And I shall answer a word to those who disgrace me, for I trusted in Your word. Psalm 119:42 Chabad Shall answer a word – Are you ready to reread the text in vav-conversive? As you can see in the translation of Chabad, this verb (ʿānâ) is treated as a future tense, that is, “I…
May Your favor also come to me, Lord, Your salvation according to Your [o]word; Psalm 119:41 NASB Also come to me – וִֽיבֹאֻ֣נִי Oh my, what a lot is packed into such a small word! We’ve explored the oddity of “come” and “go.” We’ve noticed the shift in tense from future to past. We’ve looked at the jussive “wish.” …
May Your favor also come to me, Lord, Your salvation according to Your [o]word; Psalm 119:41 NASB Also come to me – Here’s the vav section of our acrostic. Notice the first word of the first line – וִֽיבֹאֻ֣נִי. You’ll see the vav but you might not know how it works. Let me explain. Vav has two functions. As…
Aleph . . . Hey Psalm 119:1-40 The Acrostic Thus Far It’s easy to not see the forest for the trees. We’ve been looking closely at the trees for forty verses, and we’ve discovered amazing things. The details of word choice, the interesting and commanding twists in grammar, the skill of the poet to create…
Take away my disgrace which I dread, for Your judgments are good. Psalm 119:39 NASB Disgrace – by now we’ve learned that shame in the ancient Semitic world is not an inner psychological state. It is public disgrace. Now we need to know what “disgrace” means in this ancient world. The word is ḥerpâ. In…
Behold, I long for Your precepts; revive me through Your righteousness. Psalm 119:40 NASB Long – Well, it’s not exactly a hapax legomenon, but it might as well be. tāʾeb, translated “long for,” is used only twice; once here and once in verse 174 (which we will eventually examine). Since it is only found in this…
Establish Your [m]word to Your servant as that which produces reverence for You. Psalm 119:38 NASB [m]word – Notice the footnote attached to this translation. That note is to tell you that the usual Hebrew isn’t what we have in this verse. Instead of dābār we find ʾimrâ, both translated “word” in English so you wouldn’t…
Turn my eyes away from looking at what is worthless, and revive me in Your ways. Psalm 119:37 NASB Worthless – “That the primary meaning of šāwʾ is ‘emptiness, vanity’ no one can challenge. It designates anything that is unsubstantial, unreal, worthless, either materially or morally. Hence, it is a word for idols (in the same way…
Incline my heart to Your testimonies, and not to dishonest gain. Psalm 119:36 NASB Dishonest gain – What is the strategy that prevents humanity from seeking profit by unrighteous means? Ah, the answer is simple. History! Incline your heart to God’s testimonies. What are those? You’ll recall that “testimonies” is the plural of ʿēdût, a word that…
Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, for I delight in it. Psalm 119:35 NASB Make me – What do you suppose would happen if you asked God to make you do something? If He responded to that request, do you think there is any chance it wouldn’t happen? Could you resist the ultimate omnipotence…
