Sunday, February 12, 2023

Psalm 119:29

About a month ago, as I was reading the Daleth part of Psalm 119, I noticed something about verse 29 that may be pretty obvious.  In the Hebrew, it's:
דֶּֽרֶךְ־שֶׁקֶר הָסֵר מִמֶּנִּי וְֽתוֹרָתְךָ חָנֵּֽנִי׃
In the ESV, this is:
Put false ways far from me and graciously teach me your law!
In the NIV:
Keep me from deceitful ways; be gracious to me through your law.
In all of these, "me" (the נִּי suffix) is about as far from "false ways"/"deceitful ways" (it's singular in Hebrew:  דֶּֽרֶךְ־שֶׁקֶר) as it can be in the clause, illustrating the separation that the Psalmist wishes for.

The Latin Vulgate is similar, whether according to the Hebrew:
viam mendacii aufer a me et legem tuam dona mihi
Or according to the Septuagint:
viam iniquitatis amove a me et lege tua miserere mei
Both of these actually follow the Hebrew word order more closely than the English translations do, with דֶּֽרֶךְ־שֶׁקֶר ("viam mendacii" or "viam iniquitatis") preceding מִמֶּנִּי ("a me").

This distance isn't present in all of the translations I lookt at, though.  In the New King James Version, this verse is:
Remove from me the way of lying, and grant me Your law graciously.
And in my German Psalter:
Halte fern von mir den Weg der Lüge und gib mir in Gnaden dein Gesetz.
In both of these, "me" ("mir") and "the way of lying" ("den Weg der Lüge") are side by side.