לִשְׁלֹמֹה אֱלֹהִים מִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ לְמֶלֶךְ תֵּן וְצִדְקָתְךָ לְבֶן מֶלֶךְ

For Solomon. It appears likely that the psalm was written by David and dedicated to his son Solomon. Endow the king, apparently referring to David himself, with Your justice, God; enable me to carry out God’s laws in the land. And endow the king’s son with Your righteousness; may the king’s son, his successor, be granted the ability to apply God’s righteousness in the world.

יָדִין עַמְּךָ בְצֶדֶק ועֲנִיֶּיךָ בְמִשְׁפָּט

May he judge Your people with righteousness, and Your poor with justice. Tzedek, “righteousness,” is objective and absolute, and is administered toward the “people” at large. By contrast, mishpat, “justice,” though not deviating from fairness, can take into account subjective factors such as financial hardship, and should be applied to the “poor.”

יִשְׂאוּ הָרִים שָׁלוֹם לָעָם וּגְבָעוֹת בִּצְדָקָה

When justice reigns supreme, there is tranquility in the land. The mountains will bear peace for the people; mountains often provide cover for enemies who may lurk there, but in his day, the mountains will shelter within them only peace, and the hills will bear righteousness.

יִשְׁפֹּט עֲנִיֵּי עָם יוֹשִׁיעַ לִבְנֵי אֶבְיוֹן וִידַכֵּא עוֹשֵׁק

He will bring justice to the afflicted of the people, as is his proper function. Beyond that, he will save the destitute; he will actively intervene to extend assistance to the most unfortunate, those whose needs go beyond fair justice. And he will crush the oppressor of the poor man. The king’s judgments cannot always be soft and accommodating; at times he must take fierce action to battle oppression.

יִירָאוּךָ עִם שָׁמֶשׁ וְלִפְנֵי יָרֵחַ דּוֹר דּוֹרִים

They will fear You as long as the sun and moon endure. In this idyllic land, the people will be consistently God-fearing, with the continuity and regularity of the sun and the moon, throughout the generations.

יֵרֵד כְּמָטָר עַל גֵּז כִרְבִיבִים זַרְזִיף אָרֶץ

It, the king’s righteous administration of justice, will descend like rain on fleece. The blessings of justice will never be wasted; they will be fully absorbed, like rain on the woolly fleece of lambs, and like light showers that gently water the earth.

יִפְרַח בְּיָמָיו צַדִּיק וְרֹב שָׁלוֹם עַד בְּלִי יָרֵחַ

The righteous will flourish in his days, as the king’s virtuous rule will function as a shield to protect other righteous people with abundant peace until the moon is no more, that is, for all time.

וְיֵרְדְּ מִיָּם עַד יָם וּמִנָּהָר עַד אַפְסֵי אָרֶץ

In order for the tranquility of this kingdom, initiated by the righteous administration of justice, to be secure, it must also be accompanied by peace with the neighboring peoples: He will exert full rule from sea to sea, throughout the territory of the Land of Israel, which is surrounded by seas, and from the river to the ends of the land. In the Bible, “the river,” when unspecified, refers to the Euphrates, which was actually a border of Solomon’s territory.

לְפָנָיו יִכְרְעוּ צִיִּים וְאֹיְבָיו עָפָר יְלַחֵכוּ

Seafarers from distant lands who come to the Land of Israel will kneel before him, and his enemies will be brought so low that they will lick the dust, as it were.

מַלְכֵי תַרְשִׁישׁ וְאִיִּים מִנְחָה יָשִׁיבוּ מַלְכֵי שְׁבָא וּסְבָא אֶשְׁכָּר יַקְרִיבוּ

The king’s power and influence will extend far beyond the borders of the Land of Israel. The kings of Tarshish, a faraway city variously identified, located in Spain according to some, and the kings of the islands will bring tribute to the king. The kings of Sheba and Seva, in farthest Arabia or Africa, will offer gifts.

וְיִשְׁתַּחֲווּ לוֹ כָל מְלָכִים כָל גּוֹיִם יַעַבְדוּהוּ

And all kings, even from more distant lands than these, will bow down before him; all nations will serve him in one way or another.

כִּי יַצִּיל אֶבְיוֹן מְשַׁוֵּעַ וְעָנִי וְאֵין עֹזֵר לוֹ

This veneration of the king will take place both because of his military strength and also in appreciation of his wise and compassionate leadership, for he will rescue, both in his own realm and abroad, the needy, who cry out for assistance, and the poor man with no one to help him.

יָחֹס עַל דַּל וְאֶבְיוֹן וְנַפְשׁוֹת אֶבְיוֹנִים יוֹשִׁיעַ

He will have compassion on the poor and needy, and the lives of the needy he will save.

מִתּוֹךְ וּמֵחָמָס יִגְאַל נַפְשָׁם וְיֵיקַר דָּמָם בְּעֵינָיו

He will redeem them, those powerless, vulnerable people, from deceit and violence, and their blood, their lives, will be precious in his sight. This is unlike typical monarchs, who are indifferent to the suffering of the poor and downtrodden.

ויְחִי וְיִתֶּן לוֹ מִזְּהַב שְׁבָא ויִתְפַּלֵּל בַּעֲדוֹ תָמִיד כָּל הַיּוֹם יְבָרְכֶנְהוּ

So will he live well, and He will give him the gold of Sheba; God will grant him great wealth. People will pray for him always; they will bless him all day long, for he will be beloved by all.

יְהִי פִסַּת בַּר בָּאָרֶץ בְּרֹאשׁ הָרִים יִרְעַשׁ כַּלְּבָנוֹן פִּרְיוֹ וְיָצִיצוּ מֵעִיר כְּעֵשֶׂב הָאָרֶץ

In addition to the blessing of peace, there will be abundance of grain in the land, even on the mountain tops, where grain is not normally cultivated. Its trees will be so full of fruit that they will rustle as trees do in the great forest of the Lebanon. There will be sprouting in the city like grass of the earth. Useful vegetation will spring up like wild grass, in places that are not cultivated and sown.

יְהִי שְׁמוֹ לְעוֹלָם לִפְנֵי שֶׁמֶשׁ יִנּוֹן שְׁמוֹ וְיִתְבָּרְכוּ בוֹ כָּל גּוֹיִם יְאַשְּׁרוּהוּ

This psalm sums up its prayer in the concluding verse: May his name endure forever. May his name be praised as long as the sun shines, that is, forever, and may all people bless themselves by him; may they consider him a paradigm of blessing. May all the nations acclaim him, or, more literally, may they declare: How fortunate he is! This verse marks the end of the content of the psalm. What follows are verses of conclusion to the second of the five sections that constitute the book of Psalms.

בָּרוּךְ ה' אֱלֹהִים אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל עֹשֵׂה נִפְלָאוֹת לְבַדּוֹ

Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who alone works wonders.

וּבָרוּךְ שֵׁם כְּבוֹדוֹ לְעוֹלָם ויִמָּלֵא כְבוֹדוֹ אֶת כֹּל הָאָרֶץ אָמֵן וְאָמֵן

And blessed be His glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with His glory, amen and amen. This concept is mirrored, in Aramaic, in the Kaddish prayer.

כָּלּוּ תְפִלּוֹת דָּוִד בֶּן יִשָׁי

This verse concludes the second book of Psalms: Here end the prayers of David son of Yishai. Almost all the psalms up to this point were authored by David. Although some of the psalms that follow were also written by David, most are either unattributed or were authored by others.