Psalms 119:96-105

119:96 I realize that everything has its limits,

but your commands are beyond full comprehension. 1 

מ (Mem)

119:97 O how I love your law!

All day long I meditate on it.

119:98 Your commandments 2  make me wiser than my enemies,

for I am always aware of them.

119:99 I have more insight than all my teachers,

for I meditate on your rules.

119:100 I am more discerning than those older than I,

for I observe your precepts.

119:101 I stay away 3  from the evil path,

so that I might keep your instructions. 4 

119:102 I do not turn aside from your regulations,

for you teach me.

119:103 Your words are sweeter

in my mouth than honey! 5 

119:104 Your precepts give me discernment.

Therefore I hate all deceitful actions. 6 

נ (Nun)

119:105 Your word 7  is a lamp to walk by,

and a light to illumine my path. 8 

Psalms 119:127-128

119:127 For this reason 9  I love your commands

more than gold, even purest gold.

119:128 For this reason I carefully follow all your precepts. 10 

I hate all deceitful actions. 11 

1 tn Heb “to every perfection I have seen an end, your command is very wide.” God’s law is beyond full comprehension, which is why the psalmist continually studies it (vv. 95, 97).

2 tn The plural form needs to be revocalized as a singular in order to agree with the preceding singular verb and the singular pronoun in the next line. The Lord’s “command” refers here to the law (see Ps 19:8).

3 tn Heb “I hold back my feet.”

4 tn Heb “your word.” Many medieval Hebrew mss read the plural.

5 tn Heb “How smooth they are to my palate, your word, more than honey to my mouth.” A few medieval Hebrew mss, as well as several other ancient witnesses, read the plural “your words,” which can then be understood as the subject of the plural verb “they are smooth.”

6 tn Heb “every false path.”

7 tn Many medieval Hebrew mss read the plural (“words”).

8 tn Heb “[is] a lamp for my foot and a light for my path.”

9 tn “For this reason” connects logically with the statement made in v. 126. Because the judgment the psalmist fears (see vv. 119-120) is imminent, he remains loyal to God’s law.

10 tn Heb “for this reason all the precepts of everything I regard as right.” The phrase “precepts of everything” is odd. It is preferable to take the kaf (כ) on כֹּל (kol, “everything) with the preceding form as a pronominal suffix, “your precepts,” and the lamed (ל) with the following verb as an emphatic particle. See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 138.

11 tn Heb “every false path.”