Mazmur 119:118-120

119:118 You despise ¹  all who stray from your statutes,

for they are deceptive and unreliable. ² 

119:119 You remove all the wicked of the earth like slag. ³ 

Therefore I love your rules. ⁴ 

119:120 My body ⁵  trembles ⁶  because I fear you; ⁷ 

I am afraid of your judgments.

[119:118]  ¹ tn The Hebrew verb סָלָה (salah, “to disdain”) occurs only here and in Lam 1:15. Cognate usage in Aramaic and Akkadian, as well as Lam 1:15, suggest it may have a concrete nuance of “to throw away.”

[119:118]  ² tn Heb “for their deceit [is] falsehood.”

[119:119]  ³ sn Traditionally “dross” (so KJV, ASV, NIV). The metaphor comes from metallurgy; “slag” is the substance left over after the metallic ore has been refined.

[119:119]  ⁴ sn As he explains in the next verse, the psalmist’s fear of judgment motivates him to obey God’s rules.

[119:120]  ⁵ tn Heb “my flesh.”

[119:120]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew verb סָמַר (samar, “to tremble”) occurs only here and in Job 4:15.

[119:120]  ⁷ tn Heb “from fear of you.” The pronominal suffix on the noun is an objective genitive.