Psalm 119:25-48

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. 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).
2. Psalm 119:25 tn Heb “according to your word.” Many medieval Hebrew mss read the plural “your words.”
3. Psalm 119:26 tn Heb “my ways I proclaimed.”
4. Psalm 119:27 tn Heb “the way of your precepts make me understand.”
5. Psalm 119:27 tn The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.
6. Psalm 119:27 tn Heb “your amazing things,” which refers here to the teachings of the law (see v. 18).
7. 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.
8. Psalm 119:28 tn Heb “according to your word.” Many medieval Hebrew mss read the plural “your words.”
9. 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.
10. 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.)
11. 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).
12. Psalm 119:31 tn Or “cling to.”
13. 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.
14. Psalm 119:33 tn Heb “the way of your statutes.”
15. 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.”
16. Psalm 119:34 tn The two prefixed verbal forms with vav (ו) conjunctive indicate purpose/result after the introductory imperative.
17. Psalm 119:35 tn Or “make me walk.”
18. Psalm 119:35 tn Heb “for in it I delight.”
19. Psalm 119:36 tn Heb “turn my heart to your rules.”
20. Psalm 119:36 tn Heb “and not unjust gain.”
21. Psalm 119:37 tn Heb “Make my eyes pass by from looking at what is worthless.”
22. Psalm 119:37 tn Heb “by your word.”
23. Psalm 119:38 tn Heb “word.”
24. Psalm 119:38 tn Heb “which [is] for your fear,” that is, the promise made to those who exhibit fear of God.
25. Psalm 119:39 tn Heb “my reproach that I fear.”
26. Psalm 119:39 tn Or “for.”
27. Psalm 119:40 tn Or “righteousness.”
28. Psalm 119:41 tn Heb “and may your loyal love come to me.”
29. Psalm 119:41 tn Or “salvation” (so many English versions).
30. Psalm 119:41 tn Heb “according to your word.”
31. 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).
32. 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.
33. Psalm 119:44 tn The cohortative verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the negated jussive (see v. 43).
34. Psalm 119:44 tn Or “forever and ever.”
35. 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.”
36. 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.
37. 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).