Psalms 119:9

ב (Bet)

119:9 How can a young person ¹  maintain a pure life? ² 

By guarding it according to your instructions! ³ 

Psalms 119:1

Psalm 119 ⁴ 

א (Alef)

119:1 How blessed are those whose actions are blameless, ⁵ 

who obey ⁶  the law of the Lord.

Psalms 2:4

2:4 The one enthroned ⁷  in heaven laughs in disgust; ⁸ 

the Lord taunts ⁹  them.

Psalms 2:2

2:2 The kings of the earth ¹⁰  form a united front; ¹¹ 

the rulers collaborate ¹² 

against the Lord and his anointed king. ¹³ 

Psalms 10:1

Psalm 10 ¹⁴ 

10:1 Why, Lord, do you stand far off?

Why do you pay no attention during times of trouble? ¹⁵ 

Proverbs 4:26-27

4:26 Make the path for your feet ¹⁶  level, ¹⁷ 

so that ¹⁸  all your ways may be established. ¹⁹ 

4:27 Do not turn ²⁰  to the right or to the left;

turn yourself ²¹  away from evil. ²² 

Hebrews 2:1

Warning Against Drifting Away

2:1 Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.

[119:9]  ¹ tn Heb “young man.” Hebrew wisdom literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender or age. To facilitate modern application, the gender specific “young man” has been translated with the more neutral “young person.”

[119:9]  ² tn Heb “purify his path.”

[119:9]  ³ tn Heb “by keeping according to your word.” Many medieval Hebrew mss as well as the LXX read the plural, “your words.”

[119:1]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness of those who are blameless of way.”

[119:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “walk in.”

[2:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “sitting.” The Hebrew verb יָשַׁב (yashav) is here used metonymically of “sitting enthroned” (see Pss 9:7; 29:10; 55:19; 102:12; 123:1).

[2:4]  ⁸ tn As the next line indicates, this refers to derisive laughter. The Hebrew imperfect verbal forms in vv. 4-5 describe the action from the perspective of an eyewitness who is watching the divine response as it unfolds before his eyes.

[2:4]  ⁹ tn Or “scoffs at”; “derides”; “mocks.”

[2:2]  ¹⁰ sn The expression kings of the earth refers somewhat hyperbolically to the kings who had been conquered by and were subject to the Davidic king.

[2:2]  ¹¹ tn Or “take their stand.” The Hebrew imperfect verbal form describes their action as underway.

[2:2]  ¹² tn Or “conspire together.” The verbal form is a Niphal from יָסַד (yasad). BDB 413-14 s.v. יָסַד defines the verb as “establish, found,” but HALOT 417 s.v. II יסד proposes a homonym meaning “get together, conspire” (an alternate form of סוּד, sud).

[2:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “and against his anointed one.” The Davidic king is the referent (see vv. 6-7).

[10:1]  ¹⁴ sn Psalm 10. Many Hebrew mss and the ancient Greek version (LXX) combine Psalms 9 and 10 into a single psalm. Taken in isolation, Psalm 10 is a petition for help in which the psalmist urges the Lord to deliver him from his dangerous enemies, whom he describes in vivid and terrifying detail. The psalmist concludes with confidence; he is certain that God’s justice will prevail.

[10:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “you hide for times in trouble.” The interrogative “why” is understood by ellipsis; note the preceding line. The Hiphil verbal form “hide” has no expressed object. Some supply “your eyes” by ellipsis (see BDB 761 s.v. I עָלַם Hiph and HALOT 835 s.v. I עלם hif) or emend the form to a Niphal (“you hide yourself,” see BHS, note c; cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV).

[4:26]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “path of your foot.”

[4:26]  ¹⁷ sn The verb is a denominative Piel from the word פֶּלֶס (peles), “balance; scale.” In addition to telling the disciple to keep focused on a righteous life, the sage tells him to keep his path level, which is figurative for living the righteous life.

[4:26]  ¹⁸ tn The vav prefixed to the beginning of this dependent clause denotes purpose/result following the preceding imperative.

[4:26]  ¹⁹ tn The Niphal jussive from כּוּן (cun, “to be fixed; to be established; to be steadfast”) continues the idiom of walking and ways for the moral sense in life.

[4:27]  ²⁰ sn The two verbs in this verse are from different roots, but nonetheless share the same semantic domain. The first verb is תֵּט (tet), a jussive from נָטָה (natah), which means “to turn aside” (Hiphil); the second verb is the Hiphil imperative of סוּר (sur), which means “to cause to turn to the side” (Hiphil). The disciple is not to leave the path of righteousness; but to stay on the path he must leave evil.

[4:27]  ²¹ tn Heb “your foot” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV). The term רַגְלְךָ (raglÿkha, “your foot”) is a synecdoche of part (= foot) for the whole person (= “yourself”).

[4:27]  ²² tc The LXX adds, “For the way of the right hand God knows, but those of the left hand are distorted; and he himself will make straight your paths and guide your goings in peace.” The ideas presented here are not out of harmony with Proverbs, but the section clearly shows an expansion by the translator. For a brief discussion of whether this addition is Jewish or early Christian, see C. H. Toy, Proverbs (ICC), 99.