Mazmur 119:9-24
Konteksב (Bet)
119:9 How can a young person 1 maintain a pure life? 2
By guarding it according to your instructions! 3
119:10 With all my heart I seek you.
Do not allow me to stray from your commands!
119:11 In my heart I store up 4 your words, 5
so I might not sin against you.
119:12 You deserve praise, 6 O Lord!
Teach me your statutes!
119:13 With my lips I proclaim
all the regulations you have revealed. 7
119:14 I rejoice in the lifestyle prescribed by your rules 8
as if 9 they were riches of all kinds. 10
119:15 I will meditate on 11 your precepts
and focus 12 on your behavior. 13
119:16 I find delight 14 in your statutes;
I do not forget your instructions. 15
ג (Gimel)
119:17 Be kind to your servant!
Then I will live 16 and keep 17 your instructions. 18
119:18 Open 19 my eyes so I can truly see 20
the marvelous things in your law!
119:19 I am like a foreigner in this land. 21
Do not hide your commands from me!
119:20 I desperately long to know 22
your regulations at all times.
119:21 You reprimand arrogant people.
Those who stray from your commands are doomed. 23
119:22 Spare me 24 shame and humiliation,
for I observe your rules.
119:23 Though rulers plot and slander me, 25
your servant meditates on your statutes.
119:24 Yes, I find delight in your rules;
they give me guidance. 26
[119:9] 1 tn Heb “young 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, the gender specific “young man” has been translated with the more neutral “young person.”
[119:9] 2 tn Heb “purify his path.”
[119:9] 3 tn Heb “by keeping according to your word.” Many medieval Hebrew
[119:11] 5 tn Heb “your word.” Some medieval Hebrew
[119:12] 6 tn Heb “[are] blessed.”
[119:13] 7 tn Heb “of your mouth.”
[119:14] 8 tn Heb “in the way of your rules.”
[119:14] 9 tn Heb “as upon,” meaning “as if” (see 2 Chr 32:19).
[119:14] 10 tn Heb “all wealth.” The phrase refers to all kinds of wealth and riches. See Prov 1:13; 6:31; 24:4; Ezek 27:12, 18.
[119:15] 11 tn The cohortative verbal forms in this verse express the psalmist’s resolve.
[119:15] 12 tn Heb “gaze [at].”
[119:15] 13 tn Heb “ways” (referring figuratively to God’s behavior here).
[119:16] 14 tn The imperfects in this verse emphasize the attitude the psalmist maintains toward God’s law. Another option is to translate with the future tense, “I will find delight…I will not forget.”
[119:16] 15 tn Heb “your word.” Many medieval Hebrew
[119:17] 16 tn The prefixed verbal form is probably a cohortative indicating purpose/result after the preceding imperative.
[119:17] 17 tn The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the imperative that begins the verse.
[119:17] 18 tn Heb “your word.” Many medieval Hebrew
[119:18] 19 tn Heb “uncover.” The verb form גַּל (gal) is an apocopated Piel imperative from גָּלָה (galah, see GKC 214 §75.cc).
[119:18] 20 tn The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.
[119:19] 21 tn Heb “I am a resident alien in the land.” Resident aliens were especially vulnerable and in need of help. They needed to know the social and legal customs of the land to avoid getting into trouble. The translation (note the addition of “like”) assumes the psalmist is speaking metaphorically, not literally.
[119:20] 22 tn Heb “my soul languishes for longing for.”
[119:21] 23 tn Heb “accursed.” The traditional punctuation of the Hebrew text takes “accursed” with the previous line (“arrogant, accursed ones”), but it is preferable to take it with the second line as the predicate of the statement.
[119:22] 24 tn Heb “roll away from upon me.” Some derive the imperatival form גַּל (gal) from גָּלָה (galah, “uncover,” as in v. 18), but here the form is from גָּלַל (galal, “roll”; see Josh 5:9, where חֶרְפָּה [kherpah, “shame; reproach”] also appears as object of the verb). Some, following the lead of a Dead Sea scroll (11QPsa), emend the form to גֹּל (gol).
[119:23] 25 tn Heb “though rulers sit, about me they talk together.” (For another example of the Niphal of דָּבַר (davar) used with a suffixed form of the preposition ב, see Ezek 33:30.)
[119:24] 26 tn Heb “men of my counsel.” That is, God’s rules are like advisers to the psalmist, for they teach him how to live in a godly manner that refutes the accusations of his enemies.
