Psa 5:1 | KD | STEP | The evening prayer is now followed by a second morning prayer, which like the former draws to a close with כּי־אתּה ( ; ). The situation is different from that in -8. In that Psalm David is fleeing, here he is in Jerusalem and anticipates going up to the Temple service. If this Psalm also belongs to the time of the rebellion of Absolom, it must have been written when the fire which afterwards broke forth was already smouldering in secret. The inscription אל־הנּחילות is certainly not a motto indicative of its contents (lxx, Vulg., Luther, Hengstenberg). As such it would stand after מזמור. Whatever is connected with למנצח, always has reference to the music. If נחילות came from נחל it might according to the biblical use of this verb signify “inheritances,” or according to its use in the Talmud “swarms,” and in fact swarms of bees (Arab. naḥl ); and נחילות ought then to be the beginning of a popular melody to which the Psalm is adapted. Hai Gaon understands it to denote a melody resembling the hum of bees; Reggio a song that sings of bees. Or is נחילות equivalent to נחלּות ( excavatae ) and this a special name for the flutes (חלילים)? The use of the flute in the service of the sanctuary is attested by , cf. ; 1Ki 1:40. The praep . אל was, then, more appropriate than על; because, as Redslob has observed, the singer cannot play the flute at the same time, but can only sing to the playing of another. The Psalm consists of four six line strophes. The lines of the strophes here and there approximate to the caesura-schema. They consist of a rising and a sudden lowering. The German language, which uses so many more words, is not adapted to this caesura-schema [and the same may be said of the English].

‏ Psalms 5:1

Morning Prayer before Going to the House of God

The evening prayer is now followed by a second morning prayer, which like the former draws to a close with כּי־אתּה (Psa 4:8; Psa 5:12). The situation is different from that in Psa 3:1-8. In that Psalm David is fleeing, here he is in Jerusalem and anticipates going up to the Temple service. If this Psalm also belongs to the time of the rebellion of Absolom, it must have been written when the fire which afterwards broke forth was already smouldering in secret.

The inscription אל־הנּחילות is certainly not a motto indicative of its contents (lxx, Vulg., Luther, Hengstenberg). As such it would stand after מזמור. Whatever is connected with למנצח, always has reference to the music. If נחילות came from נחל it might according to the biblical use of this verb signify “inheritances,” or according to its use in the Talmud “swarms,” and in fact swarms of bees (Arab. naḥl); and נחילות ought then to be the beginning of a popular melody to which the Psalm is adapted. Hai Gaon understands it to denote a melody resembling the hum of bees; Reggio a song that sings of bees. Or is נחילות equivalent to נחלּות (excavatae) and this a special name for the flutes (חלילים)? The use of the flute in the service of the sanctuary is attested by Isa 30:29, cf. 1Sa 10:5; 1Ki 1:40. ^{▼▼On the use of the flute in the second Temple, vid., Introduction p. 19.}

The praep. אל was, then, more appropriate than על; because, as Redslob has observed, the singer cannot play the flute at the same time, but can only sing to the playing of another.

The Psalm consists of four six line strophes. The lines of the strophes here and there approximate to the caesura-schema. They consist of a rising and a sudden lowering. The German language, which uses so many more words, is not adapted to this caesura-schema [and the same may be said of the English].