Deuteronomy 4:1

The Privileges of the Covenant

4:1 Now, Israel, pay attention to the statutes and ordinances ¹  I am about to teach you, so that you might live and go on to enter and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, ²  is giving you.

Deuteronomy 5:32--6:3

5:32 Be careful, therefore, to do exactly what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn right or left! 5:33 Walk just as he ³  has commanded you so that you may live, that it may go well with you, and that you may live long ⁴  in the land you are going to possess.

Exhortation to Keep the Covenant Principles

6:1 Now these are the commandments, ⁵  statutes, and ordinances that the Lord your God instructed me to teach you so that you may carry them out in the land where you are headed ⁶  6:2 and that you may so revere the Lord your God that you will keep all his statutes and commandments ⁷  that I am giving ⁸  you – you, your children, and your grandchildren – all your lives, to prolong your days. 6:3 Pay attention, Israel, and be careful to do this so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in number ⁹  – as the Lord, God of your ancestors, ¹⁰  said to you, you will have a land flowing with milk and honey.

Psalms 119:4-6

119:4 You demand that your precepts

be carefully kept. ¹¹ 

119:5 If only I were predisposed ¹² 

to keep your statutes!

119:6 Then I would not be ashamed,

if ¹³  I were focused on ¹⁴  all your commands.

Psalms 119:1

Psalm 119 ¹⁵ 

א (Alef)

119:1 How blessed are those whose actions are blameless, ¹⁶ 

who obey ¹⁷  the law of the Lord.

Psalms 4:1-2

Psalm 4 ¹⁸ 

For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a psalm of David.

4:1 When I call out, answer me,

O God who vindicates me! ¹⁹ 

Though I am hemmed in, you will lead me into a wide, open place. ²⁰ 

Have mercy on me ²¹  and respond to ²²  my prayer!

4:2 You men, ²³  how long will you try to turn my honor into shame? ²⁴ 

How long ²⁵  will you love what is worthless ²⁶ 

and search for what is deceptive? ²⁷  (Selah)

[4:1]  ¹ tn These technical Hebrew terms (חֻקִּים [khuqqim] and מִשְׁפָּטִים [mishpatim]) occur repeatedly throughout the Book of Deuteronomy to describe the covenant stipulations to which Israel had been called to subscribe (see, in this chapter alone, vv. 1, 5, 6, 8). The word חֻקִּים derives from the verb חֹק (khoq, “to inscribe; to carve”) and מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim) from שָׁפַט (shafat, “to judge”). They are virtually synonymous and are used interchangeably in Deuteronomy.

[4:1]  ² tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 31, 37).

[5:33]  ³ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[5:33]  ⁴ tn Heb “may prolong your days”; NAB “may have long life”; TEV “will continue to live.”

[6:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “commandment.” The word מִצְוָה (mitsvah) again is in the singular, serving as a comprehensive term for the whole stipulation section of the book. See note on the word “commandments” in 5:31.

[6:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “where you are going over to possess it” (so NASB); NRSV “that you are about to cross into and occupy.”

[6:2]  ⁷ tn Here the terms are not the usual חֻקִּים (khuqqim) and מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishpatim; as in v. 1) but חֻקֹּת (khuqqot, “statutes”) and מִצְוֹת (mitsot, “commandments”). It is clear that these terms are used interchangeably and that their technical precision ought not be overly stressed.

[6:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “commanding.” For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, “giving” has been used in the translation.

[6:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “may multiply greatly” (so NASB, NRSV); the words “in number” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[6:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 10, 18, 23).

[119:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “you, you commanded your precepts, to keep, very much.”

[119:5]  ¹² tn Heb “if only my ways were established.”

[119:6]  ¹³ tn Or “when.”

[119:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “I gaze at.”

[119:1]  ¹⁵ 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.

[119:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness of those who are blameless of way.”

[119:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “walk in.”

[4:1]  ¹⁸ sn Psalm 4. The psalmist asks God to hear his prayer, expresses his confidence that the Lord will intervene, and urges his enemies to change their ways and place their trust in God. He concludes with another prayer for divine intervention and again affirms his absolute confidence in God’s protection.

[4:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “God of my righteousness.”

[4:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “in distress (or “a narrow place”) you make (a place) large for me.” The function of the Hebrew perfect verbal form here is uncertain. The translation above assumes that the psalmist is expressing his certitude and confidence that God will intervene. The psalmist is so confident of God’s positive response to his prayer, he can describe God’s deliverance as if it had already happened. Such confidence is consistent with the mood of the psalm (vv. 3, 8). Another option is to take the perfects as precative, expressing a wish or request (“lead me”). See IBHS 494-95 §30.5.4c, d. However, not all grammarians are convinced that the perfect is used as a precative in biblical Hebrew.

[4:1]  ²¹ tn Or “show me favor.”

[4:1]  ²² tn Heb “hear.”

[4:2]  ²³ tn Heb “sons of man.”

[4:2]  ²⁴ tn Heb “how long my honor to shame?”

[4:2]  ²⁵ tn The interrogative construction עַד־מֶה (’ad-meh, “how long?”), is understood by ellipsis in the second line.

[4:2]  ²⁶ tn Heb “emptiness.”

[4:2]  ²⁷ tn Heb “a lie.” Some see the metonymic language of v. 2b (“emptiness, lie”) as referring to idols or false gods. However, there is no solid immediate contextual evidence for such an interpretation. It is more likely that the psalmist addresses those who threaten him (see v. 1) and refers in a general way to their sinful lifestyle. (See R. Mosis, TDOT 7:121.) The two terms allude to the fact that sinful behavior is ultimately fruitless and self-destructive.