Psalm 119

Footnotes

1. 39 Psalm 119. The psalmist celebrates God’s law and the guidance it provides his people. He expresses his desire to know God’s law thoroughly so that he might experience the blessings that come to those who obey it. This lengthy psalm exhibits an elaborate acrostic pattern. The psalm is divided into twenty-two sections (corresponding to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet), each of which is comprised of eight verses. Each of the verses in the first section (vv. 1–8) begins with the letter alef (א), the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This pattern continues throughout the psalm as each new section highlights a successive letter of the alphabet. Each verse in section two (vv. 9–16) begins with the second letter of the alphabet, each verse in section three (vv. 17–24) with the third letter, etc. This rigid pattern creates a sense of order and completeness and may have facilitated memorization.
2. 1 Heb “[Oh] the happiness of those who are blameless of way.”
3. 2 Heb “walk in.”
4. 3 Heb “walk in his ways.”
5. 4 Heb “you, you commanded your precepts, to keep, very much.”
6. 5 Heb “if only my ways were established.”
7. 6 Or “when.”
8. 7 Heb “I gaze at.”
9. 8 Heb “I will give you thanks with an upright heart.”
10. 9 Heb “do not abandon me to excess.” For other uses of the phrase עַד מְאֹד (’ad mé’od, “to excess”), see Ps 38:6, 8.
11. 10 Heb “young man.” Hebrew wisdom literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender or age. To facilitate modern application, the gender specific “young man” has been translated with the more neutral “young person.”
12. 11 Heb “purify his path.”
13. 12 Heb “by keeping according to your word.” Many medieval Hebrew as well as the read the plural, “your words.”
14. 13 Or “hide.”
15. 14 Heb “your word.” Some medieval Hebrew as well as the read the plural, “your words.”
16. 15 Heb “[are] blessed.”
17. 16 Heb “of your mouth.”
18. 17 Heb “in the way of your rules.”
19. 18 Heb “as upon,” meaning “as if” (see 2 Chr 32:19).
20. 19 Heb “all wealth.” The phrase refers to all kinds of wealth and riches. See Prov 1:13; 6:31; 24:4; Ezek 27:12, 18.
21. 20 The cohortative verbal forms in this verse express the psalmist’s resolve.
22. 21 Heb “gaze [at].”
23. 22 Heb “ways” (referring figuratively to God’s behavior here).
24. 23 The imperfects in this verse emphasize the attitude the psalmist maintains toward God’s law. Another option is to translate with the future tense, “I will find delight … I will not forget.”
25. 24 Heb “your word.” Many medieval Hebrew as well as the read the plural here.
26. 25 The prefixed verbal form is probably a cohortative indicating purpose/result after the preceding imperative.
27. 26 The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the imperative that begins the verse.
28. 27 Heb “your word.” Many medieval Hebrew as well as several ancient versions read the plural here.
29. 28 Heb “uncover.” The verb form גַּל (gal) is an apocopated Piel imperative from גָּלָה (galah, see §75.cc).
30. 29 The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.
31. 30 Heb “I am a resident alien in the land.” Resident aliens were especially vulnerable and in need of help. They needed to know the social and legal customs of the land to avoid getting into trouble. The translation (note the addition of “like”) assumes the psalmist is speaking metaphorically, not literally.
32. 31 Heb “my soul languishes for longing for.”
33. 32 Heb “accursed.” The traditional punctuation of the Hebrew text takes “accursed” with the previous line (“arrogant, accursed ones”), but it is preferable to take it with the second line as the predicate of the statement.
34. 33 Heb “roll away from upon me.” Some derive the imperatival form גַּל (gal) from גָּלָה (galah, “uncover,” as in v. 18), but here the form is from גָּלַל (galal, “roll”; see Josh 5:9, where חֶרְפָּה [kherpah, “shame; reproach”] also appears as object of the verb). Some, following the lead of a Dead Sea scroll (11QPsa), emend the form to גֹּל (gol).
35. 34 Heb “though rulers sit, about me they talk together.” (For another example of the Niphal of דָּבַר (davar) used with a suffixed form of the preposition ב, see Ezek 33:30.)
36. 35 Heb “men of my counsel.” That is, God’s rules are like advisers to the psalmist, for they teach him how to live in a godly manner that refutes the accusations of his enemies.
37. 36 Heb “my soul clings to the dirt.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being; soul”) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see 660 נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).
38. 37 Heb “according to your word.” Many medieval Hebrew read the plural “your words.”
39. 38 Heb “my ways I proclaimed.”
40. 39 Heb “the way of your precepts make me understand.”
41. 40 The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.
42. 41 Heb “your amazing things,” which refers here to the teachings of the law (see v. 18).
43. 42 Some translate “my soul weeps,” taking the verb דָלַף (dalaf) from a root meaning “to drip; to drop” ( 196 דֶּלַף). On the basis of cognate evidence from Arabic and Akkadian, II דלף proposes a homonymic root here, meaning “be sleepless.” Following L. C. Allen (Psalms 101–150 [], , ) the translation assumes that the verb is cognate with Ugaritic dlp, “to collapse; to crumple” in 2 iv. 17, 26. See G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 44, 144.
44. 43 Heb “according to your word.” Many medieval Hebrew read the plural “your words.”
45. 44 The “path of deceit” refers to a lifestyle characterized by deceit and disloyalty to God. It stands in contrast to the “way of faithfulness” in v. 30.
46. 45 Heb “be gracious to me.” The verb is used metonymically here for “graciously giving” the law. (See Gen 33:5, where Jacob uses this verb in describing how God had graciously given him children.)
47. 46 1000–1001 I שָׁוָה derives the verb from the first homonym listed, meaning “to agree with; to be like; to resemble.” It here means (in the Piel stem) “to be accounted suitable,” which in turn would mean by metonymy “to accept; to be committed to.” Some prefer to derive the verb from a homonym meaning “to place; to set,” but in this case an elliptical prepositional phrase must be understood, “I place your regulations [before me]” (see Ps 16:8).
48. 47 Or “cling to.”
49. 48 Heb “for you make wide my heart.” The “heart” is viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s volition and understanding. The Lord gives the psalmist the desire and moral understanding that are foundational to the willing obedience depicted metaphorically in the preceding line. In Isa 60:5 the expression “your heart will be wide” means “your heart will swell with pride,” but here the nuance appears to be different.
50. 49 Heb “the way of your statutes.”
51. 50 Heb “and I will keep it to the end.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative. The Hebrew term עֵקֶב (’eqev) is understood to mean “end” here. Another option is to take עֵקֶב (’eqev) as meaning “reward” here (see Ps 19:11) and to translate, “so that I might observe it and be rewarded.”
52. 51 The two prefixed verbal forms with vav (ו) conjunctive indicate purpose/result after the introductory imperative.
53. 52 Or “make me walk.”
54. 53 Heb “for in it I delight.”
55. 54 Heb “turn my heart to your rules.”
56. 55 Heb “and not unjust gain.”
57. 56 Heb “Make my eyes pass by from looking at what is worthless.”
58. 57 Heb “by your word.”
59. 58 Heb “word.”
60. 59 Heb “which [is] for your fear,” that is, the promise made to those who exhibit fear of God.
61. 60 Heb “my reproach that I fear.”
62. 61 Or “for.”
63. 62 Or “righteousness.”
64. 63 Heb “and may your loyal love come to me.”
65. 64 Or “salvation” (so many English versions).
66. 65 Heb “according to your word.”
67. 66 Heb “and I will answer [the] one who insults me a word.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the jussive (see v. 41).
68. 67 Heb “do not snatch from my mouth a word of truth to excess.” The psalmist wants to be able to give a reliable testimony about the Lord’s loyal love (vv. 41–42), but if God does not intervene, the psalmist will be deprived of doing so, for the evidence of such love (i.e., deliverance) will be lacking.
69. 68 The cohortative verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the negated jussive (see v. 43).
70. 69 Or “forever and ever.”
71. 70 Heb “and I will walk about in a wide place.” The cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) conjunctive gives a further consequence of the anticipated positive divine response (see vv. 43–44). Another option is to take the cohortative as expressing the psalmist’s request. In this case one could translate, “and please give me security.”
72. 71 The series of four cohortatives with prefixed vav (ו) conjunctive in vv. 46–48 list further consequences of the anticipated positive divine response to the request made in v. 43.
73. 72 Lifting the hands is often associated with prayer (Pss 28:2; 63:4; Lam 2:19). (1) Because praying to God’s law borders on the extreme, some prefer to emend the text to “I lift up my hands to you,” eliminating “your commands, which I love” as dittographic. In this view these words were accidentally repeated from the previous verse. (2) However, it is possible that the psalmist closely associates the law with God himself because he views the law as the expression of the divine will. (3) Another option is that “lifting the hands” does not refer to prayer here, but to the psalmist’s desire to receive and appropriate the law. (4) Still others understand this to be an action praising God’s commands (so ; cf. , , ).
74. 73 The demonstrative “this” refers back to the hope just mentioned or forward to the statement in the second line concerning the promise’s power to revive. See the note on the word “me” at the end of the verse for further discussion.
75. 74 The hope generated by the promise (see v. 49b) brings comfort because (note “for” at the beginning of the line) the promise revives the psalmist’s spirits. Another option is to take כִּי (ki) at the beginning of the second line in the sense of “that,” in which case “this” refers to the promise’s power to revive.
76. 75 Heb “scoff at me to excess.”
77. 76 Heb “I remember your regulations from of old.” The prepositional phrase “from of old” apparently modifies “your regulations,” alluding to the fact that God revealed them to Israel in the distant past. Another option is to understand the prepositional phrase as modifying the verb, in which case one might translate, “I have long remembered your regulations.”
78. 77 Or “find comfort.”
79. 78 Heb “songs were your statutes to me.”
80. 79 Heb “in the house of my dwelling place.” Some take the Hebrew noun מָגוֹר (magor) in the sense of “temporary abode,” and see this as a reference to the psalmist’s status as a resident alien (see v. 19). But the noun can refer to a dwelling place in general (see Ps 55:15).
81. 80 The cohortative verbal form expresses the psalmist’s resolve to obey the law.
82. 81 Heb “this has been to me.” The demonstrative “this” (1) refers back to the practices mentioned in vv. 54–55, or (2) looks forward to the statement in the second line, in which case the כִּי (ki) at the beginning of the second line should be translated “that.”
83. 82 Heb “my portion [is] the Lord.” The psalmist compares the Lord to landed property, which was foundational to economic stability in ancient Israel (see Ps 16:5).
84. 83 Heb “I said.”
85. 84 Heb “to keep your words” (see v. 9).
86. 85 Heb “I appease your face.”
87. 86 Heb “according to your word.”
88. 87 Heb “my ways.”
89. 88 Heb “and I turn my feet toward.”
90. 89 Heb “I hurry and I do not delay to keep your commands.”
91. 90 Heb “surround.”
92. 91 The psalmist uses an imperfect verbal form to emphasize that this is his continuing practice.
93. 92 Heb “to all who fear you.”
94. 93 Heb “do good.”
95. 94 Heb “according to your word.”
96. 95 Heb “goodness of taste.” Here “taste” refers to moral and ethical discernment.
97. 96 Heb “for I believe in your commands.”
98. 97 Heb “before I suffered, I was straying off.”
99. 98 Heb “your word.”
100. 99 Heb “smear over me a lie.”
101. 100 Heb “their heart is insensitive like fat.”
102. 101 Heb “better to me [is] the law of your mouth than thousands of gold and silver.”
103. 102 Heb “made me and established me.” The two verbs also appear together in Deut 32:6, where God, compared to a father, is said to have “made and established” Israel.
104. 103 The cohortative verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.
105. 104 Heb “those who fear you will see me and rejoice.”
106. 105 In this context (note the second line) the Hebrew term מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim), which so often refers to the regulations of God’s law elsewhere in this psalm, may refer instead to his decisions or disciplinary judgment.
107. 106 Heb “and [in] faithfulness you afflicted me.”
108. 107 Heb “according to your word to your servant.”
109. 108 Heb “and may your compassion come to me.”
110. 109 Heb “for [with] falsehood they have denied me justice.”
111. 110 Heb “those who fear you.”
112. 111 Heb “may my heart be complete in your statutes.”
113. 112 Heb “my soul pines for.” See Ps 84:2.
114. 113 Heb “my eyes fail for your word.” The psalmist has intently kept his eyes open, looking for God to intervene, but now his eyes are watery and bloodshot, impairing his vision. See Ps 69:3.
115. 114 Heb “saying.”
116. 115 Or “even though.”
117. 116 The Hebrew word נֹאד (no’d, “leather container”) refers to a container made from animal skin which is used to hold wine or milk (see Josh 9:4, 13; Judg 4:19; 1 Sam 16:20).
118. 117 Heb “in the smoke.”
119. 118 Heb “How long are the days of your servant?”
120. 119 Heb “for me.”
121. 120 Heb “which [is] not according to your law.”
122. 121 God’s commands are a reliable guide to right and wrong. By keeping them the psalmist is doing what is right, yet he is still persecuted.
123. 122 Heb “according to.”
124. 123 The cohortative verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.
125. 124 Heb “of your mouth.”
126. 125 Heb “Forever, O Lord, your word stands firm in heaven,” or “Forever, O Lord, [is] your word; it stands firm in heaven.” The translation assumes that “your word” refers here to the body of divine instructions contained in the law (note the frequent references to the law in vv. 92–96). See vv. 9, 16–17, 57, 101, 105, 130, 139 and 160–61. The reference in v. 86 to God’s law being faithful favors this interpretation. Another option is that “your word” refers to God’s assuring word of promise, mentioned in vv. 25, 28, 42, 65, 74, 81, 107, 114, 147 and 169. In this case one might translate, “O Lord, your promise is reliable, it stands firm in heaven.”
127. 126 Heb “to a generation and a generation [is] your faithfulness.”
128. 127 Heb “if your law had not been my delight.”
129. 128 Or “my suffering.”
130. 129 Heb “the wicked wait for me to kill me.”
131. 130 Heb “to every perfection I have seen an end, your command is very wide.” God’s law is beyond full comprehension, which is why the psalmist continually studies it (vv. 95, 97).
132. 131 The plural form needs to be revocalized as a singular in order to agree with the preceding singular verb and the singular pronoun in the next line. The Lord’s “command” refers here to the law (see Ps 19:8).
133. 132 Heb “I hold back my feet.”
134. 133 Heb “your word.” Many medieval Hebrew read the plural.
135. 134 Heb “How smooth they are to my palate, your word, more than honey to my mouth.” A few medieval Hebrew , as well as several other ancient witnesses, read the plural “your words,” which can then be understood as the subject of the plural verb “they are smooth.”
136. 135 Heb “every false path.”
137. 136 Many medieval Hebrew read the plural (“words”).
138. 137 Heb “[is] a lamp for my foot and a light for my path.”
139. 138 Heb “according to your word.”
140. 139 Heb “of my mouth.”
141. 140 Heb “my life [is] in my hands continually.”
142. 141 Heb “for the joy of my heart [are] they.”
143. 142 Heb “I turn my heart to do.”
144. 143 Heb “divided ones.” The word occurs only here; it appears to be derived from a verbal root, attested in Arabic, meaning “to split” (see *סֵעֵף). Since the psalmist is emphasizing his unswerving allegiance to God and his law, the term probably refers to those who lack such loyalty. The translation is similar to that suggested by L. C. Allen, Psalms 101–150 (), .
145. 144 The cohortative verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.
146. 145 The psalmist has already declared that he observes God’s commands despite persecution, so here the idea must be “so that I might observe the commands of my God unhindered by threats.”
147. 146 Heb “according to your word.”
148. 147 The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.
149. 148 Heb “do not make me ashamed of my hope.” After the Hebrew verb בּוֹשׁ (bosh, “to be ashamed”) the preposition מִן (min, “from”) often introduces the reason for shame.
150. 149 Or “and that I might focus.” The two cohortatives with vav (ו) conjunctive indicate purpose/result after the imperative at the beginning of the verse.
151. 150 The Hebrew verb סָלָה (salah, “to disdain”) occurs only here and in Lam 1:15. Cognate usage in Aramaic and Akkadian, as well as Lam 1:15, suggest it may have a concrete nuance of “to throw away.”
152. 151 Heb “for their deceit [is] falsehood.”
153. 152 Traditionally “dross” (so , , ). The metaphor comes from metallurgy; “slag” is the substance left over after the metallic ore has been refined.
154. 153 As he explains in the next verse, the psalmist’s fear of judgment motivates him to obey God’s rules.
155. 154 Heb “my flesh.”
156. 155 The Hebrew verb סָמַר (samar, “to tremble”) occurs only here and in Job 4:15.
157. 156 Heb “from fear of you.” The pronominal suffix on the noun is an objective genitive.
158. 157 Heb “do justice and righteousness.”
159. 158 Heb “be surety for your servant for good.”