I will be looking at the first verse in the book of Psalms today, which gives an answer to the question I pose in the title: “Who is blessed?” The verse goes as follows:
1 ¶ Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 1
The first thing upon hearing the term “blessed is” would probably not bring the first verse of the psalms to mind, but would bring the Beatitudes, where Jesus elaborates on who is blessed. It is rightfully the best passage about probing the question about who is blessed, but, since we are trying to answer the question based on the Psalms, we will limit out purview to that of this verse.
Here, there are no positive features provided for a blessed man, but only negative ones. The positive features of a blessed man are described only in verse 2, and involve God and his Law. For us, positive features would also bring to mind those who are poor in spirit, who mourn, are meek, who hunger and thirst for righteousness and so on, as elaborated by Jesus in the gospels.
So, if the only features mentioned in verse 1 are the ones not found in blessed men, whom are these features found in? There are three different words used to describe the people who imitate these features. They are, in order, wicked, sinners and scoffers. Why are there three different words used to describe these “non-blessed” mean? What are the differences between these three? Is there any reason why different verbs have been used in associated with these three different “non-blessed” men (walks with wicked, stands with sinner, and sits with scoffers)?
Is it just a literary device to leave a strong impression on the listener? Does it have any special meaning? Is is both? or neither? Let us try to begin to answer this. There can be endless discussion about the real significance, but we are just trying to get to a method which might help us recall this verse for the rest of our lives.
The word used for the “wicked” in Hebrew is רָשָׁע (rā·šāʿ), and the same word can also mean guilty or criminal. So, it we are not to walk in the counsel of “guilty”, who are we to walk in the counsel of? The next verse gives an answer, but, based on just verse 1, if we had to come up with an answer, we would think that it would be the opposite of someone who is guilty, i.e., that we are meant to walk in the counsel of the “blameless”, which is the opposite of someone who is guilty. But, for someone to be blameless, they need to be perfect, with no sin, but we read in the scriptures that “23 ¶ since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”2. Then, is there any man who fulfils this criteria? At the time that this was originally penned down, the answer would be no. But, there is one who is blameless, who humbled himself to become man and took on human nature. I am of course referring to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. So, if were to extrapolate this line of thought, we could say “Blessed is the man who walks in the counsel of the blameless son of God”.
Now, let us go to the second type of “non-blessed” man, which is the sinner. We have already seen how we are all sinners. But, what is the word that has been used in Hebrew, and does it have any other meanings? The word used in Hebrew is חַטָּא (ḥǎṭ·ṭā(ʾ)), and has been translated as sinner or offender, and means “missing the mark” if one were to think of in the context of shooting. The sinner incurs a “guilt” after committing the sin, so, these are both intricately connected to each other. But, the phrase used with sinners is not “walking in the counsel of”, but “stands in the way of”. What does it mean to not stand in the way of sinners? This is where looking at multiple translations, or quotation of the verse in different works, side-by-side, comes in handy, when one does not have a deep knowledge of Hebrew to make an informed decision. It helps to see the different ways on interpreting the phrase and enriches our understanding of it.
One translation (NJB) puts it this way:
1 How blessed is anyone who rejects the advice of the wicked
and does not take a stand in the path that sinners tread,
nor a seat in company with cynics, 3
Another helpful one is from the Book of Common Prayer 1979:
1 Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked,*
nor lingered in the way of sinners,
nor sat in the seats of the scornful! 4
Where the asterisk “Divides each verse into two parts for reading or chanting. In reading, a distinct pause should be made at the asterisk”
So, it would seem that the interpretation would be that we should not linger in the way to sinners (by not taking a stand in their path). What is the harm in lingering in the way of sinners? The biggest one would be that we would get farther and farther away from God. This is highlighted by the apostle Paul when he writes: “33 ¶ Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” 34 ¶ Come to your right mind, and sin no more. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame”5 . This then is reinforcing some aspects of the first one, but with different wording to denote different ways in which we can interact with sinners. In the first part, we are told to not walk in the counsel of the wicked (or to reject the advice of the wicked), whereas, the second is more about not standing in the way of sinners (or lingering in their ways).
Now that we have looked at the first two, what about the third? The third negative precept is to not sit in the seat of scoffers, which, at a glance, is different from the first two. Granted, it is also used for wicked men, so, there is a similarity in that way, but the translation of the word used for scoffer, לֵץ (lēṣ), is either scoffer, mocker or scorner, and it means someone who scorns or ridicules.
Although there are debates about the correct translation of the word, based on its origin, as described below from an excerpt from TDOT, we can enrich our understanding of the term and use that improved understanding for a better conclusion.
- Etymology. Ever since Frantz Buhl’s study, attempts have been made to correct the traditional translation “scoff(er), mock(er)(y)” and arrive at the “basic meaning” of the root—if possible, including mēlîṣ and melîṣâ in the discussion. Several basic meanings have been proposed: “be arrogant,” “be foolish,” “repeat (in a different form),” “talk big, brag.” The juxtaposition of such widely diverse meanings as “be foolish,” “talk big,” “mock,” and “interpret” under a single lemma reflects the confusion of Hebrew lexicography. 6
Given a better understanding of what the word could be reflecting, what about the verb used “sits in the seat of”? What does it mean to sit in the seat of scoffers? (or seat in company with cynics). If we think back to the other verbs, walk, stand and now sit, and compare them side by side, we can imagine walking in the company of someone, standing with someone and sitting besides someone as getting more and more intimate. In this way, it is seemingly going from bad to worse.
In that sense, the word scoffer is probably also meant to carry a meaning of wickedness that is worse than that of the “wicked” or the “sinner”, and to point out the worst of the worst of men and their characteristics to us, and this characteristic would be a mix of being foolish, mocking, arrogant, braggart, etc.
In conclusion, we should walk, stand and sit with the one who is neither wicked, sinner or scoffer, and that is why we should aim to imitate Christ in our daily life. Learning from him, praying and being open to correction.
P.S., I would like to add a section I found insightful from a book I found when I was trying to understand this verse. Hope it can help others, too.
Like the Sermon on the Mount, the Book of Psalms commences with a “beatitude,” a pronunciation of the blessings of God on the just man. The original Hebrew is delicious to pronounce at this point—“oh, the blessings of the man who walks not.…”—’ashrei ha’ish ’asher lo halak.
Three postures are considered: walking, standing, and sitting. There are three places the just man will not be found: following the counsel of the godless, standing in the way that sinners go, seated among the scoffers. Warnings against these three categories are found all through the Bible’s wisdom literature, but the scoffers (letsim) appear here as the very climax of evil. Outside of this verse and Isaiah 29:20, “scoffer” is found only in the Book of Proverbs (14 times) and is a synonym for the consummate fool. 7
- The Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version; Second Catholic Edition (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2006), Ps 1:1. ↩︎
- The Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version; Second Catholic Edition (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2006), Ro 3:23–5:12. ↩︎
- The New Jerusalem Bible (New York: Doubleday, 1985), Ps 1:1. ↩︎
- The Episcopal Church, The Book of Common Prayer, 1979 (New York: Church Publishing Incorporated, 2007), Ps 1:1. ↩︎
- The Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version; Second Catholic Edition (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2006), 1 Co 15:33–34. ↩︎
- Ch. Barth, “ליץ,” in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, ed. G. Johannes Botterweck, Helmer Ringgren, and Heinz-Josef Fabry, trans. David E. Green (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1995), 547. ↩︎
- Patrick Henry Reardon, Christ in the Psalms (Chesterton, IN: Ancient Faith Publishing, 2000), 1. ↩︎