11:1 You must love the Lord your God and do what he requires; keep his statutes, ordinances, and commandments 1 at all times.
106:3 How blessed are those who promote justice,
and do what is right all the time!
א (Alef)
119:1 How blessed are those whose actions are blameless, 3
who obey 4 the law of the Lord.
119:2 How blessed are those who observe his rules,
and seek him with all their heart,
119:3 who, moreover, do no wrong,
but follow in his footsteps. 5
119:4 You demand that your precepts
be carefully kept. 6
119:5 If only I were predisposed 7
to keep your statutes!
22:14 Blessed are those who wash their robes so they can have access 11 to the tree of life and can enter into the city by the gates.
1 tn This collocation of technical terms for elements of the covenant text lends support to its importance and also signals a new section of paraenesis in which Moses will exhort Israel to covenant obedience. The Hebrew term מִשְׁמָרוֹת (mishmarot, “obligations”) sums up the three terms that follow – חֻקֹּת (khuqot), מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishppatim), and מִצְוֹת (mitsot).
2 sn Psalm 119. The psalmist celebrates God’s law and the guidance it provides his people. He expresses his desire to know God’s law thoroughly so that he might experience the blessings that come to those who obey it. This lengthy psalm exhibits an elaborate acrostic pattern. The psalm is divided into twenty-two sections (corresponding to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet), each of which is comprised of eight verses. Each of the verses in the first section (vv. 1-8) begins with the letter alef (א), the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This pattern continues throughout the psalm as each new section highlights a successive letter of the alphabet. Each verse in section two (vv. 9-16) begins with the second letter of the alphabet, each verse in section three (vv. 17-24) with the third letter, etc. This rigid pattern creates a sense of order and completeness and may have facilitated memorization.
3 tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness of those who are blameless of way.”
4 tn Heb “walk in.”
5 tn Heb “walk in his ways.”
6 tn Heb “you, you commanded your precepts, to keep, very much.”
7 tn Heb “if only my ways were established.”
8 tn Grk “said.”
9 sn This is another reference to hearing and doing the word of God, which here describes Jesus’ teaching; see Luke 8:21.
10 sn This verse really explains John 15:10 in another way. Those who keep Jesus’ commandments are called his friends, those friends for whom he lays down his life (v. 13). It is possible to understand this verse as referring to a smaller group within Christianity as a whole, perhaps only the apostles who were present when Jesus spoke these words. Some have supported this by comparing it to the small group of associates and advisers to the Roman Emperor who were called “Friends of the Emperor.” Others would see these words as addressed only to those Christians who as disciples were obedient to Jesus. In either case the result would be to create a sort of “inner circle” of Christians who are more privileged than mere “believers” or average Christians. In context, it seems clear that Jesus’ words must be addressed to all true Christians, not just some narrower category of believers, because Jesus’ sacrificial death, which is his act of love toward his friends (v. 13) applies to all Christians equally (cf. John 13:1).
11 tn Grk “so that there will be to them authority over the tree of life.”