Psalms 139:24

See if there is any idolatrous tendency ¹  in me, and lead me in the reliable ancient path! ² 

Ps 5:8; Ps 7:3,4; Ps 17:3; Ps 25:8,9; Ps 119:1,32; Ps 143:8,10; Pr 28:26; Jer 17:9,10; Mt 7:14; Joh 14:6; Col 2:6; Heb 12:15,16

¹ tn Many understand the Hebrew term עֹצֶב (’otsev) as a noun meaning “pain,” and translate the phrase דֶּרֶךְ עֹצֶב (derekh ’otsev) as “of pain,” but this makes little sense here. (Some interpret it to refer to actions which bring pain to others.) It is preferable to take עֹצֶב as “idol” (see HALOT 865 s.v. I עֹצֶב) and understand “way of an idol” to refer to idolatrous actions or tendency. See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 253.

² tn Heb “in the path of antiquity.” This probably refers to the moral path prescribed by the Lord at the beginning of Israel’s history. See Jer 6:16; 18:15, as well as L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 253.