At the end of the Av HaRachamim prayer, we recite two verses from Psalms 110:6-7. Here are the two verses—along with verse 5—which precedes them:

Verse 5: “Adonai, at your right hand, will crush kings on the day of His anger.”

Verse 6: “He will execute judgment on the nations, (a battlefield) filled with bodies; He will crush the ‘rosh’ on “eretz rabbah.””

Verse 7: “He will drink from the stream on the way. Therefore, he will lift his head.” (Most likely, verse seven is no longer referring to God, so I have written “he” in lower case here.)

Our main question is: Who is doing the drinking in verse 7 and what do the actions of verse 7 symbolize? Daat Mikra calls verse 7, “setumah meod.”

To give a little background, verse one has God saying to a king: “Sit at my right side until I make your enemies a footstool.” This is a metaphor for a decisive defeat. The main theme of the psalm is a promise to a king that God will defeat his enemies. Accordingly, Soncino gives chapter 110 the title: “A King’s Victory.”

The psalm mentions Malkitzedek in verse 4. For this and other reasons, there are statements in rabbinic sources that interpret the psalm as relating to Avraham. See, e.g., Nedarim 32b and Sanhedrin 108b. But on the simplest level, the psalm has nothing to do with Avraham.

The initial words of our psalm are “leDavid mizmor.”

First, let us discuss verse 5: Soncino adds a context: “God will crush the kings ‘of neighboring peoples who rise against His appointed ruler.’” Radak clarifies that “His anger” means God’s anger against the nations. As to verse 6, it begins: “He will execute judgment on the nations, filled with bodies.” It is reasonable to add the word “battlefield” in here—as I did above—so that the reference is to a battlefield with dead bodies. (See, e.g., Radak and Metzudat David.) In contrast, Ibn Ezra thinks that “filled with bodies” is a reference to the large army of the enemy.

Note also that the second word in verse 6 is a form of the word גוים and the fourth word is גויות. This is a wordplay. Moreover, the two words are probably related etymologically. See Brown-Driver-Briggs.

What about “machatz rosh—God will crush the ראש” In one view, “rosh” refers to the leader of the opposing nations. In another view, it refers to the heads of their army (even though ראש is singular). It may also refer to all those in the enemy’s army. Seforno (see alhatorah.org) sees “rosh” as a reference to Amalek, based on Numbers 24:2 (“reshit goyim Amalek”). Malbim suggests that “rosh” may be a reference to the enemies’ capital city. He also suggests that “geviyot” are “bodies without heads.”

As to “eretz rabbah,” I believe the meaning is simply that heads were crushed and remain over a large area, but I will mention the following comments:

• Soncino suggests that the implication is that the victory will be sweeping, with much new territory brought in.
• Seforno believes that “rabbah” refers to “Jerusalem,” called “rabati vagoyim,” in Eicha 1:1.
• Some see an allusion here to Samuel 2, 12:27, which refers to David’s conquering the city of Rabbah in Ammon.
• Radak sees “rabbah” as indicating many heads were crushed.

Now, let us deal with our main question: the mysterious “minachal baderech yishteh … ” of verse 7.

Soncino suggests that the phrase refers to David, who is being pictured as pursuing the defeated foe. Tired and thirsty, he refreshes himself at a stream and then continues the pursuit with new vigor. Daat Mikra suggests the phrase is meant as a praise of the armies of Israel, who know where the water sources are and are, therefore, not tired from thirst when fighting their enemies. Alternatively, it may be a promise to the armies of Israel that there will be water available to them in their battles. (Rashbam says something similar. See alhatorah.org.)

Ibn Ezra suggests the meaning is that the other nations feared David so much that when he and his army went on the way, he was able to drink out of their brooks and they had no power to prevent him. Another approach he suggests is that we are being taught that David had so many troops that he had to go to a large source of water—a brook—to provide for them.

Radak suggests the meaning is that all that killing produced a river of blood, and that metaphorically, David is described as drinking this blood, a sign of victory. (See Numbers 23:24: “vedam chalalim yishteh.”) The Complete ArtScroll Siddur, page 456, is similar except that it substitutes the people of Israel for David.

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Further thoughts:

• Regarding that last phrase, “he will lift his head,” the lifting of the head is likely a symbol of victory. See Psalms 27:6: “Now my head will be lifted up over my enemies around me; I sacrifice in His tent zivchei teruah, I will sing … to God.” (“Zivchei teruah” probably means “sacrifices accompanied by shouts of joy.”) See also Psalms 3:4. (The “lifted head” is a contrast to the enemies in verse one who are on the ground, being used as a footstool. It also contrasts with the ראש being crushed in verse 6.)
• I must mention Rashi’s take on verse 7. The reference is to a Pharaoh drinking arrogantly from the Nile, since in Egypt, they did not need God’s rain!
• The scholarly Anchor Bible calls verse 7: “baffling.” With regard to the first three words, it revocalizes “minachal” to “manchil,” and “yishteh” to ישׂתה, and observes that דרך in Ugaritic means “throne.” It proposes: “The Bestower of succession set him on his throne.”
• Radak mentions that the Christians saw our psalm as being about Yeshu. Note that verse 1 has “Yud Key Vav Key” talking to “Adonay,” which they took as a reference to a father and son. See the uncensored Radak on alhatorah.org. According to Daat Mikra, this psalm was much debated about in medieval Jewish-Christian debates. (Note that our vocalization of “Adonay” is “adoni,” not “adonai.”)

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With regard to “Av HaRachamim,” many have assumed that it was composed in response to the Crusades of 1096. This may be true. But even so, phrases were likely added to the prayer to refer to later events. What is clear is that to date, there is no reference to the prayer until the middle of the 13th century. Rabbi Dr. Ephraim Kanarfogel has written a detailed study of this issue. The original Hebrew article is in the journal “Yeshurun,” volume 27 (2012). More recently an English version appeared in “Praying for the Defenders of Our Destiny: The Mi Sheberach for IDF Soldiers,” Aviad Hacohen and Menachem Butler (2023).

The last part of the prayer cites verses from all parts of Tanach to show that God will avenge the blood of the Jewish people. The first quote is from Deuteronomy 32:43: “Nations, sing of God’s people! He will avenge the blood of His servants, and render vengeance on His foes, and cleanse His people’s land.” (The last phrase means that the revenge cleanses the land from being full of the blood of massacred Israelites.) From the Neviim, the quote is from Joel 4:21. Then, three different sections are cited from the Ketuvim: Psalms 79:10, 9:13 and 110: 6-7.

Finally, The Complete ArtScroll Siddur cites Rav Hirsch for the following idea: Jews “do not pray that we be strong enough to avenge our martyrs; Jews are not motivated by a lust to repay violence and murder with violence and murder. Rather, we pray that God chooses how and when to atone for the blood of his fallen martyrs.” Essentially, God’s promise to avenge keeps us free from the burning lust for vengeance.

Mitchell First can be reached at [email protected]. In the Rosh Hashanah Amidah—composed many centuries before Av HaRachamim—the citations to verses from the Ketuvim precede the citations to verses from the Neviim. The explanation warrants its own column.