PRAYER · ASHREI · 1 OF 5
Ashrei: a psalm of praise
“Every day I will bless you.” Read how a single voice joins the generations in praising Hashem, and find the biblical psalm at the heart of Ashrei.
In this lesson
A psalm we carry into prayer
Tehillim, the book of Psalms, belongs to the Writings within our Hebrew Bible, Tanakh. Its poems give us words for praise, gratitude, grief and trust. A siddur is our prayer book: it gathers biblical passages and other prayers into the order of our services. A passage can have a place in both books.
Ashrei is a familiar example. Its heart is Psalm 145. We encounter it in Pesukei Dezimra, the “verses of praise” within Shacharit, our morning service. The siddur orientation gives the larger map. Here we will learn what we are saying, one passage at a time.
Hashem means “the Name,” our customary way of referring to God. As you read, notice both what the psalm says about him and what its speakers undertake to do. Praise has content: it names greatness, deeds, goodness and righteousness.
Why do we call it Ashrei?
The prayer opens with two verses from elsewhere in Psalms. Ashrei means “happy” or “fortunate”; the opening word gives the prayer its familiar name. Read these introductory verses separately from Psalm 145.
אַשְׁרֵי יוֹשְׁבֵי בֵיתֶךָ
עוֹד יְהַלְלוּךָ סֶּלָהPsalm 84:5. Happy are those who dwell in your house;
they will yet praise you. Selah.
אַשְׁרֵי הָעָם שֶׁכָּכָה לּוֹ
אַשְׁרֵי הָעָם שֱׁיְהוָה אֱלֹהָיוPsalm 144:15. Happy is the people for whom it is so;
happy is the people whose God is Hashem.
English rendering by Messianic Yeshiva
The published Ashrei text on Chabad.org shows these two verses before Psalm 145. The biblical psalm itself begins Tehillah leDavid, “A praise of David.” Finding that heading helps you locate the same passage in a Bible and a siddur.
1. A Bible begins Psalm 145 with “A praise of David.” Is it missing the two Ashrei verses?
No. The introductory verses belong to Psalms 84 and 144. The siddur places them before Psalm 145 as part of Ashrei. A biblical chapter and its prayer-book setting have different boundaries.
Read the opening seven verses
תְּהִלָּה לְדָוִד
אֲרוֹמִמְךָ אֱלוֹהַי הַמֶּלֶךְ
וַאֲבָרְכָה שִׁמְךָ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד1. A praise of David.
I will exalt you, my God, the King;
I will bless your name for ever and ever.בְּכָל יוֹם אֲבָרְכֶךָּ
וַאֲהַלְלָה שִׁמְךָ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד2. Every day I will bless you;
I will praise your name for ever and ever.גָּדוֹל יְהוָה וּמְהֻלָּל מְאֹד
וְלִגְדֻלָּתוֹ אֵין חֵקֶר3. Great is Hashem and greatly praised;
his greatness cannot be fathomed.דּוֹר לְדוֹר יְשַׁבַּח מַעֲשֶׂיךָ
וּגְבוּרֹתֶיךָ יַגִּידוּ4. Generation to generation praises your works;
they tell of your mighty deeds.הֲדַר כְּבוֹד הוֹדֶךָ
וְדִבְרֵי נִפְלְאֹתֶיךָ אָשִׂיחָה5. On the splendor of your glorious majesty
and your wondrous deeds I will meditate.וֶעֱזוּז נוֹרְאֹתֶיךָ יֹאמֵרוּ
וּגְדֻלָּתְךָ אֲסַפְּרֶנָּה6. They speak of the power of your awesome acts;
I will recount your greatness.זֵכֶר רַב טוּבְךָ יַבִּיעוּ
וְצִדְקָתְךָ יְרַנֵּנוּ7. They pour forth the remembrance of your abundant goodness;
they sing of your righteousness.
English rendering by Messianic Yeshiva; editorial line breaks. Verse 6 follows the traditional reading, “your greatness.”
After the heading, the verses begin in Hebrew alphabetical order: aromimkha, “I will exalt you,” starts with alef; bekhol, “every,” with bet; gadol, “great,” with gimel. An arrangement using successive initial letters is an acrostic. You can recognize its shape without yet reading every Hebrew word.
2. Why does the alphabetical pattern begin with “I will exalt you,” rather than “A praise of David”?
“A praise of David” is the heading within verse 1. The poem's first line begins with אֲרוֹמִמְךָ, whose first letter is alef. The heading identifies the praise; the line begins its alphabetical movement.
Every day, for ever
Verse 2 places a daily commitment beside praise “for ever and ever.” The daily phrase gives the speaker something to undertake now; the enduring phrase gives praise a horizon beyond one moment. The verse does not ask us to choose between ordinary days and lasting devotion.
3. What would be lost if verse 2 said only “I praised you once”?
It would lose the repeated commitment, “every day,” and the continuing horizon, “for ever and ever.” The actual speaker undertakes praise as a sustained practice, not a finished event.
One voice among generations
A worked reading: in verse 6, “they speak” is plural, while “I will recount” is singular. Both concern Hashem's greatness. The speaker adds a personal voice to what others tell. This is not a contest in which one voice must silence the rest.
4. Which earlier verse makes the wider company especially clear?
Verse 4 names “generation to generation.” The praise passes between generations. The “I” of verses 1–2 and 5–6 belongs within a wider telling, rather than replacing it.
Rashi, Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, is a commentator on Scripture. In his comments on verses 4 and 6, he makes the speaker's joining explicit with “and I too.” This is Rashi's explanation of how the voices fit together; those extra words do not appear in our biblical source card.
5. How would you cite the idea “and I too” accurately?
Say, “Rashi explains the speaker as joining the generations and other speakers.” Then point to the actual shifts between “they” and “I.” Do not put Rashi's explanatory words inside a quotation of the verse.
Make your own source note
Now read verse 7 without using the worked note. Write its two actions and what each action concerns. Then explain how this verse adds something to the earlier descriptions of might.
6. What does verse 7 bring into the praise?
The speakers pour forth remembrance of abundant goodness and sing of righteousness. The verse gives the praise moral content as well as greatness and power. A source note should retain both the actions of praising and what is being praised.
Test this invented summary: “Since God's greatness cannot be fathomed, the psalm gives up trying to say anything about him.” Find two later phrases in this passage that would make you revise it.
7. How does the passage correct that summary?
After verse 3, the poem names mighty deeds, wonders, goodness and righteousness. “Cannot be fathomed” does not stop praise; it keeps our account from pretending to exhaust God's greatness. Verses 4–7 continue the telling.
Write four sentences introducing Ashrei to a new learner. Distinguish its prayer-book opening from Psalm 145; explain one daily commitment; compare two voices; and support your account with a verse number.
8. What should your independent introduction preserve?
It should identify the introductory verses as Psalms 84:5 and 144:15, not Psalm 145:1–2; name daily and continuing praise; and show “I” alongside generations or plural speakers. Give the actual verse for your example. If you use Rashi's explanation, name him.
Read in context
Psalm 145; Psalm 84; Psalm 144; Rashi on Psalm 145:4, 6; Ashrei's prayer-book text and placement.