Mazmur 25:4-5

25:4 Make me understand your ways, O Lord!

Teach me your paths! ¹ 

25:5 Guide me into your truth ²  and teach me.

For you are the God who delivers me;

on you I rely all day long.

Mazmur 25:8

25:8 The Lord is both kind and fair; ³ 

that is why he teaches sinners the right way to live. ⁴ 

Mazmur 25:12

25:12 The Lord shows his faithful followers

the way they should live. ⁵ 

Mazmur 94:12

94:12 How blessed is the one ⁶  whom you instruct, O Lord,

the one whom you teach from your law,

Mazmur 119:33

ה (He)

119:33 Teach me, O Lord, the lifestyle prescribed by your statutes, ⁷ 

so that I might observe it continually. ⁸ 

[25:4]  ¹ sn Teach me your paths. In this context the Lord’s “ways” and “paths” refer to the moral principles which the Lord prescribes for his followers. See vv. 8-10.

[25:5]  ² sn The Lord’s commandments are referred to as truth here because they are a trustworthy and accurate expression of the divine will.

[25:8]  ³ tn Heb “good and just.”

[25:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “teaches sinners in the way.”

[25:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “Who is this man, the one who fears the Lord? He will instruct him in the way he should choose.” The singular (note “man”) is representative here (see v. 14, where the plural is used), and has thus been translated as a plural (“followers…they”).

[94:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness [of] the man.” Hebrew wisdom literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender or age. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender and age specific “man” with the more neutral “one.” The generic masculine pronoun is used in v. 2.

[119:33]  ⁷ tn Heb “the way of your statutes.”

[119:33]  ⁸ tn Heb “and I will keep it to the end.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative. The Hebrew term עֵקֶב (’eqev) is understood to mean “end” here. Another option is to take עֵקֶב (’eqev) as meaning “reward” here (see Ps 19:11) and to translate, “so that I might observe it and be rewarded.”