Thijs Booij, «Psalm 119,89-91», Vol. 79 (1998) 539-541

Verses 89-91 offer one of the few passages in Psalm 119, which show clear inner progress and coherence. The author here analyses some ideas and notions, which speak about the word whereby in heaven YHWH reigns over the world. He ends with a new translation of the passage.

one of human life on earth (cf. rd in e.g. Exod 1,6; Qoh 1,4). Stability is now related to YHWH’s faithfulness (hnwm)). By this "firmness" (Exod 17,12) of his being he has made the earth stand fast and guarantees human existence on it (cf. Ps 89,9ff.; Isa 45,18; 48,12-13).

        In v. 91, by Ky+p#$ml, the notion of "standing" (dm[) is connected with YHWH’s authoritative word (v. 89). Elsewhere dm(, connected with l, is used in a variety of meanings: "stand at" (Ps 109,31), "stand as" (Isa 11,10; Dan 11,1), "represent" (Ezra 10,14), "stand waiting for" (1 Kgs 20,38), "arise for" (Esth 4,14; Dan 11,2; 12,13; Ezra 2,63; Neh 7,65), "remain with" (Qoh 2,9). Since none of them suits the context in Ps 119,91 ⁵, we may assume that l, as in v. 154, means "according to" ⁶, dm( being used in exactly the same sense as in v. 90. The plural wdm( seems to be problematic. It is often assumed that wdm( has heaven and earth as a subject ⁷; this view, however, is open to the objection that Mym#$ (v. 89) is part of a prepositional group which, moreover, stands fairly remote from wdm( (v. 91) ⁸. As wdm( matches Kydb( of the second stich, it is unlikely that, in agreement with dmo(jt%a of v. 90b, the singular hfdm.(f should be read ⁹. Two reasons might be considered for the subject not being mentioned in this verse: (a) the subject could not be indicated briefly; (b) somehow it had been indicated already. In fact, both are the case. What the author has in mind as a subject is the earth (v. 90b), this time as a plurality. When Cr), "earth", is used in a collective sense, it generally refers to the inhabitants of the earth (Gen 19,31; 1 Kgs 2,2; Ps 66,1.4) or to the earth together with all creatures upon it (Ex 19,5; Ps 69,35; 96,11). In Ps 119,90, however, Cr) does not include that "fullness", but is just the habitable earth, and this must be the meaning supposed in the next verse ¹⁰. So v. 91 speaks of the terrestrial world as YHWH established it, a constellation of things "standing according to his statutes", once put in order by his authoritative word (v. 89). The author does not say what things he means,