 011, Verse 001

לַֽמְנַצֵּ֗חַ לְדָ֫וִ֥ד בַּֽיהֹוָ֨ה | חָסִ֗יתִי אֵ֖יךְ תֹּֽאמְר֣וּ לְנַפְשִׁ֑י נ֜וּ֗דִי (כתיב נ֜וּדִו) הַרְכֶ֥ם צִפּֽוֹר:

lamnatzeyach ledovid badoonoy chosiysiy ʾeych tomeru lenafshiy nudiy (chsyv nudiv) harchem tzippor

To the leader. By David. In the LORD I take refuge; how can you say to my soul, “Flee to the hills (as) a bird!"

MIDRASH TEHILLIM

1.....(11.1)
Flee you. As birds to your mountain.
Note that the [ketiv] is NUDU, flee you, while the [keri] is NUDI, flee You, thus the nations said to God above, as well as to the children of Israel below, flee you.
[NOTE:
keri (the way a word is read)
ketiv (the way it is written in the actual scroll)
]
To God above?
Yes, for it is said: "As a bird wandering from its nest, so is a Man wandering from His place." (Mishlei - Proverbs 27:8).
Man here is referring to God, as in the saying: "The Lord is a Man of war; the Lord is His Name." (Shemot - Exodus 15:3).

RASHI

1.
How do you say to my soul, “Wander from your mountain..."
"...for they have driven me today from cleaving to the Lord's heritage..." (Shmuel I - I Samuel 26:19).
They drove him out of the [Holy] Land to outside the [Holy] Land, and here he says, “I took refuge in the Lord [hoping] that He would restore me to cleave to His heritage.
2.
“Wander from your mountain..."
How do You, who drive away my soul, say to me,...“Wander from your mountain”? Pass over your mountain, you wandering bird. For every wandering person is compared to a bird that wanders from its nest, as it is written (in Mishlei - Proverbs 27:8): “As a bird wandering from its nest, so is a man wandering from his place.” For your nest has wandered, because we have driven you from the entire mountain like a wandering bird.
The masoretic spelling is נודו [plural] because it is also expounded on in reference to Israel, that the nations say that to them.

RADAK

1.
How do you say to my soul, “Flee..."
The written form "nudu" (plural). [ketiv]
It is read as "nudi" (singular) [keri]
The written form relates to body and soul.
i.e that his haters said of him, that his body would be destryed, because Saul will kill him, and his soul also will be lost. They would say of him that he was wicked, and his soul would be lost and swayed, by the way - "...sling it with the hollow of the sling." (Shmuel I - I Samuel 25:29).
And the way it is read [keri form] relates only to the soul, sinse it controls the body.
2.
...from your mountain..."
How can you tell her to sway from the ridge, when she came to escape there on your mountain?
ARCHEM as MIARCHEM (from your mountain).
And he said this against his enemies who were telling Saul, where David was planning to flee, as it is said : "And it was related to Saul that David had come to Keilah..." (Shmuel I - I Samuel 23:7).

Rabbi HIRSCH

1.
To Him Who grants victory. By David. In the Lord have I put my trust; how, then, can you say to my soul, “Flee, for your rock is a bird.”
This psalm is a sequel to Psalm 10 by virtue of its content and its trend of thought. It is a still more definite answer to the quesion of why the wicked may prosper and the righteous must suffer.
[NOTE: Rabbi Hirsch mentions that his learned uncle first brought his attention to the accentuation mark "atnach" under the word (lenafshiy) - my soul. Based on analyses of hebrew accentuation marks he proposed a different reading of the text in this verse.]
We should not read this verse as - eych tomeru lenafshiy , nudiy harchem tzippor, BUT as - eych tomeru lenafshiy nudiy , harchem tzippor
[NOTE: the difference is WHERE the sentence is split in two parts, before or after the word FLEE.]
How can you tell me to abandon the firm faith I have heretofore cherished? You say that the One in Whom I and those who share my convictions have found our support as if on a solid rock has proven to be as unstable as a bird.
NODU is ketiv, because David is addressed here not as an individual but as the representative of the entire Jewish people. For, like David, his people, too, has placed its trust in the Lord and “they” who address David and his subjects here feel that experience should have taught Israel to place its confidence elsewhere.
[הַר] (har) is a rock, the symbol of stability.
[צִפּוֹר] (tsippor) “the bird”, denoting something that is unstable and easily movable.

WORDS