I’m Better Than You

I have more insight than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation.  Psalm 119:99  NASB

More insight – Do you remember Goldberg’s remark, “In the well-known verse Prov 4:7, ‘understanding’ is not a higher stage than ‘wisdom,’ but a poetic synonym used for emphasis.”[1]  We’ll want to keep this in mind as we examine what appears to be another claim of superiority.  The English translation seems to claim that because I meditate on God’s ʿēd^ewōtê (testimonies), I have more insight than all my teachers.  Remembering the scope of ʿēd^ewōtê, we recall that God’s testimonies are not a recounting of all the commandments.  Nor are they a list of God’s governmental orders.  They are the repeated history of God’s involvement with His people, and all that is included in that history.  God’s faithfulness, His repeated commitment to Israel, His continual dedication to this chosen group, all of this is summarized in ʿēd^ewōtê.  And clearly the teachers of the psalmist have the same history.  They aren’t pagan scholars.  They are Hebrew just like the poet.  In fact, the word m^elāmm^edă’ means “the learned ones,” in education and training.  The word implies learning and teaching within the framework of the fear of God.  How, then, is it possible for the psalmist to claim he has more insight than these men because he mediates on God’s history.  So, in fact, do they.

Perhaps we can answer this question by re-examining the first part of the verse.  Once more we start with the Hebrew syntax, not reflected in English.  And once more we find the opening word has the attached preposition min.  As we discovered in the previous verse, this preposition has the following possible translations: away from, out of, from, since, after, because, with, on account of, than, above, beyond.  So, once more we are faced with a choice between a translation that pushes us toward hubris or a reconsideration of the text that preserves the poet’s humility.  What would you surmise about the poet’s character if the verse read, “Because of all my teachers I have more insight.”  Is there any grammatical reason not to translate the verse in this manner?  What if the poet is simply saying that as a result of all his teachers, who, by the way, have access to the same ʿēd^ewōtê that he does, his insight has increased?  Furthermore, the verb is causative.  It is not “I have more insight,” but rather “I have become more insightful,” or “I was made more insightful.” The sense of the verb extols the role of the teachers.  I wouldn’t be who I am without them.

Before we can confirm this change, let’s look at the words “I have more insight.”  First we note that the comparative “more” is not attached to the verb śākal.  The literal text reads, “Because (since, above, beyond, on account of) all my teachers, I have insight . . .”  The “more” is determined by the prefix preposition, which in the NASB is rendered as “more than” but could be translated by many other English words.  In other words, there is nothing in the grammar that demands the text be read as “more than.”  Mi-kāl m^elāmm^edă’ is just as legitimately rendered “since” or “because of” or “on account of.”  The reason that the English expresses the superiority of the poet’s insights is theological, not linguistic.  Do you suppose that what we have here is a hidden antisemitism?  I find only one translation that doesn’t read this as if it is a claim of superiority, the translation of Chabad: “From all my teachers I gained understanding, for Your testimonies are my conversation.”  Perhaps the previous verse as translated in the NASB and others sets the tone, and since the previous translation leans toward hubris, the translators followed the same trajectory.  But there doesn’t seem to be any legitimate grammatical reason for this.  Chabad’s translation confirms this.  In fact, given the tone of the entire psalm, it seems quite unusual to find declarations of eminence here.  The psalm is a praise to God and in particular God’s torah, not a homage to personal spiritual prominence.  Perhaps the Western bent to treat traditional Jewish education as somehow defective because it isn’t Christian actually invades the translator’s unconscious.  Certainly teachers were held in the highest regard in Hebrew society so it seems quite unlikely that they would be disparaged by this author.

Topical Index: more insight, Mi-kāl m^elāmm^edă’, teachers, min, ʿēd^ewōtê, testimonies, Psalm 119:99

[1] Goldberg, L. (1999). 647 חָכַם. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 282). Moody Press.