How Do You Understand Psalm 138:2b "you have exalted above all things your name and your word."
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How Do You Understand Psalm 138:2b “you have exalted above all things your name and your word.”
God has exalted his word ABOVE his name (KJV) Votes: 3
God has exalted his word according to his name (NASB) Votes: 1
God’s name and word are exalted above all else (NIV,ESV,Holman) Votes: 8
You were true to your word and made yourself more famous (CEV) Votes: 0
It is so ambiguous we cannot know for sure Votes: 1
Other Votes: 0
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We in the fundamental and conservative evangelical camp are often accused of Bibliolotry (Bibli-idolatry) worshiping the Bible, not God.
Psalm 138:2b in the ESV reads:
Psalm 138:2b in the ESV reads:
for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.Psalm 56:4 reads:
In God, whose word I praise,These are pretty potent statements. But how do you think Psalm 138:2b should be understood? And what comments do you have on this subject? In light of Psalm 119 and Psalm 1, is it not true that one primary way we worship God is by absorbing his word with a view toward obeying it? What think ye?
"The Midrash Detective"
interestingly, the tniv is similar to the kjv: “…for you have so exalted your solemn decree / that it surpasses your fame.”
[ChrisC] interestingly, the tniv is similar to the kjv: “…for you have so exalted your solemn decree / that it surpasses your fame.”Interesting, but not as clear as “name.” What do you suppose this means?
"The Midrash Detective"
Interestingly, Leupold simply translates it in a meaningless way and doesn’t even comment on the matter. The word “Word” does not even appear in his translation.
Keil and Delitzsch translate it:
That Thou hast magnified Thy promise above all Thy Name.”
Curious and curiouser.
Do we have a “scandal” on our hands here?
…And I will give thanks to Thy name for Thy loving-kindness and for Thy faithfulness…Derek Kidner, considered the best commentator on Psalms by many of us, says it can’t mean what it seems to mean because that would imply Bibliotaltry. So he rules out the apparently natural rendering a priori, and suggests that the RSV people were right, there must have been a copyist’s error.
Keil and Delitzsch translate it:
That Thou hast magnified Thy promise above all Thy Name.”
Curious and curiouser.
Do we have a “scandal” on our hands here?
"The Midrash Detective"
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