Introduction

The book of Psalms is one of the best loved books of the Bible, both by Jews and Christians. Its very varied content gives an opportunity to the worshipper to find inspired expression for almost all the emotions of which human beings are capable. Even so, it is a very difficult book, and contains some of the most impenetrable texts in the Hebrew Bible (notably Psalm 68!), although this has not stopped commentators and expositors from trying to interpret every single verse. The book is poetry, after all, and poems do not necessarily have a distinct "meaning" in the way we expect a prose essay to have meaning. It is only fair to add that many believing Christians and Jews would not accept the notion that any biblical text is incapable of being explained, however difficult.

The text before us here is a translation of the book of Psalms into Judeo-Arabic by Ezekiel Shemtob David, published in Bombay (Mumbai) in 1887, and like the translations of the Song of Songs and Lamentations also reproduced on this website, was intended for the use of the Baghdadi Jewish community in India. The translation is an unvarnished rendering, done in accordance with Jewish tradition as expressed in the classic medieval commentaries by Rashi and Ibn Ezra.

Let me discuss Psalm 2.12 in order to clarify this. The Authorised (King James') version dating to the seventeenth century translates the Hebrew n$qw br as "Kiss the Son" thereby taking these two words to refer expressly to the second person of the Trinity. In the Revised Version of the late nineteenth century, this is changed to "Kiss the son" (with a lower case s) which leaves the reader the option of the christological explanation (looking back to the Lord and his Anointed in verse 2) or of understanding it in some other way, for example, as referring to King David. The Jewish commentators prefer to understand the word br in the sense of purity, even though the commentator Ibn Ezra expresses some discomfort with the fact that this is an adjective rather than a noun. br is the Aramaic word for "son", although it occurs in this meaning occasionally also in Hebrew, for example in Proverbs 31.2, as Ibn Ezra points out. Accordingly the translation becomes something like "Worship in purity" where "kiss" is understood in an extended sense, or "Arm yourself with purity" employing a different but well-established meaning for the root n$q, otherwise translated "kiss". Ibn Ezra explains that this root can imply passionate desire, and the Arabic translator accepts this by a rendering which might be translated into English as "passionately desire purity." It should be pointed out that both the new Revised Standard Version and the new version of the Jewish Publication Society indicate that the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain – although the general sense is that one should "pay homage in good faith" as the Jewish version has it.

It should be noted that this text also contains the Hebrew text of Psalms, so when an ID does not follow on, it is because the Hebrew text intervenes. This is of course the standard Massoretic text. This text uses the folio pagination, where both sides of the page carry the same number. The recto is indicated by the Hebrew letter aleph, and the verso by the Hebrew letter beth.

The best text to use to follow this translation in English is the old (1917) version of the Hebrew Bible by the Jewish Publication Society of America, since this Arabic text follows essentially the same Jewish tradition.

The Rubrics to individual Psalms

Various Psalms were used by Jews in a quasi-magical fashion, and these curious uses are indicated by Hebrew rubrics for each Psalm found in this edition. In particular, Psalm 119 consists of sets of eight verses, each set of which begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet in order. These sets have their own rubric, and this is indicated below. The item for resh is duplicated; one should probably read right rather than left. The Hebrew word segullah, sometimes inadequately translated "remedy," is usually applied to an activity of this type. It refers to a benefit hidden in some object, usually a divine name, but in this instance in the Psalms.

1. Against miscarriages
2. For a storm at sea
3. For pains in head and shoulders
4. Good for whatever you want
5. Against an evil spirit
6. For disease of the eyes
7. To make your enemies flee
8. To find favor
9. For a sick child
10. For one who has enemies
11. To destroy enemies
12. That one should not be weak
13. To be saved from an unusual death
14. Against fear
15. To kill a demon
16. To expose a thief
17. To be recited on a journey
18. To be saved from kings
19. For wisdom
20. Good for a judgment
21. On appearing before the government
22. For every step
23. To ascertain the meaning of a dream
24. To be saved from a flood
25. For any sorrow
26. For trouble and danger
27. Against wild beasts
28. For prayer
29. Against an evil spirit
30. For anything bad
31. Against the evil eye
32. To seek mercy
33. For a woman whose children die
34. On going on a trip
35. If opponents have risen against you
36. To destroy the wicked
37. For a hired person
38. If someone counselled evil against you
39. For one who is afflicted
40. To be saved from an evil spirit
41. If you were discharged from your occupation
42. For building a house
43. Same as above
44. To be saved from the hand of an enemy
45. For one who has a bad wife
46. If a man dislikes his wife
47. For repentance
48. To make your enemies afraid of you
49. Against a fever
50. To be saved from robbers
51. Against the impurity of fornication
52. To remove someone who habitually slanders
53. To frighten your enemies
54. To wreak vengeance on your enemies
55. Against any evil
56. For one bound in fetters of iron
57. For success
58. Against a bad dog
59. Against the evil inclination
60. On going to war
61. If you have a fear of staying at home
62. To be recited after the afternoon and evening prayers
63. To succeed in business
64. To cross a river
65. If you want something from somebody
66. For one who has a[n evil?] spirit
67. For a persistent fever
68. Against an evil spirit
69. For one given to covetousness and fornication
70. In the event of war
71. To find favor
72. To find grace and mercy
73. To be saved from fear
74. If you have enemies
75. To bring pride low
76. To be rescued from fire and water
77. So that you do not fall on a day of trouble
78. To find grace and kindness in the eyes of the government
79. To quell enemies
80. To avoid engaging in any heretical worship
81. Same as above
82. To succeed on a mission
83. In the event of war
84. For one whose body became thin on account of serious sickness
85. To placate your friend
86. To be saved from an evil spirit
87. This is good to deliver a city
88. Also the same as above
89. For a man who is losing his limbs
90. Against a lion
91. Against an evil spirit
92. To see great miracles
93. To overcome a litigant against you
94. If your enemy is oppressing you
95. To prevent the men of your city from leading you astray
96. That your relatives should be happy
97. Also the same as above
98. To bring about peace between a person and his fellow
99. To be a saintly person
100. To overcome your enemies
101. Against an evil spirit
102. For a barren woman
103. Same as above
104. To distance a demon
105. Against a fourth fever
106. Against a third fever
107. Against a persistent fever
108. For success
109. If your enemy is oppressing you
110. To have your enemies make peace with you
111. For you to have many friends
112. To become great in your powers
113. Against heresy
114. For one who buys and sells
115. To aid in arguing with heretics
116. To avoid your death in an unnatural fashion
117. For someone who was slandered without cause
118. That a non-believer should repent

119. aleph

     For someone who wants to be endowed with a virtuous action

     beth

     Against forgetfulness

     gimel

     For an ache in the right eye

     daleth

     For an ache in the left eye

     he

     To be guarded against sin

     waw

     To terrify a ruler

     zayin

     For the spleen

     heth

     For the upper belly

     teth

     For an ache in the left or right kidney

     yod

     Against distrust

     kaf

     For a swelling of the right nostril

     lamed

     Against a judgment

     mem

     For an ache in the right hand

     nun

     On going on a trip

     samekh

     To request your needs

     `ayin

     For an ache in the left hand

     pe

     For a swelling of the left nostril

     sade

     To destroy enemies

     qof

     For an ache in the left leg

     resh

     For an ache in the left ear

     shin

     Against fear of an enemy

     taw

     For an ache in the left ear

120. To make peace
121. For going out at night alone
122. On approaching a great man
123. For a slave who has fled
124. To travel in a ship
125. Against enemies
126. For a woman whose children have died
127. For a newborn
128. For a pregnant woman
129. For a virtuous deed
130. If you want to travel by ship
131. If you are proud
132. To break an oath
133. To establish the love of friends
134. To be said before study
135. For one who has thoughts of idolatrous worship
136. To admit deliberate sins
137. To remove hatred
138. To remove pride
139. To bring about peace between husband and wife
140. Against hatred between husband and wife
141. For a heartache
142. For a disorder in the legs
143. For a disorder in the arm
144. For a fractured hand
145. Against fear
146. Against a wound by a sword
147. Against snakebite
148. [nothing recorded]
149. To prevent the spread of fire
150. To praise the Holy One, blessed be he, for all his doings.

The Font for this Arabic text

The lines on this text are wider than average. This created a problem for me, because my word processor wraps them incorrectly, not "knowing" that the lines are oriented right to left. Accordingly, I have squeezed out white space where feasible, and omitted the ID which gives folio and line number where necessary.