What Does Psalm 119:57 Mean?
You are my portion, LORD. I have said I guard your words.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Thou art my portion, O LORD: I have said that I would keep thy words.THE KEY
The LORD is not merely what the speaker receives as a portion; the LORD himself is the share, and his words are held in watchful care.
THE MEANING
The LORD is the reader’s portion: the share that gives life its center. His words are kept close as something entrusted, held with attention as well as fidelity.
THE ROOT
חֶלְקִי
ḥelqî my portion
GROWS FROM
חלק
ḥ-l-q
חָלַק (ḥālaq) means to divide, apportion, or assign a share.
A portion is an allotted share, and here the speaker names the LORD himself as that share. The verse makes belonging the center of the inheritance: the LORD is not just the giver of a portion but the portion named.
ALSO GROWS
ḥālaq: to divide, apportion, or share out
חָלַק
This verb shows the root’s sense of an allotted share: the speaker’s portion is what is assigned to him.
ḥelqāh: a parcel, plot, or portion of land
חֶלְקָה
A portion can be a concrete, bounded share; here the startling claim is that the share is the LORD himself.
אֶשְׁמְרָה
ʾešmerāh I will
GROWS FROM
שמר
š-m-r
שָׁמַר (šāmar) means to guard, watch over, or keep.
“guard” in this verse is ʾešmerāh I will. The word translated “keep” carries the sense of guarding and watching, so the speaker’s vow includes attentive custody of the words. That guarding follows the declaration that the LORD is his portion.
ALSO GROWS
šōmēr: a keeper, guard, or watchman
שׁוֹמֵר
The verse’s “keep” belongs to the language of watching over what is entrusted.
mišmeret: a charge, guard duty, or watch
מִשְׁמֶרֶת
The same root can name an entrusted charge, casting the words as something the speaker keeps in care.
דְּבָרֶיךָ
devārekhā your words
GROWS FROM
דבר
d-b-r
דָּבַר (dāvar) means to speak; the related noun can mean a word, matter, or thing.
The word for “words” is tied to a root of speaking, while its noun form can also mean a matter or thing. The words are spoken, yet they are also something concrete entrusted to the speaker’s keeping.
ALSO GROWS
dibbēr: to speak or say
דִּבֵּר
This verbal form makes the words in the verse the LORD’s speech, not merely an abstract rule.
dāvar: a word, matter, or thing
דָּבָר
The noun’s range lets “words” carry the sense of what has been spoken and what is held as a matter of care.
THE PATTERN
When the LORD is received as one’s portion, keeping his words belongs to the life of that relationship.
The LORD is the portion of my share and of my cup; you hold fast my lot.Therefore Levi has no portion or inheritance with his brothers; the LORD is his inheritance, as the LORD your God spoke to him.Jesus answered and said to him, If anyone loves me, that one will guard my word, and my Father will love that one, and we will come to him and make a place to remain with him.THE THREAD
My flesh and my heart run out, and God is the rock of my heart and my portion for the ages.The Hebrew חֵלֶק (ḥēleq, “portion” or “share”) repeats the same share-language as Psalm 119:57. God remains the reader’s portion even when flesh and heart fail.
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