תהלים מ״ח | Psalms 48, the psalm for Monday (translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi)

Contributor(s):

Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Bnei Qoraḥ and the Masoretic Text

Shared on:

30 July 2017 under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

Categories:

Tehilim Book 2 (Psalms 42–72), Monday, Psalm of the Day

Tags:

Psalm of the Day, Monday, Psalms 48, מזמור Mizmor, שיר Shir, First Temple Period, interpretive translation, תהלים Psalms, English Translation, שיר של יום Shir Shel Yom

This psalm was the Monday song of the Levites in the Holy Temple.

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Source (Hebrew)	Translation (English)
^א שִׁ֥יר מִ֝זְמוֹר לִבְנֵי־קֹֽרַח׃	¹ Song and music from the Koraḥites
^ב גָּ֘ד֤וֹל יְהוָ֣ה וּמְהֻלָּ֣ל מְאֹ֑ד בְּעִ֥יר אֱ֝לֹהֵ֗ינוּ הַר־קָדְשֽׁוֹ׃ ^ג יְפֵ֥ה נוֹף֮ מְשׂ֪וֹשׂ כָּל־הָ֫אָ֥רֶץ הַר־צִ֭יּוֹן יַרְכְּתֵ֣י צָפ֑וֹן קִ֝רְיַ֗ת מֶ֣לֶךְ רָֽב׃	² Here in God’s city, On this holy mountain, God is vast and His fame is glorious. ³ This beautiful landscape, The joy place of Earth, Mount Zion at Jerusalem’s North side, The great royal capital.
^ד אֱלֹהִ֥ים בְּאַרְמְנוֹתֶ֗יהָ נוֹדַ֥ע לְמִשְׂגָּֽב׃ ^ה כִּֽי־הִנֵּ֣ה הַ֭מְּלָכִים נֽוֹעֲד֑וּ עָבְר֥וּ יַחְדָּֽו׃ ^ו הֵ֣מָּה רָ֭אוּ כֵּ֣ן תָּמָ֑הוּ נִבְהֲל֥וּ נֶחְפָּֽזוּ׃ ^ז רְ֭עָדָה אֲחָזָ֣תַם שָׁ֑ם חִ֝֗יל כַּיּוֹלֵֽדָה׃	⁴ In her palaces, God is known in exaltation. ⁵ Here, kings gathered. They came together. (If they came as enemies…) ⁶ They saw and were overwhelmed With awe. ⁷ They were shaken and took flight. Trembling, they shook, Shaking like a woman in labor.
^ח בְּר֥וּחַ קָדִ֑ים תְּ֝שַׁבֵּ֗ר אֳנִיּ֥וֹת תַּרְשִֽׁישׁ׃ ^ט כַּאֲשֶׁ֤ר שָׁמַ֨עְנוּ ׀ כֵּ֤ן רָאִ֗ינוּ בְּעִיר־יְהוָ֣ה צְ֭בָאוֹת בְּעִ֣יר אֱלֹהֵ֑ינוּ אֱלֹ֘הִ֤ים יְכוֹנְנֶ֖הָ עַד־עוֹלָ֣ם סֶֽלָה׃	⁸ A storm You raised from the East, Shattering Tarshish cruisers. ⁹ All this we heard. We even saw it all, In God’s city, The Seat of Yah—Tzebaot. May God keep it flourishing forever. Selah!
^י דִּמִּ֣ינוּ אֱלֹהִ֣ים חַסְדֶּ֑ךָ בְּ֝קֶ֗רֶב הֵיכָלֶֽךָ׃ ^יא כְּשִׁמְךָ֤ אֱלֹהִ֗ים כֵּ֣ן תְּ֭הִלָּתְךָ עַל־קַצְוֵי־אֶ֑רֶץ צֶ֝֗דֶק מָלְאָ֥ה יְמִינֶֽךָ׃ ^יב יִשְׂמַ֤ח ׀ הַר־צִיּ֗וֹן תָּ֭גֵלְנָה בְּנ֣וֹת יְהוּדָ֑ה לְ֝מַ֗עַן מִשְׁפָּטֶֽיךָ׃	¹⁰ In the midst of Your Temple, We looked for Your Grace, O God. ¹¹ Your reputation is well deserved. So, we praise You To the ends of the Earth. Fairness and kindness Issue from Your right hand. ¹² Zion’s mountain rejoices. Judah daughters are gleeful. All because of how You act justly.
^יג סֹ֣בּוּ צִ֭יּוֹן וְהַקִּיפ֑וּהָ סִ֝פְר֗וּ מִגְדָּלֶֽיהָ׃ ^יד שִׁ֤יתוּ לִבְּכֶ֨ם ׀ לְֽחֵילָ֗ה פַּסְּג֥וּ אַרְמְנוֹתֶ֑יהָ לְמַ֥עַן תְּ֝סַפְּר֗וּ לְד֣וֹר אַחֲרֽוֹן׃	¹³ Go round Zion, enfold her. Take note of her towers. ¹⁴ Set your heart on her strengths. Raise her mansions high. Then, you will tell about it To generations yet to come:
^טו כִּ֤י זֶ֨ה ׀ אֱלֹהִ֣ים אֱ֭לֹהֵינוּ עוֹלָ֣ם וָעֶ֑ד ה֖וּא יְנַהֲגֵ֣נוּ עַל־מֽוּת׃	¹⁵ This is God, our God! Forever and ever. He will guide us past death.

Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l, included his translation of the Psalm of the Day for Monday (Psalms 48) in his Siddur Tehillat Hashem Yidaber Pi (2009). To the best of my ability, I have set his translation side-by-side with a transcription of the vocalized text of the Psalm. –Aharon N. Varady

The association of particular psalms sung by Levites in the Temple for each day of the week is first attested in Mishnah Tamid 4.7.

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“תהלים מ״ח | Psalms 48, the psalm for Monday (translation by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

Rabbi Dr. Zalman Meshullam Schachter-Shalomi, affectionately known as "Reb Zalman" (28 August 1924 – 3 July 2014) was one of the founders of the Jewish Renewal movement. Born in Żółkiew, Poland (now Ukraine) and raised in Vienna, he was interned in detention camps under the Vichy Regime but managed to flee the Nazi advance, emigrating to the United States in 1941. He was ordained as an Orthodox rabbi in 1947 within the ḤaBaD Hasidic movement while under the leadership of the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, and served ḤaBaD communities in Massachusetts and Connecticut. He subsequently earned an M.A. in psychology of religion at Boston University, and a doctorate from the Hebrew Union College. He was initially sent out to speak on college campuses by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, but in the early 1960s, after experimenting with "the sacramental value of lysergic acid", the main ingredient in LSD, leadership within ḤaBaD circles cut ties with him. He continued teaching the Torah of Ḥassidut until the end of his life to creative, free and open-minded Jewish thinkers with humility and kindness and established warm ecumenical ties as well. In September 2009, he became the first contributor of a siddur to the Open Siddur Project database of Jewish liturgy and related work. Reb Zalman supported the Open Siddur Project telling its founder, "this is what I've been looking forward to!" and sharing among many additional works of liturgy, an interview he had with Havurah magazine in the early to mid-1980s detailing his vision of "Database Davenen." The Open Siddur Project is proud to be realizing one of Reb Zalman's long held dreams.

Bnei Qoraḥ

The Bnei Qoraḥ (sons of Ḳoraḥ a/k/a Qoraḥites) were an important branch of the singers of the Kohathite division (2 Chronicles 20:19). Eleven psalms are attributed to the Qoraḥites: Psalms 42, Psalms 44 - 49, Psalms 84, Psalms 85, Psalms 87, and Psalms 88. Some of the sons of Qoraḥ also were "porters" of the temple (1 Chronicles 9:17-19); one of them was over "things that were made in the pans" (v31), i.e., the baking in pans for the meat-offering (Leviticus 2:5). (via wikipedia)

the Masoretic Text

The Masoretic Text is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the Tanakh for Karaite and Rabbinic Judaism. It was primarily copied, edited and distributed by a group of Jews known as the Masoretes between the 7th and 10th centuries CE. The Masoretic Text defines the Jewish canon and its precise letter-text, with its vocalization and accentuation known as the Masorah.

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." –Psalms 90:17