153. Look on my affliction and deliver me,
for I do not forget your law.

154. Plead my cause and redeem me;
give me life according to your promise!

155. Salvation is far from the wicked,
for they do not seek your statutes.

156. Great is your mercy, O Lord;
give me life according to your rules.

157. Many are my persecutors and my adversaries,
but I do not swerve from your testimonies.

158. I look at the faithless with disgust,
because they do not keep your commands.

159. Consider how I love your precepts!
Give me life according to your steadfast love.

160. The sum of your word is truth,
and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.

The Beginning and the End

Have you heard of the Jewish New Year? This fall festival goes by the traditional name of Rosh Hashanah, literally meaning head of the year. The Hebrew word for head is rosh (רֹאשׁ) which begins with the Hebrew letter resh (ר).

The last verse in this stanza begins with the Hebrew word rosh but rather than describing only a part, the translation of rosh implies the whole of God’s word being truth. Some versions translate verse 160 “The sum of your word” (ASV, ESV, NASB) or “All your words” (NIV) but others translate rosh as beginning, “Thy word is true from the beginning” (KJV). The rosh or head of the year is the beginning of a year when the annual cycle begins again. Similarly, Rosh Chodesh in Hebrew literally means “head of the month” and refers to a new moon. The rosh or head of the month is the beginning of the month when the smallest sliver of the new moon appears in the sky.

The idea of rosh is that the beginning connects to the end, the first connects to the last. The first day of a month or year is connected to the end of that timeframe. The beginning of God’s word connects to the end. The first connects to the last. Jesus describes Himself as the alpha and the omega (the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet), “The First and the Last, the Beginning and the End” (Rev. 22:13). He also declared Himself the head (rosh) of the church. He was describing His irrevocable connection with His people. Paul explained that Jesus is “the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy” (Col. 1:18).

Hebrew Treasure excerpt written by Thomas Boehm.
From The Psalm 119 Journey by Steve Allen, ©2022.
Used with permission.