The arrogant utterly deride me, but I do not turn from Your law.
Parallel translations
- WEB The arrogant mock me excessively, but I don’t swerve from your law.
- KJV The proud have had me greatly in derision: yet have I not declined from thy law.
- NKJV The proud have me in great derision, Yet I do not turn aside from Your law.
- NASB The arrogant utterly deride me, Yet I do not turn aside from Your Law.
- NLT The proud hold me in utter contempt, but I do not turn away from your instructions.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Though the arrogant mock him relentlessly, the psalmist does not turn from God's law. It matters because steadfast obedience holds firm even under sustained ridicule.
Overview
The proud heap derision on the psalmist, yet he refuses to swerve from God's law. Mockery tests but does not move his loyalty to Scripture. Such faithfulness under scorn mirrors Christ, who endured the contempt of sinners while remaining wholly devoted to His Father's word.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Job 23:11My feet have followed in His tracks; I have kept His way without turning aside.
- Jer 20:7You have deceived me, O LORD, and I was deceived. You have overcome me and prevailed. I am a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me.
- Ps 119:157Though my persecutors and foes are many, I have not turned from Your testimonies.
- Ps 44:18Our hearts have not turned back; our steps have not strayed from Your path.
- Isa 42:4He will not grow weak or discouraged before He has established justice on the earth. In His law the islands will put their hope.”
- Heb 12:1–3Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us.
- Isa 38:3saying, “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
- Luke 16:14–15The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all of this and were scoffing at Jesus.
- Ps 119:69Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies, I keep Your precepts with all my heart.
- Ps 123:3–4Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy, for we have endured much contempt.
- Acts 20:23–24I only know that in town after town the Holy Spirit warns me that chains and afflictions await me.
- Luke 23:35The people stood watching, and the rulers sneered at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.”
- Ps 119:31I cling to Your testimonies, O LORD; let me not be put to shame.
- Ps 119:21You rebuke the arrogant—the cursed who stray from Your commandments.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 119:51 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.