Introduction: The Prayer of the Pursued
Psalm 35 is a prayer that King David offers against his enemies and pursuers. But this is no simple prayer of "strike down my enemies." David finds himself in a double bind: if he asks Hashem to destroy them, they will be punished on his account, and "to punish on account of the righteous is also not good"; yet if he asks Hashem to leave them alone, they will harm him. "Woe is me from my Creator, woe is me from my inclination." From this very dilemma, the entire prayer before us is constructed, and as we shall see, the precise phrasing of the verses is the exact answer to this distress.
Verse 1: Contend and Fight - Two Stages
לְדָוִד רִיבָה יְהֹוָה אֶת יְרִיבַי לְחַם אֶת לֹחֲמָי׃ - Of David: Contend, Hashem, with those who contend with me; fight those who fight against me.
The Malbim explains that this is not mere repetition, but two distinct stages. "Contend with those who contend with me" - even before matters escalate to actual warfare, contend with them Yourself right now. And if matters do escalate to war - "fight those who fight against me," then too You should fight against them.
The holy Alshich adds another dimension: David faced two types of enemies. Some spoke ill of him and uttered harsh accusations, while others actively pursued him and waged actual war against him. He feared both types, but as noted, he also feared the punishment that might befall them because of him - that a person should be punished on his account, bearing guilt upon his own soul. Therefore, he phrases his request with great precision: Please Hashem, those who come to quarrel with me through harsh words - "contend with those who contend with me," You contend with them with the attribute of mercy; and those who come to wage war - "fight those who fight against me," do not kill them, but merely battle against them so they cannot harass me. Do not bring them to death, for if they meet death, the guilt for that punishment will rest upon me.
Can a Possessor of Free Will Harm Someone If It Was Not Decreed?
Why does David need to pray at all? Let him simply ask Hashem to prevent them from causing harm! Here the Alshich explains that a possessor of free will has the power to harm even someone against whom it was not decreed. This is the view of Radak, the holy Ohr HaChaim, and others. As has often been discussed, this matter is subject to a major dispute: according to some early authorities, a free agent can cause harm even if it was not decreed upon the victim, while according to others - including the author of Chovot HaLevavot - no free agent in the world has any power to harm anyone unless it was decreed upon him from Heaven. In practice, this is indeed our accepted view: a possessor of free will has no power to harm anyone unless it was decreed that he be harmed. However, the Alshich here follows the approach of the Radak and those of his view, according to which Hashem, as it were, does not override the free choice of the damager - and therefore David's prayer is: at least fight against him, but do not put him to death.
Lechem: Warfare and Eating
A fascinating explanation appears in the book Toldot Yaakov Yosef. Note that the Hebrew root l-ch-m holds two meanings: warfare (lochemah) and bread or eating (lechem). What is the connection? The Toldot explains that both meanings are true. Anyone familiar with what the kabbalists do during eating understands that eating is essentially a battle. For some people, "mealtime is like war" in the literal sense - you see someone eat and you have to step back: he grabs from here, snatches from there, wolfs it down, chews voraciously, drinks, oblivious to everything - but that is not the kabbalists' meaning. In the deeper sense, when a person eats, the kabbalist who understands the secret of Hashem refines and elevates the holy sparks, and to accomplish this, one must fight against the kelipot (forces of impurity). That is why bread is called lechem - because for the sake of lechem one fights (nilcham), battling the kelipot to rectify them while eating. If one fails to do so, Heaven forbid, they might prevail in their battle, as happened to Yochanan Kohen Gadol, who became a Sadducee because he ate sacrificial food without proper intention, allowing the forces of impurity to overcome him. Either you prevail, fight, conquer, and tear the swallowed prey from their mouths, elevating the holy sparks to cling to their root - or the reverse occurs. And this is "fight those who fight against me" (lecham et lochamai) in both senses together.
Verses 2-3: Shield, Buckler, and Spear
הַחֲזֵק מָגֵן וְצִנָּה וְקוּמָה בְּעֶזְרָתִי׃ וְהָרֵק חֲנִית וּסְגֹר לִקְרַאת רֹדְפָי אֱמֹר לְנַפְשִׁי יְשֻׁעָתֵךְ אָנִי׃ - Take hold of shield and buckler, and arise to my assistance. Draw out the spear and block the way against my pursuers; say to my soul, "I am your salvation."
According to the Malbim, after David asked that Hashem fight them Himself, he adds: and if a situation arises where there is no choice and I am forced to fight - I ask that You help me. "Take hold of shield and buckler": the shield was the implement used to intercept arrows shot at a person, and the buckler is also a type of shield, but intended more against the sword. Master of the Universe, if You will not fight the battle for me, at least take hold of shield and buckler and come to my aid to protect me from the enemies - "and rise up to my defense." And if matters deteriorate to the point where I am forced to flee - "and draw the spear and block against my pursuers": draw the spear to battle against them, and block the path before my pursuers so that they cannot chase after me, and then "say to my soul, I am your salvation" - that this should bring salvation and rescue to my soul.
Ibn Ezra emphasizes another dimension to "Take hold of shield and buckler": regarding the shield and buckler that I take to battle - I do not hold that I am the savior or that I am the one effecting this. You, Hashem, are the One who holds the shield and buckler. Even though I employ physical means, far be it from me to place my trust in them; You hold the shield and buckler, and it is through Your power that protection and deliverance will come.
Radak offers a different explanation for the word usegor ("and block"): it is not from the term for closing or blocking the way, as the Malbim and Ibn Ezra explain, but rather segor is the name of a specific weapon of war. According to this, the verse means: draw against them a spear, draw against them a segor, toward my pursuers, to wage battle against them.
Verse 4: Four Expressions of Shame
יֵבֹשׁוּ וְיִכָּלְמוּ מְבַקְשֵׁי נַפְשִׁי יִסֹּגוּ אָחוֹר וְיַחְפְּרוּ חֹשְׁבֵי רָעָתִי׃ - Let those who seek my life be ashamed and humiliated; let those who plot my harm fall back and be abashed.
"Let those who seek my life be ashamed and humiliated" - these are the ones who want to kill me. And not only that, but let them "fall back," even those who merely plot harm against me, which is less severe: one who seeks my life actually desires to kill me, whereas those who plot my harm harbor evil thoughts against me but do not yet actively seek to murder me.
Radak explains "and be abashed, those who plot my harm" - let them be ashamed over having desired to do evil to me and being unable to do so. This is precisely what we witnessed recently: they tried to take revenge, fired a missile at an ambulance vehicle, and even announced that they had blown it up and eliminated it, putting on a whole performance as if soldiers were hit - "Look, we struck them, we took revenge, beware of messing with us." And in the end, by Hashem's grace, it turned out that the vehicle was not damaged at all; there was heavy smoke, so they assumed it was hit, and nothing came of it aside from a flat tire. That is true humiliation, that is sheer shame. You set out to pursue, you came to strike, and ultimately achieved nothing. Over this very failure those who plot harm are ashamed, for they could not carry their thoughts into action.
There are four expressions here: yevoshu (be ashamed), veyikalmu (and humiliated), yisogu (fall back), and yachperu (and be abashed). The Malbim explains: bushah (shame) is sometimes internal - a person feels ashamed within himself; no one else knows, yet he is ashamed in his own eyes. Kelimah (humiliation), by contrast, always comes from others, when someone shames him publicly: "I did not hide my face from humiliation and spit." One does not say "I was humiliated to myself"; we say "I was ashamed within myself and humiliated by others." "Fall back" is internal, and it goes beyond shame - he is not merely ashamed, but actively retreats. "And be abashed" (yachperu) comes from others, as in the verse "The sun shall be ashamed and the moon abashed," and this is even more severe than humiliation: some explain that yachperu implies that a person wants to bury his head, digging a place to hide his head in the ground out of the immense shame and degradation inflicted on him by others. Thus, the verse follows an escalating progression: not only should those who seek my life be ashamed and humiliated, but even those who plot my harm should fall back and even be utterly abashed, which are far more severe degrees. And this is the consistent way verses are explained - one begins with a lesser request and then adds "and even this as well," for one would not logically request something greater followed by something lesser.
Verse 5: Like Chaff Before the Wind
יִהְיוּ כְּמֹץ לִפְנֵי רוּחַ וּמַלְאַךְ יְהֹוָה דּוֹחֶה׃ - Let them be like chaff before the wind, with an angel of Hashem driving them away.
I ask, Master of the Universe, that they be punished through an external cause, like chaff carried aloft by the wind - that it not happen through natural means, but like an angel of Hashem thrusting them away, so that it becomes apparent to all that Hashem is championing my cause. For a significant part of the struggle against David was based on the claim that Hashem had rejected him: that David was a transgressor, David was wicked, David was a thief, David sinned with Batsheva. This was always the slander spoken against him by all his enemies and detractors. Therefore, when David was not permitted to build the Beit HaMikdash, they rejoiced gloatingly: "See, you are unworthy; we told you that you are wicked." They would say to him, "Let us go to the House of Hashem" - well, David, what about the Temple? Shall we go to the House of Hashem? In this manner they would sting and taunt him. David therefore asks that it be clear to all that this retribution comes directly from Hashem.
Radak notes precisely: chaff is the outer husk of the grain, and the wind carries it away. This is how winnowing was done: they would take the grain and thresh it, rubbing it against the ground during threshing so the outer husk detached from the kernel, yet everything remained mixed together. Then they would take a winnowing shovel and toss the mixture into the air - this is "winnowing where the wind assists him" in the language of Chazal - and the wind carries the chaff away, while the heavier kernels fall back down. This process is repeated many times until only the clean grain kernels remain below, free of any chaff. Now, chaff sometimes comes to a halt: it reaches a house, a fence, or an obstruction that blocks it, and the wind no longer blows it further. Therefore, David asks that they have no rest at all - "with an angel of Hashem driving them away," dispersing them so completely that they can no longer be found and not a trace of them remains.
The Alshich: The Chaff, the Statue, and the Stone
The holy Alshich introduces his explanation with the verse, "You shall winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away" (Yeshayahu 41), and to understand it he cites the passage in Daniel 2: "Then the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that no trace of them could be found; and the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth." Anyone who wants the full background can refer to the lessons given on Daniel, but here we will explain the main point: Nevuchadnezzar dreamed of a great statue whose head was of gold, and as it descended it was of silver and bronze, down to the feet of clay and iron. These symbolize the kingdoms - the head of gold is Babylonia, followed by Persia, Media, and those that came after them. Then he saw a small stone strike the statue, crushing and shattering it, and that small stone grew into a great mountain. This is the Jewish people, who witnessed all of them and outlasted all of them, and who will endure in the end - "The mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established at the head of the mountains," while the entire statue is destroyed. "Were crushed" - they were pulverized, ground down, and broken apart, and then they all became "like chaff from summer threshing floors"; "and the wind carried them away" - the wind blew them away; "so that no trace of them could be found" - their original place was completely lost, as though they had never existed; and the stone of Israel that struck the statue will become a towering mountain.
The Midrash compares Israel and the nations to a stalk of grain containing wheat, chaff, and straw. The chaff encases the wheat, the straw is the stalk, and the wheat is the small grain within. As the crop grows, an argument breaks out: for whose sake was this entire field planted? The chaff says, surely for me; the straw says, how can that be? I am the majority, look at how tall and substantial the straw is! The wheat says: Why argue? Let us wait until the threshing floor, and then we will see. And what happens at the threshing floor? They beat and strike the chaff and blow it away, the straw is cast to the animals, and the wheat is gathered, placed into sacks, sold at a high price, and made into bread. Such is the situation of Israel relative to the nations: the nations are convinced the world was created for their sake, convinced theirs is the true faith and that they represent God in the world, harboring no doubts about it. When will the truth become clear? When they become "like chaff from summer threshing floors," when the small stone comes and shatters the statue and the wind carries them away leaving nothing behind - then it will be revealed who is the vital grain and who is merely chaff and straw. Notice how well this aligns with the Alshich's words above: David does not want them to die, for if they die he may be held accountable; rather, "with an angel of the Lord pushing them," driving them far away from him, so that he does not arrive at a situation where "to punish the righteous is also not good" and be called to task because they perished on his account.
Verse 6: Darkness, Slippery Paths, and Pursuit
יְהִי דַרְכָּם חֹשֶׁךְ וַחֲלַקְלַקֹּת וּמַלְאַךְ יְהֹוָה רֹדְפָם׃ - Let their way be dark and slippery, with an angel of the Lord pursuing them.
"Dark and slippery" are two distinct misfortunes, and the third evil is "with an angel of the Lord pursuing them." The Radak explains: one walking in the dark stumbles on a stone and falls; one walking on a slippery path slips even without stumbling over an obstacle - try walking on ice and one slips even without tripping over anything. Rashi adds: all the more so when it is dark, for the darkness prevents one from guarding against either the stones or the slick patches, since one cannot see where the path is slippery. The Radak further notes: all of this might still be survivable if one walks slowly, examining one's path, taking careful steps, and paying close attention to where one places one's foot. But if someone is pursuing you, there is no chance: you are forced to run, and when one runs on ice - we know the outcome; when one runs among stumbling blocks - we know the outcome. Therefore the third element is added here: "with an angel of the Lord pursuing them," ensuring they will suffer a fall from which they cannot rise.
The Malbim explains that of their own accord their path will be dark and slippery, such that they will slip in the gloom on their own, and alongside this there is Divine providence - that an angel of the Lord pursues them. In other words, there is both an inherent stumbling from their own nature and a downfall delivered by a spiritual force.
Verse 7: A Pit and a Net Without Cause
כִּי חִנָּם טָמְנוּ לִי שַׁחַת רִשְׁתָּם חִנָּם חָפְרוּ לְנַפְשִׁי׃ - For without cause they hid their net for me in a pit; without cause they dug for my soul.
The Malbim explains this by analogy to animal hunters, who would dig a pit and conceal a net around it so that the animal would be caught as it fell. This was their method: they dug a pit in the earth, spread a net or thin wooden slats across the top, and scattered leaves over it. The passing animal cannot see at all that there is a pit there - this was the most common hunting method for capturing lions, bears, rhinos, and other large animals. Stepping forward with full confidence that it is on solid ground, it falls, the net collapses inward, and it is trapped inside, unable to escape. The hunter does not even need to wait by the trap - he can return the next day and find the animal waiting for him in the pit. This is what David means: "they hid their net for me in a pit" - the hollowed pit; "their net" - they also laid out a net; "without cause they dug for my soul" - and all that they dug and engineered to cast my soul into that pit was entirely without cause, not out of revenge for anything I had done, for I had done nothing to harm them.
Verse 8: Let Ruin Befall Him
תְּבוֹאֵהוּ שׁוֹאָה לֹא יֵדָע וְרִשְׁתּוֹ אֲשֶׁר טָמַן תִּלְכְּדוֹ בְּשׁוֹאָה יִפֹּל בָּהּ׃ - Let ruin come upon him unawares; let the net he concealed ensnare him; into that very ruin let him fall.
What is shoah? The Malbim explains: sudden darkness. Let ruin - a sudden darkness - come upon him unawares, so that he cannot watch his step, and then the very net he himself concealed will ensnare him. Ordinarily, one knows where he hid his net and avoids walking there, but in the dark, "and let his net that he hid catch him." Then, in actual fact, "the wicked is ensnared in the work of his own hands" and "he dug a pit and hollowed it out, and fell into the ditch he made" - by the very scheme he devised to trip me up, he himself will fall. This can be beautifully connected to the words of the Alshich: David feared that their punishment might be attributed to him, so his prayer was that the enemy should fall into his own trap. I did nothing to you; you were blown up by the explosive charge you prepared for me. I need not lift a finger, there is no claim against me, and the entire blame rests squarely on you alone.
The Ibn Ezra explains shoah as an evil that astonishes the listener (she-yishta'eh shome'ah) - a person hears of it and stands stunned, meaning a catastrophe of immense proportions. Radak explains shoah as turmoil or tumult, as in "when the desolation (mishoat) of the wicked comes," related to uproar, noise, and clamor: let a trouble come upon him that will completely overwhelm and disorient him.
Sforno: Achitophel and Chushai the Archite
The Sforno explains that David is speaking here of Achitophel, and that "ruin he did not know" refers to the counsel of Chushai the Archite. When David was pursued by his son Avshalom, Achitophel advised setting out that very night to strike David down without striking a second time - to finish him off once and for all. David had sent Chushai the Archite to Avshalom to thwart Achitophel's counsel, for his primary fear was Achitophel's counsel, knowing that consulting Achitophel was like consulting the word of God. Therefore David pleaded: Master of the Universe, frustrate the counsel of Achitophel! Chushai the Archite came and argued: Do you not know that King David does not simply go to sleep? He will be lying in wait for you, you will not have time to muster an army, and in an instant he will defeat you and the entire rebellion will collapse. Rather, wait a few days, gather a massive army, and then advance so that not a remnant of him is spared. Avshalom listened to Chushai's advice. Achitophel grasped the situation immediately and understood: if my counsel was rejected, the rebellion is doomed. And he was right. (Incidentally, as noted when studying the Prophets, there is a modern idiom that does an injustice to Achitophel: when people want to tell someone they are giving foolish advice, they say, "Spare me your atztot Achitophel." In reality, Achitophel's counsel was brilliant - evil, to be sure, but had they followed it, Avshalom's rebellion would have succeeded. It was precisely because he ignored it that Avshalom failed, and Achitophel went and took his own life.) This is "let devastation come upon him unawares" - Achitophel was completely unprepared for Chushai the Archite to suddenly arrive, propose an alternative counsel, and have it accepted. "And let his net that he hid catch him" - the very malicious counsel he offered, once rejected, brought about his death, leading him to commit suicide. "In that devastation let him fall" - through an unnatural death, by hanging himself.
Verse 9: Gila and Sisa
וְנַפְשִׁי תָּגִיל בַּיהֹוָה תָּשִׂישׂ בִּישׁוּעָתוֹ׃ - And my soul shall rejoice in the Lord; it shall exult in His salvation.
Rashi explains: when I witness their downfall, I will experience joy. The Malbim elaborates on the distinction between tagil (rejoice) and tasis (exult): gilah is in the heart, an inner joy, whereas sisah is an outward joy, visible to onlookers, openly displayed. Thus, "my soul shall rejoice in Hashem" - inwardly, within my heart; "it shall exult in His salvation" - outwardly and openly. And all of this still pertains to the soul.
Verse 10: All My Bones Shall Say
כׇּל עַצְמוֹתַי תֹּאמַרְנָה יְהֹוָה מִי כָמוֹךָ מַצִּיל עָנִי מֵחָזָק מִמֶּנּוּ וְעָנִי וְאֶבְיוֹן מִגֹּזְלוֹ׃ - All my bones shall say: Hashem, who is like You, who saves the poor from one stronger than he, the poor and the needy from his robber?
Up to this point he spoke of the soul; now he transitions to speaking of the body. We know this verse well from Nishmat Kol Chai, and there too we read kŏl atzmotai rather than kāl atzmotai. Radak, who frequently deals with grammar, notes here: "It is not a chatuf like its counterparts." A kamatz chatuf is pronounced like a cholam - instead of "kal" it is read "kol", so even though it is a kamatz, it is pronounced as an "o" sound. It is often difficult to pinpoint exactly where this applies and where it does not, which is why some contemporary siddurim print this kamatz differently (or larger) so that readers know to pronounce it "o" rather than "a". For example, in Chonen Me'itcha Chochmah Binah va-Da'at, some mistakenly read Chachmah because they see a kamatz, but it should be read Chochmah, since the kamatz there is read as "o". A general rule: when a kamatz is followed by a silent sheva, as in a kamatz katan, it is always read as "o". Yet here Radak states that this instance is not a chatuf like its peers. Radak adds that there are two places in Tanach vocalized this way: here, and "all the brothers of a poor man hate him" (Mishlei 19:7); all other occurrences of kol vocalized with a kamatz are a kamatz chatuf, except for these two. Why it differs specifically here and there requires investigation to see if any commentator offers a reason. Presumably there are reasons for everything, whether revealed or esoteric, but in any case we know that this is the accurate textual reading. (Incidentally, among Yemenite Jews this distinction poses no issue, since in their tradition every kamatz is pronounced as "o", whether kamatz chatuf or regular kamatz.)
Why We Do Not Alter the Vocalization
By the way, one must realize that the vocalization marks (nekudot) are not something we may distribute at will. We cannot simply remove the kamatz here and substitute a cholam, or replace every kamatz chatuf with a cholam just to make reading easier and avoid confusion - for every letter and every vowel point holds deep allusions and spiritual significance in the supernal sefirot. TaNaNT"A (the acronym used by the Kabbalists for Ta'amim, Nekudot, Tagin, Otiyot - cantillation, vowels, crowns, and letters) embodies sublime mysteries. For example, in each blessing of the Shemoneh Esreh, the Name of Hashem is vocalized differently: Magen Avraham with a patach, Mechayei HaMeitim with a tzeirei, HaEl HaKadosh with a vocalization corresponding to Da'at, and so forth - one can trace this throughout the entire prayer and see that each blessing features a distinct vocalization. The reason is that the vowel marks correspond to the sefirot: kamatz corresponds to Keter, segol to Chesed, patach to Chochmah, and the letter vav with a dot, known as shuruk, to Yesod. This is why the divine Name is sometimes pointed with a shuruk under the yud, the hei, and the other letters, as in HaMevarech et amo Yisrael ba-shalom, which corresponds to Yesod. Therefore, one cannot say, "Let us write it this way" or "Let us change that," for these matters hint at exalted realms. This is especially true of Tehillim, where King David says "Maskil" and "His word was on my tongue," meaning these words stem directly from Hashem; any alteration in a vowel point can entirely shift the flow of divine abundance from the upper worlds. Rabbi Akiva would expound heaps upon heaps of halachot from the crowns of the letters - everything is laden with meaning and bears profound depth, even if on the literal level we do not fully comprehend it.
The Bones Themselves Bear Witness
After this lesson in grammar, we can understand the deeper meaning of the verse. "All my bones shall say, Hashem, who is like You" - the very entity through which the miracle was wrought is the one that offers thanks. Where did the miracle take place? My body was saved, my bones were saved; and the one for whom the miracle was performed bears witness to it. Behold, see that he still exists - every single limb and bone of mine testifies, as it were, to the miracle that occurred, for all of them were in mortal danger, and they testify of Hashem that there is none like Him. Corresponding to the rescue of the body, he says: "Who rescues the poor man from one stronger than he," and corresponding to the rescue of his wealth - "and the poor and destitute from his robber": Hashem rescued his soul, rescued his body, and rescued his possessions, saving me like a poor and destitute man from the wealth they sought to rob from me.
In Midrash Tehillim, the phrase "All my bones shall say" is explained to mean that a person fulfills mitzvos with all of his bones: with my neck I fulfill enwrapping in tzitzis; with my eyes, "and you shall look upon it"; on my chest, placing the tzitzis opposite the heart; behind me and in front of me, draping the tallis - two corners in front and two corners behind; on my left arm I bind the tefillin shel yad, and with it I hold my tzitzis during the recitation of Shema. Consequently, "All my bones shall say," for all of the bones are, as it were, enveloped in the mitzvos of tallis and tefillin.
In the Zohar HaKadosh it is explained: regarding the wicked, his sins are engraved upon his bones; by contrast, regarding the righteous, the same is true in reverse, for his merits are engraved upon his bones. Therefore, "All my bones shall say, Hashem, who is like You" - the merits within them cry out, as it were, from within the bones, praising and glorifying Hashem.
In Summary:
David stands between two concerns: on the one hand, the enemies who pursue him with speech and with the sword, and on the other, the fear that their punishment might somehow be blamed on him. Out of this tension, a precise prayer takes shape: contend You before the war even begins, and if it erupts - fight You; and if I must fight - hold fast the shield and buckler, so that I do not place my trust in physical weapons. The request for retribution itself is carefully refined: let them be shamed and humiliated, let them retreat and be disgraced in an escalating progression; let them be like chaff before the wind thrust aside by an angel of Hashem in a supernatural way - so that it will be obvious to all that Hashem is championing his cause; and above all - let them fall into the net that they themselves concealed, like Achitophel who fell through his own counsel, leaving no grievance or claim against David at all. And when salvation arrives, not only will the soul rejoice inward and exult outward, but every single bone that was in danger will become a living witness testifying: "Hashem, who is like You."