Psalms 119:96-105
Context119:96 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
Context119:127 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
3 tn Heb “I hold back my feet.”
4 tn Heb “your word.” Many medieval Hebrew
5 tn Heb “How smooth they are to my palate, your word, more than honey to my mouth.” A few medieval Hebrew
6 tn Heb “every false path.”
7 tn Many medieval Hebrew
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.”