Psalms 89:31

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

If they break my statutes, And don't keep my commandments;

World English Bible · Public Domain

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חֻקֹּתַ֥י

chuqqâh

H2708

“statutes · my”

Noun, Common, Both, Plural, Construct + Suffix, Personal, 1st Person, Common, Singular

Appears 105× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Genesis 26:5

Full BDB Definition

Origin: from H2706

TWOT: 728b

statute, ordinance, limit, enactment, something prescribed - statute

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

6: words
6: distinct lemmas
Wisdom: section

Grammatical profile

2 verbs
2 nouns
1 conjunction
1 particle

Verb forms

יְחַלֵּ֑לוּ Piel · Imperfect
יִשְׁמֹֽרוּ Qal · Imperfect

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 10 words from the Hebrew and 11 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Psalms 89:31 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Psalms 55:20 He raises his hands against his friends. He has violated his covenant.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

You’re reading Greek Psalm 88 (Hebrew Psalm 89). The Septuagint counts the superscription, so verse numbers can differ from the Hebrew — chapter-level alignment, not verse-by-verse. Numbering follows Rahlfs.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Psalms 89:31 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

אִם חֻקֹּתַ֥י יְחַלֵּ֑לוּ וּ֝מִצְוֺתַ֗י לֹ֣א יִשְׁמֹֽרוּ

If they break my statutes, And don't keep my commandments;

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Greek Psalm 88:31 Septuagint · lemma form

ἐάν ἐν καταλείπω ὁ υἱός αὐτός ὁ νόμος ἐγώ καί ὁ κρίμα ἐγώ μή πορεύομαι

if they should profane my ordinances, and not keep my commandments;

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Commentary

Notes on Psalms 89:31 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

Psa 89:31 If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments;

Ver. 31. If they break my statutes] Heb. If they profane or make void; q. d. be their sins never so heinous, I will forgive them; though I take vengeance (temporal) of their inventions, Psa 99:8.

And keep not my commandments] Not-serving of God, not-sacrificing is a sin, Mal 3:18 Ecc 9:2. See Psa 89:30.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

31. If they break] Lit. profane.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

Then will I visit their transgression with the rod,.... That is, of men; as in Sa2 7:14, the Lord making use of men to chastise his people by, as he did of the neighbouring nations of the Jews, when they sinned against him; and so the Targum interprets it here,

"I will visit their transgressions by the hands of the tribes of the ungodly;''

or with such afflictions as are common to men, Co1 10:13, in a kind, humane, moderate way, in measure, in judgment, and not in wrath and hot displeasure; or in such like manner as a man chastises his children, which is in love, Deu 8:5.

and their iniquity with stripes; such as diseases of body, loss of relations, crosses and disappointments in the world; not with the stripes of divine vengeance, of vindictive justice, such as Christ, the surety of his people, endured for them; but with the scourges of a father, Isa 53:8.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible

If they break my statutes - Margin, “profane.” The Hebrew word means to pollute or defile; and the idea is, If they practically contemn them; if they regard them as things of nought, or treat them with disdain as a polluted or defiled thing. It is in this way that the mass of mankind do regard the commands of God. They treat them with no respect; they practically class them among objects that are polluted, and that are to be avoided as defiled and defiling.

And keep not my commandments - If they do not regulate their conduct by my laws.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

By this variety of expressions he implies that God will pardon not only their lesser, but even their greater sins.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Treasury of David

Charles H. Spurgeon

Ver. 31. If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments. The dreadful "if" is suggested again, and the sad case is stated in other forms. But if it should be so, what then? Death and rejection? Ah, no; Blessed be God, No! If their sin be negative or positive, if it be forsaking or profanation; if either judgments or commandments or both be violated, yet there is not a word as to final destruction, but the very reverse. Legalism will import its ifs, but the Lord slays the ifs as fast as they rise. Eternal shalls and wills make glorious havoc among the ifs and buts.

Psalms 89:32*

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Pulpit Commentary

If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; rather, if they profane my statutes; i.e. make light of them, either in their words or in their lives.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Psalms, in the Wisdom, opens this verse with 6 words (6 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is chuqqâh (“statute”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

How does “statute” (chuqqâh) shape what this verse is saying?
How does Psalms 55:20, which shares this passage’s theme, read alongside this verse?
The translations on this page render this verse differently — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment. What might account for the different wordings?
«יְחַלֵּ֑לוּ» is a Piel Imperfect verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
Compare how Trapp's Complete Commentary and The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

These translations choose different wording for 4 words in this verse.
6 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 6 words in this verse.