The Prayers of Moses: A Study of Midrash Tehillim on Psalm 90

Abstract

This article addresses the literary nature of Midrash Tehillim by carefully reading the midrashic pericope dedicated to Psalm 90. Our study demonstrates that while the pericope is basically constructed as a collection or anthology of derashot on the psalm’s verses, simultaneously both the opening unit and the conclusion reveal clear evidence of literary redaction possessing a hermeneutical-conceptual agenda, principally concerning the nature and character of “A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.”

The first proem, along with its adjacent aggadic expansions, indicates the pericope’s primary interpretive goal, identifying “A Prayer of Moses, the man of God” with Moses’ prayers following the Israelites’ sins in the desert. These expansions emphasize the argumentative and blunt nature of the prayer that crescendos in the derashah which depicts “Moses, the man of God” as a man who gives commands to his wife. At this point, the second proem is introduced and along with the two adjacent parables it diverts the conceptual discussion to the self-devotional aspect in Moses’ prayer and to his role as the intercessor between God and His people. The unit ends with another derashah that identifies “A Prayer of Moses” with Moses’ request that the Shekhinah shine upon the Israelites—a request that is ultimately fulfilled by God.

The pericope’s closing derashah deals with the Israelites’ unmediated request of God that He shine His Shekhinah upon them—“And let the graciousness of the Lord our God be upon us,” a request that He fulfills. In this way, the closing transcribes the pericope’s main theme—Moses’ prayer that the Shekhinah shine upon the nation of Israel—and creates closure.