Psalms

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Psalm 16

1 A prayer of David. Protect me, O God, for I have taken shelter in you. 2 I say to the Lord, “You are the Lord, my only source of well-being.” 3 As for God’s chosen people who are in the land, and the leading officials I admired so much— 4 their troubles multiply; they desire other gods. I will not pour out drink offerings of blood to their gods, nor will I make vows in the name of their gods.⁠ 5 The Lord is the portion of my possession and my cup⁹;⁠ you make my future secure. 6 It is as if I have been given fertile fields or received a beautiful tract of land. 7 I will praise the Lord who guides me; yes, during the night my kidneys instruct me¹⁵.⁠ 8 I set the Lord before me continually¹⁶;⁠ because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. 9 So my heart rejoices and I am happy; my life is safe. 10 You will not abandon me to Sheol; you will not allow your faithful follower to see the Pit. 11 You lead me in the path of life. I experience absolute joy in your presence; you always give me sheer delight.

Texts in conversation

Compare Psalm 16:7 and Berakhot 61a

Hebrew Bible · Rabbinic

Summary

Psalm 16 says the kidneys teach at night, following ancient Near Eastern tradition where they are a source of thought and emotion. Rabbinic tradition in tractate Berakhot follows this interpretation, describing the kidneys giving advice.

Passages

Psalm 16:7

Hebrew Bible

5 The Lord is the portion of my possession and my cup⁹; you make my future secure. 6 It is as if I have been given fertile fields or received a beautiful tract of land. 7 I will praise the Lord who guides me; yes, during the night my kidneys instruct me¹⁵. 8 I set the Lord before me continually¹⁶; because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. 9 So my heart rejoices and I am happy; my life is safe.

600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

Berakhot 61a

Rabbinic · Babylonian Talmud

Rav said: The evil inclination is like a fly and it sits between the two entrances of the heart, as it is stated: “Dead flies make the ointment of the perfumer fetid and putrid” (Ecclesiastes 10:1). And Shmuel said: The evil inclination is like a type of wheat, as it is stated: “Transgression [ḥatat] couches at the door” (Genesis 4:7); ḥatat is interpreted homiletically as related to ḥitta, wheat. The Sages taught in a baraita: A person has two kidneys; one advises him to do good and one advises him to do evil. And it stands to reason that the one advising him to do good is to his right and the one that advises him to do evil is to his left, as it is written: “A wise man’s understanding is at his right hand, but a fool’s understanding is at his left” (Ecclesiastes 10:2). Tangential to the subject of kidneys, the Gemara cites that which the Sages taught in a baraita with regard to the roles of various organs: The kidneys advise, the heart understands, the tongue shapes the sounds that emerges from the mouth, the mouth completes the shaping of the voice, the esophagus takes in and lets out all kinds of food, the trachea produces the voice,

450–550 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Berakhot

References

"... We obviously know that left (Latin sinister, sinistra) has a bad connotation in the Western tradition, although not ubiquitously. The kidneys appear in the above excursus as the informants of the heart. Another biblical source considers that the kidneys give only positive advices. We read [Psalm 16:7-9] ... Again, the kidneys and the heart are mentioned in close relationship. At night, explains Abraham ibn Ezra, the heart is free from any alien business, and the kidneys represent the forces of generation [Hebr. toladah] which are hidden as the kidneys are concealed. The kidneys are the concealed seat of thought and desire. The Lord “tries the reins and the heart”. But He also infuses in the kidneys “Law and wisdom”, as stated in a Midrash trying to explain how our father Abraham had been granted knowledge of the Law ..."

Samuel S. Kottek, “My Reins Admonish Me at Night (Psalm 16:7) The Kidneys in Ancient and Medieval Jewish Sources,” Medicina Nei Secoli Arte e Scienza 22.1–3 (2010): 465–478.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Psalms150 psalms

Compare Psalm 16:7 and Berakhot 61a

Summary

Passages

Psalm 16:7

Berakhot 61a

References

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