Aleph and the rest of psalm 119, for that matter uses certain terms. A complete english version of psalm 119 from the king james bible was completed by frederick steinruck, michael misiaszek, and michael owens. It is known among the germans as the christians golden a b c of the praise, love, power, and use of the word of god. Why is the word aleph under the beginning of psalms 119. In modern hebrew, the letter bet can appear in three forms. Blessed are those who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart they do no wrong but follow his ways.
Each line of the eight verse stanza begins with the same hebrew letter, and the psalm progresses alphabetically through the hebrew alephbet. Meditations on the excellencies of the word of god. The closest book that mocks this pattern in scripture is found in lamentations 3, which is also divided into 22 sections. For each of the 22 consonants in the hebrew language, the psalmist has composed an eightverse paragraph called a strophe or stanza in poetic structure. Because psalm 119 is divided into 22 eightverse sections, each section then represents a hebrew letter. The book of psalms is actually the ancient hebrew songbook, and psalm 119 is an especially long song, with 176 verses. Write the manual print version or block version and cursive version of bet as follows. Psalm 119 is an alphabetical acrostic poemorganized in 22 stanzas according to the 22 letters of the hebrew alphabet from aleph through tav.
This psalm is actually written as an acrostic poem. Each of the hebrew words at the beginning of the 8set verses is a letter of the hebrew alphabet. Each of the eight verses in a stanza begins with the same letter. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who are in the right way to heaven and happiness, which is jesus christ. Psalm 119 blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the lord. There are 8 verses per letter describing the meaning of the letter. God used exactly the same word to open the first verse of the great alphabetic psalm 119. Torah v 1, testimonies v 2, from the hebrew word edut, precepts v 4, from the hebrew piqqud, statutes v 5, from the hebrew choq, commandments v 6, from the hebrew mitsvah, and judgments v 7, from the hebrew mishpat. This psalm is an acrostic poem of twentytwo stanzas, following the letters of the hebrew alphabet. Psalm 119 nkjv meditations on the excellencies of the. Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the book of psalms, is an alphabetical acrostic. I hope that you enjoy this series of studies in psalm 119. The jews spoke hebrew, so they wrote psalm 119 in the hebrew language.
Psalm 119 aleph blessed are those whose way is blameless. The equivalent alphabet in the new testament, which is written in greek, would be alpha and omega see revelation 1. The persecution and affliction of the man and woman of god is a major theme of psalm 119. The word ashri is extremely well established by scripture as an aleph keyword. And the author of psalm 119 was no doubt a brilliant thinker. Blessed are those who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart read verse in new international version. The first psalm opens with the aleph keyword ashri, blessed. Aleph blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the lord. Psalm 119 has seven verses starting with each of the letters. You have commanded us to keep your precepts diligently. All eight verses of this section of psalm 119 begin with aleph, the 1st letter of the hebrew alphabet. Aleph is the first letter of the hebrew alphabet, and designed, perhaps, on that account, to mark the first part of this psalm. It is a common method not only in psalms, but also in rabbinic poetry piyut where many start with an aleph through taw or a taw through aleph motif. The grounds for the prayer are established in the first two stanzas alef and beth.
Joyful are those who obey his laws and search for him with all their hearts. Websters bible blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to yahwehs law. Aleph blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the lord. To make it easier for the temple singers to remember the lines, the psalmist. You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed. Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with the whole heart. Blessed are the undefiled hebrew, temimee, the perfect, or sincere, as the word properly and most frequently signifies. Psalm 119 is wellknown as the bibles longest chapter. Acrostic psalms we can learn the alephbet by examining various biblical passages which are written as acrostics alphabetically ordered verses and each first word commencing with each hebrew letter of the alphabet in turn, from 1 through to 22. So if you were reading in hebrew, each line of psalm 119.
Ps 119 is an acrostic poem, which has 22 stanzas of eight verses. They do not compromise with evil, and they walk only in his paths. You have charged us to keep your commandments carefully. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the lord 2 blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart 3 they also do no iniquity. Psalm 119aleph blessed are those who live without blame. This is more a devotional book than an expository book, but has been helpful for sermon preparation. You may want to tape each page to a wall in your home for a month as you work on memorizing it. Psalm 119 niv bible blessed are those whose ways are. The first eight verses all begin with the letter aleph. For instance, the first eight verse stanza all start with the aleph, and the second stanza all start with the bet. Psalm 119 is divided into 22 sets of eightverse strophes, or sections. Make me walk in the path of your commandments psalm 119. Youngs concordance provides additional definitions. Intro to psalm 119 and the hebrew alephbet foreverfiner.
Billions await jesus christs return to set up the kingdom of god. Psalm 119, new international readers version nirv the. Each month we will be delving deep into the longest chapter in the bible, psalm 119, which just so happens to be focused on the importance. In the jewish tanakh the old testament, hebrew is the language of choice and several books include word games invisible in translation. Each portion begins with a letter of the hebrew alphabet. O the happiness of those perfect in the way, they are walking in the law of jehovah, youngs literal bible aleph. Another prominent theme in psalm 119 is the profound truth that the word of god is allsufficient. Hebrew alphabetic acrostics significance and translation. Since it may be considered too long to memorize or read during personal or family.
Psalm 119 nlt psalm 119 aleph joyful are people of. What is the significance of the words aleph, beth, gimel etc listed in psalm 119. Oh, that my actions would consistently reflect your decrees. Please explain the meaning of the symbols and words dividing the. Esv 1 blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the lord. The theme of going through the alephbet is to use each letter in praise of gd. Psalm 119 is a famous example, written with 8 verses for each of the hebrew consonants in order, so verses 18 each have a first word beginning with. Ps 119 is one of the most complete and extensive examples of a he brew alphabetic.
Blessed are those who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart they do no wrong but. The verses of each stanza begin with the same letter of each of the hebrew alphabet, such as aleph. Oh, that my ways were directed to keep your statutes. Verses 916 all begin with beth, and so on throughout the psalm.
Psalm 119 aleph joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the lord. In the taped series from which this book was drawn, there is a great deal of detailed exegesis from my study of. Aleph to tau notes available for download here are page layouts for the 22 eightverse sections of psalm 119. Psalm 119 is known as the longest chapter of the bible, this psalm is one of the acrostics. Some have thought that the division of this psalm is according to the poetry of the hebrews. Psalm 119 is the 119th psalm of the book of psalms, generally known in english by its first. The hebrew alphabet, acrostic psalms, picture letters. Unlike the other acrostics, which contain only one verse for each of the.
Here is a list of all acrostic passages in the hebrew bible. Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees. Psalm 119 letters and meanings psalm 119 contains the 22 letters of the hebrew alphabet. Study the bible online using commentary on psalms 119 and more. What is the significance of the words aleph, beth, gimel. Psalm 119 is written in praise of torah, gods law or teaching.
Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the lord. The series of psalm 119 numbers amoung one of the great series preached by dr douglas in lisburn. Czech composer antonin dvorak set verses 114, 117, 119 and 120 to music in his biblical songs 1894. What is the significance of the words aleph, beth, gimel etc listed. Psalm 119 6409 final basic training bible ministries. It is divided into 22 sections according to the number of letters in the hebrew alphabet.
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