Psalms 119:109

My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget thy law.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
soul	נַפְשִׁ֣י naf.Shi	H5315	properly · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix
continually	תָמִ֑יד ta.Mid	H8548	properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
hand	בְכַפִּ֣י ve.kha.Pi	H3709	the hollow hand or palm (so of the paw of an animal · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix
forget	שָׁכָֽחְתִּי sha.Kha.che.ti	H7911	to mislay · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
law	וְ֝תֽוֹרָתְךָ֗ ve.to.ra.te.kha	H8451	a precept or statute · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Judges 12:3 And when I saw that ye delivered me not, I put my life in my hands, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and the LORD delivered th…
Job 13:14 Wherefore do I take my flesh in my teeth, and put my life in mine hand?
1 Corinthians 15:31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
1 Samuel 19:5 For he did put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, and the LORD wrought a great salvation for all Israel: thou sawest it, and did…
1 Samuel 20:3 And David sware moreover, and said, Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thine eyes; and he saith, Let not Jonathan know…
Psalms 119:83 For I am become like a bottle in the smoke; yet do I not forget thy statutes.
Psalms 119:117 Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe: and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually.
Psalms 119:152 Concerning thy testimonies, I have known of old that thou hast founded them for ever.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 119:109-110

Here is, 1. David in danger of losing his life. There is but a step between him and death, for the wicked have laid a snare for him; Saul did so many a time, because he hated him for his piety. Wherever he was he found some design or other laid against him to take away his life, for it was that they aimed at. What they could not effect by open force they hoped to compass by treachery, which made him say, My soul is continually in my hand. It was so with him, not only as a man (so it is true of us all; wherever we are we lie exposed to the strokes of death; what we carry in our hands is easily snatched away from us by violence, or if sandy, as our life is, it easily of itself slips through ou…

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John Gill on Psalms 119:109

My soul is continually in my hand,.... In the utmost jeopardy, always exposed to danger, ever delivered unto death; killed all the day long, or liable to be so: this is the sense of the phrase; see Judges 12:3; for what is in a man's hands may easily fall, or be taken out of them: so the Targum, "my soul is in danger upon the back of my hands continually;'' the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions, read, "in thy hands"; but wrongly; yet do I not forget thy law; it was written on his heart, and fixed in his mind; he had a true affection for it, and a hearty desire to keep it; and no danger could divert him from his duty; as Daniel, though he carried his life in his hand,…

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John Calvin on Psalms 119:105-112

Psalm 119:105-112 n 105. Thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path. n 106. I have sworn, and will conform, to keep thy righteous judgments. n 107. I am greatly afflicted, O Jehovah! quicken me according to thy word. n 108. O Jehovah! I beseech thee let the free-will-offerings of my mouth be acceptable to thee, and teach me thy judgments. n 109. My soul is continually in my hand; and I have not forgotten thy law. n 110. The wicked have laid a snare for me; and, have not erred from thy statutes. n 111. I have thy testimonies as an inheritance forever; for they are the joy of my heart. n 112. I have inclined my heart to perform thy statutes forever, to the end. 105. Thy word is a…

The Church Fathers

"My soul is alway in Thy hand" (ver. 109). Some copies read, "in my hand:" but most, "in Thy hand;" and this latter is indeed easy. For "the souls of the righteous are in God's hand: in whose hand are both we and our words." "And I do not forget Thy law:" as if his memory were aided to remember God's law by the hands of Him in whose hands is his soul. But how the words, "My soul is in my hands," can be understood, I know not. For these are the words of the righteous, not of the ungodly; of one who is returning to the Father, not departing from the Father? ...Is it perhaps said, "My soul is in my hands," in this sense, as if he offered it to God to be quickened? Whence in another passage it is said, "Unto Thee, O Lord, have I lifted up my soul." Since here too he had said above, "Quicken Thou me."
— Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 119

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Poetry — Has been well defined as “the measured language of emotion.” Hebrew poetry deals almost exclusively with the great question of man’s relation to God. “Guilt, condemnation, punishment, pardon,…
Obedience · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Psalms 119:109

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 119:109-110

John Gill on Psalms 119:109

John Calvin on Psalms 119:105-112

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Psalms 119:109

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 119:109-110

John Gill on Psalms 119:109

John Calvin on Psalms 119:105-112

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Psalms 119:105-112

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Psalms 119:108-112