Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 119:138
Thy testimonies [that] thou hast commanded [are] righteous and very faithful.
138. Thou hast commanded thy testimonies in righteousness
And faithfulness to the uttermost.
Cp. Psa 119:86 ; Psa 119:90 ; Psa 119:144 ; Psa 119:151; Deu 4:8. God’s commandments which bear witness to His Will and man’s duty are the expression of His absolute righteousness and of that faithfulness to His covenant which is an inalienable element of that righteousness. Cp. 2Ti 2:13.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded – Thy law, considered as a testimony as to what is right and best.
Are righteous and very faithful – Margin, as in Hebrew, righteousness and faithfulness. They are so righteous, and so deserving of confidence – so certain to be accomplished, and so worthy to be trusted in – that they may be spoken of as righteousness and fidelity of the most perfect kind; the very essence of that which is right.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 138. Thy testimonies] Every thing that proceeds from thee partakes of the perfections of thy nature.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
But this verse is otherwise rendered by all the ancient interpreters, and by divers others, and that more agreeably to the order of the words in the Hebrew text, Thou hast commanded righteousness, even
thy testimonies (or, the righteousness of thy testimonies; or, thy righteous testimonies, by a common Hebraism; or rather, righteousness in or by thy testimonies; nothing being more frequent than the ellipsis of the prefix beth, which signifies in or by) and truth, (or, and true, thy righteous and true testimonies; although the other seems to be the better translation,) earnestly. So the sense is, Thou hast strictly and severely, under the highest obligations and penalties, commanded in thy word that men should be just and true in all their actions. And this agrees very well with the next foregoing verse, wherein he affirmed that God is righteous, and doth righteous things; and then here he adds that he requires righteousness and truth from all men.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded [are] righteous,…. The Scriptures are holy, just, and good; and what is contained in them are according to godliness; are for instruction in righteousness, and teach men to live soberly, righteously, and godly;
and very faithful; or “true” u: all the sayings in them are true and faithful sayings; for they are the sayings of God that cannot lie; the promises in them are faithfully performed by him that made them; they are all yea and amen in Christ. The words may be rendered, “thou hast commanded righteousness [in] thy testimonies, and truth” or faith “exceedingly”: so the Arabic version. God in the law requires of men a perfect righteousness, every way agreeable to its demands; and in his Gospel he reveals the complete righteousness of his Son, which he has commanded to be published in it, to be laid hold on and received by faith as a justifying righteousness, as it is to all that believe: this, with every other truth of the Gospel, is made manifest by the Scriptures according to the commandment of the everlasting God,
Ro 16:25.
u “et verissimae”, Vatablus, “veritas valde, i.e. prorsus verissima”, Gejerus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(138) Thy testimonies.Better, Thou hast commanded Thy testimonies in righteousness and very faithfulness. But unquestionably another arrangement of the text of these two verses is correct. It takes the verb commandest with Psa. 119:137, and gets the simple and obvious righteous art Thou, O Lord, and upright in the judgments which Thou hast commanded. Thy testimonies are righteous, and faithful to the uttermost (Burgess). (See Psa. 7:6 and Psa. 119:144.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 119:138 Thy testimonies [that] thou hast commanded [are] righteous and very faithful.
Ver. 138. Thy testimonies which thou hast commanded ] i.e. The gospel, as Isa 8:20 . And the commandment thereof to hear Christ, Mat 17:5 , and to believe in his name, 1Jn 3:23 ; this is a faithful and true saying, 1Ti 1:15 , not avengelaion, as the Jews blasphemously call it, or fabula de Christo, a fable about Christ, as that blackmouthed pope.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
righteous and very faithful = righteousness and faithfulness.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
testimonies: Psa 119:86, Psa 119:144, Psa 19:7-9, Deu 4:8, Deu 4:45
righteous: Heb. righteousness
faithful: Heb. faithfulness, Psa 119:75
Reciprocal: 1Ki 2:3 – testimonies Psa 19:9 – judgments Psa 93:5 – Thy Psa 119:151 – all Psa 119:160 – Thy word is true from the beginning Psa 119:172 – for all thy Isa 45:19 – speak righteousness
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
119:138 Thy testimonies [that] thou hast commanded [are] {a} righteous and very faithful.
(a) We cannot confess God to be righteous, unless we live uprightly and truly as he has commanded.