Proverbia 119:160

Nova Vulgata

Principium verborum tuorum veritas, in aeternum omnia iudicia iustitiae tuae.

Parallel Translations

Jerome's Latin Vulgate (405)
span data-lang="lat" data-trans="jvl" data-ref="psa.119.1" class="versetxt"> Canticum graduum. [Ad Dominum cum tribularer clamavi,
et exaudivit me.
Domine, libera animam meam a labiis iniquis
et a lingua dolosa.
Quid detur tibi, aut quid apponatur tibi
ad linguam dolosam?
Sagitt� potentis acut�,
cum carbonibus desolatoriis.
Heu mihi, quia incolatus meus prolongatus est!
habitavi cum habitantibus Cedar;
multum incola fuit anima mea.
Cum his qui oderunt pacem eram pacificus;
cum loquebar illis, impugnabant me gratis.]

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Thy word is true from the beginning: Heb. The beginning of the word is true, Psalms 119:86, Psalms 119:138, Proverbs 30:5, 2 Timothy 3:16

and every one: Psalms 119:75, Psalms 119:142, Psalms 119:144, Psalms 119:152, Ecclesiastes 3:14, Matthew 5:18

Reciprocal: Leviticus 20:22 - judgments Nehemiah 9:13 - true laws Psalms 19:9 - judgments Psalms 56:4 - In God I will Psalms 111:7 - all his Psalms 119:66 - I Have Psalms 119:89 - For ever Romans 3:4 - let God

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Thy word [is] true [from] the beginning,.... Every word of promise God made from the beginning of the world, and in any period of time; as to Adam, to Abraham, to the Israelites, or to any other person or persons; was true in itself, and faithfully performed, not one ever failed; particularly the promise concerning the Messiah, made to Adam in Eden; and which has been spoken of by all the prophets which have been since the world began, Genesis 3:15. Or it maybe rendered, as the Targum,

"the beginning of thy word is truth h:''

which a man finds to be so as soon as ever he enters upon the reading of it. Some refer this to the first chapter of Genesis; others to the first part of the decalogue, concerning the unity of God and his worship; so Aben Ezra, and R. Jeshua, as cited by him, and Jarchi; the same is mentioned by Kimchi as one of the senses, though the first he gives is agreeable to our version: but there is no need to restrain the sense to those particulars, or to the first part of the Scriptures, since the whole is truth; and the meaning may be, "the sum of thy word is truth" i: so the word here used is sometimes taken for the sum of anything, Numbers 26:2; all that is contained in the word of God is truth; its promises, precepts and doctrines, histories, prophecies and proverbs, all the sayings of it are faithful and true;

and everyone of thy righteous judgments [endureth] for ever; every precept of the word, and doctrine of it; see Psalms 119:152.

h ראש דבריך אמת "principium verbi tui veritas", Pagninus, Musculus; "vel verborum tuorum", V. L. i "Summa verbi tui est veritas", Cocceius, Schmidt.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Thy word is true from the beginning - literally, “The head of thy word is truth.” Probably the meaning is, that the “principles” of God’s word were truth, or were based on truth. The main thing - that on which all relied - was truth, absolute truth. It was not “made” truth by the mere will of God, but it was “founded on” essential truth. Compare Psalms 119:142, note; Psalms 119:144, note. Margin, “The beginning of thy word is true.” Its origin is truth; its foundation is truth; its essential nature is truth. See Psalms 19:9.

And every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever - Since any one of thy laws is as certainly founded in truth as any other, it must be that all alike are eternal and unchanging. It must be so with all the essential principles of morality. Mere regulations in regard to rites and ceremonies may be altered, as local and municipal laws among men may be; but essential principles of justice cannot be. A civil corporation - the government of a city or borough - may change its regulations about streets, and culverts, and taxes; but they can never enact laws authorizing murder or theft; nor can they alter the essential nature of honesty and dishonesty; of truth and falsehood.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Psalms 119:160. Thy word is true from the beginning — ראש rosh, the head or beginning of thy word, is true. Does he refer to the first word in the Book of Genesis, בראשית bereshith, "in the beginning?" The learned reader knows that ראש rash, or raash, is the root in that word. Every word thou hast spoken from the first in Bereshith (Genesis) to the end of the law and prophets, and all thou wilt yet speak, as flowing from the fountain of truth, must be true; and all shall have in due time, their fulfillment. And all these, thy words endure for ever. They are true, and ever will be true.

ANALYSIS OF LETTER RESH. - Twentieth Division

I. 1. The psalmist begins with a petition: "Consider my affliction."

2. Begs that God would help him: "Deliver me."

3. The reason for both: "I do not forget thy law."

4. He begs God to be his Advocate: 1. "Plead my cause." At the bar of men a just cause often miscarries for want of an able advocate, and is borne down by an unjust judge. Be thou my Advocate, and I shall not fail. 2. "Quicken me:" Revive my hopes, give new life to my soul.

II. He believes he shall be heard, because -

1. "Salvation is far from the wicked:" But he does not forget God's law.

2. "They seek not God's statutes:" But he meditates in God's law day and night.

III. If he ever miscarries, or comes short, he flees to God for mercy.

1. On God's mercies he bestows two epithets: 1. They are great or many, and they endure for ever. 2. They are tender; they are misericordiae, q.d., miseria cordis, feelings which occasion pain and distress to the heart. רחמים rachamim, such as affect and flow from the tender yearnings of the bowels. The word signifies what a mother feels for the infant that lay in her womb, and hangs on her breast.

2. He prays to be quickened. Let me not die, but live.

IV. He complains of his adversaries: -

1. They are many: Many devils, many men; many visible, more invisible.

2. Yet he continued steadfast: "I do not decline," c.

3. They were "transgressors:" Not simple sinners, but workers of iniquity.

4. He was greatly distressed on their account: "I beheld them, and was grieved."

V. He brings this as a proof of his attachment to God.

1. "Consider how I love:" No man dare say to God, "Look upon me," but he who is persuaded that when God looks upon him he will like him. This was a sure proof of the psalmist's sincerity.

2. He loves not merely the blessings he receives from God, but he loves God's law and none will love this, who does not delight in obedience. And how few are there of this character, even in the Church of God!

3. And because he loves he prays to be quickened. The soul only which is spiritually alive, can obey.

VI. He concludes with a commendation of God's word.

1. "Thy word is true," in its principle and in all its details, from Adam to Moses; from Moses to Christ, from Christ to the present time; and from the present time to the end of the world.

2. For it "endures for ever:" All other things wear out or decay; lose their testimony, and become obsolete. But God will ever bear testimony to his own word, and continue to support its veracity by fulfilling it to all successive generations.