Situational Legislation

Of old I have known from Your testimonies that You have founded them forever.  Psalm 119:152  NASB

Founded – Why don’t you pick up your Bible and read this verse?  KJV, ESV, RSV and NKJV retain “testimonies.”  NLT uses “laws.”  NIV translates “statutes.”  Since the psalmist claims that these are established forever, it would be nice to know what they are, wouldn’t it?  The Hebrew word is ‘edoteka (“your testimonies”), from the singular noun ‘ed.  A little investigation reveals some important background.

‘ed is derived from the Hebrew root, ‘ud, a word that has cognates in many Semitic languages.  The root verb means “to repeat, to do again.”  According to TWOT, it has the sense of something permanent and is often used to describe something that endures, that occurs over and over, that continues.  You can see this nuance clearly in Psalm 84:4 and 105:33.  The derivative ‘ed occurs 67 times in the Tanakh.  It describes a witness, one who repeats the evidence over and over.  The testimony of such a witness is sure because it does not vary.  The word is found in Leviticus 5:1 and Proverbs 29:24, setting the conditions for reliable testimony.  Bearing false witness is one of the prohibitions of the Decalogue.  The community expects a witness to testify truly.  Since God’s word is never false, the psalmist can ascribe this term to His statements.  They have enduring truth.  In this psalm, the word is used 13 times in the plural form.  “It refers to the laws as given with divine warrant.”[1]  What God vouches to be true has a permanent character.  His statutes and ordinances last forever.  Human beings may offer testimony.  God offers permanent declarations.

We should notice that the psalmist says these ordinances have been founded forever.  The verb, yasad, reminds us that God’s statues are established by His faithful and true witness.  They endure because of their source.  As long as God is who He is, His declarations given in the covenant, whether written or oral, will remain.  They do not depend on the course of human history nor are they subject to alteration by human counsel.  They are as permanent and as stable as the One who declared them.  We can hardly imagine such permanence in our human idea of ordinances.  Our experience is the constant alteration, correction and addition to our laws.  Like the Medes and the Persians, we are the victims of case-by-case re-evaluation.  That’s why the laws change from culture to culture, nation to nation, community to community.  But if we think of the biblical idea of law, we will recognize that it stands on an entirely different base.  The permanence of God entails the permanence of His instructions.  Stability is the watchword of the biblical legal system.  How would you apply this idea to your own behavior?  Do you think of God’s instructions as permanently enduring, continuously applicable requirements?  Or do you imagine that biblical ordinances are culturally conditioned, subject to change as human life changes?  Do you live by a code that cannot change?

Topical Index: founded, yasad, testimonies, ‘ed, law, ordinance, Psalm 119:152