מַה־תִּשְׁתּ֬וֹחֲחִ֨י ׀ נַפְשִׁי֮ וַתֶּהֱמִ֪י עָ֫לָ֥י הוֹחִ֣ילִי לֵֽ֭אלֹהִים כִּי־ע֥וֹד אוֹדֶ֗נּוּ יְשׁוּע֥וֹת פָּנָֽיו׃
Czemużeś zgnębiona duszo moja, a zawodzisz we mnie; miéj ufność w Panu, bo jeszcze dziękczynić będę Mu za zbawienie oblicza Jego.
Rabbeinu Bahya
A Midrashic, homiletical view of our verse sees in the four rivers a reference to four kingdoms:
The river Pishon is a reference to the king of Babylon, seeing that we have a verse in Chabakuk 1,8 ופשו פרשיו, “describing the riders of the army of the Chaldeans (Babylonians). The land of Chavilah which our verse describes as being surrounded by the river Pishon is none other than the land of Israel, a land which the king of Babylon will ascend, and across which he and his army will spread out. This is based on Bereshit Rabbah explaining Psalms 42,6 הוחילי לאלוקים כי עוד אודנו, “Have hope in G-d for I will yet praise Him for His saving presence.”
אשר שם הזהב, “where the gold is.” The “gold” referred to here are the words of Torah which have been extolled as הנחמדים מזהב ומפז רב, “more desirable than gold, than much fine gold.” (Psalms 19,11). We are taught by this verse that the quality of Torah studied in the land of Israel is superior to Torah studied elsewhere as is the wisdom acquired in the land of Israel.
שם הבדולח ואבן השהם, “there can be found the bedolach and the shoham stone.” These are names of gems and they symbolise different disciplines of Torah study such as מקרא, משנה, תלמוד, הלכות, תוספות ואגדות, “Holy Scripture, Mishnah, Talmud, Halachot, interpretations and aggadic material.”
ושם הנהר השני גיחון, “and the name of the second river is Gichon.” This is a reference to the kingdom of the Medes, whereas the third river חידקל is a reference to the kingdom of Greece which imposed a particularly draconian rule on the Jewish people in Israel.
The fourth river, the river Euphratus, represents the Roman Empire which oppressed the Jewish people inordinately. The word פרת is equated by the Midrash with the word הפרה, “breach (of trust).” Alternately, the name of the river symbolises the final destiny of the Roman Empire as alluded to by Isaiah 63,3 פורה דרכתי לבדי, “I trod out a vintage alone.” [The prophet describes the red-stained clothing of Israel returning from defeating the kingdom of Edom (Rome)].
The river Pishon is a reference to the king of Babylon, seeing that we have a verse in Chabakuk 1,8 ופשו פרשיו, “describing the riders of the army of the Chaldeans (Babylonians). The land of Chavilah which our verse describes as being surrounded by the river Pishon is none other than the land of Israel, a land which the king of Babylon will ascend, and across which he and his army will spread out. This is based on Bereshit Rabbah explaining Psalms 42,6 הוחילי לאלוקים כי עוד אודנו, “Have hope in G-d for I will yet praise Him for His saving presence.”
אשר שם הזהב, “where the gold is.” The “gold” referred to here are the words of Torah which have been extolled as הנחמדים מזהב ומפז רב, “more desirable than gold, than much fine gold.” (Psalms 19,11). We are taught by this verse that the quality of Torah studied in the land of Israel is superior to Torah studied elsewhere as is the wisdom acquired in the land of Israel.
שם הבדולח ואבן השהם, “there can be found the bedolach and the shoham stone.” These are names of gems and they symbolise different disciplines of Torah study such as מקרא, משנה, תלמוד, הלכות, תוספות ואגדות, “Holy Scripture, Mishnah, Talmud, Halachot, interpretations and aggadic material.”
ושם הנהר השני גיחון, “and the name of the second river is Gichon.” This is a reference to the kingdom of the Medes, whereas the third river חידקל is a reference to the kingdom of Greece which imposed a particularly draconian rule on the Jewish people in Israel.
The fourth river, the river Euphratus, represents the Roman Empire which oppressed the Jewish people inordinately. The word פרת is equated by the Midrash with the word הפרה, “breach (of trust).” Alternately, the name of the river symbolises the final destiny of the Roman Empire as alluded to by Isaiah 63,3 פורה דרכתי לבדי, “I trod out a vintage alone.” [The prophet describes the red-stained clothing of Israel returning from defeating the kingdom of Edom (Rome)].