Commento su Salmi 90:20

A prayer of Moses 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.”

You have been our dwelling place Heb. מעון, an abode and a refuge in which to enter. [That is what] You have been for us.

throughout all generations From time immemorial, for You preceded all.

Before the mountains were born [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.

You bring man to the crushing point 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.”

For a thousand years are in Your eyes 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]: For a thousand years are in Your eyes, etc. 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.

like yesterday, which passed Which already passed.

You carry them away as a flood; they are like a sleep 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.

You carry them away as a flood Heb. זרמתם, an expression of flooding, as (Hab. 3:10): “A stream (זרם) of water.”

in the morning, like grass it passes away If one is born at night, he dies in the morning at the end of his sleep. And if,...

In the morning, it blossoms it passes away immediately, and when evening comes, it is cut off and withered. Why?

For we perish from Your wrath, and from Your anger, etc. That is to say: And because of all this,...

You have placed our iniquities before You and our youth, the sins of our youth, You have placed before the light of Your countenance.

our youth Heb. עלמנו, our youth, as (I Sam. 17:56): “whose son is this youth (העלם).”

before the light of Your countenance opposite You and to look at them.

have passed away in Your anger Have turned, have been cleared away, and have gone away in Your anger.

as a murmur Like speech, which hastens to disappear.

The days of our years because of them are seventy years The days of these years of ours, because of these iniquities of ours and because of these sins of our youth, are seventy years.

and if with increase And if his days are much increased, they are eighty years.

but their pride is toil and pain 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.

it passes 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.”

Who knows the might of Your wrath 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.

So teach the number of our days 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.)

Return, O Lord from Your burning wrath.

And repent Think well about Your servants.

Satiate us in the morning On the day of the redemption and the salvation, which is the morning of the night of the trouble, the sighing, and the darkness.

and let us sing praises and rejoice with all our days i.e., with all the troubles that passed over us in these days of ours.

Cause us to rejoice according to the days that You afflicted us 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.

And may the pleasantness of the Lord our God be upon us His presence and His consolations.

and the work of our hands establish for us Heb. כוננה. This is an expression of supplication. כוֹננה is like שמרה, watch, שפטה, judge.

establish it 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.