Heth

BySkip Moen, Ph.D.

The Lord is my portion; I have promised to keep Your words.  Psalm 119:57  NASB חֶלְקִ֖י יְהֹוָ֑ה אָמַ֗רְתִּי לִשְׁמֹ֥ר דְּבָרֶֽיךָ חִלִּ֣יתִי פָנֶ֣יךָ בְכָל־לֵ֑ב חָ֜נֵּ֗נִי כְּאִמְרָתֶֽךָ חִשַּׁ֥בְתִּי דְרָכָ֑י וָֽאָשִׁ֥יבָה רַ֜גְלַ֗י אֶל־עֵֽדֹתֶֽיךָ חַשְׁתִּי וְלֹ֣א הִתְמַהְמָ֑הְתִּי לִ֜שְׁמֹ֗ר מִצְו‍ֹתֶֽיךָ חֶבְלֵ֣י רְשָׁעִ֣ים עִוְּדֻ֑נִי תּ֜וֹרָֽתְךָ֗ לֹ֣א שָׁכָֽחְתִּי חֲצ֥וֹת לַ֗יְלָה אָ֖קוּם לְהוֹד֣וֹת לָ֑ךְ עַ֜֗ל מִשְׁפְּטֵ֥י צִדְקֶֽךָ חָבֵ֣ר אָ֖נִי לְכָל־אֲשֶׁ֣ר יְרֵא֑וּךָ וּ֜לְשֹֽׁמְרֵ֗י פִּקּוּדֶֽיךָ חַסְדְּךָ֣ יְ֖הֹוָה מָֽלְאָ֣ה הָאָ֑֗רֶץ…

Identity Card (2)

BySkip Moen, Ph.D.

This has become mine, that I comply with Your precepts.  Psalm 119:56  NASB Comply – Did you think we’ve completely mined this verse after yesterday’s investigation?  Well, we learned that “This has become mine” is probably better understood as a statement of identity rather than possession.  It’s not something that I have acquired.  Rather, it’s a…

Identity Card (1)

BySkip Moen, Ph.D.

This has become mine, that I comply with Your precepts.  Psalm 119:56  NASB Has become mine – My wife, Rosanne, carries an Italian identity card.  Anywhere she goes in the EU, all she needs is this little card as her identification document.  Of course, this is an entirely modern invention.  In the past, identity was a…

Wide Awake

BySkip Moen, Ph.D.

Lord, I remember Your name in the night, and keep Your Law.  Psalm 119:55 NASB In the night – Does this verse seem a little too pedestrian?  Too trivial?  Why should we care at all about what we remember in the night?  What does it matter when we’re on our way to sleep? Ah, but then there’s…

A Stranger in a Strange Land

BySkip Moen, Ph.D.

Your statutes are my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.  Psalm 119:54  NASB Pilgrimage – Have you walked the Camino de Santiago?  It takes about thirty-five days to complete.  It’s made up of trails, streets, roads, and paths that, according to legend, is the route taken by James.  Thousands of people travel this journey every…

Get Mad!

BySkip Moen, Ph.D.

Burning indignation has seized me because of the wicked, who abandon Your Law.  Psalm 119:53  NASB Burning indignation – Once more the poet finds a rarely used word to arrest our attention.  zalʿāpâ  shows up only here and in Lamentations 5:10.  It’s about heat, lots of heat.  In Lamentations it describes the results of famine.  Here it…

You’ll Feel Better in the Morning

BySkip Moen, Ph.D.

I have remembered Your judgments from [t]of old, Lord, and comfort myself.  Psalm 119:52  NASB Comfort myself – Wait a minute!  Didn’t we just look at this idea (v. 50)?  Remember the discussion about “comfort” versus “consolation”? And what is “consolation” in these situations?  The poet chooses the term, neḥāmâ, found in this form only once more in…

Strength in Numbers

BySkip Moen, Ph.D.

The arrogant utterly deride me, yet I do not turn aside from Your Law. Psalm 119:51  NASB Utterly deride – How do you handle insults?  How do you react to blame?  What does it feel like when someone shows contempt toward you?  What happens when someone mocks you? All of these questions seem to be front and center…

The Psychology of Exegesis

BySkip Moen, Ph.D.

This is my comfort in my misery, that Your word has [s]revived me.  Psalm 119:50 NASB Comfort/misery – The NASB translation renders the Hebrew ʿŏnî as misery.  This derivative comes from the root (ʿānâ) III, afflict, oppress, humble.[1]  “The primary meaning of ʿānâ III is ‘to force,’ or ‘to try to force submission,’ and ‘to punish or…

A Hymn of Thanksgiving

BySkip Moen, Ph.D.

And I shall lift up my hands to Your commandments, which I love; and I will meditate on Your statutes.  Psalm 119:48  NASB Lift up my hands – First, the Hebrew: וְאֶשָּׂ֚א כַפַּ֗י אֶל־מִ֖צְו‍ֹתֶיךָ אֲשֶׁ֥ר אָהָ֗בְתִּי וְאָשִׂ֥יחָה בְחֻקֶּֽיךָ Now, some familiar words: miṣwâ, command—from the previous verse (Remember?), ʾāhēb, to love (“that I love”), and śîaḥ, to…