Psalms 119:23-25

Context

119:23 Though rulers plot and slander me,¹

your servant meditates on your statutes.

119:24 Yes, I find delight in your rules;

they give me guidance.²

ד (Dalet)

119:25 I collapse in the dirt.³

Revive me with your word!⁴

[119:23] ¹tn 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.)

[119:24] ²tn Heb “men of my counsel.” That is, God’s rules are like advisers to the psalmist, for they teach him how to live in a godly manner that refutes the accusations of his enemies.

[119:25] ³tn Heb “my soul clings to the dirt.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being; soul”) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).

[119:25] ⁴tn Heb “according to your word.” Many medieval Hebrew mss read the plural “your words.”