Psalm 60 in Tehillim was composed, as the Malbim explains, concerning the wars David fought against Aram Naharayim, Aram Tzovah, and Edom - all three together. The enemies breached the cities of Israel and took captives in the city of Shechem and in the Valley of Sukkot. As a result, Gilead and Menashe on the eastern side of the Jordan, who bordered Mount Ephraim, were also aroused to action and came to assist Ephraim, since Shechem lay on their border - and they defeated the enemies. This is the general overview; now let us proceed through the pesukim in order and examine the details.
לַמְנַצֵּחַ עַל־שׁוּשַׁן עֵדוּת מִכְתָּם לְדָוִד לְלַמֵּד׃ - For the conductor, on Shushan Eidut, a Michtam of David, to teach.
Rashi explains that "michtam" is related to "ketem paz" (fine gold), meaning something precious and special; michtam is the name of an ornament. Chazal expounded, as cited by Rashi, that David conducted himself as "mach vetam" (humble and whole) - "mach" denoting humility and lowliness, and "tam" denoting perfection and integrity. One must not think that once he achieved the monarchy he acted with pride; rather, even in his kingship he conducted himself with the trait of "mach vetam." Rashi also brings another Midrashic explanation: that his wound was whole (makato tama). The simple explanation is that David was born circumcised - the place that in any other person is a wound was, in his case, complete and whole.
And what is the meaning of "al Shushan Eidut"? Rashi explains: concerning the testimony (eidut) of the Sanhedrin, who are compared to a rose (shoshana), as it says, "Your navel is like a round goblet... hedged with roses." And when did David need the Sanhedrin to teach him what to do? When he fought against Aram Naharayim. David sent Yoav against them, and the men of Aram said to him: Are you not the descendants of Yaakov? Where is the oath that Yaakov swore to Lavan, "This mound is a witness, and the pillar is a witness" - that I will not pass over to your side and you will not pass over to my side? After all, they swore to each other that they would not harm one another. Yoav did not know what to answer; he had no reply, for ostensibly they were right, as there was indeed an oath.
Yoav came to David and said: This is what the people of Aram told me. They went and consulted the Sanhedrin, and the Sanhedrin told them: But they violated the oath first! A contract is between two parties, and once one party has already breached the agreement, how can he play the victim when the other party acts against it? After all, this is merely a response to what he himself breached first. As it says, "From Aram, Balak king of Moab has brought me" - already back then they violated the oath: Balak brought Bil'am from Aram to curse Israel. Aram, who was warned not to harm us, yet from there someone came forth to bring harm upon Israel? Likewise, Cushan Rishathaim was an Aramean. In short: you breached the oath first; do not come to us now with complaints.
Another interpretation: Ibn Ezra explains that "shushan" is the name of a musical instrument, and "eidut" is not from the root of witness (eid), but from the root of ornament (adi), as in "the crown and the eidut" - the crown and the royal ornament. And "lelamed" (to teach) means that David commanded that the singers be taught to always recall Hashem's kindness, that even when he reached a point of weakness, his hand prevailed in battle; teach the musicians to always thank and praise Hashem for His abundant kindness. The Metzudat David explains: "eidut michtam" means that this psalm was as beloved to him as an ornament, more so than fine gold (ketem paz), a precious gold jewel; and "lelamed" means to teach the people that everything occurs through divine providence. The Metzudat Tzion adds that "shushan" is a musical instrument named as such because it was fashioned in the shape of a lily.
בְּהַצּוֹתוֹ אֶת־אֲרַם נַהֲרַיִם וְאֶת־אֲרַם צוֹבָה וַיָּשָׁב יוֹאָב וַיַּךְ אֶת־אֱדוֹם בְּגֵיא־מֶלַח שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר אָלֶף׃ - When he strove with Aram Naharayim and Aram Tzovah, and Yoav returned and struck Edom in the Valley of Salt, twelve thousand.
"Behatzoto" - Rashi explains this is like "behatzotam al Hashem" (when they contended against Hashem), an expression of strife and war. David fought them because they had assisted the Ammonites; Aram Naharayim and Aram Tzovah had gone to aid the Ammonites, and now he came to fight against them. The Radak explains "behatzoto" as when he fought, similar to "behatzotam al Hashem," where they fought against Hashem, and "who contended (hitzu) against Moshe and against Aharon." And the Midrash expounds: "behatzotam" - that he burned them, setting them ablaze.
Chazal further expounded: "behatzoto" is like "bechatzoto" (when he divided), as it is well known that the letters hei and chet interchange in many places. The meaning is that he placed Aram Naharayim into Aram Tzovah, and Aram Tzovah into Aram Naharayim - a forced population transfer. He divided them, sending these people here and those people there. This was the accepted practice in their day to ensure that the conquered realm would not rebel. Nebuchadnezzar did the same to Shomron: he took them and dispersed them in Chalach, Chavor, and the Gozan River, and from Cutha, Avva, and Sepharvaim he brought people and settled them in the Land of Israel.
Here there is a major contradiction between the pesukim, addressed already by the Malbim, as well as Rashi and Radak. In our psalm it says twelve thousand, whereas in Shemuel and Divrei HaYamim it says eighteen thousand. Rashi resolves this: Avishai killed six thousand the first time, and Yoav killed twelve thousand when he returned from striking Aram. Thus, "eighteen thousand" is the combined total, and what is stated here, twelve thousand, refers to what Yoav struck himself, while the six thousand were struck by Avishai.
Radak points out further difficulties: in Shemuel it says, "when he returned from striking Aram in the Valley of Salt, eighteen thousand," while in Divrei HaYamim it says, "And Avishai the son of Tzeruyah struck Edom in the Valley of Salt, eighteen thousand." If so: was it Aram or Edom? Yoav or Avishai? Eighteen thousand or twelve thousand? Radak cites one answer, and we will read the resolution found in Midrash Tanchuma: there were two battles in the Valley of Salt. In one battle Avishai struck eighteen thousand, and in another battle Yoav struck twelve thousand. Unlike Rashi's approach, where Avishai struck six thousand that combined with Yoav's twelve thousand, these were two separate campaigns.
And what took place there? When Yoav set out to wage war against Aram, he passed through the territory of the children of Edom. The Edomites confronted him and said: Does not the verse say, "Do not contend with them"? Keep away, why do you come to provoke us? Yoav answered them: But does not the verse also state, "You are passing through the border of your brothers, the children of Esav" - so we have permission to pass near your territory; let us pass through, we ask for nothing more, and we have not come to wage war against you. But they refused. Yoav said: If we destroy Edom now, we will find neither food nor drink on our return journey; rather, let us leave them until we strike Aram, and then we will turn back upon them. This is why it says, "and Yoav returned and struck Edom" - the confrontation with Edom began at the outset, but the actual battle took place upon his return from the field of Aram.
The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: What do you accomplish by striking Edom bit by bit? Avishai killed eighteen thousand, and you killed twelve thousand. When its time arrives, I Myself will consume it and destroy it. For "striking" (makah) connotes diminishing, as in the phrase "perhaps I shall be able to strike them" (nekeh bo), which Rashi explains: I will diminish them, a term of reduction and deduction. You are merely chipping away at them slightly, but in the end, "And saviors shall ascend Mount Zion to judge the mountain of Esav" - I am the One who will destroy it completely.
And what is "Aram Naharayim"? Rabbeinu Bachya explains: this is Damascus, and it was called Naharayim because it lay between two rivers, the Amanah and the Pharpar.
The Ya'aros Devash explains: "And Yoav returned and struck Edom" - Esav was blessed, "By your sword you shall live," and corresponding to this, Israel was given the virtue of milah, which is referred to as "a sword avenging the vengeance of the covenant." The virtue of milah is the sword that counteracts Esav's sword. The problem was that David - as we said on "Michtam of David," that his wound was complete (makato tamah) - was born circumcised, and thus did not have that specific merit of the "vengeance of the covenant." Therefore, he could not battle Edom himself: Edom has a sword, but David did not have that sword. What did he do? He sent Yoav. Similarly, the Ya'aros Devash adds, Moshe Rabbeinu was born circumcised and could not battle Amalek who descended from Edom; he therefore sent Yehoshua, who had undergone circumcision and possessed the merit of the covenant - "a sword avenging the vengeance of the covenant" counteracting "by your sword you shall live."
אֱלֹהִים זְנַחְתָּנוּ פְרַצְתָּנוּ אָנַפְתָּ תְּשׁוֹבֵב לָנוּ׃ - O God, You have abandoned us, You have breached us; You were angry, now restore us!
Rashi explains: When Edom fell into Yoav's hand, David foresaw with divine inspiration (Ruach HaKodesh) that the Edomites were destined to rule over Israel and enact harsh decrees against them. David arose and pleaded for mercy regarding the oppression of the exiles, saying: Master of the Universe, we suffered many afflictions during the era of the Shoftim from the enemies surrounding us. "You were angry" - You poured out wrath upon us, and now "restore us" - return to us and restore Your favor to us. According to Rashi, this does not speak only of that immediate period; rather, David perceived through divine inspiration the troubles that Edom would inflict upon us, and on that account he prays now.
Radak explains that these words refer to the incident when Hadadezer king of Tzovah went to establish his dominion at the Euphrates River and seized a portion of Eretz Yisrael adjacent to the river. Regarding this, David says: You abandoned us, You breached us - the king of Aram made breaches in our land. How could it be that a gentile nation enters here and succeeds in taking part of Eretz Yisrael? It can only be because You abandoned us. It is not because our fortifications failed to withstand the attacks - for do we live by fortifications? We live by divine protection. When the Holy One, blessed be He, watches over us, no one can prevail against us. If we see that Hadadezer succeeds in seizing part of the land, it is a sign that God has abandoned us, and through that, breaches were made among us. Therefore, "restore us" - return to us in Your abundant mercy.
The Malbim explains: As for the fact that You abandoned us in the past and we retreated before the adversary, and the fact that You breached us - that the enemy breached our defenses - with this, "You were angry," You have already spent Your indignation, and the reckoning is already settled. For whatever wrong we did, You have already exhausted Your wrath upon us. If so, this is the plea: "restore us." Since the account was already settled by what You extracted from us, return to us now and help us triumph. And "teshovev" is also related to tranquility and rest, as in "In tranquility and rest shall you be saved" - that You grant us relief from wrath and from the nations that distress us.
Midrash Shocher Tov cites here a response, as it were, from the Holy One, Blessed be He: "'O God, You have forsaken us, You have breached us' - said the Holy One, Blessed be He: I have forsaken you, and you have forsaken Me." In simple terms: the Holy One, Blessed be He, conducts Himself with a person in the manner of "the Lord is your shadow upon your right hand." When a person raises his hand, his shadow raises its hand; and when the shadow recedes, it is a sign that the person has drawn away. If we turn our back to Hashem, then just like the Keruvim - the Keruv facing us, which corresponds to the Shechinah, also turns its back to us. But when we turn a radiant countenance to Hashem, then "May Hashem illuminate His countenance toward you."
הִרְעַשְׁתָּה אֶרֶץ פְּצַמְתָּהּ רְפָה שְׁבָרֶיהָ כִי־מָטָה׃ - You have shaken the earth, You have torn it open; heal its fractures, for it totters.
Rashi explains "You have shaken the earth" - You have shaken our lands and our cities with invading troops. And "petzamteha" (torn it open) is a hapax legomenon, a word that has no parallel in Scripture. As we have noted before, the greatest difficulty lies in explaining words without biblical parallels. When one does not know the meaning of "teshovev," a verse is cited: "In calm and rest (beshuvah vanachat)" - and since Scripture connects "shuvah" with "nachat" (rest), and one cannot say "in anger and rest," one learns that both are expressions of calmness and rest, and from this the meaning of "teshovev" is understood. But with a word like "petzamteha," which appears nowhere else, two methods of deciphering remain: first, seeing which known word it resembles; and second, deducing from the context - if the context speaks of destruction and breaking, one understands that "petzamteha" is an expression of destruction and breaking. With words of this type, interpretations have always abounded, because there is no clear source from which to derive a definitive meaning.
Rashi interprets "petzamteha" - you broke it. See also the words of Dunash ben Labrat, one of the grammarians, who notes that the word originates in Arabic. In the Yesod of Rabbi Moshe HaDarshan, it is explained as an expression of tearing, citing as proof the verse in Yirmiyahu: "and cuts out windows for it (vekara lo chalonai)," which the Targum renders as "u'fatzim" - showing that "patzim" means tearing, and "petzamteha" means "you tore it open." However, Rashi does not accept this, because "patzim" refers to the window frame itself, as doorways have lintels and doorposts (petzimin), and this has no connection to "petzamteha."
Radak does accept this proof, explaining "petzamteha" as an expression of opening and splitting: just as during an earthquake the ground opens and splits, so too "You have shaken the earth, You have torn it open" - fissures are formed when the earth quakes. He compares the enemy who invades and conquers cities of the Land of Israel to an earthquake, as if the land quaked at the sound of his footsteps and cracked open, as in the phrase "and the earth split at their sound," for when describing a mighty uproar it is said that the earth split. And You Who tore it open - You shall heal its fractures, for "it totters"; it is on the verge of falling, and if You do not heal its breaches, it will collapse. And even though "refah" is spelled with the letter hei rather than alef, Radak notes that this is not surprising, for we also find "erfeh meshuvoteichem" ("I will heal your backslidings") spelled with a hei.
The Malbim explains: the very fact that You shook the earth and split it - this became the catalyst to heal its fractures at the moment it tottered severely. As has often been discussed: the purpose of a descent is for the sake of an ascent. Reaching a very low place is meant to enable a person to rise and elevate himself from there. Sometimes a fall comes precisely after a great ascent, and sometimes a great ascent comes precisely after a fall.
This aligns with what is cited in the name of Rabbeinu Nachman of Breslov on the teaching: "If you see a Torah scholar commit a sin by day, do not entertain doubts about him at night, for he has certainly repented." That is, he surely repented the previous night and ascended to great heights, which is why the yetzer hara incited him so fiercely - for when a person seeks to elevate himself, the yetzer hara comes to fight him and bring him down. On the contrary, the very fact that the yetzer hara fought him so relentlessly is a sign that he had surely repented and ascended, whereupon the yetzer hara took him on as a "project" and tripped him up during the day to break his spirit. Thus, a great ascent can become the cause of a fall, while a profound descent serves as the catalyst for a great ascent. And regarding "You have shaken the earth and torn it open" so that it tottered greatly and collapsed - the ultimate purpose of this descent is the beginning of success and elevation.
הִרְאִיתָ עַמְּךָ קָשָׁה הִשְׁקִיתָנוּ יַיִן תַּרְעֵלָה׃ - You have shown Your people harshness; You have made us drink the wine of bewilderment.
Radak explains: when the enemies defeated us, it was as if You made us drink intoxicating wine. And although grammatically it should have read "yein tar'elah" in the construct state (semichut), Radak cites other places where we find such phrasing, such as "hayayin hachemah" (the wine of wrath), which should have appeared in the construct state but did not. This is similar to the phrase in the Mishnah, "Yein Kafrisin - why is it brought?" - where some mistakenly say "yayin Kafrisin," which is an error since it is in the construct state; just as one does not say "bayit sefer" but rather "beit sefer."
And what is "yein tar'elah"? Rashi explains that "tar'elah" is an expression of covering or shrouding. There is a verse, "and the cypresses were poisoned (hor'alu)," but the phrase that clarifies it best is "Median women go out veiled (re'ulot)" - meaning they wear a veil over their heads, wrapped and covered. So too here, "You have made us drink the wine of tar'elah" - wine that seals the heart and enshrouds it; this is what is meant by tar'elah.
The book Shaarei Simchah cites regarding "You have shown Your people hardship": The Merciful One does not strike lives first. The Holy One, blessed be He, first brings upon a person financial losses, minor setbacks, and only gradually. Chazal derive this from the laws of nega'im (afflictions), which reach the human body only at the very end: first afflictions of houses and afflictions of vessels, and only afterward does the affliction reach the person himself. The Holy One, blessed be He, arouses a person through difficult decrees, and only if he fails to awaken does the major blow arrive, Heaven forbid.
And we are speaking of a person who constantly measures and examines his ways, who lives with careful scrutiny of his deeds, because he knows that reality as you see it today does not necessarily continue this way, and a person must prepare himself and prepare provisions for the way. This is "Happy is the man who always fears." This does not mean that a person should walk around trembling - "Sinners in Zion were afraid," Chazal say: it is the sinner who is in a state of trembling. Whereas the God-fearing and wholesome person always has joy in life, and he is always happy. Yet this does not mean that he lives without accounting; on the contrary, because he knows that the reality of this world is volatile and everything can change in a single moment, he is always preparing himself, his bags constantly packed, ready for the journey.
Psalm 60 is "A Michtam of David, to teach" - David, who conducted himself with the attribute of mach vetam (humble and wholehearted) even in his kingdom, teaches the singers and the nation that everything Israel undergoes comes through Divine Providence. The Sanhedrin, compared to a rose, instructed Yoav on the law during the war with Aram; the wars against Aram and Edom are clarified amid the apparent contradictions in numbers, concluding with the promise of the Holy One, blessed be He: "Saviors shall ascend Mount Zion" - I will consume it and destroy it. "You have forsaken us, You have breached us" - a sign that the Divine hand departed, and from there the plea, "restore us," since according to the Malbim, the Holy One, blessed be He, has already exhausted His wrath. And "You have shaken the earth, You have split it" - the very crushing is the beginning of the healing, for the ultimate purpose of the descent is for the sake of an ascent. And finally, "You have shown Your people hardship": The Merciful One does not strike lives first, and the lighter blows are a call to awaken - so that a person may live with joy, yet with an honest accounting, always ready and preparing provisions for the journey.