Psalms 119:111
Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart.
Study Note
Study Note
'Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart' — the Hebrew 'heritage' (naḥalâ) is the word for tribal land-inheritance in Israel, suggesting that the psalmist has claimed the Torah as permanent property in the same way that land-inheritance was inalienable. The 'for ever' qualifies not merely duration but the permanence of covenantal identity: the testimonies cannot be lost, sold, or forfeited. The emotional corollary — 'the rejoicing of my heart' — resists any reading of Torah-devotion as mere legalistic obligation, and anticipates Psalm 1's 'delight' in the law, shaping the tradition of Jewish and Christian lectio divina as joyful appropriation rather than anxious compliance.
Other Translations
Thy testimonies have I taken as a heritage for ever; For they are the rejoicing of my heart.
I have inherited Thy testimonies to the age, For the joy of my heart <FI>are<Fi> they.
I have taken your unchanging word as an eternal heritage; for it is the joy of my heart.
Cross References
Moses commanded us a law, even the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob.
No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou …
Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of …
To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, …
Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in …
Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy …
To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
I have longed for thy salvation, O Lord; and thy law is my delight.
I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil.
Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.