From Your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way. Psalm 119:104 NASB Get understanding – What does it mean to “get understanding.” In our word-intensive, dictionary-based culture, we would probably say that it means to gather useful information. For that we can (sometimes) just Google. What’s delivered is information, but that isn’t “understanding” in…
How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Psalm 119:103 NASB Your words – What do Genesis 1:3, 3:1 and 3:10 have in common with Psalm 119:103? The answer is ʾāmar, the Hebrew verb for “say, speak, command, promise.” Of course, there are a lot of other verses that use this…
I have not turned aside from Your judgments, for You Yourself have taught me. Psalm 119:102 NASB You Yourself – Emphasis added. The actual Hebrew text just uses ʾattâ, the second person singular pronoun, “you.” “It is appended to verbs for emphasis. Its use in oblique cases (genitive and accusative) is to afford stress to a…
I have restrained my feet from every evil way, so that I may keep Your word. Psalm 119:101 NASB Restrained – “When you come to a fork in the road, take it,” said Yogi Bera. Perhaps he was right. The rabbis taught that when a man wishes to follow the way of God, the Lord will…
I understand more than those who are old, because I have complied with Your precepts. Psalm 119:100 NASB More than – The grammatical error spreads. Consider the strikingly different translation of Chabad: “From the wise elders I gain understanding, for I kept Your precepts.” The NASB rearranges the syntax and translates מִזְּקֵנִ֥ים as “more than the aged”…
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…
Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever mine. Psalm 119:98 NASB For they are ever mine – We might think that the last part of this verse is straightforward. No matter if the first part is a comparative or (syntax rearranged) a declaration of need, at least the last part seems…
Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever mine. Psalm 119:98 NASB Than – We need to pay close attention to the Hebrew text here. מֵאֹֽיְבַי תְּחַכְּמֵ֣נִי מִצְוֹתֶ֑ךָ כִּ֖י לְעוֹלָ֣ם הִיא־לִֽי The opening word is from the root ʾāyab (to be an enemy), but it is the preposition (the prefixed min) that…
How I loved Your teaching. All the day it was my theme. Psalm 119:97 Robert Alter Theme – Remember the “perfect” tense—the completed action—of the first part of this verse. The psalmist is describing his collective experience of God’s instruction. He’s not projecting or anticipating something yet to be realized. He’s saying that he has already…
How I love Your Law! Psalm 119:97a NASB 97 How I love Your Law! It is my meditation all the day. 98 Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, For they are ever mine. 99 I have more insight than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation. 100 I understand more than those who are old, Because I have complied with Your precepts. 101 I…
