Psalms 1:2

1:2 Instead ¹  he finds pleasure in obeying the Lord’s commands; ² 

he meditates on ³  his commands ⁴  day and night.

Psalms 40:3

40:3 He gave me reason to sing a new song, ⁵ 

praising our God. ⁶ 

May many see what God has done,

so that they might swear allegiance to him and trust in the Lord! ⁷ 

Psalms 40:8

40:8 I want to do what pleases you, ⁸  my God.

Your law dominates my thoughts.” ⁹ 

Psalms 119:11

119:11 In my heart I store up ¹⁰  your words, ¹¹ 

so I might not sin against you.

Psalms 119:98

119:98 Your commandments ¹²  make me wiser than my enemies,

for I am always aware of them.

Deuteronomy 6:6

Exhortation to Teach the Covenant Principles

6:6 These words I am commanding you today must be kept in mind,

Deuteronomy 11:18-20

11:18 Fix these words of mine into your mind and being, ¹³  and tie them as a reminder on your hands and let them be symbols ¹⁴  on your forehead. 11:19 Teach them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, ¹⁵  as you lie down, and as you get up. 11:20 Inscribe them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates

Proverbs 4:4

4:4 he taught me, and he said to me:

“Let your heart lay hold of my words;

keep my commands so that ¹⁶  you will live.

Isaiah 51:7

51:7 Listen to me, you who know what is right,

you people who are aware of my law! ¹⁷ 

Don’t be afraid of the insults of men;

don’t be discouraged because of their abuse!

Jeremiah 31:33

31:33 “But I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel ¹⁸  after I plant them back in the land,” ¹⁹  says the Lord. ²⁰  “I will ²¹  put my law within them ²²  and write it on their hearts and minds. ²³  I will be their God and they will be my people. ²⁴ 

Hebrews 8:10

8:10 “For this is the covenant that I will establish with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put ²⁵  my laws in their minds ²⁶  and I will inscribe them on their hearts. And I will be their God and they will be my people. ²⁷ 

¹ tn Here the Hebrew expression כִּי־אִם (ki-’im, “instead”) introduces a contrast between the sinful behavior depicted in v. 1 and the godly lifestyle described in v. 2.

² tn Heb “his delight [is] in the law of the Lord.” In light of the following line, which focuses on studying the Lord’s law, one might translate, “he finds pleasure in studying the Lord’s commands.” However, even if one translates the line this way, it is important to recognize that mere study and intellectual awareness are not ultimately what bring divine favor. Study of the law is metonymic here for the correct attitudes and behavior that should result from an awareness of and commitment to God’s moral will; thus “obeying” has been used in the translation rather than “studying.”

³ tn The Hebrew imperfect verbal form draws attention to the characteristic behavior described here and lends support to the hyperbolic adverbial phrase “day and night.” The verb הָגָה (hagag) means “to recite quietly; to meditate” and refers metonymically to intense study and reflection.

⁴ tn Or “his law.”

⁵ sn A new song was appropriate because the Lord had intervened in the psalmist’s experience in a fresh and exciting way.

⁶ tn Heb “and he placed in my mouth a new song, praise to our God.”

⁷ tn Heb “may many see and fear and trust in the Lord.” The translation assumes that the initial prefixed verbal form is a jussive (“may many see”), rather than an imperfect (“many will see”). The following prefixed verbal forms with vav (ו) conjunctive are taken as indicating purpose or result (“so that they might swear allegiance…and trust”) after the introductory jussive.

⁸ tn Or “your will.”

⁹ tn Heb “your law [is] in the midst of my inner parts.” The “inner parts” are viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s thought life and moral decision making.

¹⁰ tn Or “hide.”

¹¹ tn Heb “your word.” Some medieval Hebrew mss as well as the LXX read the plural, “your words.”

¹² 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).

¹³ tn Heb “heart and soul” or “heart and being.” See note on the word “being” in Deut 6:5.

¹⁴ tn On the Hebrew term טוֹטָפֹת (totafot, “reminders”), cf. Deut 6:4-9.

¹⁵ tn Or “as you are away on a journey” (cf. NRSV, TEV, NLT); NAB “at home and abroad.”

¹⁶ tn The imperative with the vav expresses volitional sequence after the preceding imperative: “keep and then you will live,” meaning “keep so that you may live.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “people (who have) my law in their heart.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “with the house of Israel.” All commentators agree that the term here refers to both the whole nation which was divided into the house of Israel and the house of Judah in v. 30.

¹⁹ tn Heb “after those days.” Commentators are generally agreed that this refers to the return from exile and the repopulation of the land referred to in vv. 27-28 and not to something subsequent to the time mentioned in v. 30. This is the sequencing that is also presupposed in other new covenant passages such as Deut 30:1-6; Ezek 11:17-20; 36:24-28.

²⁰ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

²¹ tn Heb “‘But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after these days:’ says the Lord, ‘I will….’” The sentence has been reworded and restructured to avoid the awkwardness of the original style.

²² tn Heb “in their inward parts.” The Hebrew word here refers to the seat of the thoughts, emotions, and decisions (Jer 9:8 [9:7 HT]). It is essentially synonymous with “heart” in Hebrew psychological terms.

²³ tn The words “and minds” is not in the text but is supplied in the translation to bring the English psychology more into line with the Hebrew where the “heart” is the center both of knowing/thinking/reflecting and deciding/willing.

²⁴ sn Compare Jer 24:7; 30:22; 31:1 and see the study note on 30:2.

²⁵ tn Grk “putting…I will inscribe.”

²⁶ tn Grk “mind.”

²⁷ tn Grk “I will be to them for a God and they will be to me for a people,” following the Hebrew constructions of Jer 31.