commentary series, the treatment of is found in the volume Psalms 1: A Commentary on Psalms 1–50 , authored by Frank-Lothar Hossfeld Erich Zenger
He looked at the word for "meditate" (hagah). The footnote was a revelation. It didn't mean "thinking quiet thoughts." It meant to mutter, to growl, to recite aloud. It was the sound a lion makes over its prey, or a scholar murmuring over a text. hermeneia psalms 1
Psalm 1 ends with a stark contrast: one way leads to life, the other to perishing. The Hermeneia commentary does not soften this. But it clarifies that the "way of the righteous" is not a path of human perfection. It is a path of delight, meditation, and divine planting—roots sunk deep into the streams of God’s living Word. commentary series, the treatment of is found in
Step 4 – Engage with the Hebrew Text
Keep BHS (Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia) or another Hebrew Bible open. The commentary assumes you can read Hebrew script and grammar. It was the sound a lion makes over
2. The Image of the Tree (Psalm 1:3) The Hermeneia volume provides a rich comparative study. Mays draws parallels not to modern gardening but to the Eden narrative (Genesis 2) and Jeremiah 17:5–8. The tree planted “by streams of water” (‘al-palgê mayim) is, in Mays’ reading, a symbol of restored creation. The blessed person is a new Adam, rooted in the life-giving Word. Mays fiercely argues against allegorical readings (e.g., the tree as the cross) and insists on the metaphor’s wisdom-literature context.