Psalms 119:27

119:27 Help me to understand what your precepts mean! ¹ 

Then I can meditate ²  on your marvelous teachings. ³ 

Psalms 119:32-33

119:32 I run along the path of your commands,

for you enable me to do so. ⁴ 

ה (He)

119:33 Teach me, O Lord, the lifestyle prescribed by your statutes, ⁵ 

so that I might observe it continually. ⁶ 

Psalms 119:35

119:35 Guide me ⁷  in the path of your commands,

for I delight to walk in it. ⁸ 

¹ tn Heb “the way of your precepts make me understand.”

² tn The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.

³ tn Heb “your amazing things,” which refers here to the teachings of the law (see v. 18).

⁴ tn Heb “for you make wide my heart.” The “heart” is viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s volition and understanding. The Lord gives the psalmist the desire and moral understanding that are foundational to the willing obedience depicted metaphorically in the preceding line. In Isa 60:5 the expression “your heart will be wide” means “your heart will swell with pride,” but here the nuance appears to be different.

⁷ tn Heb “the way of your statutes.”

⁸ tn Heb “and I will keep it to the end.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative. The Hebrew term עֵקֶב (’eqev) is understood to mean “end” here. Another option is to take עֵקֶב (’eqev) as meaning “reward” here (see Ps 19:11) and to translate, “so that I might observe it and be rewarded.”

¹⁰ tn Or “make me walk.”

¹¹ tn Heb “for in it I delight.”