Week three: this will be a look at verses 17 - 24, which all start with the Hebrew letter Gimel. (NIV 84):
Do good to your servant, and I will live; I will obey your word.
Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.
I am a stranger on earth; do not hide your commands from me.
My soul is consumed with longing for your laws at all times.
You rebuke the arrogant, who are cursed and who stray from your commands.
Remove from me scorn and contempt, for I keep your statutes.
Though rulers sit together and slander me, your servant will meditate on your decrees.
Your statues are my delight; they are my counselors.
(Takes a deep breath and clicks through to biblestudytools.com; flips through the Zodhiates while the page loads...here we go...).
Suddenly, the light dawns and I see the correlation between those little letters that show up next to Strong's numbers, the laminated index card and the numbered Grammatical notes that are all part of the Zodhiates Old Testament Word Study. So THAT'S where those pronouns are hiding...
Recompense; deal fully with your servant; sustain life [and] [I will continue to] keep, guard, observe and give heed [to your] speech, word, speaking.
Uncover [my] mental and spiritual faculties to [cause me to] look upon and regard [the things that are continually] marvelous, wonderful, surpassing, extraordinary among Your law, direction, [and] instruction.
I [am] a temporary inhabitant on the earth: conceal not Your commandments from me.
My inner being is crushed [with] longing towards Your judgements [for the] whole summation of time.
[You] Have rebuked presumptuous, continually cursed , straying [ones] from Your commandments.
From [me], roll away reproach (resting in shame [and] disgrace) and contempt, because I [have] kept and observed Your divine testimonies.
Rulers indeed have sat and conversed [about] me; your servant put forth thoughts about Your statutes.
Your divine testimonies indeed [are the] delights [and the] counselors of man.
Whew.
Looking up those grammar notes sheds a lot of light on the translations, but it was interesting that in some areas I really didn't come up with the same thing as the NIV or KJ. I'm gonna say I'm wrong and all the scholars are right, but I put down what I extracted just the same, because I don't think it's a real shift in meaning...just a slightly different focus. Think of it as a tediously constructed paraphrase.
Because the slightly different shades of meaning are thought provoking. Look at verse 21, which in the NIV reads that God rebukes the arrogant, who are cursed and who stray from the law. But my muddling came up with that those who are presumptuous and continually cursed and straying are rebuked by God from His law...just because I couldn't tell the construct of it. I really couldn't tell if it's referring to people who are presumptuous, cursed and straying or if it refers to folks who are presumptuous, folks who are cursed and folks who are straying.. But the concept that God rebuked them from His law kind of made me sit and go, 'Hmmmm..'
Likewise verse 23, which reads that the rulers all slander the psalmist, but he ignores them and meditates on God's decrees. But I rather got that the rulers had sat and talked about him (discussed? Judged? Gossiped?)...yet the Psalmist responded with the statutes of God. Shades of meanings in the Hebrew...long lists of possible translations...make it kind of interesting to explore.
And time consuming, lol. This is going to be a challenge.
I know I haven't given a tidy commentary on Gimel's verses like I did Aleph and Beth, but I learned a lot this week about using the Bible study tools. And I'll confess something...when we first got the Zodhiates volumes, years ago, My Sweet Babboo tried to show me how to look up those grammar notes and it went right over my head. Today it clicked and I got it.
But I think this is my take home message from this set, just the same. No matter how deep you dig in God's word, you will find truth. And there's always more to be found if you dig deeper. So don't give up and don't quit; He's got more and more and more for you.
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