לַמְנַצֵּחַ לִבְנֵי קֹרַח מִזְמוֹר׃ - For the conductor, by the sons of Korach, a psalm.
Psalm 47 is another of the psalms composed by the sons of Korach, and it is familiar to all of us: it is customary to recite it seven times before the shofar blasts on Rosh Hashanah. In the ruling of Rav Ovadia Yosef, there is no strict obligation to recite it specifically seven times; if time is pressing, reciting it even once is sufficient.
Why is this psalm in particular recited before the shofar blasts? The Maharam Luntschitz explains that the psalm hints to a person burdened by sins that he should hurry to do teshuvah and not despair in the face of impending retribution. A person should never say: "I have corrupted myself too much; teshuvah can no longer help me." For it is written, "By the sons of Korach, a psalm" - the sons of Korach also sinned gravely, and by strict justice the earth should have swallowed them along with their father. Yet at the very last moment, they repented, a place was fortified for them within Gehinnom, and they were saved. From here we learn that even if a person has acted very wickedly, the door to teshuvah still remains open for him.
There is an additional allusion here: "All you nations, clap hands (tik'u chaf)" - the numerical value of chaf (כף) is one hundred, an allusion to the shofar blasts we sound, which total one hundred sounds. The custom is to blow one hundred and one blasts in order to sound one blast more than the hundred sobs of Sisera's mother; and if you wish, even this one hundred and one is hinted at here, as chaf with the kolel (adding one for the word itself).
Radak explains that the psalm refers to the Messianic era, after the War of Gog and Magog, when the entire earth will finally rest from wars. The Malbim explains that the psalm is founded upon "the hoped-for future" - that future for which we yearn, when all the nations will acknowledge the sovereignty of Hashem, and will travel to seek and behold the presence of Hashem in Zion.
כָּל הָעַמִּים תִּקְעוּ כָף, הָרִיעוּ לֵאלֹהִים בְּקוֹל רִנָּה׃ - All you peoples, clap hands; shout to God with a voice of joyous song.
Rashi offers a novel interpretation: "Clap hands (tik'u chaf)" means to make a pledge with one another, in the sense of striking hands on a wager, competing over who will merit to shout to God with a greater voice of song. Radak explains: Israel says to all the nations, strike hands and clap, and rejoice together with us, for Hashem is King over all the earth, and this is something you now know as well.
The Malbim explains according to his approach that the psalm speaks of the future time, and that there are two fundamental differences between the present and that future. Today, all the nations are mired in constant warfare, nation against nation and kingdom against kingdom. If we thought the world gained any wisdom from the First or Second World Wars, we see that it did not; the wars persist, especially religious wars - between Islam and Christianity, which today has taken on the new form of the Arab nations against the United States.
The first cause of war, says the Malbim, is faith. Some believe in the prophet Muhammad, others believe in that man (Jesus), and Israel believes in the Torah of Moshe. Each nation has its own distinct faith, and seeks to compel others to follow its beliefs: the law of Muhammad by the sword, and the law of ISIS by decapitation - all seek to force others to accept their faith and religion.
The second cause is dominion and sovereignty: every nation desires to rule over its fellow, or at the very least to ensure that others do not rule over it, as seen in Syria. The war is over control - who will wield greater power. Saddam Hussein did not invade Kuwait because of religious differences, but because he wanted to annex economically prosperous territory. In short, it is all about dominion: to govern more territories and subjugate other peoples.
Based on this, the Malbim explains: In the future to come, "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore," and all the nations will strike hands to establish peace among themselves. This is "clap hands" - a handshake sealing a covenant of peace. Thus we find that according to Rashi, clapping hands is a wager over who will sound a greater blast to Hashem; according to the Radak, it is clapping hands in joy alongside the Jewish people; and according to the Malbim, it is a handshake establishing peace, until peace puts an end to sword and war, and all will serve Hashem as the single King over all.
And this is "shout to God with a voice of song" - it was their custom to shout with trumpeting blasts and the sound of the shofar when crowning a new king. This is also one of the themes in the blessing of Malchuyot: "In order that you crown Me over yourselves - and with what? With the shofar." We too, when we blow the shofar on Rosh Hashanah, crown the Holy One, blessed be He, over us. But in the future to come, all the nations will sound the shofar blast to crown God as King over all the earth. Until that time, there were conflicting opinions, beliefs, and religions, but from then on, everyone will follow God. Consequently, the reasons for war will no longer exist: neither the cause of conquest and dominion, since it will become clear that sovereignty belongs to Hashem, nor the cause of religious belief, since the sole faith will be Hashem and His Torah. Through this they will strike hands - make peace with one another - and shout only to God with a voice of song.
כִּי ה' עֶלְיוֹן נוֹרָא, מֶלֶךְ גָּדוֹל עַל כָּל הָאָרֶץ׃ - For Hashem is Most High, awesome, a great King over all the earth.
Regarding faith, the Malbim explains, there are those who do not believe in Hashem at all, claiming there is no Creator of the world, but rather that the stars and constellations brought reality into being. This was the belief in David's time among idolaters: this constellation exerts such an influence and that constellation another; burn incense to it and offer sacrifices to it, and it will bestow greater influence upon you. (This concept has largely disappeared from the world today.) Against them it is said, "For Hashem is Most High" - in the future to come it will become clear that Hashem is the Most High, and not the constellations that they viewed as the supreme influencers.
And there is a second category, the Malbim says: nations that acknowledged the Holy One, blessed be He, as the "First Cause," exalted and elevated above all, calling Him Elaha d'Elohaya - the God of gods. However, to them He is not "awesome"; He does not cast awe upon them. For according to their view, He is high above everything and does not concern Himself with the particular or the individual; He cares that the galaxies run in order and about the grand matters, but not the detailed "resolution" of whether someone committed a sin or fulfilled a mitzvah. In their view, He handed over providence to the celestial systems - to the constellations and the twelve signs of the zodiac - and they are the influencers. Therefore, they feared the stars rather than Him. While this conception is better than the first, since at least they believe in a Creator, they still possess no awe of Him.
Regarding this, the verse comes and states: Hashem will also be "awesome." Everyone will recognize that the Holy One, blessed be He, has not forsaken the earth, and that He watches over everything that takes place. This will bring them to awe of Hashem - which is what they lack today.
And regarding sovereignty and dominion - "a great King over all the earth": whereas today His kingship is not openly evident, in the future to come His kingship will be absolute and manifest. Thus, there are three expressions: "Most High" - against those who do not believe there is a Creator and attribute everything to the stars and constellations; "awesome" - against those who believe but have no fear, so they will understand that He is indeed involved and that one must stand in awe of Him; and "a great King over all the earth" - against the cause of wars fought over dominion and rule, for it will become clear to all that the sole Ruler over all the earth is the Holy One, blessed be He, and there will no longer be any purpose in wars for control.
יַדְבֵּר עַמִּים תַּחְתֵּינוּ, וּלְאֻמִּים תַּחַת רַגְלֵינוּ׃ - He will lead peoples under us, and nations under our feet.
The straightforward understanding, following the commentary of the Radak and the Malbim, is that this is related to leadership - as in the rabbinic dictum, "There is one leader [dabar] to a generation, and not two leaders to a generation," where a dabar is a leader. In other words, Hashem will guide and lead the nations from the ends of the earth to Jerusalem, to come and be under our dominion.
The Malbim explains that the two halves of the verse are not repetitive: "He will lead peoples under us" pertains to the realm of judicial authority, as it is written, "And He shall judge between the nations"; while "and nations under our feet" pertains to religion and Torah, as it is written, "For out of Zion shall go forth Torah." When Mashiach arrives and his feet stand upon the Mount of Olives - "And saviors shall ascend Mount Zion to judge the mountain of Esau, and the kingdom shall be Hashem's" - the Holy One, blessed be He, will judge between the nations and exact retribution from the nations that persecuted Israel and caused them harm. In this sense, "He will lead peoples under us": He will guide them to be beneath us in judgment, as the king Mashiach will judge the nations. The court in The Hague will no longer function, and even it will be judged for its distorted rulings and obsessive pursuit of Israel; for all these, the Holy One, blessed be He, will bring the nations to judgment.
Whereas "and kingdoms under our feet" refers to religion and Torah: "For out of Zion shall go forth Torah, and the word of Hashem from Jerusalem." Until now, one person believes in this religion and another in that religion, each feeling independent in his faith; but in the Future to Come, all will realize that the true religion is the holy Torah that Hashem gave to Israel, and consequently all will be humbled relative to us - "under our feet."
Rashi offers an original explanation, which is also the understanding of Targum Yonatan: "He will subdue peoples under us" - He will bring pestilence (dever) upon the idolaters in place of our lives, so that His wrath is appeased through them and we are spared, as it is written, "I have given Egypt as your ransom." (Rashi also notes that Menachem associated "yadber" with leadership and governance, like the commentary of Radak and Ibn Ezra.) According to this, "under us [tachtenu]" is used in the sense of "I have taken your life instead of his" - that they serve as a ransom in our stead. As it were, the Attribute of Strict Justice prosecutes, and the Holy One, Blessed is He, surrenders the nations to it so that it exacts retribution from them; through this, the Attribute of Justice is cooled, and we are saved.
We find an example of this at the Exodus from Egypt: Satan was prosecuting, and what did the Holy One, Blessed is He, do? He handed Job over to him to occupy him - so says the Midrash. Whoever wishes to grasp this matter - who Job was, what his reincarnations were, and why specifically he was surrendered, that a righteous man was handed over as "cannon fodder" to the Sitra Achra merely to remove harsh judgment from the people of Israel - can examine what is explained in Mishnat HaGilgulim; there is an entire framework for this, and it is brought here merely as an example.
Finally, the Malbim notes the precise distinction between "yadber" and "yanhig": "lehadbir" is also an expression of leadership and rule, but against their will, whereas "lehanhig" implies willing submission. Thus, when it says, "He will subdue peoples under us," the intention is that He will rule over them against their will.
Psalm 47 is based upon the anticipated future when all nations will recognize Hashem's kingship. It is recited before the shofar blasts to hint that even one who has erred greatly - like the sons of Korach, who were saved through their last-moment repentance - should not despair of teshuvah, and "chaf" hints to the one hundred sounds. "Clap your hands [tik'u chaf]" was explained in three ways: a wager as to who will sound greater praise to Hashem (Rashi), clapping hands in joy alongside Israel (Radak), and shaking hands in making peace (Malbim) - for the two causes of war, faith and governance, will be nullified in the Future to Come. Then, Hashem will be "Most High" against those who deny the Creator, "awesome" against those who acknowledge Him but do not revere Him, and "a great King over all the earth" against wars over dominion. And "He will subdue peoples under us" - from the aspect of justice, that He will exact retribution from the nations that distressed us; "and kingdoms under our feet" - from the aspect of Torah, for out of Zion shall go forth Torah, and all will acknowledge the single Truth.