119:23 Though rulers plot and slander me, 1
your servant meditates on your statutes.
119:157 The enemies who chase me are numerous. 2
Yet I do not turn aside from your rules.
א (Alef)
119:1 How blessed are those whose actions are blameless, 4
who obey 5 the law of the Lord.
For the music director; a psalm of David.
21:1 O Lord, the king rejoices in the strength you give; 7
he takes great delight in the deliverance you provide. 8
24:9 Look up, you gates!
Rise up, you eternal doors!
Then the majestic king will enter!
By David.
26:1 Vindicate me, O Lord,
for I have integrity, 10
and I trust in the Lord without wavering.
1 tn Heb “though rulers sit, about me they talk together.” (For another example of the Niphal of דָּבַר (davar) used with a suffixed form of the preposition ב, see Ezek 33:30.)
2 tn Heb “many [are] those who chase me and my enemies.”
3 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.
4 tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness of those who are blameless of way.”
5 tn Heb “walk in.”
6 sn Psalm 21. The psalmist praises the Lord for the way he protects and blesses the Davidic king.
7 tn Heb “in your strength.” The translation interprets the pronominal suffix as subjective, rather than merely descriptive (or attributive).
8 tn Heb “and in your deliverance, how greatly he rejoices.”
9 sn Psalm 26. The author invites the Lord to test his integrity, asserts his innocence and declares his loyalty to God.
10 tn Heb “for I in my integrity walk.”
11 tn The words “this happened” are not in the Greek text but are supplied to complete an ellipsis.
12 sn A quotation from Ps 35:19 and Ps 69:4. As a technical term law (νόμος, nomos) is usually restricted to the Pentateuch (the first five books of the OT), but here it must have a broader reference, since the quotation is from Ps 35:19 or Ps 69:4. The latter is the more likely source for the quoted words, since it is cited elsewhere in John’s Gospel (2:17 and 19:29, in both instances in contexts associated with Jesus’ suffering and death).