to separate mentally (or distinguish) · verb, hiphil imperative, 2nd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix
learn
וְאֶלְמְדָ֥הve.'el.me.Dah
H3925
properly · conjunction + verb, qal infinitive construct, 1st person common singular
commandments
מִצְוֹתֶֽיךָmitz.vo.Tei.kha
H4687
a command · noun, common feminine plural 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
Psalms 139:14-16 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
Job 31:15 Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb?
Psalms 138:8 The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.
Psalms 111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.
2 Timothy 2:7 Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.
Job 32:8 But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.
Psalms 119:125 I am thy servant; give me understanding, that I may know thy testimonies.
1 John 5:20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is tr…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 119:73
Here, 1. David adores God as the God of nature and the author of his being: Thy hands have made me and fashioned me, Job 10:8. Every man is as truly the work of God's hands as the first man was, Psa 139:15, Psa 139:16. "Thy hands have not only made me, and given me a being, otherwise I should never have been, but fashioned me, and given me this being, this noble and excellent being, endued with these powers and faculties;" and we must own that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. 2. He addresses himself to God as the God of grace, and begs he will be the author of his new and better being. God made us to serve him and enjoy him; but by sin we have made ourselves unable for his service and…
JOD.--The Tenth Part.
JOD. Thy hands have made me and fashioned me,.... Not the psalmist himself, nor his parents, but the Lord alone: for though parents are fathers of our flesh, they are but instruments in the hand of the Lord; though man is produced by natural generation, yet the formation and fashioning of men are as much owing to the power and wisdom of God, which are his hands, as the formation of Adam was. Job owns this in much the same words as the psalmist does, Job 10:8; see Psalm 139:13. God not only gives conception, and forms the embryo in the womb, but fashions and gives it its comely and proportionate parts. Or, "covered me"; the first word may respect conception, and this th…
Psalm 119:73-80
y 73. Thy hands have made and fashioned me: make me to understand, that I may learn thy commandments. y 74. They who fear thee shall see me and be glad; because I have hoped in thy word. y 75. I have known, O Jehovah! That thy judgments are justice; and thou hast humbled me in truth. y 76. I beseech thee let thy goodness be for my consolation, according to thy word to thy servant. y 77. Let thy compassion's come unto me, and let me live: for thy law is my delight. y 78. Let the proud be put to shame; for they have falsely endeavored to pervert me: I will meditate on thy precepts. y 79. Let such as fear thee turn unto me, and those who have known thy testimonies. y 80. Let my…
The Church Fathers
Futile is the act of the father and mother, unless the Creator's work and will also touch the offspring. "Your hands have made me and formed me." And elsewhere it is written, "You have formed me and have laid your hand on me." Therefore, we do not owe our birth and life to ourselves, but we owe them entirely to our Creator.
But though we were to allow some prerogative to the Protoplast as having been deemed worthy of the hand of God, still it must be one of honor, not of nature. For he came from the earth, as other people, and the hand that then fashioned Adam is also both now and ever fashioning and giving entire consistency [same human nature] to those who come after him. And God declares this to Jeremiah, as I said before: "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you";25 and so he says of all, "All those things have my hand made"; and again by Isaiah, "Thus says the Lord, your redeemer, and he that formed you from the womb, I am the Lord that makes all things; that stretches forth the heavens alone; that spreads abroad the earth by myself." And David, knowing this, says in the psalm, "Your hands have made me and fashioned me"; and he who says in Isaiah, "Thus says the Lord who formed me from the womb to be his servant," signifies the same. Therefore, in respect of nature, Christ differs nothing from us though he precede us in time, so long as we all consist and are created by the same hand.
...For this I say, if only you have understood my words, I certainly have spoken and my words have sounded, and by their sound have reached your ears, and through your sense of hearing have carried their meaning to your mind, if so be you have understood. Suppose that some person of Latin speech has heard, but has only heard without understanding, what I have said. As regards the noise issuing from my mouth, he who has understood not has been a sharer therein just like yourselves. He has heard that sound; the same syllables have smote on his ears, but they have produced no effect on his mind. Why? Because he understood not. But if you have understood, whence comes your understanding? My words have sounded in the ear: have I kindled any light in the heart? Without doubt, if what I have said is true, and this truth you have not only heard, but also understood, two things have there been wrought (distinguish between them), hearing and intelligence. Hearing has been wrought by me, but by whom has understanding? I have spoken to the ear, that you might hear; who has spoken to your heart for understanding? Doubtless some one has also said something to your heart, that not only the noise of words might strike your ear, but something also of the truth might descend into your heart. Some one has spoken also to your heart, but you do not see him. If, brethren, you have understood, your heart also has been spoken to. Intelligence is the gift of God. And who, if you have understood, has spoken so in your heart, but He to whom the Psalm says, "Give me understanding, that I may learn Thy commandments?"
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,…
Man · CREATED — CREATED
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).
The eightfold Jod. God humbles, but He also exalts again according to His word; for this the poet prays in order that he may be a consolatory example to the God-fearing, to the confusion of his enemies. It is impossible that God should forsake man, who is His creature, and deny to him that which makes him truly happy, viz., the understanding and knowledge of His word. For this spiritual gift the poet prays in Psa 119:73 (cf. on 73a, Deu 32:6; Job 10:8; Job 31:15); and he wishes in Psa 119:74 that all who fear God may see in him with joy an example of the way in which trust in the word of God is rewarded (cf. Psa 34:3; Psa 35:27; Psa 69:33; Psa 107:42, and other passages). He knows that God's…
Yodh (י): In this prayer for comfort and compassion, the psalmist commits himself to his Creator, who has afflicted him. He wants God to pay back his enemies for the wrongs they have done. He also prays to receive the gift of life. He not only prays for himself but also considers the whole community of the godly, asking that God’s answers to prayer would encourage them.
119:73-76 As God’s child, the psalmist asks for divine wisdom.
