19:8 The Lord’s precepts are fair 8
and make one joyful. 9
The Lord’s commands 10 are pure 11
and give insight for life. 12
19:9 The commands to fear the Lord are right 13
and endure forever. 14
The judgments given by the Lord are trustworthy
and absolutely just. 15
19:10 They are of greater value 16 than gold,
than even a great amount of pure gold;
they bring greater delight 17 than honey,
than even the sweetest honey from a honeycomb.
19:11 Yes, your servant finds moral guidance there; 18
those who obey them receive a rich reward. 19
105:45 so that they might keep his commands
and obey 20 his laws.
Praise the Lord!
119:80 May I be fully committed to your statutes, 21
so that I might not be ashamed.
ק (Qof)
119:145 I cried out with all my heart, “Answer me, O Lord!
I will observe your statutes.”
119:171 May praise flow freely from my lips,
for you teach me your statutes.
1 tn Heb “My regulations you shall do”; KJV, NASB “my judgments”; NRSV “My ordinances”; NIV, TEV “my laws.”
2 tn Heb “and my statutes you shall keep [or “watch; guard”] to walk in them.”
3 tn Heb “And you shall keep.”
4 tn Heb “which the man shall do them and shall live in them.” The term for “a man, human being; mankind” (אָדָם, ’adam; see the note on Lev 1:2) in this case refers to any person among “mankind,” male or female. The expression וָחַי (vakhay, “and shall live”) looks like the adjective “living” so it is written וְחָיָה (vÿkhayah) in Smr, but the MT form is simply the same verb written as a double ayin verb (see HALOT 309 s.v. חיה qal and GKC 218 §76.i; cf. Lev 25:35).
5 tn Heb “And you shall keep, you.” The latter emphatic personal pronoun “you” is left out of a few medieval Hebrew
6 tn Heb “the native and the sojourner”; NIV “The native-born and the aliens”; NAB “whether natives or resident aliens.”
7 tn Heb “And you shall keep all my statutes and all my regulations and you shall do them.” This appears to be a kind of verbal hendiadys, where the first verb is a modifier of the action of the second verb (see GKC 386 §120.d, although שָׁמַר [shamar, “to keep”] is not cited there; cf. Lev 22:31).
9 tn Or “just.” Perhaps the idea is that they impart a knowledge of what is just and right.
10 tn Heb “[they] make happy [the] heart.” Perhaps the point is that they bring a sense of joyful satisfaction to the one who knows and keeps them, for those who obey God’s law are richly rewarded. See v. 11b.
11 tn Heb “command.” The singular here refers to the law as a whole.
12 tn Because they reflect God’s character, his commands provide a code of moral and ethical purity.
13 tn Heb [they] enlighten [the] eyes.
11 tn Heb “the fear of the
12 tn Heb “[it] stands permanently.”
13 sn Trustworthy and absolutely just. The Lord’s commands accurately reflect God’s moral will for his people and are an expression of his just character.
13 tn Heb “more desirable.”
14 tn Heb “are sweeter.” God’s law is “sweet’ in the sense that, when obeyed, it brings a great reward (see v. 11b).
15 tn Heb “moreover your servant is warned by them.”
16 tn Heb “in the keeping of them [there is] a great reward.”
17 tn Heb “guard.”
19 tn Heb “may my heart be complete in your statutes.”
21 tn Or “in the midst of you.” The word “you” is plural.
22 tn Heb “and I will do that which in my statutes you will walk.” The awkward syntax (verb “to do, act” + accusative sign + relative clause + prepositional phrase + second person verb) is unique, though Eccl 3:14 contains a similar construction. In the last line of that verse we read that “God acts so that (relative pronoun) they fear before him.” However, unlike Ezek 36:27, the statement has no accusative sign before the relative pronoun.
23 tn Heb “and my laws you will guard and you will do them.” Jer 31:31-34 is parallel to this passage.