Nun

נַ

We have a psalm in our worship most Sunday mornings, presented in various ways, read or sung or chanted. The psalm is meant liturgically to be our response to the First Reading, which generally is from the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament. This coming Sunday, June 13, the psalm is a portion of Psalm 119: verses 105 - 112. We will be reading the psalm at my church, but my preference might have been to sing our praise song version by Michael Smith and Amy Grant. Almost anything involving Amy Grant is a blessing in worship, certainly to God, but especially to the worshipers.

Here, from the KJV, is the psalm portion we shall read:


Psalm 119:105-112 King James Version (KJV)
105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
106 I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments.
107 I am afflicted very much: quicken me, O Lord, according unto thy word.
108 Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord, and teach me thy judgments.
109 My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget thy law.
110 The wicked have laid a snare for me: yet I erred not from thy precepts.
111 Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart.
112 I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes alway, even unto the end.

Here’s a link to the praise song with the Maranatha Singers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SLHWFpSlq4

Psalm 119 is an acrostic, which means that verse by verse the psalmist works it letter by letter through the Hebrew alphabet. So, in sequence, alef, beth, gimel, daleth and right on. Psalm 119 is the longest of them all because, instead of the usual arrangement of beginning each successive verse with the next letter, the poet creates an eight-verse stanza for each letter. The acrostic nature is that the first letter of the verse is with the designated letter. Being forced, this can and sometimes does make for awkward poetry that doesn’t seem to flow. Obvious in the Hebrew by the sound, even to those who don’t read or speak Hebrew, the gimmick is undetectable in any other language, including our English translations. But it can be seen in the selection below, Psalm 119:105-112, each of the eight verses begins with the letter “nun.”  
תהילים 119:105-112The Westminster Leningrad Codex (
105 נֵר־לְרַגְלִ֥י דְבָרֶ֑ךָ וְ֝אֹ֗ור לִנְתִיבָתִֽי׃
106 נִשְׁבַּ֥עְתִּי וָאֲקַיֵּ֑מָה לִ֝שְׁמֹ֗ר מִשְׁפְּטֵ֥י צִדְקֶֽךָ׃
107 נַעֲנֵ֥יתִי עַד־מְאֹ֑ד יְ֝הוָ֗ה חַיֵּ֥נִי כִדְבָרֶֽךָ׃
108 נִדְבֹ֣ות פִּ֭י רְצֵה־נָ֣א יְהוָ֑ה וּֽמִשְׁפָּטֶ֥יךָ לַמְּדֵֽנִי׃
109 נַפְשִׁ֣י בְכַפִּ֣י תָמִ֑יד וְ֝תֹֽורָתְךָ֗ לֹ֣א שָׁכָֽחְתִּי׃
110 נָתְנ֬וּ רְשָׁעִ֣ים פַּ֣ח לִ֑י וּ֝מִפִּקּוּדֶ֗יךָ לֹ֣א תָעִֽיתִי׃
111 נָחַ֣לְתִּי עֵדְוֹתֶ֣יךָ לְעֹולָ֑ם כִּֽי־שְׂשֹׂ֖ון לִבִּ֣י הֵֽמָּה׃
112 נָטִ֣יתִי לִ֭בִּי לַעֲשֹׂ֥ות חֻקֶּ֗יךָ לְעֹולָ֥ם עֵֽקֶב׃

And one of my favorite internet links is the Hebrew-English Bible where I can listen as a scholar reads the selection in Hebrew:

And here’s the praise song again. My heart will be singing it even as we read it responsively in worship Sunday morning!
TW+