תהלים י״ב | Psalms 12, a mizmor by David translated by Rabbi Zalman Schachter Shalomi

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Date: 2022-04-29

Last Updated: 2025-05-04

Categories: Tehilim Book 1 (Psalms 1–41)

Tags: Al haShminit, devotional interpretation, interpretive translation, lashon hara, protection, למנציח Lamnatse'aḥ

Excerpt: Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi's translation of Psalms 12 was first published in Psalms in a Translation for Praying (Alliance for Jewish Renewal, Philadelphia: 2014), p. 15. . . .

Content:

Source (Hebrew)	Translation (English)
לַמְנַצֵּ֥חַ עַֽל־הַשְּׁמִינִ֗ית מִזְמ֥וֹר לְדָוִֽד׃	This psalm is to be played on the eight-string harp. A song of David
הוֹשִׁ֣יעָה יְ֭הֹוָה כִּֽי־גָמַ֣ר חָסִ֑יד כִּי־פַ֥סּוּ אֱ֝מוּנִ֗ים מִבְּנֵ֥י אָדָֽם׃ שָׁ֤וְא ׀ יְֽדַבְּרוּ֮ אִ֤ישׁ אֶת־רֵ֫עֵ֥הוּ שְׂפַ֥ת חֲלָק֑וֹת בְּלֵ֖ב וָלֵ֣ב יְדַבֵּֽרוּ׃ יַכְרֵ֣ת יְ֭הֹוָה כׇּל־שִׂפְתֵ֣י חֲלָק֑וֹת לָ֝שׁ֗וֹן מְדַבֶּ֥רֶת גְּדֹלֽוֹת׃ אֲשֶׁ֤ר אָמְר֨וּ ׀ לִלְשֹׁנֵ֣נוּ נַ֭גְבִּיר שְׂפָתֵ֣ינוּ אִתָּ֑נוּ מִ֖י אָד֣וֹן לָֽנוּ׃ מִשֹּׁ֥ד עֲנִיִּים֮ מֵאֶנְקַ֢ת אֶבְי֫וֹנִ֥ים	Help me, YaH! It’s so difficult to find a kind person; it seems that people with faith are no longer to be found among human beings. Each one smooth-talks the other, but their heart is not with what they say with their mouth. YaH! Have them cut out their smooth talk, their boastful talk. They say, “Our words have the power; we control language— who can rule over us?” [They fill themselves with what] they rob from the poor and are deaf to the weeping of the powerless.
עַתָּ֣ה אָ֭קוּם יֹאמַ֣ר יְהֹוָ֑ה אָשִׁ֥ית בְּ֝יֵ֗שַׁע יָפִ֥יחַֽ לֽוֹ׃	YaH! Please say that You will rise up! That You will become active in helping us! That You will sweep them away!
אִ֥מְר֣וֹת יְהֹוָה֮ אֲמָר֢וֹת טְהֹ֫ר֥וֹת כֶּ֣סֶף צָ֭רוּף בַּעֲלִ֣יל לָאָ֑רֶץ מְ֝זֻקָּ֗ק שִׁבְעָתָֽיִם׃	YaH’s words are pure words; all can see that they are like seven-fold refined silver.
אַתָּֽה־יְהֹוָ֥ה תִּשְׁמְרֵ֑ם תִּצְּרֶ֓נּוּ ׀ מִן־הַדּ֖וֹר ז֣וּ לְעוֹלָֽם׃ סָבִ֗יב רְשָׁעִ֥ים יִתְהַלָּכ֑וּן כְּרֻ֥ם זֻ֝לּ֗וּת לִבְנֵ֥י אָדָֽם׃	YaH, please protect the poor; shield us from that evil generation where villains strut proudly, abusing human beings.

Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi’s translation of Psalms 12 was first published in Psalms in a Translation for Praying (Alliance for Jewish Renewal, Philadelphia: 2014), p. 15. Reb Zalman was, in 2009, an early advocate of the Open Siddur Project and generously shared his liturgical and prayer work with the project following his vision of a common “Database Davvenen.” I have set his translation opposite the Masoretic Hebrew text of the psalm according to the phrasing he provided. –Aharon Varady

Contributor: Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (translation)

Co-authors:

Name: Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (translation)
Bio: 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.
Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zalman_Schachter-Shalomi
Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/zalman-schachter-shalomi-translation

Name: the Mesorah (TaNaKh)
Bio: The Mesorah (Heb: מָסוֹרָה) a/k/a, 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.
Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masoretic_Text
Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/mesorah

Name: David ben Yishai (traditional attribution)
Bio: David ben Yishai was the second king of the United Kingdom of Israel and Judah, reigning ca. 1010–970 BCE. While almost half of the Psalms are headed "l'David" and tradition identifies several with specific events in David’s life (e.g., Psalms № 3, 7, 18, 34, 51, 52, 54, 56, 57, 59, 60, 63 and 142), most scholars consider these headings to be late additions and that no psalm can be attributed to David with certainty. 1 Samuel 16:15-18 describes David as a skillful harp (lyre) player and "the sweet psalmist of Israel."
Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David
Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/david-ben-yishai

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Title: 1024px-Cupels_for_assays_and_refining_noble_metals
Caption: Cupels for assays and refining noble metals. (credit: LukaszKatlewa, license: CC BY). Cupels, i.e. porous crucibles made e.g. of bone ash or magnesite, used in the process of cupellation for the acquisition and purification of noble metals, as well as the determination of the composition of these ores. Dissolved at high temperature in molten lead, the ore is reduced by charcoal, which burns in oxygen penetrating through the porous walls of cupel. At the end of the process, the cooled cupel is broken, and at its bottom is a layer of precious metal with a density greater than lead.