A Hymn of Thanksgiving

And I shall lift up my hands to Your commandments, which I love; and I will meditate on Your statutes.  Psalm 119:48  NASB

Lift up my hands – First, the Hebrew:

וְאֶשָּׂ֚א כַפַּ֗י אֶל־מִ֖צְו‍ֹתֶיךָ אֲשֶׁ֥ר אָהָ֗בְתִּי וְאָשִׂ֥יחָה בְחֻקֶּֽיךָ

Now, some familiar words: miṣwâ, command—from the previous verse (Remember?), ʾāhēb, to love (“that I love”), and śîaḥ, to meditate (but not silently, remember?).  Now let’s look at the first verb, nāśāʾ, to lift, carry, take.  Did you notice that there isn’t a nun in the form in this verse?  That’s because the future tense drops the nun and becomes (first person singular) אֶשָּׂא.  So, we have אֶשָּׂא preceded by the prefixed vav.  And that means it should be “I lifted up my hands.”  The psalmist isn’t anticipating a future gesture of gratitude to God for His commandments.  He has already made the gesture, just as in the previous verse, he has already delighted in the fatherly order God provided.

But “hands” isn’t quite what we expected.  When we read this English translation, we might picture a woman holding up her hands like this:

Or a man like this:

But neither of these are what kappa means.  “(kap). Palm of the hand. kap is also used of hands spread out in prayer (Ex 29:25; Isa 1:15). “^[1]  In other words, the gesture must show receptive gratitude, palms turned upward.  Not together.  Not straight up.  Not clenched.  Open to receive but submissive.  And perhaps not even extended above one’s head.  This is the posture of a grateful servant who has received something wonderful and valuable from a loving master.  The psalmist chooses a rather rare word instead of the usual yad to make sure that we pause and reflect upon the act.  Gratitude bathes in submission.

Topical Index: kappa, hands, gratitude, Psalm 119:48

^[1] Archer, G. L. (1999). 1022 כפף. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament(electronic ed., p. 452). Moody Press.