Paraphrase Assistance
My eyes preceded the watches to speak of Your word. Psalm 119:148 Chabad
Watches – Unless you knew something about palaces in ancient times, this verse would probably be unintelligible. And even if you knew about night watches in the 10th Century B.C.E., the verse still might not make any sense. The only way to truly understand the poet in this case is to imagine you are living in his shoes.
We can fill in the gaps by starting with ʾašmûrâ, “night watch.” The root is familiar, šāmar, “to keep, guard, observe,” here as a noun indicating guard service. The poet uses this as a temporal indicator. Before the night watch begins, he is already preparing. This verb, qādam, “incorporates two basic concepts: first, (and most often) ‘to confront (meet) someone with either a good or bad intent,’ second, ‘to precede someone or something either temporally or geographically.’”[1] Therefore, the NASB translates this as “My eyes anticipate . . .” Interestingly, a derivative of this verb means either the direction East or the temporal idea of previous. It’s not difficult to see the connection in the ancient land of Israel. In this sense, the poet is speaking of both of the time before the sunrise and the direction of the rising sun. He looks to the East. It’s still dark. But soon the day will break—and he is already anticipating what that will bring.
Chabad translates this anticipated action as “speak” from the root śîaḥ. NASB uses “meditate,” but Chabad is probably more accurate because śîaḥ is much more than silent or near silent thoughtfulness. If you want a contemporary example of śîaḥ look no further than the early morning prayers of Islam. śîaḥ means “‘rehearse,’ ‘repent,’ or ‘go over a matter in one’s mind.’ This meditation or contemplation may be done either inwardly or outwardly. Since English differentiates these two notions, the word is usually rendered ‘meditate,’ or ‘talk.””[2] Muslims rehearse God’s words. They do not pray extemporaneously. It’s quite possible that Islam learned this practice from Judaism simply because by the 6thCentury C.E. Judaism was already rehearsing prayers every morning. This might not be what the poet has in mind, but the imagery is appropriate. Before the day even begins, he is awake, ready to say his prayers and orient his day toward God’s ʾimrâ. ʾimrâ is important here because it is spoken words. He’s not lighting a candle in order to read something from Scripture. He’s anticipating speaking,[3] entering into a conversation with God. That might begin with rehearsing some prayers but it cannot end there. Repeating memorized texts or chants or creeds is not conversation and the most common usage of ʾimrâ is conversation. The poet’s early morning quiet time isn’t quiet.
Is yours?
Topical Index: ʾašmûrâ, night watch, ʾimrâ, speech, conversation, prayer, śîaḥ, meditate, Psalm 119:148
[1] Coppes, L. J. (1999). 1988 קָדַם. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament(electronic ed., p. 785). Moody Press.
[2] Cohen, G. G. (1999). 2255 שִׂיַח. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament(electronic ed., p. 875). Moody Press.
[3] You might want to review the previous verse with this in mind.
