We continue with Chapter 68 of Tehillim, a chapter whose verses are difficult to understand, which is why commentaries on it abound. We will follow the order of the commentators - Rashi, Radak, and the Malbim - and see how each one sets the passage within a different framework: Rashi and Radak apply it to the war with Sennacherib in the days of Chizkiyahu, while the Malbim applies it to David's wars in Transjordan. From this, we will also explore Chazal's teachings on the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, on the power of Israel which lies in their mouth, and on the praise of the mountain of God.
אֲדֹנָי יִתֶּן אֹמֶר הַמְבַשְּׂרוֹת צָבָא רָב׃ מַלְכֵי צְבָאוֹת יִדֹּדוּן יִדֹּדוּן וּנְוַת בַּיִת תְּחַלֵּק שָׁלָל׃ - The Lord gives the word; the heralds are a great army. Kings of armies flee, they flee, and she who abides at home divides the spoil.
Rashi explains: "Omer" is an expression of speech. The Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, roars with His voice and makes the nations hear. And what is that utterance? An utterance that brings tidings to a vast host, that all the armies of the nations will hear. And its content: "Kings of armies flee, they flee" - they will be driven away, cast out from the Land of Israel. "She who abides at home" refers to the Congregation of Israel, who will divide the spoil of those nations whom Hashem will banish and drive far from here.
What is this speaking of? It refers to the era of King Chizkiyahu, when 185,000 army commanders laid siege here, and all of them died on that single night - "and behold, they were all dead corpses." As a result, they left behind all the wealth they had brought with them from the war in Egypt, all the silver and gold, as discussed at length elsewhere. It turns out that the people of Israel were not merely saved from their enemies, but also emerged with immense wealth in silver and gold. Thus: Hashem gave the word, rebuked the nations and made them hear, and thereby brought about their death; the kings of the armies fled and retreated; and "she who abides at home" - those who remained in their homes in Jerusalem - divided the spoil of the nations, in the sense of "her merchandise and her hire shall be holy to Hashem."
The Malbim applies these verses to King David in the wilderness: Hashem issues a statement, a declaration, and by its power a great army arose bringing good tidings to Israel. Hashem decreed that the kings of the gentile armies who came to wage war against David in that wilderness "flee, they flee" - they will wander and disperse far away from there. The repetition teaches that they retreated one by one. "She who abides at home" refers to the people of Israel, who are like the mistress of the home of the Holy One, blessed be He. This is a feminine term relative to the Holy One, blessed be He, who is, as it were, the male partner, like a bridegroom, just as we see in Shir HaShirim and elsewhere that the people of Israel are likened to a female. The people of Israel are the rightful masters of the Holy Land, the mistresses of the home; the enemies are foreigners who came to expel them, and Hashem commanded that they wander away from the land that does not belong to them.
The Radak asks why the verse uses the feminine phrasing "she who abides at home" (nevat bayit), and explains: women do not go out to war; they remain in the city and pray to Hashem - they are what may be called the prayer corps - and they comfort the men with encouraging words and consolation. Therefore, it is specifically they who divide the spoils, for it was through the power of their prayers and through them that we triumphed in battle.
אִם תִּשְׁכְּבוּן בֵּין שְׁפַתָּיִם כַּנְפֵי יוֹנָה נֶחְפָּה בַכֶּסֶף וְאֶבְרוֹתֶיהָ בִּירַקְרַק חָרוּץ׃ - Though you lie between the borders, the wings of the dove are covered with silver, and her pinions with shimmering gold.
Rashi explains that all this is a continuation of the utterance of the Holy One, blessed be He, mentioned above. Hashem says to the nations: If you lay between the borders, meaning within your own boundaries, indulging in pleasures there - yet the people of Israel are My dove, whose wings are overlaid with silver. "Shefatayim" literally derives from safah (edge or bank), two edges, just as we speak of the two banks of the Jordan, meaning between boundaries.
"Charutz" - Rashi cites Dunash that this means gold: fine gold, precious gold. "Yerakrak charutz" is the gold brought from the land of Chavilah and the land of Cush, of exceptionally fine and superior quality. And why "yerakrak" rather than "yarok" (green)? Rashi explains: it is neither completely green nor red, and was therefore called yerakrak (greenish), just like "lavan adamdam" (reddish white) - not entirely white and not entirely red. Ibn Ezra similarly explains: yerakrak means not completely green, and adamdam means not completely red. By contrast, there is a midrashic exposition in Chazal that yerakrak means the greenest of greens, and adamdam the reddest of reds. In our spoken language, we follow the way Rashi explained it.
בְּפָרֵשׂ שַׁדַּי מְלָכִים בָּהּ תַּשְׁלֵג בְּצַלְמוֹן׃ - When the Almighty scattered kings in it, it was as snow in Tzalmon.
Rashi applies this verse to the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai: "When the Almighty spread" - when the Holy One, blessed be He, spread His Torah before them, then "kings there were as snow in Tzalmon", meaning that the kings were covered with snow and whitened in a land of deep darkness (tzalmavet). And the reason for this: Why is it called Mount Sinai? Because from there, hatred (sin'ah) descended upon the nations of the world. Hashem offered the nations to accept the Torah and they refused, and as a result, "Yet Esau I hated." Therefore it is called Sinai - because from there hatred descended upon the nations.
And why specifically are they "snowed upon"? After all, there is a Gehennom of snow and a Gehennom of fire. And why are two kinds of Gehennom necessary - for the sake of variety? And if you say so that a person does not become accustomed to it, Chazal already stated that there are seven compartments, and each time he is transferred to a different compartment, to a different pan, so that he does not grow accustomed to it. Rather, it is written that each one serves as a different rectification: when a person commits a sin, the transgression always comes from heat - he is burning with passion for the sin. By contrast, when a person refrains from something he is obligated to fulfill, it is the exact opposite - it is freezing and apathy; instead of being enthusiastic for the service of Hashem and running to perform a mitzvah, he freezes in place. For one who freezes in his place and does not go to fulfill a mitzvah, there is the Gehennom of snow; and for one who runs to commit sins, there is the Gehennom of heat, which cleanses him from the burning passion with which he ran toward the sin.
According to this, the matter is explained beautifully here: The nations did not come to receive the Torah - this is snow, this is freezing apathy; they froze in their tracks and lacked any enthusiasm to come and accept the Torah, and therefore "it was as snow in Tzalmon." On the other hand, "the wings of the dove are covered with silver" - the Congregation of Israel yearned and longed for Hashem to receive the Torah. "Kesef" (silver) is related to kisufin, yearning and longing. "And its pinions" - the wings with which it flies - "with shimmering gold" (yerakrak charutz), as if they were overlaid with gold. Gold also expresses longing just as silver expresses yearning: zahav (gold) evokes hav, "give me." Thus, the Jewish people were silver and gold, actively seeking the Torah, while the nations rejected it.
Radak offers two possibilities: either this is a continuation of the words spoken by "she who stays at home" (nevat bayit) who divides the spoil - the words of the women; or these are the words of the psalmist addressed to the people of Israel. In his view, "shefatayim" is not related to lips or borders, but to a hearth, called so because upon it one sets (shofet) the pot. That is to say: even if you lie in the lowliest place, between the oven and the cooking stoves, where there are coals, fire, and soot - the most degraded place. If until now you were in a dark, blackened, and degraded state on account of the enemies - and he refers to the people of Jerusalem when Sennacherib besieged them - in the end you will become white as the wings of a dove, for the dove is clean, pure, and white.
Furthermore, "covered with silver" alludes to the fact that you merited the treasures left behind by the Assyrian camp, and you were covered in the silver and gold they abandoned. "And its pinions with shimmering gold (yerakrak charutz)" - Radak explains that within the dove's wings there is a feather that shines like gold, and gold is called charutz, as in "and gold like the mire of the streets," "he spreads pointed gold upon the mire." And yarok in the language of the Rishonim is not purely green, but inclines toward yellow or orange, just as Tosafot write regarding a green etrog, that it does not mean vivid green, but rather yellowish.
Seemingly, it should have said "and its pinions becharutz yerakrak", since yerakrak is the adjective and charutz is the noun - one says yellowish gold, not goldish yellow. However, Radak, as is his custom when encountering a grammatical difficulty, brings support from other verses to demonstrate that this is legitimate biblical phrasing: after all, Scripture says av tit ("thick clay") rather than tit av, placing the adjective before the noun; and likewise rabbim amim ("many peoples") instead of amim rabbim; and there are other such examples.
Malbim continues the line of thought he began with "The Lord gave the word": Hashem proclaimed and said to the kings of the armies - if you lie between the borders - and "shefatayim" according to his approach means a border, the eastern border of the land across the Jordan, where David's war took place. Know that the wings of the dove are covered with silver, and for that dove, the Almighty will spread her wings, and the kings who lay between the borders - it will snow upon them on Mount Bashan.
The explanation of this is: The Jewish people are compared to a dove fleeing from predators that seek to devour it. The dove does not attack; it has no talons or hard claws, no beak with which to strike, pinch, or seize - it is frail, and it is also a kosher creature. And just as the dove, with all its weakness, fights with its pinions, with its wings, which is all it possesses - so Chazal stated, "The power of Israel is only in their mouth."
In the Jewish pantheon, you will find neither sword nor spear, neither mortar nor javelin. You will find there tefillin, a Chanukah menorah, a tallit, and a Sefer Torah. Among the nations, by contrast, go and look at museums throughout history - only weapons of war. Eisav was told, "By your sword you shall live"; for the Jewish people, this is not the way. It is a wonder that over the past century, the Jewish people has come to grasp the sword. There were always wars, but the sword was merely an instrument to be saved from enemies, not something in which to take pride. Quite the contrary, we discussed previously that the sword carries the most severe ritual impurity: "A sword is like the slain person" - a sword that touches a corpse does not descend a degree in impurity, but rather becomes like the corpse itself.
Thus, the Malbim explains, the dove goes out to battle against the birds of prey - the vulture and the eagle that come against it - while she herself is coated in silver, and her pinions covered in gleaming yellow-gold. This description conveys both beauty and strength: as though she is armored in metal so they cannot bite her, alongside the splendor of silver and gold. And Hashem spreads out through this dove and her wings the kings who come against her. What does "spreads out" (yifares) mean? The Malbim explains that Hashem, as it were, spreads the camp of Israel over the enemy camp, coming down upon them.
And when the dove spreads its wings, "it snows in Tzalmon" - like Mount Bashan, which was covered in snow throughout the summer. In such mountains, when a great storm strikes, a snowball effect is created that wipes out anyone present. This is one of the greatest fears of mountaineers: an avalanche begins small and buries them. Such people enter a deep freeze of fifty years, and only when warm years arrive and the thaw begins do they find hikers who were struck by an avalanche and lay frozen for decades; indeed, historical figures have been found frozen in the snow after thousands of years.
Therefore, the verse states that the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, storms upon them like snow, falling upon the camps advancing against the people of Israel like a rolling mass of snow. When they ascend the mountain intending to wage war from there against Israel, the snow storms upon them until it becomes darkness and the shadow of death (tzalmon and tzalmavet): Hashem brings the snow upon them, blankets their camps, and they are buried there and perish from the congregation. Why did the Malbim choose this specific example? One of two reasons: either this literally occurred in reality, that this battle David fought against them took place in winter and snow covered them; or it is a metaphor describing the affliction and darkness that fell upon them on that mountain, that the snowstorm was so terrible it covered them - and just as the dove's wings cover the birds attacking it, so here the snow covered the nations that came against Israel, through Hashem spreading her wings to cover those who marched against them.
Radak explains pareis in the sense of spreading out and flattening, as in "I spread out my hands to You" (peirasti yadai eilecha) and "When you spread out your palms" (u-vefariskhem kapeikhem). Following his usual approach, he applies the entire passage to the war of Sennacherib: one hundred and eighty-five thousand army commanders who all became dead corpses at the entrance of Jerusalem in the days of Hezekiah, as it is written: "An angel of Hashem went out and struck down in the camp of Assyria one hundred and eighty-five thousand, and they arose early in the morning and behold, they were all dead corpses" - flattened and spread across the ground. "Kings in it" - kings and officers, as it is written: "And destroyed every mighty warrior, leader, and officer in the camp of the king of Assyria."
Radak further cites commentators who explain be-fareis in the sense of breaking, as in "she breaks her bread." And why is the name Shaddai specifically mentioned here? Because it is a Name denoting might and victory - for He said to His world, "Enough" (dai), and halted it; an expression of power that prevails and triumphs. Hashem overcame such a massive army that had spoken insolently against the Holy One, blessed be He. "In it" - in Jerusalem. And "it snows in Tzalmon" refers back to the Jewish people: those who in that era were in gloom (tzalmon), in drought and the shadow of death, in darkness and deep distress, were whitened like snow. Those who had been plunged in the shadow of death now merited purification and whitening.
הַר אֱלֹהִים הַר בָּשָׁן הַר גַּבְנֻנִּים הַר בָּשָׁן׃ - A mountain of God is Mount Bashan; a mountain of peaks is Mount Bashan.
First of all, here is a source for eating dairy foods on the festival of Shavuot: Mount Sinai is called har gavnunim ("a mountain of peaks," related to gevinah, cheese), which is one of the allusions to eating dairy. Now let us turn to the plain meaning of the text.
Radak explains: There are splendid mountains, but the mountain of God, which is Mount Sinai - even though it is situated in a wilderness, in a place of desolation, aridness, and drought, and even though it is not particularly lofty but rather a modest, humble mountain - nevertheless, its glory and greatness lie in the fact that Hashem rested His presence upon it, and through this it was exalted far above all other mountains. Mount Bashan is considered magnificent because Bashan is a fertile, rich place, ideal for pasture; hence, when the prophet wished to rebuke the women who indulged themselves, he referred to them as "cows of Bashan," and similarly the verse states, "The mighty bulls of Bashan have surrounded me."
"Har gavnunim" - high mountains. They are called this because a mountain has a sort of hump, its peak rising like a hunchback's hump. Others say that gavnunim means a mountain with many peaks or protrusions. Radak explains that every mountain is essentially hunched, and according to this, the verse should have said harim gavnunim or harei gavnunim in the plural; why, then, did it use the singular form [har]? Rather, the intent is that each and every mountain is like a hump. We find this stylistic form in many places in Scripture: "The Jews confirmed and took upon themselves (kiyyemu ve-kibbel ha-Yehudim)" - where grammatically it should have said ve-kibbelu; and "the righteous are bold as a lion (ve-tzaddik ka-kefir yivtach)" - where it should have said yivtechu. Thus, this is simply the recurring style of Scripture.
To sum up: Mount Bashan is praised for its richness and fertility, and the jagged, towering mountains are praised for their height - yet despite all this, they cannot compare to the praise of Mount Sinai, the mountain of God, which was exalted because the Shechinah rested upon it.
In these verses, the Holy One, blessed be He, proclaims the downfall of the kings of armies who march against Israel: "they flee, they flee," while the mistress of the house - Keneset Yisrael, including the women whose strength lies in prayer - divides the spoil. Rashi applies these verses to the Giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai: the nations froze and refused the Torah, and therefore "it snowed in Tzalmon," whereas Israel yearned and longed for the Torah - "covered with silver" and "with shimmering gold." Radak applies the entire passage to the downfall of Sennacherib: from the lowly and soot-stained hearth, Israel became as white as snow and were filled with the silver and gold of the Assyrian camp. Malbim depicts Israel as a dove whose entire power lies in its wings - "the power of Israel is only in their mouth" - which Hashem spreads over their enemies, covering them like an avalanche of snow. And finally, above all the mountains praised for their lush richness and soaring heights stands the mountain of God in its singular praise: that Hashem chose to dwell upon it.