Psalm 119:1-8

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Psalm 119:1 tn 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.
2. Psalm 119:1 tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness of those who are blameless of way.”
3. Psalm 119:1 tn Heb “walk in.”
4. Psalm 119:3 tn Heb “walk in his ways.”
5. Psalm 119:4 tn Heb “you, you commanded your precepts, to keep, very much.”
6. Psalm 119:5 tn Heb “if only my ways were established.”
7. Psalm 119:6 tn Or “when.”
8. Psalm 119:6 tn Heb “I gaze at.”
9. Psalm 119:7 tn Heb “I will give you thanks with an upright heart.”
10. Psalm 119:8 tn Heb “do not abandon me to excess.” For other uses of the phrase עַד מְאֹד (ʿad m^eʾod, “to excess”), see Ps 38:6, 8.