Psalms 119:9

ב (Bet)

119:9 How can a young person ¹  maintain a pure life? ² 

By guarding it according to your instructions! ³ 

Psalms 119:16-17

119:16 I find delight ⁴  in your statutes;

I do not forget your instructions. ⁵ 

ג (Gimel)

119:17 Be kind to your servant!

Then I will live ⁶  and keep ⁷  your instructions. ⁸ 

Psalms 119:57

ח (Khet)

119:57 The Lord is my source of security. ⁹ 

I have determined ¹⁰  to follow your instructions. ¹¹ 

Psalms 119:101

119:101 I stay away ¹²  from the evil path,

so that I might keep your instructions. ¹³ 

Psalms 119:105

נ (Nun)

119:105 Your word ¹⁴  is a lamp to walk by,

and a light to illumine my path. ¹⁵ 

Psalms 119:130

119:130 Your instructions are a doorway through which light shines. ¹⁶ 

They give ¹⁷  insight to the untrained. ¹⁸ 

Psalms 119:139

119:139 My zeal ¹⁹  consumes ²⁰  me,

for my enemies forget your instructions. ²¹ 

Psalms 119:160

119:160 Your instructions are totally reliable;

all your just regulations endure. ²² 

¹ tn Heb “young man.” Hebrew wisdom literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender or age. To facilitate modern application, the gender specific “young man” has been translated with the more neutral “young person.”

² tn Heb “purify his path.”

³ tn Heb “by keeping according to your word.” Many medieval Hebrew mss as well as the LXX read the plural, “your words.”

⁴ tn The imperfects in this verse emphasize the attitude the psalmist maintains toward God’s law. Another option is to translate with the future tense, “I will find delight…I will not forget.”

⁵ tn Heb “your word.” Many medieval Hebrew mss as well as the LXX read the plural here.

⁶ tn The prefixed verbal form is probably a cohortative indicating purpose/result after the preceding imperative.

⁷ tn The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the imperative that begins the verse.

⁸ tn Heb “your word.” Many medieval Hebrew mss as well as several ancient versions read the plural here.

⁹ tn Heb “my portion [is] the Lord.” The psalmist compares the Lord to landed property, which was foundational to economic stability in ancient Israel (see Ps 16:5).

¹⁰ tn Heb “I said.”

¹¹ tn Heb “to keep your words” (see v. 9).

¹² tn Heb “I hold back my feet.”

¹³ tn Heb “your word.” Many medieval Hebrew mss read the plural.

¹⁴ tn Many medieval Hebrew mss read the plural (“words”).

¹⁵ tn Heb “[is] a lamp for my foot and a light for my path.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “the doorway of your words gives light.” God’s “words” refer here to the instructions in his law (see vv. 9, 57).

¹⁷ tn Heb “it [i.e., the doorway] gives.”

¹⁸ tn Or “the [morally] naive,” that is, the one who is young and still in the process of learning right from wrong and distinguishing wisdom from folly. See Pss 19:7; 116:6.

¹⁹ tn or “zeal.”

²⁰ tn Heb “destroys,” in a hyperbolic sense.

²¹ tn Heb “your words.”

²² tn Heb “the head of your word is truth, and forever [is] all your just regulation.” The term “head” is used here of the “sum total” of God’s instructions.