Deuteronomy 6:7

Hebrew Bible

5 You must love the Lord your God with your whole mind, your whole being, and all your strength. 6 These words I am commanding you today must be kept in mind, 7 and you must teach them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, as you lie down, and as you get up. 8 You should tie them as a reminder on your forearm and fasten them as symbols on your forehead. 9 Inscribe them on the doorframes of your houses and gates.

Psalm 1:1

Hebrew Bible

1 How blessed is the one who does not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand in the pathway with sinners, or sit in the assembly of scoffers. 2 Instead he finds pleasure in obeying the Lord’s commands; he meditates on his commands day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by flowing streams; it yields its fruit at the proper time, and its leaves never fall off. He succeeds in everything he attempts.

 Notes and References

"... In the ideology of the implied author of Psalm 1, then, there is only one way to be truly happy, prosperous, successful, and honorable, and that is to shy away from the company of bad people and to immerse oneself in the Torah of Yahweh. Those who are like-minded, who honor Yahweh above all else by holding his instruction in high regard, also form a community. They are the ‘congregation of righteous’ (verse 5), and they can be spoken of collectively as a group, using a plural like that for the ‘community’ of wicked people and sinners (verses 5-6). The social status of the party whose interests are promoted in Psalm 1 cannot be very low. The possibility of being able to meditate on the Torah ‘day and night’ could be taken as an indication that the more basic human needs, such as that for food and clothing, have been provided for. The similarities with Deuteronomy 6:7 and Joshua 1:8, on the other hand, remind one that meditating on the Torah of Yahweh is not necessarily an activity that requires uninterrupted study. Joshua is about to indulge in a military campaign of tremendous size when he is exhorted by Moses to ‘recite [the Torah] by day and by night’. Recital of the Torah should be done when one sits; but also when one is on one’s way, when lying down and when getting up (Deuteronomy 6:7) ..."

Botha, Phil J. The Ideological Interface Between Psalm 1 and Psalm 2 (pp. 189-203) Old Testament Essays 18/2, 2005

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