כ (Kaf)
119:81 I desperately long for 1 your deliverance.
I find hope in your word.
119:82 My eyes grow tired as I wait for your promise to be fulfilled. 2
I say, 3 “When will you comfort me?”
119:83 For 4 I am like a wineskin 5 dried up in smoke. 6
I do not forget your statutes.
119:84 How long must your servant endure this? 7
When will you judge those who pursue me?
119:85 The arrogant dig pits to trap me, 8
which violates your law. 9
119:86 All your commands are reliable.
I am pursued without reason. 10 Help me!
119:87 They have almost destroyed me here on the earth,
but I do not reject your precepts.
119:88 Revive me with 11 your loyal love,
that I might keep 12 the rules you have revealed. 13
1 tn Heb “my soul pines for.” See Ps 84:2.
2 tn Heb “my eyes fail for your word.” The psalmist has intently kept his eyes open, looking for God to intervene, but now his eyes are watery and bloodshot, impairing his vision. See Ps 69:3.
3 tn Heb “saying.”
3 tn Or “even though.”
4 tn The Hebrew word נֹאד (no’d, “leather container”) refers to a container made from animal skin which is used to hold wine or milk (see Josh 9:4, 13; Judg 4:19; 1 Sam 16:20).
5 tn Heb “in the smoke.”
4 tn Heb “How long are the days of your servant?”
5 tn Heb “for me.”
6 tn Heb “which [is] not according to your law.”
6 sn God’s commands are a reliable guide to right and wrong. By keeping them the psalmist is doing what is right, yet he is still persecuted.
7 tn Heb “according to.”
8 tn The cohortative verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.
9 tn Heb “of your mouth.”