Psalms 119:53

119:53 Rage takes hold of me because of the wicked,

those who reject your law.

Psalms 119:158

119:158 I take note of the treacherous and despise them,

because they do not keep your instructions. ¹ 

Psalms 119:1

Psalm 119 ² 

א (Alef)

119:1 How blessed are those whose actions are blameless, ³ 

who obey ⁴  the law of the Lord.

Psalms 15:1

Psalm 15 ⁵ 

A psalm of David.

15:1 Lord, who may be a guest in your home? ⁶ 

Who may live on your holy hill? ⁷ 

Jeremiah 9:1

9:1 (8:23) ⁸  I wish that my head were a well full of water ⁹ 

and my eyes were a fountain full of tears!

If they were, I could cry day and night

for those of my dear people ¹⁰  who have been killed.

Jeremiah 9:18

9:18 I said, “Indeed, ¹¹  let them come quickly and sing a song of mourning for us.

Let them wail loudly until tears stream from our own eyes

and our eyelids overflow with water.

Jeremiah 13:17

13:17 But if you will not pay attention to this warning, ¹² 

I will weep alone because of your arrogant pride.

I will weep bitterly and my eyes will overflow with tears ¹³ 

because you, the Lord’s flock, ¹⁴  will be carried ¹⁵  into exile.”

Jeremiah 14:17

Lament over Present Destruction and Threat of More to Come

14:17 “Tell these people this, Jeremiah: ¹⁶ 

‘My eyes overflow with tears

day and night without ceasing. ¹⁷ 

For my people, my dear children, ¹⁸  have suffered a crushing blow.

They have suffered a serious wound. ¹⁹ 

Ezekiel 9:4

9:4 The Lord said to him, “Go through the city of Jerusalem ²⁰  and put a mark ²¹  on the foreheads of the people who moan and groan over all the abominations practiced in it.”

Luke 19:41

Jesus Weeps for Jerusalem under Judgment

19:41 Now ²²  when Jesus ²³  approached ²⁴  and saw the city, he wept over it,

Romans 9:2-3

9:2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ²⁵  9:3 For I could wish ²⁶  that I myself were accursed – cut off from Christ – for the sake of my people, ²⁷  my fellow countrymen, ²⁸ 

[119:158]  ¹ tn Heb “your word.”

[119:1]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness of those who are blameless of way.”

[119:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “walk in.”

[15:1]  ⁵ sn Psalm 15. This psalm describes the character qualities that one must possess to be allowed access to the divine presence.

[15:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “Who may live as a resident alien in your tent?”

[15:1]  ⁷ sn In this context the Lord’s holy hill probably refers to Zion/Jerusalem. See Isa 66:20; Joel 2:1; 3:17; Zech 8:3; Pss 2:6; 43:3; 48:1; 87:1; Dan 9:16.

[9:1]  ⁸ sn Beginning with 9:1, the verse numbers through 9:26 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 9:1 ET = 8:23 HT, 9:2 ET = 9:1 HT, 9:3 ET = 9:2 HT, etc., through 9:26 ET = 9:25 HT. Beginning with 10:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.

[9:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “I wish that my head were water.”

[9:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the note on the phrase “dear people” there.

[9:18]  ¹¹ tn The words “And I said, ‘Indeed” are not in the text. They have been supplied in the translation to try and help clarify who the speaker is who identifies with the lament of the people.

[13:17]  ¹² tn Heb “If you will not listen to it.” For the use of the feminine singular pronoun to refer to the idea(s) expressed in the preceding verse(s), see GKC 440-41 §135.p.

[13:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “Tearing [my eye] will tear and my eye will run down [= flow] with tears.”

[13:17]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “because the Lord’s flock will…” The pronoun “you” is supplied in the translation to avoid the shift in English from the second person address at the beginning to the third person affirmation at the end. It also helps explain the metaphor of the people of Israel as God’s flock for some readers who may be unfamiliar with that metaphor.

[13:17]  ¹⁵ tn The verb is once again in the form of “as good as done” (the Hebrew prophetic perfect).

[14:17]  ¹⁶ tn The word “Jeremiah” is not in the text but the address is to a second person singular and is a continuation of 14:14 where the quote starts. The word is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[14:17]  ¹⁷ tn Many of the English versions and commentaries render this an indirect or third person imperative, “Let my eyes overflow…” because of the particle אַל (’al) which introduces the phrase translated “without ceasing” (אַל־תִּדְמֶינָה, ’al-tidmenah). However, this is undoubtedly an example where the particle introduces an affirmation that something cannot be done (cf. GKC 322 §109.e). Clear examples of this are found in Pss 41:2 (41:3 HT); 50:3; Job 40:32 (41:8). God here is describing again a lamentable situation and giving his response to it. See 14:1-6 above.

[14:17]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “virgin daughter, my people.” The last noun here is appositional to the first two (genitive of apposition). Hence it is not ‘literally’ “virgin daughter of my people.”

[14:17]  ¹⁹ tn This is a poetic personification. To translate with the plural “serious wounds” might mislead some into thinking of literal wounds.

[9:4]  ²⁰ tn Heb “through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem.”

[9:4]  ²¹ tn The word translated “mark” is in Hebrew the letter ת (tav). Outside this context the only other occurrence of the word is in Job 31:35. In ancient Hebrew script this letter was written like the letter X.

[19:41]  ²² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[19:41]  ²³ tn Grk “he.”

[19:41]  ²⁴ sn When Jesus approached and saw the city. This is the last travel note in Luke’s account (the so-called Jerusalem journey), as Jesus approached and saw the city before entering it.

[9:2]  ²⁵ tn Grk “my sorrow is great and the anguish in my heart is unceasing.”

[9:3]  ²⁶ tn Or “For I would pray.” The implied condition is “if this could save my fellow Jews.”

[9:3]  ²⁷ tn Grk “brothers.” See BDAG 18-19 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.b.

[9:3]  ²⁸ tn Grk “my kinsmen according to the flesh.”