Psalms 119:32-33

Context

119:32 I run along the path of your commands,

for you enable me to do so.¹

ה (He)

119:33 Teach me, O Lord, the lifestyle prescribed by your statutes,²

so that I might observe it continually.³

[119:32] ¹tn Heb “for you make wide my heart.” The “heart” is viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s volition and understanding. The Lord gives the psalmist the desire and moral understanding that are foundational to the willing obedience depicted metaphorically in the preceding line. In Isa 60:5 the expression “your heart will be wide” means “your heart will swell with pride,” but here the nuance appears to be different.

[119:33] ²tn Heb “the way of your statutes.”

[119:33] ³tn Heb “and I will keep it to the end.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative. The Hebrew term עֵקֶב (’eqev) is understood to mean “end” here. Another option is to take עֵקֶב (’eqev) as meaning “reward” here (see Ps 19:11) and to translate, “so that I might observe it and be rewarded.”