Psalms 119:30

119:30 I choose the path of faithfulness;

I am committed to ¹  your regulations.

Psalms 119:173

119:173 May your hand help me,

for I choose to obey ²  your precepts.

Psalms 84:10

84:10 Certainly ³  spending just one day in your temple courts is better

than spending a thousand elsewhere. ⁴ 

I would rather stand at the entrance ⁵  to the temple of my God

than live ⁶  in the tents of the wicked.

[119:30]  ¹ tn BDB 1000-1001 s.v. I שָׁוָה derives the verb from the first homonym listed, meaning “to agree with; to be like; to resemble.” It here means (in the Piel stem) “to be accounted suitable,” which in turn would mean by metonymy “to accept; to be committed to.” Some prefer to derive the verb from a homonym meaning “to place; to set,” but in this case an elliptical prepositional phrase must be understood, “I place your regulations [before me]” (see Ps 16:8).

[119:173]  ² tn The words “to obey” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarity.

[84:10]  ³ tn Or “for.”

[84:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “better is a day in your courts than a thousand [spent elsewhere].”

[84:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “I choose being at the entrance of the house of my God over living in the tents of the wicked.” The verb סָפַף (safaf) appears only here in the OT; it is derived from the noun סַף (saf, “threshold”). Traditionally some have interpreted this as a reference to being a doorkeeper at the temple, though some understand it to mean “lie as a beggar at the entrance to the temple” (see HALOT 765 s.v. ספף).

[84:10]  ⁶ tn The verb דּוּר (dur, “to live”) occurs only here in the OT.