Published by the Jewish Bible Association · Jerusalem
ISSN 0792-3910Subscribe
Jewish Bible Quarterly
The only Jewish-sponsored English-language journal devoted exclusively to the Bible · Est. 1972
← Back to Vol. 54:2 contents
Vol. 54:2 · April – June 2026

Why Is Psalm 94 the Song of the Day for Wednesday?

Yaakov Jaffe
pp. 122–132·11 pages
Download PDF
Abstract

Why is Psalm 94 the song of the day for Wednesday? Examining the psalm’s form, diction, placement, and content, this study argues that Psalm 94 is properly the second half of Psalm 93 and, like it, commemorates the splitting of the sea — an event traditionally dated to a Wednesday — offering a fuller answer than earlier explanations for its assignment to the fourth day of the week.

Attributing seven Psalms for the seven days, one corresponding to each day of the week, is an ancient practice in Judaism, attested to both in the Mishnah and in the Septuagint.1 Much attention has been given to the reasons for the selection of the various songs for different days with many explanations given to a varying degree of success. Many see in the song of the first day a hint to the idea of creation, which began on a Sunday, in the words for he founded it upon seas (ps. 24:2),2 while the Mishnah connects the song of the seventh day to the transcendent Sabbath of the post-Messianic era.3 The song of the second day probably also relates to creation as it references God’s victory over “Mot,” which is a mythical restatement of God’s victory over waters in the second day in creation, and also the victory of the God who resides in Mount Zion over the other forces of Mount Tzafon.4 The reasons for the selections of the songs of Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday remain unclear. One could claim that the song of Thursday was selected as it summarizes the events of the Exodus,5 given that a very ancient tradition assumes the Exodus was on Thursday,6 but that still leaves three days which need explanations, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. This essay will investigate the reason for the selection of the song for Wednesday, and leave the other days for a different opportunity. First, we turn to investigate the Psalm of the fourth day, Psalm 94, in a vacuum, before turning to consider how it might relate specifically to Wednesday. We will look at some of the formal aspects of this chapter, unique words of the Psalm, the content of the Psalm, and its placement within its larger book of Tehillim - before returning to why Psalm 94 may have been selected for Wednesday.

Form of Psalm 94

As is typical in the Psalms, most of the verses in Psalm 94 feature Biblical Parallelism (tikbolet), where the content of the first half of each verse is reca- pitulated, in slightly different words, in the second half of the verse. To give one example, verses 12-13 read: Praiseworthy is the man who is rebuked by Yah/ and from His Torah, He shall teach him. To give him quiet from the days of evil/ until when a pit7 shall be dug for the wicked. The same idea is addressed in each verse twice - God’s “rebuke” is reiterated later in the words “Torah, He shall teach”; the “days of evil” are repeated in the second half of the verse with the words “pit shall be dug for the wicked.” On two occasions, this Psalm uses a special, rare form of Biblical Parallelism, where the same words are repeated at the start of each of the two consecutive clauses (in A B A C format).8 The first three verses (Ps. 94:1-3) read as follows:

God of vengeance - LORD - God of vengeance appear Be raised - judge of the land - Return recompense upon the proud.

Until when shall the wicked - LORD - Until when shall the wicked exalt?

This format occurs a small number times across the Psalms (Ps. 20:8, 24:8, 77:2&17, 92:10, 93:3, 114:7, 127:1, 131:2) but it is rare to find it in such a prominent position, twice in the first three verses of a chapter. This format is actually associated with the Song of the Sea more than it is associated with the Psalms; it appears four times in that short 19 verse song (Ex. 15:3, 15:6, 15:11, 15:16).9 Indeed, the Psalms that use this format are typically reviews or echoes of the Song of the Sea. Psalm 114 begins when Israel left Egypt and makes reference to how the sea saw and fled, while Psalm 77 reviews the story of the splitting of the sea at length.10 Thus, the format that begins Psalm 94 suggests a connection between this chapter and the Song of the Sea. Format and syntax are not enough to demonstrate a clear connection between the two texts, and so we next turn to explore unique verbiage in the Psalm to see if this also points to a connection with the Song of the Sea.11

Unusual Diction in Psalm 94

There are two common phrases that Psalm 94 shares with the Song of the Sea. The two word phrase va-yashev aleiyhem, And he returned upon them12 appears in the final verse of both songs (Ex. 15:19 and Ps. 94:23), and nowhere else in the Bible, though Exodus 15:19 inserts one word in between.

The phrase Your nation, LORD also appears in both (Ex. 15:16 and Ps. 94:5): You nation - LORD - they crush, and your inheritance they afflict and nowhere else in the Bible. Though sometimes the use of particular words or phrases can be random, the use of a rare two-word phrases that appear nowhere else in Tanakh in the two short chapters, may hint that the author intended to connect Psalm 94 with the Song of the Sea. Though not as impressive as the recurrence of those phrases, it is also noteworthy that variations of the word for pride and haughtiness geim and ga’oh appears prominently in both texts (94:2, and 15:1).

Placement of Psalm 94

Typically, there is no insight to glean from the location of a particular Psalm within the larger book of Psalms; still, occasionally placement provides insight. In this regard, one can derive further understanding about Psalm 94 on account of its placement, within the unit of Psalms 92-99. The final eight in the first 100 Psalms features three pairs of Psalms wherein the first of the pair begins by announcing a Shir (Ps. 92, 96, 98), and the second of the pair begins by proclaiming Hashem Malach (Ps. 93, 97, 99). Psalm 95 functions as an introductory call and invitation before Psalm 96, which leaves 94 as the only Psalm in the unit outside the format. There is good reason, therefore, to consider Psalm 94 as part of Psalm 93, because in that case it would fit the patterns of the rest of the unit. The Midrash also considers these Psalms to be part of one literary unit -though for slightly different reasons, which actually begins at Psalm 90 in the version of the Midrash (Midrash Tehillim, 90). The printed Tanakh as currently extant has 150 different entries in the book of Psalms, but traditional Jewish division of the book yielded only 147 Psalms, with three pairs of Psalms being combined into one each (Tosafot TB Pesachim 117a, Midrash Tehilim 22, Sofrim 16:11). Thus, just because our current chapter division divides two consecutive Psalms into separate chapters, it does not mean they should be considered different from each other. To give one illustration of where a single Psalm has been split into multiple chapters, chapters 42-43 are clearly one chapter, as is evidenced in four different ways: reuse of the same refrain across the two chapters (Ps. 42:6, 42:12, 43:5 and also 42:10 and 43:2), common themes (a Jew wishing to re- turn to the temple Psalm 42:3, 42:5, 43:4-5), common language (use of Elohim for God, particularly in the final position in a verse Psalm 42:2, 3, 4, 11, 12; 43:4, 5), and the absence of any title or literary cue separating 43 into its own chapter. Thus, we can only definitively divide Psalms into separate units if a new chapter is clearly marked, with an introduction, a named author, or a literary device which indicates the start of a new chapter (like hodu, haleluyah, shiru, shir, Hashem malach or barkhi (TB Pesachim 117a), or a new alphabetic acrostic. In the rare occasions where a Psalm begins without a typical start, it is a candidate to be one of the three occasions when two chapters are really one Psalm in the Jewish tradition. Since Psalm 94 does not begin with a new named author or heading, it might really be the second half of the 93rd Psalm.13This may be the view of TB Avodah Zarah 24b.14 This is important because the 93rd Psalm, replete with references to God’s awesome might and majesty upon the waters is clearly a review of the splitting of the sea.15 If both Psalms speak about the splitting of the sea, the common topic would be a further reading to combine them.16 Psalm 94 was recited in two parts in the Temple on two different intermediate days of Sukkot (TB Sukka 55a). The Levites would sing partial chapters on specific days; a unit of text that was composed as a single Psalm can be sung by the Levites in two different parts on two different days. Just as the Talmud confirms that the second Temple period Levites sung the current Psalm 94 in two pieces on two different days of Sukkot, an original longer composition now consisting of Psalm 93-94 could also have been read split into two with part of it on Friday and part of it on Wednesday. We are dealing with one Psalm here, not two.17 Thus, there are multiple reasons to connect the 94th Psalm with the splitting of the sea. The form and diction of the Psalm clearly relate to the splitting of the sea. Additionally, connection to the 93rd Psalm, about the splitting of the sea, further cements its connection with the miraculous tearing of the waters. Yet, even if one would wish to separate between the 93rd and 94th Psalm and argue they are different, for example arguing the former is an enthronement Psalm and the latter a wisdom Psalm,18 there is still ample evidence that an independent 94th Psalm still must connect to the splitting of the sea, even without a connection to the 93rd Psalm.19

Content of Psalm 94

Like many of the Psalms, chapter 94 depicts punishment of the wicked and salvation for the righteous, although it takes a less personal tone than many of the earlier Davidic Psalms. The speaker does not speak about his own individual antagonists, but in general about the wicked and what happens to them. The first three verses, cited above, speak in the general about vengeance, recompense, and the wicked as abstract, general categories. Commentators have long struggled to identify exactly who the wicked individuals depicted in this Psalm are. TB Rosh Hashanah 31a says it refers to idol worshipers, who are wicked on account of their rejection of the first two of the Ten Commandments. However, the continuation of the chapter focuses on crimes against other individuals and not against God (Ps. 94:4-7): They express, they speak harsh words, they are raised all doers of iniquity. Your Nation – LORD - they crush, and your inheritance they afflict. Widow and foreigner they kill and orphans they murder, And they say Yah does not see and He does not understand the God of Jacob. A similar sentiment comes at the end of the chapter (Ps. 94:20-22): Shall a wicked throne be compared to you? Fashioner of oppression20 into law? The form a brigade against the soul of the righteous, and the blood of the clean they make guilty. And the LORD was a stronghold for me, and my God was the rock of my protection. Consequently, most commentators reject the Talmudic view and instead say the Psalm speaks generically about the wealthy who are engaged in oppression of the poor with seeming impunity (Ibn Ezra to Ps. 94:6, Malbim to Ps. 94:1, Rashi to TB Sukka 55a s.v. mi yakum, subsection beginning ulemahar). Closer inspection of the Psalm, however, focuses on national oppression and not just to discrete individuals. Psalms 94:5 uses the term Your nation, and Psalms 94:14 reads, For the LORD will not forsake his nation, and his inheritance He will not leave alone. Psalms 94:10 asks Does the punisher of nations, does He not rebuke?21 The content of Psalm 94 requires an interpretation of the oppression of the Jewish people on a national level, not sinning towards God, and not sinning towards a particular, limited group, such as poor people, widows, and orphans. The oppression of the Jewish people in Egypt seems likely.

Because he feels it relates to the oppression of the Jewish nation, Radak reads the entire chapter as referring to the Jewish people who are oppressed while in exile.22 This view is agreed to, in part, by Rashi in TB Sukka 55a (s.v. mi yakum). This view accounts for the repeated references to God’s nation, the mentions of oppression, and the calls for God’s vengeance. Radak, himself believed the chapter discussed the redemption of the Jewish people from the Babylonian exile; this is the way Radak understood many Psalms. We should note, however, that the content of the Psalm refers to an exile and not necessarily to the Babylonian one. When considering the content within the framework of the verbiage of the Psalm, the formal elements of the Psalm, and the placement of the Psalm, the best interpretation is that it refers to the redemption of the Jewish people from Egypt, which culminated in the splitting of the sea.

Day and Date for the Splitting of the Sea

Exodus fails to give a day or date for the splitting of the sea, although Exodus 13:20-22, 14:8-9, and 14:20-24 indicate that it was at the very least a few days after the Exodus on the 15th of Nissan.23Since there is a Biblical holiday on the 21st day of Nissan (Ex. 13:6, Lev. 23:8, Nu. 28:25, Deut. 16:8), Jews traditionally assume the splitting of the sea took place on the 21st of Nissan (Seder Olam Rabbah 5, TB Megillah 31a, see Rashi).24 There is a difference of opinion what day of the week the Jews left Egypt. One possible reading of Exodus 16:1-5 is that Iyar of the year of the Exodus began on a Shabbat; if so, the preceding Nissan began on a Thursday and the Exodus was also on Thursday (TB Shabbat 87b),25 although Seder Olam Rabbah (chapter 5) disagrees and believes the Exodus was on Friday. If the Exodus was on Thursday, and the sea was split seven days later, then Wednesday is the day of the week of the sitting of the sea. And so perhaps, the Psalm dedicated to recalling the splitting of the sea, is recited on the day of the week when the sea was split, Wednesday. The splitting of the sea is mentioned in passing in a number of the historical Psalms (78:13, 106:7-12)26 or the praises (136:13-15) - but they lack the same richness and depth of perspective and praise about the event; their focus is on the historical detail of what happened, not why. For this reason, Psalm 94 is chosen for Wednesday, because it conveys the message behind the sea’s divide (94:16-18): Who will stand for me against evil doers, who will stand for me against doers of sin?27 Were it not for the LORD a help for me, almost it rested, was-silent my soul. If I said my leg faltered, your kindness – LORD28 – will support me. With many thoughts within me, your consolation will gladden my soul.29 Under this approach, the speaker which uses the single pronouns “me” and “my” in the above section refers to the entire Jewish people in the singular, as they are referred to at the start of the Song of the Sea (Ex. 15:1). Rashi takes these singular pronouns to refer to the plural nation, speaking in one voice.

Ancient Mysteries and Modern Practice

Amazingly, Jews have recited the same Psalm each Wednesday for hundreds of years, and the practice continues to maintain itself despite confusion as to the reasons behind it. This essay has demonstrated first that Psalm 94 should actually be considered the second half of Psalm 93, and that it – like Psalm 93 – is focused on the salvation of the splitting of the sea. Does that relate to Wednesday more than any other day of the week? Given the ancient tradition that the splitting of the sea took place on Wednesday, this day may have been specifically chosen as the correct time to recall that miraculous event. As odd as this reason may seem, it appears to do better than any other suggested answer for the link between this Psalm and that day.

Footnotes

  1. Mishnah, Tamid, 7:4; LXX introduction to our Psalms 24, 48, 92, 93, and 94. For a longer scholarly treatment about the liturgical use of the songs of the day in the synagogue, see, Yaakov Jaffe, “The Psalm of the Day in the Prayer Service of the Vilna Gaon” [Hebrew], Beit Yitzchak 42 (2010), 103-109 ↩

  2. TB Rosh Hashanah 31a. See also Yaakov Jaffe “One Day, One Chapter; Four Recitations and Four Themes in Psalm 24” at https://thelehrhaus.com/holidays/rosh-hashanah/one-day-onechapter-four-recitations-and-four-themes-in-psalm-24/ ↩

  3. Tamid 7:4, TB Sanhedrin 97a. When considering the rest of the unit of Psalms 92-99, one notices that the second and third pair of songs in the unit (Ps. 96-99) speak about a Messianic era where God’s justice and judgment are fully realized (Ps. 96:10-13, 97:8, 98:9, 99:4), and the Talmud assumes this is true of the first pair of songs as well, including Psalm 92. One could also connect the chapter with the Shabbat of creation, and indeed the Shabbat morning Shema liturgy does so explicitly. Ibn Ezra and Radak (92:5) say the chapter is a broader reflection on theodicy which fits with the Shabbat of the present era, when people have more intellectual capacity to reflect about these matters. A fourth view is that it relates to the Shabbat which recalls the Exodus from Egypt (Deut. 5:14, see Nachmanides, loc. cit.). ↩

  4. TB Rosh Hashanah 31a connects the song of the second day to God ruling over the waters. Yet, the song, itself, never mentions water. However, the Psalm does discuss how Mount Zion replaced Mount Tzafon (48:3), which Shadal (to Isa. 14:13) takes to refer to God’s triumph over the other powers and primordial forces. This interpretation might take the cryptic word “Mot” in the final verse (48:15) to refer to the force of “Death,” “Mot” and not as the word “forever” or as a musical instrument, as the word is typically translated. In general, a small number of Psalms (Ps. 29, 48, 74) and other scriptural sources (Isa. 27:1, 51:9,) speak over God’s epic victory and kingship over His antagonists (called Livyatan, Rahav, Tanin, Yam, Mot) over the waters – and these all may refer to the same events of the second day of creation, when God subdued the primordial waters. For a more expansive analysis of the Talmudic and Midrashic interpretation of the songs of the 120. Apple seeks to understand the underlying reasons behind the Talmudic and traditional connections between the songs and the days, but does not suggest any new, independent, alternative interpretations as this essay strives to do. He concludes “the reason why they were originally chosen remains a mystery,” and leaves open the possibility for future research into the selection of the Psalms, as follows below. ↩

  5. Which Psalm best narrates the events of the Exodus? The word Egypt appears in only nine of the Psalms (68, 78, 80, 81, 105, 106, 114, 135, 136), and only refers to the Exodus in seven of the Psalms (78, 81, 105, 106, 114, 135, 136). Two of these seven were probably rejected from the song of the day service because they appear in the holiday Hallel service, and four of the seven are far lengthier than the typical song of the day. This leaves Psalm 81 as the only Psalm that realistically could be used as a song of the day that describes and discusses the Exodus. ↩

  6. TB Shabbat 86b-88a. The idea that the Exodus was on Thursday can actually be derived from the Biblical verses, themselves. Exodus 16:1-7 indicates that in the year of the Exodus the 15th of Iyar fell on Shabbat, which would mean the first day of Iyar was also on Shabbat in that year. If Nissan had 30 days that year, as it typically does, then the 30th and final day of Nissan would have been on Friday. By this calculation, the 29th and also the 15th of Nissan would have been on Thursday and thus the Exodus would have been on Thursday. Seder Olam (5) believes the Exodus was on Friday. ↩

  7. “Pit” In the Hebrew: shachat. This word appears to mean the grave or death in some contexts (see for example Ps. 30:10, Jon. 2:7), and a conventional pit in others (Ps. 7:16, 9:16, 35:7, Proverbs 26:27). TB Eiruvin 19a says it refers to the underworld, a place to which the wicked descend after they die. ↩

  8. This format is distinguished from a litany (such as in Psalms 13, 29, 124, 146, where one key phrase introduces multiple verses in one chapter) but are not consecutive phrases and are not parallel or equivalent to each other. ↩

  9. These verses are critical for the organization of the Song of the Sea, as they are the only ones - besides the introduction and summary, which use the Tetragrammaton. The other verses of the Song of the Sea are the narrative of the event, while these verses using this special format are the verses of praise. Thus, their impact on the Song of the Sea goes well beyond their presence in 20% of the verses of the song. ↩

  10. Psalm 20, though not explicitly about the splitting of the sea, contains the same theme that the grandeur of God’s name will always overwhelm horses and chariots (20:8-10). About Psalms 92 and 93, see below. The 77th Psalm is one of the Psalms of Asaf, which are distinguished by how each of those Psalms review a specific moment in past Biblical history. It includes words normally associated with the splitting of the sea as many of the commentators have noted including: right hand (v.11), peleh (v.12, 15), who is like God among the Kodesh (v.14; see Ibn Ezra), Yah (v.12), ga’al (v.16), water (v. 17, see Rashi, 18, 20, see Ibn Ezra), thunder and lightning (v.19, see Rashi), led by Moses and Aaron (v.21, see Ibn Ezra). Psalms 127 and 131 are not about the Song of the Sea, but still use this format. They are among the 15 Shir Ha-Ma’alot Psalms which show significant syntactic wordplay, well beyond the rest of the Psalms. ↩

  11. TB Brachot 33a cites another formal commonality between Psalm 94 and the Song of the Sea, although an unusual one, that one word sits beside two occurrences of God’s name (Ex. 15:17 and Ps. 94:1). ↩

  12. Radak prefers to understand the past tense phrase as it appears in Psalm 94 as actually standing for the future, although the literal translation of the phrase is as past tense. ↩

  13. There are other candidates in Psalms to combine two chapters into one, besides 42-43 and 93-94. Though the Talmud discusses combining the 1st and 2nd Psalms, there are thematic and traditional reasons to keep them separate, but chapters 9 and 10 should probably be merged (See Rashi and Tosafot, TB Megillah 17b; they also share an acrostic). Some combine chapters 114 and 115 (see Radak, for the former does not end with Hallelujah as it should, Rambam, Chanukah 3:13, Sofrim 20:9, but also contrast Tosafot TB Sukka 38b and 54a). Minchat Shai in his introduction combines them, and also oddly 116-117. Other candidates are 70-71 or 90-91 (Rashi, TB Shvuot 15b). ↩

  14. The Talmud muses what song of praise the cows that returned the Ark might have sung in 2 Samuel 6:12. As Rashi to Samuel notes, the word vayasharna could derive from the root y-sh-r to go straight, in which case the cows sung no song, but the Talmud elects to read the word as an androgynous (or ancient) form of the third person female plural for the root sh-y-r, to sing. The printed text of the Talmud notes that the cows sung Psalm 93, which as Maharsha notes is wholly inappropriate for the context. Maharsha emends the text to read Psalm 97, although the current text of the Talmud could be justified if the Talmud merely meant 93-94 as a single large Psalm, and then the cows also song about God’s vengeance over the Plishtim. ↩

  15. That Psalm also uses the A B A C format (93:3), and begins with the word gei’ut prominently in the first verse. It mentions that God has become king, which is the climax of the Song of the Sea (15:18). The centrality of water in verses 93:3-4, something missing from Psalm 94, also connects to the splitting of the Sea. Finally, the 93rd Psalm discusses God’s throne (93:2), which may also be referenced in the Song of the Sea (Ex. 15:17, based on Jer. 17:12, as understood in TB Nedarim 39b and Pesachim 54a). ↩

  16. If the 93rd and 94th Psalms relate to the sea, what does the 92nd Psalm refer to? It also uses the A B A C form (in Ps. 92:10), and according to some, this Sabbath recalls the Exodus, see the fourth view above in note 3. An alternative view says that the 92nd and 93rd Psalms do not need to relate to the same historical event, but their role in the larger unit is that they set the stage for the future moment where God’s justice is realized by providing proof of concept of when in the past God’s justice and judgment was realized. The 92nd Psalm speaks about God’s justice at Creation, while the 93rd Psalm about God’s power and judgment over the Egyptians at the sea. The 92nd Psalm seems to focus more on the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, at the moment they accepted the truth of God’s justice (see Ps. 92:16), than the splitting of the sea (Rabbeinu Gershom, TB Bava Batra 14b). This is based on the word “Sabbath” in Psalms 92:1 (As understood by Targum, and one view in Midrash Tehillim, based on Genesis 2:2), and three other rare words in the chapter that connect to creation: 1. The Re’em or Aurochs (Ps. 92:11), connected to creation in Job Ch. 39-40 and Pirkei De-Rebbi Eliezer 11. 2. Eisev, “grass” (Ps. 92:8), which is a rare word in the Bible but ubiquitous in the creation narratives. 3. The animal-like person (Ps. 92:7). This rare word also appears at 94:8 and the two verses appear to be in conversation with each other, culminating in Psalms 94:10 (who teaches knowledge to Adam). ↩

  17. Liturgically, Psalm 95:1-3 is also recited in synagogue each Wednesday, but in that case, one should not conclude that these verses are part of Psalm 94. They are clearly part of Psalm 95 which is a lengthy invocation and charge to pray and one holistic unit. Rather, given the ancient custom of not ending a public reading with negative content (TB Megillah 31a), these verses - clearly from a different Psalm - are appended to the end, so as not to finish prayer with the retribution that ends Psalm 94. ↩

  18. The 94th Psalm is challenging to classify more broadly. Most Psalms are songs of petition or thanksgiving, but those Psalms of personal requests have a very different set of genre expectations from this Psalm (most of the Psalms between 1-41 and 51-65 are from this genre). It is also not a historical Psalm, directly referencing and discussing a past historical event like the songs of Assaf (50, 73-83), nor is it an eschatological Psalm reflecting on the redemptive future like the songs of the sons of Korach (42-49, 84-88). It is not one of the thirteen requests (the Shir HaMa’alot, 120-133), or one of the praises (the Hallelujah and Hodu Psalms 113-118, 134-135, 146-150). Some consider it a wisdom Psalm, as it contemplates a core question of Jewish theology, the success of the wicked. However it lacks the formal element of acrostic which is common to a majority of the wisdom Psalms (25, 34, 37, 119, 111,112, 119, 145), and is also missing some of the recurring phrases that are common to these Psalms, as detailed at Yaakov Jaffe, “From Kitzingen to London, From Berlin to Boston Charting the Pathways of an Intriguing Siddur Translation” 6/18/24 at https://seforimblog.com/2024/06/from-kitzingen-to-london-from-berlin-toboston-charting-the-pathways-of-an-intriguing-siddur-translation/. Wisdom Psalms also generally feature simple theology and simple conclusions and not the internal tension that is central to Psalm 94 (contrast the above wisdom Psalms and also the praise creation Psalms (8, 104, 139) or the righteous life Psalms (1, 11, 15, 19, 103). Wisdom Psalms proclaim that God is just, they don’t question God’s justice. What is it then? As noted above, Psalms 92-99 serve as a unit (tied together by their consecutive placement in the book and their common formal elements), which proclaim God’s judgment and righteousness through the course of His punishment of the wicked. Psalm 94 is part of that unit, and should not be forced into the category of wisdom Psalms to break it apart from its unit. ↩

  19. Admittedly, the flow between 93:5 and 94:1 is not ideal, and this disjunction may also explain why the dividers of the book of Psalms separated them into different chapters. Still, it is not uncommon for specific Psalms to have disjunctions which stop their flow; Psalm 118 famously has a half-dozen such disjunctions. ↩

  20. In the Hebrew, amal, which is translated oppression based on Habakkuk 1:3-13. Rashi says it refers to idolatry. Half the times the root appears in the Bible (33/75) are in the book of Kohelet, where it is best translated as “hard labor” and not sin. The word appears in regard to the Exodus from Egypt in Deuteronomy 26:7. ↩

  21. Ibn Ezra interprets this verse as referring to the nations who were guilty of oppression - the generation of the flood and the residents of Sodom (Ibn Ezra to Ps. 94:10). ↩

  22. It seems likely that if one takes a post-exilic frame, then the guilty, sinful nation who is punished is an enemy nation who destroyed the Jewish people. At the same time, TB Arachin 11b reports that on the day the Temple was destroyed (though not a Wednesday), the Levites were in the middle of singing the verse, And the LORD returned upon them their strength, and in their evil, He will cut them off, cut them off LORD our God (Ps. 94:23). This teaching indicates the sinful nation was actually the Jews. Thus, though originally another nation was the one intended, God arranged the Temple to be destroyed during the verse to hint that now the Jewish nation was then the one to be cut off. ↩

  23. Ex. 15:27 and 16:1 indicates that the splitting of the sea could not have been that much later than the end of Nissan, as the nation travels to Marah and camps in Eilim after the splitting of the sea, before the 15th of Iyar. ↩

  24. The final statement of Rashi to Numbers 15 cites a different view that it was one day later, on the 22nd of Nissan. For discussion of this view, see Yaakov Jaffe, “Rabbi Yehudah ha-Levi’s Love Song on Jewish Self-Identification” at https://thelehrhaus.com/timely-thoughts/rabbiyehudah-ha-levis-love-song-on-jewish-self-identification-for-the-7th-day-of-pesah/#_edn15 ↩

  25. In that case, the Jewish people took the Pascal Lamb on the prior Shabbat, the 10th of Nissan (Tosafot TB Shabbat 87b s.v. ve-oto, Chizkuni Ex. 12:3, Tur 430). ↩

  26. This 106th Psalm is designed to advance the argument that the people continue to survive despite their sins, as is evidenced by the summary conclusion of the chapter (Ps. 106:43-46). The Psalm surveys seven sins: three end in salvation despite the people’s sin (sea, manna, judges), two in the power of prayer that prevents destruction (calf, pe’or), and three in punishment for the sinners but the endurance of the nation as a whole (Korah, spies, rock). Thus, the inclusion of the sea is not to praise God for the great miracle, but to note how the nation sinned before the sea was split (Ps. 106:6-7). ↩

  27. This verse also contains a repeating feature in this chapter; the use of rhetorical questions: Psalms 94:3, 9-10, 16, 20. ↩

  28. This verse also contains a repeating feature in this chapter, using God’s name as a vocative, where the speaker turns to God and uses His name: Psalms 93:3, 93:5, 94:1, 94:3, 94:5, 94:18, 94:23. ↩

  29. Special songs also accompanied the major holidays in the Temple, although most of those special holiday songs have been lost in time. TB Sukka 55a preserves the list of the six Psalms of the intermediate days of Sukkot, despite not sharing what Psalms were recited on the other holidays. It is hard to know exactly why these Psalms connect to the intermediate days; recitation of Psalm 29 on the first intermediate day may have something to do with water in that Psalm (Rashi). Recitation of Psalm 50 on the second intermediate day may hinge on how this cryptic Psalm is understood. I discuss the recitation of these two Psalms in more detail in Jewish Bible intermediate day Psalms 94:16-23 is recited, while on the fourth intermediate day, Psalms 94:8- 15 is recited. It is unclear if these readings also relate to the reading of the Psalm on Wednesday. ↩

About the Author
Yaakov Jaffe

Rabbi Dr. Yaakov Jaffe serves as the rabbi of the Maimonides Minyan and as the Director of Tanakh Studies at the Maimonides School. He received his ordination and doctorate from Yeshiva University, where he holds graduate degrees in Bible, Jewish History, and Jewish Education.

Cite this article
Chicago

Yaakov Jaffe. "Why Is Psalm 94 the Song of the Day for Wednesday?." Jewish Bible Quarterly 54, no. 2 (April – June 2026): 122–132.

MLA

Yaakov Jaffe. "Why Is Psalm 94 the Song of the Day for Wednesday?." Jewish Bible Quarterly, vol. 54, no. 2, 2026, pp. 122–132.

← Previous
Rav Kook on Ancient Near Eastern Parallels
Next →
Book Review: The JPS Bible Commentary: Psalms 120–150. The Traditional Hebrew Text with the JPS Translation
↩ Full table of contents — Vol. 54:2