the afterlife, providing instructions to us in the form of information that could only be known by revelation from God.
The New Testament clearly indicates the divine inspiration of Psalms. Our Lord based one of His arguments on the wording of Psalm 82:6, calling it a part of the “Law”; then He says, “the scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:34–35). Matthew 22:43 records Jesus saying that David was in the Spirit55 when he called his messianic Son “Lord” (Ps. 110:1). Peter affirmed that David prophesied in writing Psalm 16:8–11 (Acts 2:30–31). The book of Hebrews opens by declaring that God in the past spoke through prophets (1:1); then the author quotes from the Psalms five times in the first chapter, implying that the psalmists were indeed prophets.
Synonyms for the Word of God
As we search Psalms to gather information about what the book says about the word of God, we soon realize that there are a number of synonyms for this basic term. The book of Psalms uses eight main synonyms to refer to this instruction He has provided for mankind. In Psalm 119 these words occur 176 times, more than twice as many times as the occurrences in the rest of the book. Table 2.1 below lists these eight terms in the order of their first appearance in that psalm. Table 2.2 charts the remaining 75 uses of the synonyms for this concept.
The first synonym appearing in Psalm 119 is “law” (תּוֹרָה, towrah) from “instruct,” and like this word many of the other synonyms derive from verbs. The KJV uses “testimonies” to translate the second synonym, which is the Hebrew word עֵדוּת (‘eyduwth),56 normally plural but used in the singular five times (19:7; 78:5; 81:5; 119:88; 122:4); the related verb means
Table 2.1 Synonyms for Instruction in Psalm 119
| Hebrew words: | תּוֹרָה | עֵדֹת | פִּקּוּדִים | חֻקִּים | מִצְוֹת | מִשְׁפָּטִים | דָּבָר | אִמְרָה |
| towrah | ‘eydoth | piqquwdiym | khuqqiym | mitswowth | mishpatiym | davar | ’imrah | |
| section | law | witnesses | rules | statutes | commands | customs | word | saying |
| 1 (א) | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 8 | 6 | 7 | ||
| 2 (ב) | 14 | 15 | 12 16 | 10 | 13 | 9 16 | 11 | |
| 3 (ג) | 18 | 22 24 | 23 | 19 21 | 20 | 17 | ||
| 4 (ד) | 29 | 31 | 27 | 26 | 32 | 30 | 25 28 | |
| 5 (ה) | 34 | 36 | 40 | 33 | 35 | 39 | 38 | |
| 6 (ו) | 44 | 46 | 45 | 48 | 47 48 | 43 | 42 43 | 41 |
| 7 (ז) | 51 53 55 | 56 | 54 | 52 | 49 | 50 | ||
| 8 (ח) | 61 | 59 | 63 | 64 | 60 | 62 | 57 | 58 |
| 9 (ט) | 70 72 | 69 | 68 71 | 66 | 65 | 67 | ||
| 10 (י) | 77 | 79 | 78 | 80 | 73 | 75 | 74 | 76 |
| 11 (כ) | 85 | 88 | 87 | 83 | 86 | 81 | 82 | |
| 12 (ל) | 92 | 95 | 93 94 | 96 | 91 | 89 | ||
| 13 (מ) | 97 | 99 | 100 104 | 98 | 102 | 101 | 103 | |
| 14 (נ) | 109 | 111 | 110 | 112 | 106 108 | 105 107 | ||
| 15 (ס) | 113 | 119 | 117 118 | 115 | 120 | 114 | 116 | |
| 16 (ע) | 126 | 125 | 128 | 124 | 127 | 123 | ||
| 17 (פ) | 136 | 129 | 134 | 135 |
131
|