Table of Contents
Psalm 90
Psalm 90
1 Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
3 Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men.
4 For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.
5 Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up.
6 In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth.
7 For we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled.
8 Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.
9 For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told.
10 The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
11 Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath.
12 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
13 Return, O Lord, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants.
14 O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil.
16 Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children.
17 And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.
Notes
Cross Reference
Concordance
Commentary
Rashi
Verse 1
<html><b>A prayer of Moses</b> Moses recited all the eleven psalms from here to (ch. 101) “Of David, a song.” Corresponding to them, he [Moses] blessed eleven tribes with eleven blessings, in (Deut. 33): “And this is the blessing.” <b>You have been our dwelling place</b> Heb. מעון, an abode and a refuge in which to enter. [That is what] You have been for us. <b>throughout all generations</b> From time immemorial, for You preceded all.</html>
Verse 2
<html><b>Before the mountains were born</b> [i.e., before they] were created, and before You brought forth the earth and the inhabited world, and from the first world to the last world, You are God.</html>
Verse 3
<html><b>You bring man to the crushing point</b> You bring agonies upon man until You reduce him to a weakened state, near death, and You tell him with these agonies, “Return, O sons of men from your evil ways.”</html>
Verse 4
<html><b>For a thousand years are in Your eyes</b> A thousand years of man are like one day of the Holy One, blessed be He, and part of the night with it; for one day of the Holy One, blessed He, and a little of the night of the Holy One, blessed be He, are a thousand years, for the text does not say that the day of the Holy One, blessed be He, is like a thousand years, but that when a little of the night elapses with it, then His day is complete, and it is a thousand years. Therefore, Adam died within a thousand [years] for had he lived a thousand [years] it would be more than the day of the Holy One, blessed be He. Perhaps the amount of that watch equals the time from the death of Adam until a thousand years, but we do not know how much that watch was, except from conjecture. I found [this]: <b>For a thousand years are in Your eyes, etc.</b> And when repentance came into Your thoughts from the beginning, You judged well and created it. Now those years were appropriate for it because people’s days were many, so that a thousand years were in Your eyes like one passing day, which passed and was gone, with a little of the night with it, for You said to Adam (Gen. 2:17): “for on the day you eat of it, you will surely die,” and he lived nine hundred and thirty years. We find that a thousand years equal one whole day and a little of the night with it. <b>like yesterday, which passed</b> Which already passed.</html>
Verse 5
<html><b>You carry them away as a flood; they are like a sleep</b> Now you have seized those years and had them become a few days, which are merely like a sleep of slumber, for the years of the generations are seventy years, as is explained at the end of the chapter: “The days of our years because of them are seventy years,” and they are regarded as one sleep. As the matter that is said (below 126:1) “When the Lord returns the returnees to Zion, we shall be like dreamers.” This was stated regarding the Babylonian exile, which lasted seventy years. <b>You carry them away as a flood</b> Heb. זרמתם, an expression of flooding, as (Hab. 3:10): “A stream (זרם) of water.” <b>in the morning, like grass it passes away</b> If one is born at night, he dies in the morning at the end of his sleep. And if,…</html>
Verse 6
<html><b>In the morning, it blossoms</b> it passes away immediately, and when evening comes, it is cut off and withered. Why?</html>
Verse 7
<html><b>For we perish from Your wrath, and from Your anger, etc.</b> That is to say: And because of all this,…</html>
Verse 8
<html><b>You have placed our iniquities before You</b> and our youth, the sins of our youth, You have placed before the light of Your countenance. <b>our youth</b> Heb. עלמנו, our youth, as (I Sam. 17:56): “whose son is this youth (העלם).” <b>before the light of Your countenance</b> opposite You and to look at them.</html>
Verse 9
<html><b>have passed away in Your anger</b> Have turned, have been cleared away, and have gone away in Your anger. <b>as a murmur</b> Like speech, which hastens to disappear.</html>
Verse 10
<html><b>The days of our years because of them are seventy years</b> The days of these years of ours, because of these iniquities of ours and because of these sins of our youth, are seventy years. <b>and if with increase</b> And if his days are much increased, they are eighty years. <b>but their pride is toil and pain</b> But all the greatness and the dominion that a person enjoys in these days are only toil and pain. Why? Because it passes quickly and we fly away. During its swift passing, we fly away and die. <b>it passes</b> Heb. גז, an expression of passing, as (Nahum 1:12): “they have crossed (נגוזו)”; (Num. 11: 31), “and drove (ויגז) quails up from the sea.”</html>
Verse 11
<html><b>Who knows the might of Your wrath</b> In these few days, who can acquire intelligence to know the might of Your wrath and to fear You, and as for You—Your fear is Your anger. Just as You are feared, so is Your anger harsh, and You exact retribution from the sinners.</html>
Verse 12
<html><b>So teach the number of our days</b> And just as in the beginning, make known in the world the number of our long days, and since we enjoy longevity, we will be able to acquire intelligence, and we will acquire in them a heart of wisdom. The word נביא is an expression of bringing [rather than of a prophet. Cf. B.B. 12a, Targum ad. loc, Redak below]. (Some say: According to the number of our days כן, according to the numerical value of כן, seventy years. He says: According to the number of our years, which are few, so shall You chastise us, as [Jud. 8:16]: “and with them he chastised (ויודע) the men of Succoth.” This does not appear in all editions.)</html>
Verse 13
<html><b>Return, O Lord</b> from Your burning wrath. <b>And repent</b> Think well about Your servants.</html>
Verse 14
<html><b>Satiate us in the morning</b> On the day of the redemption and the salvation, which is the morning of the night of the trouble, the sighing, and the darkness. <b>and let us sing praises and rejoice with all our days</b> i.e., with all the troubles that passed over us in these days of ours.</html>
Verse 15
<html><b>Cause us to rejoice according to the days that You afflicted us</b> Cause us to rejoice in the days of our Messiah according to the number of days that You afflicted us in the exiles and according to the number of years that we experienced evil.</html>
Verse 17
<html><b>And may the pleasantness of the Lord our God be upon us</b> His presence and His consolations. <b>and the work of our hands establish for us</b> Heb. כוננה. This is an expression of supplication. כוֹננה is like שמרה, watch, שפטה, judge. <b>establish it</b> Establish it. The two times “and the work of our hands establish” [are mentioned are for the following purposes]: One is for the work of the Tabernacle, when he blessed Israel and prayed that the Shechinah should rest on the work of their hands in the Tabernacle, and one is that there should be a blessing in the work of their hands.</html>