This is David's Torah. The five books of the Psalms are his pentateuch. Note the supertonic in the image. I have highlighted in red how much it dominates the first two verses. It is the lowly mercha (aka yored) that delivers this characteristic 'tune' for Psalm 1 verses 1-2.
Paslms 1:1-2 showing the dominance of the mercha |
The Psalms are one of the few books that begin on a note other than the tonic. This carries the whole previous sections (Torah and Prophets) of Scripture as memory. As if the Most High were saying, That first note - what you are hearing - is not new but continues my instruction.
The Book of Job as coded in the Leningrad codex does not start on the tonic (the E of the scale). The Song of Solomon, Psalms, Proverbs, and Deuteronomy are the only other books that start on a note other than the tonic. I.e. all three poetry books, the Song, and the fifth book of the Pentateuch. The Song and the Psalms are in many ways keys to Torah. Deuteronomy is a recapitulation, a second reading of the instruction of the first 4 books. You will note that I do not translate torah as law. See under tvrh, and see also under the root this is derived from irh.
spr thlim | Book of Psalms | ||
a | 1 | ||
a | awri haiw awr la hlç byxt rwyim, ubdrç k'taim la ymd, ubmowb lxim la iwb. | 1 | Happy the person who does not walk in the advice of the wicked, and in the way of sinners does not stand, and in the seat of the scornful does not sit. |
b | ci am btort ihvh kpxo, ubtorto ihgh iomm vlilh. | 2 | In contrast: in the instruction of Yahweh is his delight, and in his instruction he mutters day and night. |
g | vhih cyx wtul yl-plgi-mim, awr priio iitn byito vylhu la-iibol. vcol awr-iywh ixlik. | 3 | Such a one will be like a tree transplanted by streams of water, that gives its fruit in its time and its leaf does not wither. And in all that it does, it thrives. |
d | la-cn hrwyim, ci am-cmox awr-tidpnu ruk. | 4 | Not so the-many wicked, in contrast: like chaff that wind blows. |
h | yl-cn la-iqumu rwyim bmwp't, vk'taim bydt xdiqim. | 5 | So they will not arise, the wicked, in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the-many righteous. |
v | ci-iody ihvh drç xdiqim, vdrç rwyim tabd. | 6 | For Yahweh knows the way of those righteous, but the way of those wicked will perish. |
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