JOSEPH W. TKACH
June 1988
Dear Friend:
Thank you for your question concerning the words and symbols
found between the verses of Psalm 119.
These words are the names of the letters of the Hebrew
alphabet. In this psalm each letter of the Hebrew alphabet is
spelled out in English, and in many Bibles the Hebrew symbol is
written before it. Here is the reason.
Psalm 119, like the majority of the psalms, was written to
be sung as a song of praise to God. But, unlike most other psalms
it was written in a unique style. It is divided into twenty-two
sections or strophes, each composed of eight lines or verses. In
the first strophe (verses 1-8) the first word in each line in the
original Hebrew begins with Aleph, the first letter of the Hebrew
alphabet. In the second strophe (verses 9-16) the same style is
used and each line begins with Beth, the second letter of the
Hebrew alphabet. This system is continued until all the letters
of the Hebrew alphabet have been utilized.
As you can see, Psalm 119 in the original Hebrew is really
an intricately written poem. The alphabet was used by translators
to separate its twenty-two sections for the reader, because in
the English translation this acrostic pattern is not possible to
duplicate. Today, in English, we have an accurate translation of
the original, even though it is impossible to duplicate the
poetic Hebrew form.
Thank you for your interest. It is a pleasure to serve you.
PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCE DEPARTMENT
PASTOR GENERAL