Psalm 34:11-14

Psalm 34:11-14
NL 232

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11 Come,A O children,B listenC to me;

Notes on verse 11a

A “come” = halak. This is go, come, walk. It is walk literally and figuratively and includes people and animals. It can be used figuratively for one’s moral life – how we walk according to God’s way or against it. It can also refer to the walk of life as in the course one’s life takes, the choices we make, etc.
B “children” = ben. From banah (to build or obtain children). This is son, age, child. It is son in a literal or figurative sense.
C “listen” = shama. This is to hear, call, consent, or consider. It implies listening intelligently, giving attention, and, because of these two factors, obedience and action are often implied.

    I will teachD you the fearE of the Lord.F

Notes on verse 11b

D “teach” = lamad. Properly, this refers to goading (using a pointed stick to guide or prod one’s flock). By implication, it means teaching or instructing.
E “fear” = yirah. From yare (to fear, be afraid, dreadful; also fearful reverence – to fear in a moral sense is to say to revere, respect). This is fear or reverence.
F “Lord” = YHVH. From havah (to be, become) or hayah (to come to pass, become, be). This is the name of the God of Israel, the self-existent and eternal one, the tetragrammaton. This pronunciation has been lost to time so “Lord” is generally used in its place.

12 Which of youG desiresH lifeI

Notes on verse 12a

G “you” = ish. Perhaps from enosh (human, humankind, mortal); from anash (to be weak, sick, or frail). This is man, husband, another, or humankind.
H “desires” = chaphets. 11x in OT. From chaphets (properly, inclined towards or bending to; figuratively, to desire, delight in, or be pleased with). This is to delight in, desire, or show favor.
I “life” = chay. From chayah (to live or keep alive literally or figuratively). This is alive, living, lifetime. It can also be used to describe someone’s age. It can refer to animals, plants, water, or a company or congregation of people. It is life in a very broad sense.

    and covetsJ many daysK to enjoyL good?M

Notes on verse 12b

J “covets” = aheb. This is to love, beloved, friend. It is to have affection for sexually or otherwise.
K “days” = yom. Root may mean being hot. This is the day in a literal or figurative sense. It can also mean birth, age, daylight, continually or other references to time.
L “enjoy” = raah. This is to see in a literal or figurative sense so stare, advise, think, view.
M “good” = tob. From tob (to be pleasing, to be good). This is good, beautiful, pleasant, agreeable, bountiful, at ease. This word is used for goodness as a concept, a good thing, a good person. This can refer to prosperity and welfare as well as joy, kindness, sweetness, and graciousness. So, this is ethically good, but also enjoyably good.

13 KeepN your tongueO from evilP

Notes on verse 13a

N “keep” = natsar. This is to watch, guard, protect. It can be positive – preserve or obey. It can be negative as conceal.
O “tongue” = lashon. This is tongue, talker, language, or wedge. It can also be a tongue of flame or a water cove.
P “evil” = ra’. From ra’a’ (to be evil, bad, afflict; properly, to spoil – to destroy by breaking into pieces; figuratively, to cause something to be worthless; this is bad in a physical, social, or moral sense; that which displeases, to do harm or mischief, to punish or vex). This is bad, disagreeable, that which causes pain, misery, something having little or no value, something that is ethically bad, wicked, injury, calamity. This refers to anything that is not what it ought to be – a natural disaster, a disfigurement, an injury, a sin.

    and your lipsQ from speakingR deceit.S
14 DepartT from evil, and doU good;

Notes on verses 13b-14a

Q “lips” = saphah. This is lip, edge, border, bank – used for a boundary. It can also be speech or language.
R “speaking” = dabar. This is generally to speak, answer, declare, or command. It might mean to arrange and so to speak in a figurative sense as arranging words.
S “deceit” = mirmah. From ramah (to betray, deceive, beguile). This is deceit, treachery, guile, or fraud.
T “depart” = sur. This is to turn aside in a literal or figurative sense – to depart, decline, rebel, remove, or withdraw.
U “do” = asah. This is to make, do, act, appoint, become in many senses.

    seekV peace,W and pursueX it.

Notes on verse 14b

V “seek” = baqash. This is to seek, ask, desire, or request. It can be any kind of searching. It can also mean to worship or pray – implies a striving for.
W “peace” = shalom. From shalam (to be complete or sound; to have safety mentally, physically, or extending to one’s estate; so, if these things are safe and complete, the implication is that one would be friendly; and, if being friendly, one would make amends and that friendship would be reciprocated). This is completeness, soundness, welfare, favor, friend, good health. It is to be safe and figuratively well, happy, at peace, friendly. Abstractly, it includes the ideas of welfare and prosperity (not in excessive wealth, but in having enough).
X “pursue” = radaph. This is to chase after, pursue, hunt, or persecute. It is running after someone or something, generally with hostile motives.


Image credit: “The Mandrill” by Franz Marc, 1913.

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