When we are in conflict it is hard to look each other in the eye.
Even when it is ourselves we are having difficulty with - and barely able to stare at a mirror.
And yet conflict resolution must begin when we are able to tackle or even begin to transcend the trauma, and with whatever possible support and meditation, face the facts and stare into a better future of reconciliation.
Today’s psalm, like many others, situates the pleas for help in the context of a chase scene and a time of dire need. David, on the run again from King Saul, is helped by the people of Ziph, members of his Judean tribe. But then it turns out that they have sold him out - probably for their own survival — and his anguish of exile is made worse by the knowledge that his own brothers betrayed his trust. David laments "For strangers have risen up against me...." but it’s his own kinsmen he’s talking about. Perhaps the use of "strangers" signifies exactly what happens when family members can’t even look each other in the eye and shift from brothers to others. Is is reversible?
David’s pleas for help from God seem to be answered by the end of this short psalm which ends with a sigh of relief and a promise to offer sacrifices in gratitude for the salvation. But there’s also a curious phrase that makes us wonder about what happens post victory and how winner and loser can, or can’t, look each other in the eye:
בִּנְדָבָ֥ה אֶזְבְּחָה־לָּ֑ךְ א֤וֹדֶה שִּׁמְךָ֖ יְהֹוָ֣ה כִּי־טֽוֹב׃ כִּ֣י מִכל־צָ֭רָה הִצִּילָ֑נִי וּ֝בְאֹיְבַ֗י רָאֲתָ֥ה עֵינִֽי׃
Then I will offer You a freewill sacrifice;
I will praise Your name, ETERNAL One, for it is good,
for it has saved me from my foes,
and let me gaze upon my enemies.
Ps. 54:7-8
The poet’s relief is made manifest by the use of the words ‘it is good’ - the original Hebrew is ‘Ki Tov’ - reminiscent of the first days of creation. This is what the creator said when looking back at the accomplishments of the first seven days. But it’s the last verse that is more curious and different translations adapt in very different ways.
Why does David want to gaze upon his enemies and what about it is good?
Moshe Sokolow unpacks some of these translations and what they may be telling us about the potential possibility of peaceful days:
“The concluding verse of our psalm has been translated in different ways. The Old (1917) JPS translation has: “For He hath delivered me out of all trouble (tzarah) and mine eye hath gazed (ra’ata `eini) upon mine enemies,” which calls into question the meaning of the second clause. Why is gazing upon one’s enemies a cause for gratitude? Surely it would be preferable to have had no enemies to gaze upon. ArtScroll’s rendition, “Upon my foes my eye had looked,” yields the same problem. The New (1982) JPS version, “For it [God’s name] has saved me from my foes, and let me gaze triumphant upon my enemies,” raises related questions: Where in the Hebrew text are the “foes” and where is the triumph?
Regarding the “foes,” the NJPS relies on the notion of synonymous parallelism—the idea that biblical poetry uses synonymous word pairs such as heaven and earth, tent and tabernacle, and listen and hear. The appearance of one of the pair in one half of a verse almost guarantees the appearance of a synonym in the other. Hence, tzarah and ‘oyeiv are presumably synonyms. The “triumph” is explained in Robert Alter’s recent translation, “For from every strait He saved me, and my eyes see my enemies’ defeat.”
But perhaps there is another and more kind and hopeful way to read this aspirational plea, even if grammatically questionable? Whether the enemies are one’s own siblings or the people from across the river, there is the deep desire that when the battles are done we can put down the weapons, shake hands, and look each other in the eye. Eye to eye, not an eye for an eye, is the only way forward.
It may be a radical interpretation but already Rabbi David Kimchi, the Radak, a 13th century commentator on the Bible from Provence wrote about these words: “My eyes saw - that which I desired.” This can be interpreted as the humiliation of the enemy - but what if what it means is that the gaze becomes a truce of peace?
We pray for peace, for better days between all those who are dealing with family feuds, small and huge, as brothers turned others and what we really hope for is eye for eye, with love and trust. What is one bit of eye to eye healing we can each commit to today?
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