Psalms / Chapter 15

Psalms 15

5 verses • Westminster Leningrad Codex

Translator's Introduction

What This Chapter Is About

An entrance liturgy that asks and answers the question: Who may dwell in God's presence? The psalm opens with a question addressed to the LORD — who may sojourn in your tent, who may dwell on your holy mountain? — and then provides a ten-part ethical profile of the person qualified for divine access. The answer is entirely moral, not ritual: the one who walks with integrity, speaks truth, refuses slander, keeps oaths even at personal cost, and does not exploit the vulnerable through usury or bribery.

What Makes This Chapter Remarkable

The psalm's answer to 'Who may approach God?' contains no mention of sacrifice, no ritual requirement, no priestly qualification. The entrance requirements are entirely ethical. This is striking in a temple context, where one might expect purity laws or sacrificial prerequisites. Instead, the psalm describes a person characterized by integrity of conduct, truthful speech, loyal relationships, and economic justice. The structure — question (v. 1), ethical catalog (vv. 2-5b), promise (v. 5c) — mirrors the entrance liturgy format found also in Psalm 24:3-6 and Isaiah 33:14-16. The ten ethical qualities may intentionally echo the Ten Commandments, creating an 'entrance decalogue' for the sanctuary.

Translation Friction

The prohibition against lending at interest (neshekh, v. 5) reflects the Torah's economic legislation in Exodus 22:25 and Leviticus 25:36-37, which forbade interest on loans to fellow Israelites (especially the poor). This was not a prohibition on all commerce but a protection against the exploitation of the vulnerable. In an agrarian economy, interest-bearing loans to the poor were a mechanism of dispossession — they transferred land and labor from the desperate to the wealthy. The psalm treats this economic practice as a disqualification from God's presence, placing it alongside bribery and slander as barriers to worship.

Connections

Psalm 24:3-6 asks the same entrance question and provides a parallel answer focused on clean hands and pure heart. Isaiah 33:14-16 adapts the form for a prophetic context. Ezekiel 18:5-9 expands the ethical catalog into a legal case study. The 'tent' (ohel) and 'holy mountain' (har qodesh) of verse 1 link to the wilderness tabernacle and to Mount Zion — God's portable and permanent dwellings respectively. The promise of the final line — 'the one who does these things will never be shaken' — uses the same verb (mot) that appears in Psalm 16:8, connecting the two psalms thematically.

Psalms 15:1

מִזְמ֗וֹר לְדָ֫וִ֥ד יְֽהוָ֗ה מִי־יָג֥וּר בְּאׇהֳלֶ֑ךָ מִֽי־יִ֝שְׁכֹּ֗ן בְּהַ֣ר קׇדְשֶֽׁךָ׃

A psalm of David. LORD, who may sojourn in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy mountain?

KJV LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

הַר קׇדְשֶׁךָ har qodshekha
"your holy mountain" — holy mountain, sacred hill, the mountain set apart for God's dwelling

har qodesh refers to Mount Zion, the site of the temple in Jerusalem. Holiness (qodesh) means set apart, separated for divine use. The mountain is holy not because of its geology but because God chose it as his dwelling place.

Translator Notes

  1. The 'tent' (ohel) recalls the wilderness tabernacle — God's portable dwelling among his people during the exodus. The 'holy mountain' (har qodesh) is Zion, where the temple stands. Together they span Israel's entire history of divine presence: the wandering tent and the settled mountain.
Psalms 15:2

הוֹלֵ֣ךְ תָּ֭מִים וּפֹעֵ֥ל צֶ֑דֶק וְדֹבֵ֥ר אֱ֝מֶ֗ת בִּלְבָבֽוֹ׃

The one who walks with integrity, who practices righteousness, and speaks truth in their heart.

KJV He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.

Notes & Key Terms 2 terms

Key Terms

תָּמִים tamim
"integrity" — complete, whole, blameless, without defect, sound

tamim describes completeness and soundness. When applied to a person's walk (conduct), it means living without duplicity or hidden corruption — what you see is what there is. The same word describes unblemished sacrificial animals, creating a link between moral and ritual wholeness.

צֶדֶק tsedeq
"righteousness" — righteousness, justice, what is right, conformity to the proper standard

tsedeq is the masculine form (tsedaqah is feminine) and tends to emphasize the standard or norm of right action. Practicing tsedeq means doing what conforms to God's established order of justice.

Translator Notes

  1. tamim ('integrity, wholeness') is the same word used to describe Noah (Genesis 6:9) and the sacrificial animal without blemish (Leviticus 1:3). The word connects moral integrity to ritual completeness — a life without hidden defect, like an offering without flaw.
Psalms 15:3

לֹֽא־רָגַ֨ל ׀ עַל־לְשֹׁנ֗וֹ לֹא־עָשָׂ֣ה לְרֵעֵ֣הוּ רָעָ֑ה וְ֝חֶרְפָּ֗ה לֹא־נָשָׂ֥א עַל־קְרֹבֽוֹ׃

They do not slander with their tongue, do no evil to their neighbor, and bring no reproach against their close companion.

KJV He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

  1. The verb ragal ('to go about, to spy, to slander') literally means 'to foot it' — to go around peddling harmful speech about others. The three negatives in this verse define the ethical person by what they refuse to do: no malicious speech, no harmful action, no shaming of those close to them. The word qarov ('near one, close companion') intensifies the requirement — it is especially those nearest to us whom we must protect from reproach.
Psalms 15:4

נִבְזֶ֤ה ׀ בְּֽעֵינָ֗יו נִמְאָ֥ס וְאֶת־יִרְאֵ֣י יְהוָ֣ה יְכַבֵּ֑ד נִשְׁבַּ֥ע לְ֝הָרַ֗ע וְלֹ֣א יָמִֽר׃

In their eyes the reprobate is despised, but they honor those who fear the LORD. They swear to their own harm and do not go back on their word.

KJV In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the LORD. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

יִרְאֵי יְהוָה yir'ei YHVH
"those who fear the LORD" — those who revere, worship, stand in awe of the LORD

yir'ei YHVH ('fearers of the LORD') is a social and theological category in the Psalms — the community of people defined by their reverent posture toward God. Honoring these people over the powerful is an act of moral counter-valuation.

Translator Notes

  1. The phrase nishba le-hara ve-lo yamir ('swears to his own harm and does not change') is one of the most ethically demanding statements in the Psalter. It describes a person for whom their word is more valuable than their comfort, wealth, or advantage. The verb yamir (from mur, 'to change, exchange') means they will not swap out their commitment for a more convenient one.
Psalms 15:5

כַּסְפּ֤וֹ ׀ לֹא־נָתַ֣ן בְּנֶשֶׁךְ֮ וְשֹׁ֥חַד עַל־נָקִ֢י לֹ֫א לָ֫קָ֥ח עֹשֵׂה־אֵ֑לֶּה לֹ֖א יִמּ֣וֹט לְעוֹלָֽם׃

They do not lend their money at interest, nor accept a bribe against the innocent. Whoever does these things will never be shaken.

KJV He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

נֶשֶׁךְ neshekh
"interest" — interest, usury, the bite of a loan

neshekh derives from nashakh ('to bite') and describes the way interest consumes the borrower. The Torah's prohibition (Exodus 22:25, Deuteronomy 23:19-20) protects the poor from economic predation by fellow Israelites.

Translator Notes

  1. neshekh ('interest, usury') literally means 'a bite' — the image is of money that bites back, consuming the borrower. In the ancient world, interest-bearing loans to the poor were instruments of dispossession. The prohibition protects community solidarity against the centrifugal force of economic exploitation.
  2. The final promise — 'will never be shaken' (lo yimmot le-olam) — does not promise prosperity or ease. It promises stability, rootedness, an unshakeable foundation. This is the same verb used in Psalm 16:8 ('I will not be shaken') and Psalm 46:5 ('it will not be shaken').
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