Verse Analysis
Note: This analysis is a work in progress and will be periodically updated.
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The following is an analysis of the grammatical structure of selected psukim from the Ashrei prayer. The Ashrei prayer is almost verbatim Psalm 145. It is written in an acrostic format and is attributed to King David.
To explain how this analysis works I selected an example where the difference between the meaning of the phrases is unmistakably clear. Notice that the first phrase in this verse says that "God guards all those who love Him," while the second says that He "destroys all who are wicked."
Hashem guards all those who love Him, and shall destroy all who are wicked.
.שׁוֹמֵר יהוה אֶת כָּל אֹהֲבָיו, וְאֵת כָּל הָרְשָׁעִים יַשְׁמִיד
Just as the meaning of these two phrases is clearly different, it must be that all verses structured in this same way contain phrases that also mean fundamentally different things.
Let's look at a more subtle example before applying this to other verses:
Hashem is good to all, and His mercy is bestowed on all things that He has made.
.טוֹב יהוה לַכֹּל, וְרַחֲמָיו עַל כָּל מַעֲשָׂיו
We may be tempted to think that "good to all" and "mercy is bestowed on all things" mean the same thing, but if they do, one of them is redundant. The Jewish tradition says that King David wrote the Ashrei while experiencing ruach hakodesh. If so, and they are not purely poetic, then the specific selection of words must have been deliberate to convey a particular meaning. If understood, that meaning is most likely profound.
For example, rearranging the words in this verse to "mercy to all" and "is good to all things" would change the meaning of the verse fundamentally.
My analysis is based on a well-known concept that the Tanakh contains no superfluous information and lacks none.
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According to judaism.stackexchange.com, the "Ramban writes in his hassagos to shoresh sheni of the Rambam in sefer Hamitzvos that there is not even one extra letter in the Torah:"
Rather, the verses contain all [of the ideas contained in the d'rshos of Chazal] for the explanation of the text is not [meager] in accordance with the words of those lacking intelligence, nor like the opinion of the Sadducees. For the Torah scroll of God is perfect, it has neither a superfluous nor a missing letter, they were all written with wisdom.
The below translation was provided by the MiYodeah user known as mevaqesh. The word mevaqesh means "one who seeks" or "asks for".
אבל הכתוב יכלול הכל כי אין הפשט כדברי חסרי דעת הלשון ולא כדעת הצדוקים. כי ספר תורת ה' תמימה אין בה אות יתר וחסר כולם בחכמה נכתבו
Text of Ashrei
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Opening pasuk 1
Happy are those who dwell in Your house, may they always praise You, selah!
אַשְׁרֵי יוֹשְׁבֵי בֵיתֶךָ, עוֹד יְהַלְלוּךָ סֶּלָה
Opening pasuk 2
Happy is the nation for whom it is so, happy is the nation for whom Hashem is their God.
אַשְׁרֵי הָעָם שֶׁכָּכָה לּוֹ, אַשְׁרֵי הָעָם שֶׁיהוה אֱלֹהָיו
A psalm of David
A psalm of David:
:תְּהִלָּה לְדָוִד
Aleph - א
I will exalt my God, the King, and I will bless Your name forever and ever.
,אֲרוֹמִמְךָ אֱלוֹהַי הַמֶּלֶךְ, וַאֲבָרְכָה שִׁמְךָ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד
Bet - ב
Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever.
.בְּכָל יוֹם אֲבָרְכֶךָּ, וַאֲהַלְלָה שִׁמְךָ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד
Gimmel - ג
Hashem is great and highly praised, and His greatness is without measure.
.גָּדוֹל יהוה וּמְהֻלָּל מְְאֹד, וְלִגְדֻלָּתוֹ אֵין חֵקֶר
Dalet - ד
From generation-to-generation Your deeds shall be praised, telling of your greatnesses.
.דּוֹר לְדוֹר יְשַׁבַּח מַעֲשֶׂיךָ, וּגְבוּרֹתֶיךָ יַגִּידוּ
Hey - ה
The splendid honor of your glory, and I will tell of your amazing deeds
הֲדַר כְּבוֹד הוֹדֶךָ, וְדִבְרֵי נִפְלאֹתֶיךָ אָשִׂיחָה
Vav - ו
And they will speak of your awesome strengths, and I will tell of Your greatness.
.וֶעֱזוּז נוֹראוֹתֶיךָ יֹאמֵרוּ, וּגְדוּלָּתְךָ אֲסַפְּרֶנָּה
Explanation
Zayin - ז
They will share a reminder of Your great goodness, and they will sing of Your righteousness.
,זֶכֶר רַב טוּבְךָ יַבִּיעוּ, וְצִדְקָתְךָ יְרַנֵּנוּ
Chet - ח
Hashem is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in loving-kindness.
.חַנּוּן וָרַחוּם יהוה, אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם וּגְדָל חָסֶד
Tet - ט
Hashem is good to all, and bestows His mercy on all things that He made.
.טוֹב יהוה לַכֹּל, וְרַחֲמָיו עַל כָּל מַעֲשָׂיו
Explanation
Yud - י
All that You have made shall give thanks to You, Hashem, and Your righteous ones* shall bless You.
.יוֹדוּךָ יהוה כָּל מַעֲשֶׂיךָ, וַחֲסִידֶיךָ יְבָרְכוּכָה
Kaf - כ
They will speak of the glory of Your sovereignty, and talk of Your greatness.
.כְּבוֹד מַלְכוּתְךָ יֹאמֵרוּ, וּגְבוּרָתְךָ יְדַבֵּרוּ
Lammed - ל
In order to announce to all people His mights, and the honor of the glory of His Kingship.
.לְהוֹדִיעַ לִבְנֵי הָאָדָם גְּבוּרֹתָיו, וּכְבוֹד הֲדַר מַלְכוּתוֹ
Mem - מ
Your kingdom is an eternal kingdom, and Your rule extends into each and every generation.
.מַלְכוּתְךָ מַלְכוּת כָּל עֹלָמִים, וּמֶמְשַׁלְתְּךָ בְּכָל דּוֹר וָדֹר
Explanation
Samech - ס
Hashem supports those who are fallen, and straightens those who are bent.
.סוֹמֵךְ יהוה לְכָל הַנֹּפְלִים, וְזוֹקֵף לְכָל הַכְּפוּפִים
Explanation
Ayin - ע
Every eye shall turn expectantly to You, for You give them with their food in its proper time.
.עֵינֵי כֹל אֵלֶיךָ יְשַׂבֵּרוּ, וְאַתָּה נוֹתֵן לָהֶם אֶת אָכְלָם בְּעִתּוֹ
Pey - פ
You open Your hands, and satiate the will of all living creatures.
.פּוֹתֵחַ אֶת יָדֶךָ, וּמַשְׂבִּיעַ לְכָל חַי רָצוֹן
Tzaddi - צ
God is righteous in all of His ways, and virtuous* in all of His deeds
.צַדִּיק יהוה בְּכָל דְּרָכָיו,וְחָסִיד בְּכָל מַעֲשָׂיו
The word tzaddik literally means righteous. According to the Nesivos Shalom, the word tzaddik refers to someone that has completely uprooted his yetzer harah to the extent that it no longer has any power over him. This translates to a person who observes all of the details of the commandments perfectly. The word chassid, also according to the Nesivos Shalom, refers to someone goes beyond what is required of him and does things with the correct intentions. While the words are not exactly opposites, they convey a fundamentally different way of serving their Creator.
Using the Nesivos Shalom's description of these words we can try to understand how this verse is structured.
The word tzaddik is paired with "in all of His ways," while chassid is paired with "in all of His deeds."
I looked up the first ten instances of the word "way" in the Tanakh, all of which appear in Bereishis (Genesis).
The very first instance is Genesis 3:24 and says, "And He drove the man out, and He stationed from the east of the Garden of Eden the cherubim and the blade of the revolving sword, to guard the way to the Tree of Life." The second instance is in Genesis 6:12 and says, "And God saw the earth, and behold it had become corrupted, for all flesh had corrupted its way on the earth."
The first ten instances of this word are used in both of the different ways shown above. The first meaning is as a direction or a path, while the second meaning describes the manner in which something is done. What is interesting about just the first ten instances of the word "way" is that eight out of the first ten instances refer to how something is done and not to a physical direction or path.
Regarding the first ten instances of the word "deeds," eight refer to things that have been made and two refer to actions that have been taken. However, unlike with "way," the word "ma'ase" technically means the same thing whether it is used as "deed" or "created object." The reason for that is it requires a deed to make an object, so the word "object" is actually a contextual description of "deed."
In short, the word "way" corresponds to a general manner in which something is done, and the word "deed" corresponds to a specific action.
Plugging these definitions into the verse renders something like the following:
God runs all aspects of the world in perfect measure, and gives special treatment to specific situations and things.
This seems to correspond perfectly to the concepts of hashgacha klalis and hashgacha pratis respectively, and therefore seems to have been the intent of using these words.
Quf - ק
Hashem is close to all who call upon Him, to all who shall call to Him with sincerity.
.קָרוֹב יהוה לְכָל קֹרְאָיו, לְכֹל אֲשֶׁר יִקְרָאֻהוּ בֶאֱמֶת
Resh - ר
God will do the will of those who fear* Him, and will hear their cry and save them.
.רְצוֹן יְרֵאָיו יַעֲשֶׂה, וְאֶת שַׁוְעָתָם יִשְׁמַע וְיוֹשִׁיעֵם
Shin - ש
Hashem guards all those who love Him, and shall destroy all who are wicked.
.שׁוֹמֵר יהוה אֶת כָּל אֹהֲבָיו, וְאֵת כָּל הָרְשָׁעִים יַשְׁמִיד
Tav - ת
May my mouth speak of the praise of Hashem, and may all flesh bless His holy name forever and ever.
.תְּהִלַּ֜ת יהוה יְדַבֶּר פִּי, וִיבָרֵיךְ כָּל בָּשָׂר שֵׁם קָדְשׁוֹ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד
Closing
And we shall bless God, from now and for always, Halleluyah!
וַאֲנַחְנוּ נְבָרֵךְ יָהּ, מֵעַתָּה וְעַד עוֹלָם, הַלְלוּיָהּ
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