Table of Contents
Psalm 114
Psalm 114
1 When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language;
2 Judah was his sanctuary, and Israel his dominion.
3 The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back.
4 The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs.
5 What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest? thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back?
6 Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams; and ye little hills, like lambs?
7 Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob;
8 Which turned the rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters.
Notes
Cross Reference
Concordance
Commentary
Rashi
Verse 1
<html><b>a people of a strange tongue</b> With another language, which is not the Holy Tongue. A similar expression is (Isa. 33:19): “A people of a strange tongue you shall not see, a people of speech too obscure, etc.” The “nun” and the “lammed” are interchangeable, like נִשְׁכָּה, chamber, which is [equivalent to] לִשְׁכָּה, in the Book of Ezra (Neh. 13:7).</html>
Verse 2
<html><b>Judah became His holy nation</b> He took Judah as the lot of His portion and His sanctity, and even they sanctified His name when they descended into the sea, as the matter that is stated (above 68: 28): “the princes of Judah pelt them with stones.” Similarly, this verse is explained in the Aggadah (Mid. Ps. 114:8): Judah became His holy people, for Nahshon sprang into the sea and said, “I shall descend first,” and that is what [the Psalmist] says: Judah became His holy people.</html>
Verse 3
<html><b>the Jordan turned backward</b> because all the water of Creation split.</html>
Verse 7
<html><b>Who created the earth</b> Heb. חולי, Who created the earth. The “yud” is superfluous as מגביהי, משפילי and ההוֹפכי.</html>
Verse 8
<html><b>into a fountain of water</b> Heb. למעינו. The “vav” is superfluous, as the “vav” in (above 104:11, 20) “the beasts (חיתו) of the forest.”</html>