לִשְׁלֹמֹ֨ה ׀ אֱֽלֹהִ֗ים מִ֭שְׁפָּטֶיךָ לְמֶ֣לֶךְ תֵּ֑ן וְצִדְקָתְךָ֥ לְבֶן־מֶֽלֶךְ׃
Ukol kay Solomon. O Diyos, ibigay Mo sa hari ang Iyong mga kahatulan, at ang Iyong katuwiran sa anak ng hari.
Rabbeinu Bahya
A kabbalistic approach: When Moses said the words וזאת ליהודה, he addressed the emanation מלכות which is the emanation from which the hereditary dynasty of Yehudah draws its divine input. It is this emanation which gives the kings of Yehudah the power to wage war successfully. Interestingly, David, a king descended from Yehudah, refers to the same emanation as זאת, when he proclaimed in Psalms 27,3: אם תקום עלי מלחמה בזאת אני בוטח, “if war overtakes me, I put my faith in זאת, the emanation from which my forefather Yehudah drew his strength.”
The emanation מלכות, sometimes referred to as זאת, is featured repeatedly in the life of David, such as in Psalms 99,4: ועוז מלך משפט אהב, or in Psalms 72,1: משפטיך למלך תן. This is the reason that David was successful in all his many wars. This is also why he never fails to give thanks to the Lord Who was the source of his success. The whole formula למנצח מזמור לדוד, is evidence that David attributed his success to the מנצח, “The One Who grants victory.” Just because the kings of Yehudah enjoyed the assistance of the attribute/emanation מלכות, it was doubly important for David to acknowledge that ultimately success is rooted in the Original Cause, in Hashem. Seeing that David’s career involved spilling much blood, he was not chosen as the tool to build the Holy Temple which symbolizes peace (Chronicles I 22,8). It was left to his son Solomon, a man of peace, someone who practiced the attribute of צדקה, to build the Temple. This is the meaning of Psalms 72,1 וצדקתך לבן מלך, “and Your clemency to the king’s son.” [David speaking about the status of his son Solomon, contrasting his own dominant characteristic of משפט, with that of his son, i.e. the characteristic צדקה, Ed.]
The emanation מלכות, sometimes referred to as זאת, is featured repeatedly in the life of David, such as in Psalms 99,4: ועוז מלך משפט אהב, or in Psalms 72,1: משפטיך למלך תן. This is the reason that David was successful in all his many wars. This is also why he never fails to give thanks to the Lord Who was the source of his success. The whole formula למנצח מזמור לדוד, is evidence that David attributed his success to the מנצח, “The One Who grants victory.” Just because the kings of Yehudah enjoyed the assistance of the attribute/emanation מלכות, it was doubly important for David to acknowledge that ultimately success is rooted in the Original Cause, in Hashem. Seeing that David’s career involved spilling much blood, he was not chosen as the tool to build the Holy Temple which symbolizes peace (Chronicles I 22,8). It was left to his son Solomon, a man of peace, someone who practiced the attribute of צדקה, to build the Temple. This is the meaning of Psalms 72,1 וצדקתך לבן מלך, “and Your clemency to the king’s son.” [David speaking about the status of his son Solomon, contrasting his own dominant characteristic of משפט, with that of his son, i.e. the characteristic צדקה, Ed.]
Rabbeinu Bahya
If you will look closely at our verse (18,19) you will note that the Torah applies the feminine pronoun היא to the tasks performed by the priests, i.e. the ברית מלח, whereas in connection with the Levites (verse 23) the Torah employs the pronoun הוא, i.e. the masculine pronoun. What this proves is that the attributes are not totally separate from one another and that each attribute contains elements from the other. When something is defined as “feminine,” this does not mean that it is exclusively feminine, but that the feminine ingredients in that attribute dominate; the same applies to instances when we encounter the masculine attribute, i.e. the masculine aspect is the dominant one. We already explained repeatedly that the same concept applies to attributes such as “Justice” and “Mercy” respectively. In the instance quoted the word היא means that although we said previously that the dominating attribute associated with the priests is the attribute of Mercy, the Torah wants us to realize that this attribute is not exclusive; neither is the attribute of Justice which we described as predominant in connection with the Levites exclusive; hence the masculine pronoun הוא is here (23) associated with the Levites. [A construction such as found in verses 23, i.e. ועבד הלוי הוא את עבודת אהל מועד, is most unusual as the word הוא appears totally superfluous in the sentence. Ed.] We find similar examples of apparently inverted associations with the “wrong” attribute in connection with both Yaakov and David. The most famous example is Micah 7,20 תתן אמת ליעקב, as we would never have expected the harsh attribute אמת to be applied to Yaakov. Similarly, when David (Psalms 23,1) describes the attribute “Elohim” i.e. the attribute of Justice as being the one which looks after him as a protective shepherd, this seems at first glance similarly innocuous. The lesson from that wording is that the attribute of Justice contains elements of the attribute of Mercy. David uses the subject of פרנסה, livelihood, to demonstrate that both of these attributes are involved on their respective levels in ensuring man’s livelihood.