Introduction to Psalm 42
Psalm 42 Text: 'As the deer longs for flowing streams' and the Longing for God
Psalm 42 opens with one of the most celebrated images of the Psalter: ke-ayyal ta'arog al-afiqei mayim ken nafshi ta'arog elekha Elohim — «as the deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God» (Ps 42:2). The term ayyal (stag, deer — the form can be either masculine or feminine, though the agreement of the verb ta'arog suggests the feminine ayyalah) and the verb arag (to long, to groan as the thirsty deer) construct a metaphor of absolute physical desire: the deer without water dies. So the soul without God cannot survive.
Psalm 42 is the first of the second collection of the Psalter (Book Two, Ps 42-72) and belongs to the group of psalms attributed to the benei Korach (sons of Korah), one of the levitical families of Temple singers (1 Chr 6:16-22). Ps 42 and Ps 43 are originally a single psalm (as demonstrated by the identical refrain in 42:6, 42:12, 43:5: mah tishtochachi nafshi), divided liturgically. The psalmist's context is exile from the sanctuary: he is far from Jerusalem, me-eretz Yarden ve-Chermonim (from the land of the Jordan and the Hermon, Ps 42:7), and nostalgically recalls the processions to the Temple.
| Verse (MT) | Key Hebrew term | Theological meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Ps 42:2 | ke-ayyal ta'arog (כְּאַיָּל תַּעֲרֹג) | As the deer longs |
| Ps 42:3 | tzame'ah nafshi le-Elohim le-El chai (צָמְאָה נַפְשִׁי לֵאלֹהִים לְאֵל חָי) | My soul thirsts for God, for the living God |
| Ps 42:5 | ekhereh ki e'evor ba-sakh (אֵלֶּה אֶזְכְּרָה כִּי אֶעֱבֹר בַּסָּךְ) | These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I went with the throng |
| Ps 42:6 | mah tishtochachi nafshi (מַה־תִּשְׁתּוֹחֲחִי נַפְשִׁי) | Why are you cast down, O my soul? |
| Ps 42:8 | tehom el-tehom qore (תְּהוֹם אֶל־תְּהוֹם קוֹרֵא) | Deep calls to deep |
Psalm 42 Commentary: 'Why are you cast down, O my soul?' and the Interior Dialogue
Verse 6 (repeated identically in 42:12 and 43:5) has become the classic model of the spiritual interior dialogue: mah tishtochachi nafshi va-tehemi alai hochili le-Elohim ki od odennu yeshu'ot panav — «why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God» (Ps 42:6). The psalmist addresses his own nefesh (soul, inner life) as another person, dialoguing with his own emotional states. The verb shachach (to be cast down, to prostrate) and hamah (to roar, to groan) describe the spiritual depression of the righteous.
The psalmist's response is not rationalization but exhortation: hochili le-Elohim (hope in God). The verb yachal (to hope, to wait with perseverance) is technical in the psalmic spirituality of trust. The interior dialogue thus becomes an act of faith against the emotional evidence. Mishnah Berakhot 9:5 establishes the fundamental principle: chayyav adam le-varekh al ha-ra'ah ke-shem she-mevarekh al ha-tovah — «a person is obligated to bless for evil just as he blesses for good». The psalmist of Ps 42 embodies this attitude: in the midst of spiritual anguish, he dialogues with himself and exhorts himself to hope. The traditional Jewish commentary on Psalm 42 sees in this text the classic model of interior teshuvah.
Psalm 42 Explanation: 'Deep Calls to Deep' and the Experience of the Distant
Verse 8 contains one of the most intense metaphors of the Psalter: tehom el-tehom qore le-qol tzinnorekha kol-mishbarekha ve-gallekha alai avaru — «deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me» (Ps 42:8). The term tehom (deep, primordial ocean) evokes Gen 1:2 (tehom of the primordial chaos before creation) and Gen 7:11 (the springs of the tehom of the flood). The exiled psalmist lives an experience of cosmic immersion in chaos: the waves of God pass over him as in the flood.
The image has a dual valence: it is simultaneously an experience of anguish (being submerged by the waves of pain) and an experience of divine closeness (the waves are yours, God's). This ambiguity is typical of psalmic mysticism: the righteous senses God even in the experience of abandonment. Mishnah Avot 2:16 cites Rabbi Tarfon: lo alekha ha-melakhah ligmor ve-lo atta ven chorin le-hibatel mimennah — «it is not your duty to finish the work, but you are not free to desist from it». This tannaic maxim is parallel to the spiritual resistance of the psalmist: in the darkness he continues to hope. The traditional Jewish and Christian explanation of Psalm 42 makes this text one of the summits of the biblical spirituality of desire: the righteous is defined by his thirst for God, not by his circumstances.