What Does Psalm 119:138 Mean in the King James?
Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
God’s instruction is a witness to alignment, and its steadiness is part of what it testifies.
THE MEANING
What God commands bears witness to alignment and remains steady. The verse holds straightness and reliability together in the instruction you encounter now.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that God’s commands are arbitrary or unstable: they are aligned and steadfast.
THE ROOT
עֵדֹתֶיךָ
edotekha
GROWS FROM
עוד
ʿ-w-d
bear witness, testify
The word translated “testimonies” carries the sense of witnesses and testimony. The commanded words stand as witnesses to what is aligned.
ALSO GROWS
ʿed: witness
עֵד
This branch shows the testimony as a witness that makes alignment visible.
heʿid: testify, bear witness
הֵעִיד
This verb makes the witness active: the instruction testifies to the alignment it embodies.
צֶדֶק
tsedeq
GROWS FROM
צדק
ts-d-q
alignment, rightness
“righteous” in this verse is tsedeq. Tzedek names alignment with what is straight or right. The testimonies’ witness and their direction agree: the instruction reflects the alignment it announces.
ALSO GROWS
tsaddiq: a righteous or aligned person
צַדִּיק
The same root describes a person whose way is aligned.
tsedaqah: justice, righteousness
צְדָקָה
This branch carries alignment into action and right relation.
אֱמוּנָה
emunah
GROWS FROM
אמן
ʾ-m-n
firm, steady
“faithful” in this verse is emunah. Emunah carries the sense of firmness and steadiness. The testimonies are not only aligned; they are steady enough to be relied upon.
ALSO GROWS
neʾeman: reliable, firm
נֶאֱמָן
This related word describes what proves dependable because it holds firm.
amen: firm; so be it
אָמֵן
Amen echoes the same firmness, expressing something established and affirmed.
THE PATTERN
God’s instruction and character bear witness to alignment and remain steady under every condition.
The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he can not deny himself.THE THREAD
The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.“Sure” translates נֶאֱמָן (neʾeman, firm and reliable), from the same root אמן (ʾ-m-n, firmness) as אֱמוּנָה (emunah, steadiness) here. Both verses describe the LORD’s testimony as something that holds firm.
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