Psalms 19:8

19:8 The Lord’s precepts are fair ¹ 

and make one joyful. ² 

The Lord’s commands ³  are pure ⁴ 

and give insight for life. ⁵ 

Psalms 24:4

24:4 The one whose deeds are blameless

and whose motives are pure, ⁶ 

who does not lie, ⁷ 

or make promises with no intention of keeping them. ⁸ 

[19:8]  ¹ tn Or “just.” Perhaps the idea is that they impart a knowledge of what is just and right.

[19:8]  ² tn Heb “[they] make happy [the] heart.” Perhaps the point is that they bring a sense of joyful satisfaction to the one who knows and keeps them, for those who obey God’s law are richly rewarded. See v. 11b.

[19:8]  ³ tn Heb “command.” The singular here refers to the law as a whole.

[19:8]  ⁴ tn Because they reflect God’s character, his commands provide a code of moral and ethical purity.

[19:8]  ⁵ tn Heb [they] enlighten [the] eyes.

[24:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “the innocent of hands and the pure of heart.” The “hands” allude to one’s actions, the “heart” to one’s thought life and motives.

[24:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “who does not lift up for emptiness my life.” The first person pronoun on נַפְשִׁי (nafshiy, “my life”) makes little sense here; many medieval Hebrew mss support the ancient versions in reading a third person pronoun “his.” The idiom “lift the life” here means to “long for” or “desire strongly.” In this context (note the reference to an oath in the following line) “emptiness” probably refers to speech (see Ps 12:2).

[24:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “and does not swear an oath deceitfully.”