Psalm 119:1-88

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Psalm 119:1 tn 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. Psalm 119:1 tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness of those who are blameless of way.”
3. Psalm 119:1 tn Heb “walk in.”
4. Psalm 119:3 tn Heb “walk in his ways.”
5. Psalm 119:4 tn Heb “you, you commanded your precepts, to keep, very much.”
6. Psalm 119:5 tn Heb “if only my ways were established.”
7. Psalm 119:6 tn Or “when.”
8. Psalm 119:6 tn Heb “I gaze at.”
9. Psalm 119:7 tn Heb “I will give you thanks with an upright heart.”
10. Psalm 119:8 tn Heb “do not abandon me to excess.” For other uses of the phrase עַד מְאֹד (ʿad m^eʾod, “to excess”), see Ps 38:6, 8.
11. Psalm 119:9 tn 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. Psalm 119:9 tn Heb “purify his path.”
13. Psalm 119:9 tn Heb “by keeping according to your word.” Many medieval Hebrew mss as well as the LXX read the plural, “your words.”
14. Psalm 119:11 tn Or “hide.”
15. Psalm 119:11 tn Heb “your word.” Some medieval Hebrew mss as well as the LXX read the plural, “your words.”
16. Psalm 119:12 tn Heb “[are] blessed.”
17. Psalm 119:13 tn Heb “of your mouth.”
18. Psalm 119:14 tn Heb “in the way of your rules.”
19. Psalm 119:14 tn Heb “as upon,” meaning “as if” (see 2 Chr 32:19).
20. Psalm 119:14 tn 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. Psalm 119:15 tn The cohortative verbal forms in this verse express the psalmist’s resolve.
22. Psalm 119:15 tn Heb “gaze [at].”
23. Psalm 119:15 tn Heb “ways” (referring figuratively to God’s behavior here).
24. Psalm 119:16 tn 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. Psalm 119:16 tn Heb “your word.” Many medieval Hebrew mss as well as the LXX read the plural here.
26. Psalm 119:17 tn The prefixed verbal form is probably a cohortative indicating purpose/result after the preceding imperative.
27. Psalm 119:17 tn The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the imperative that begins the verse.
28. Psalm 119:17 tn Heb “your word.” Many medieval Hebrew mss as well as several ancient versions read the plural here.
29. Psalm 119:18 tn Heb “uncover.” The verb form גַּל (gal) is an apocopated Piel imperative from גָּלָה (galah, see GKC 214 §75.cc).
30. Psalm 119:18 tn The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.
31. Psalm 119:19 sn Heb This metaphor probably derives from Lev 25:23, which uses the terms גֵּר (ger, “resident foreigner”) and תּוֹשָׁב; (toshav, “resident/temporary settler”). Lev 25:23 emphasizes that Israel would be a guest on God’s land. They were attached to the Lord’s household; they did not own the land. Cf. also Ps 39:12 and Gen 23:4.
32. Psalm 119:20 tn Heb “my soul languishes for longing for.”
33. Psalm 119:21 tn 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. Psalm 119:22 tn 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 (11QPs^a), emend the form to גֹּל (gol).
35. Psalm 119:23 tn 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 (bet), see Ezek 33:30.)
36. Psalm 119:24 tn 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. Psalm 119:25 tn 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 BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).
38. Psalm 119:25 tn Heb “according to your word.” Many medieval Hebrew mss read the plural “your words.”
39. Psalm 119:26 tn Heb “my ways I proclaimed.”
40. Psalm 119:27 tn Heb “the way of your precepts make me understand.”
41. Psalm 119:27 tn The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.
42. Psalm 119:27 tn Heb “your amazing things,” which refers here to the teachings of the law (see v. 18).
43. Psalm 119:28 tn Some translate “my soul weeps,” taking the verb דָלַף (dalaf) from a root meaning “to drip; to drop” (BDB 196 s.v. דֶּלַף). On the basis of cognate evidence from Arabic and Akkadian, HALOT 223 s.v. II דלף proposes a homonymic root here, meaning “be sleepless.” Following L. C. Allen (Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 127, 135) the translation assumes that the verb is cognate with Ugaritic dlp, “to collapse; to crumple” in CTA 2 iv. 17, 26. See G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 44, 144.
44. Psalm 119:28 tn Heb “according to your word.” Many medieval Hebrew mss read the plural “your words.”
45. Psalm 119:29 tn 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. Psalm 119:29 tn 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. Psalm 119:30 tn BDB 1000-1001 s.v. 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. Psalm 119:31 tn Or “cling to.”
49. Psalm 119:32 tn 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. Psalm 119:33 tn Heb “the way of your statutes.”
51. Psalm 119:33 tn 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 (ʿeqev) is understood to mean “end” here. Another option is to take עֵקֶב as meaning “reward” here (see Ps 19:11) and to translate, “so that I might observe it and be rewarded.”
52. Psalm 119:34 tn The two prefixed verbal forms with vav (ו) conjunctive indicate purpose/result after the introductory imperative.
53. Psalm 119:35 tn Or “make me walk.”
54. Psalm 119:35 tn Heb “for in it I delight.”
55. Psalm 119:36 tn Heb “turn my heart to your rules.”
56. Psalm 119:36 tn Heb “and not unjust gain.”
57. Psalm 119:37 tn Heb “Make my eyes pass by from looking at what is worthless.”
58. Psalm 119:37 tn Heb “by your word.”
59. Psalm 119:38 tn Heb “word.”
60. Psalm 119:38 tn Heb “which [is] for your fear,” that is, the promise made to those who exhibit fear of God.
61. Psalm 119:39 tn Heb “my reproach that I fear.”
62. Psalm 119:39 tn Or “for.”
63. Psalm 119:40 tn Or “righteousness.”
64. Psalm 119:41 tn Heb “and may your loyal love come to me.”
65. Psalm 119:41 tn Or “salvation” (so many English versions).
66. Psalm 119:41 tn Heb “according to your word.”
67. Psalm 119:42 tn 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. Psalm 119:43 tn 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. Psalm 119:44 tn The cohortative verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the negated jussive (see v. 43).
70. Psalm 119:44 tn Or “forever and ever.”
71. Psalm 119:45 tn 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. Psalm 119:46 tn 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. Psalm 119:48 tn 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 NCV; cf. TEV, CEV, NLT).
74. Psalm 119:50 tn 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. Psalm 119:50 tn 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. Psalm 119:51 tn Heb “scoff at me to excess.”
77. Psalm 119:52 tn 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. Psalm 119:52 tn Or “find comfort.”
79. Psalm 119:54 tn Heb “songs were your statutes to me.”
80. Psalm 119:54 tn 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 foreigner (see v. 19). But the noun can refer to a dwelling place in general (see Ps 55:15).
81. Psalm 119:55 tn The cohortative verbal form expresses the psalmist’s resolve to obey the law.
82. Psalm 119:56 tn 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. Psalm 119:57 tn 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. Psalm 119:57 tn Heb “I said.”
85. Psalm 119:57 tn Heb “to keep your words” (see v. 9).
86. Psalm 119:58 tn Heb “I appease your face.”
87. Psalm 119:58 tn Heb “according to your word.”
88. Psalm 119:59 tn Heb “my ways.”
89. Psalm 119:59 tn Heb “and I turn my feet toward.”
90. Psalm 119:60 tn Heb “I hurry and I do not delay to keep your commands.”
91. Psalm 119:61 tn Heb “surround.”
92. Psalm 119:62 tn The psalmist uses an imperfect verbal form to emphasize that this is his continuing practice.
93. Psalm 119:63 tn Heb “to all who fear you.”
94. Psalm 119:65 tn Heb “do good.”
95. Psalm 119:65 tn Heb “according to your word.”
96. Psalm 119:66 tn Heb “goodness of taste.” Here “taste” refers to moral and ethical discernment.
97. Psalm 119:66 tn Heb “for I believe in your commands.”
98. Psalm 119:67 tn Heb “before I suffered, I was straying off.”
99. Psalm 119:67 tn Heb “your word.”
100. Psalm 119:69 tn Heb “smear over me a lie.”
101. Psalm 119:70 tn Heb “their heart is insensitive like fat.”
102. Psalm 119:72 tn Heb “better to me [is] the law of your mouth than thousands of gold and silver.”
103. Psalm 119:73 tn 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. Psalm 119:73 tn The cohortative verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.
105. Psalm 119:74 tn Heb “those who fear you will see me and rejoice.”
106. Psalm 119:75 tn 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. Psalm 119:75 tn Heb “and [in] faithfulness you afflicted me.”
108. Psalm 119:76 tn Heb “according to your word to your servant.”
109. Psalm 119:77 tn Heb “and may your compassion come to me.”
110. Psalm 119:78 tn Heb “for [with] falsehood they have denied me justice.”
111. Psalm 119:79 tn Heb “those who fear you.”
112. Psalm 119:80 tn Heb “may my heart be complete in your statutes.”
113. Psalm 119:81 tn Heb “my soul pines for.” See Ps 84:2.
114. Psalm 119:82 tn 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. Psalm 119:82 tn Heb “saying.”
116. Psalm 119:83 tn Or “even though.”
117. Psalm 119:83 tn The Hebrew word נֹאד (noʾd, “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. Psalm 119:83 tn Heb “in the smoke.”
119. Psalm 119:84 tn Heb “How long are the days of your servant?”
120. Psalm 119:85 tn Heb “for me.”
121. Psalm 119:85 tn Heb “which [is] not according to your law.”
122. Psalm 119:86 sn 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. Psalm 119:88 tn Heb “according to.”
124. Psalm 119:88 tn The cohortative verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.
125. Psalm 119:88 tn Heb “of your mouth.”