Psalms 119 · Verse 96

Psalms 119:96

I have seen an end of all perfection: but thy commandment is exceeding broad.
Psalms 119:96, King James Version

Psalms 119:96 in other translations

BSBI have seen a limit to all perfection, but Your commandment is without limit.
WEBI have seen a limit to all perfection, but your commands are boundless. MEM
ASVI have seen an end of all perfection; But thy commandment is exceeding broad. מ MEM.
YLTOf all perfection I have seen an end, Broad is Thy command--exceedingly!
DARBYI have seen an end of all perfection: thy commandment is exceeding broad.
BBEI have seen that nothing on earth is complete; but your teaching is very wide.
WebsterI have seen an end of all perfection: but thy commandment is exceeding broad.

What does Psalms 119:96 mean?

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 96 I have seen an end of all perfection - Literally, "Of all consummations I have seen the end:" as if one should say, Every thing of human origin has its limits and end, howsoever extensive, noble, and excellent. All arts and sciences, languages, inventions, have their respective principles, have their limits and ends; as they came from man and relate to man, they shall end with man: but thy law, thy revelation, which is a picture of thy own mind, an external manifestation of thy own perfections, conceived in thy infinite ideas, in reference to eternal objects, is exceeding broad; transcends the limits of creation; and extends illimitably into eternity! This has been explained as if it meant: All the real or pretended perfection that men can arrive at in this life is nothing when compared with what the law of God requires. This saying is false in itself, and is no meaning of the text. Whatever God requires of man he can, by his grace, work in man.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Psalms 119:89-96

The settling of God's word in heaven, is opposed to the changes and revolutions of the earth. And the engagements of God's covenant are established more firmly than the earth itself. All the creatures answer the ends of their creation: shall man, who alone is endued with reason, be the only unprofitable burden of the earth? We may make the Bible a pleasant companion at any time. But the word, without the grace of…

Read the full comment on Psalms 119:89-96 →

Psalms 119:96 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

לְֽכָלle.kholto allH3605
תִּ֭כְלָהTikh.lahperfectionH8502
רָאִ֣יתִיra.'I.tiI have seenH7200
קֵ֑ץKetzan endH7093
רְחָבָ֖הre.cha.Vah[is] broadH7342
מִצְוָתְךָ֣mitz.va.te.Khacommandment yourH4687
מְאֹֽד\׃me.'OdexceedinglyH3966

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Psalms 119:96

  • Matthew 24:35

    Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

  • Ecclesiastes 2:11

    Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.

  • Matthew 5:18

    For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

  • Psalms 39:5-6

    Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah. Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.

  • Matthew 22:37-40

    Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

  • Ecclesiastes 1:2-3

    Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?

  • Romans 7:14

    For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.

  • 1 Samuel 17:8

    And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me.

  • Hebrews 4:12-13

    For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

  • Ecclesiastes 12:8

    Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.

  • 1 Samuel 17:49-51

    And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.

  • 1 Samuel 9:2

    And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
I have seen.That is, I have seen that all human wisdom or knowledge, however extensive, noble, and excellent, has it bounds, and limits, and end; but Thy law, a transcript of Thine own mind, is infinite, and extends to eternity.
39:5,6; 1Sa 9:2; 17:8,49-51; 31:4,5; 2Sa 14:25; 16:23; 17:23
2Sa 18:14,17; Ec 1:2,3; 2:11; 7:20; 12:8; Mt 5:18; 24:35
but thy.
19:7,8; Mt 5:28; 22:37-40; Mr 12:29-34; Ro 7:7-12,14; Heb 4:12,13

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Psalms 119:95

    The wicked have waited for me to destroy me: but I will consider thy testimonies.

  • Psalms 119:96

    I have seen an end of all perfection: but thy commandment is exceeding broad.

  • Psalms 119:97

    מ MEM. O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.

Read all of Psalms 119

Psalms 119:96 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		A toda perfección he visto fin: ancho sobremanera es tu mandamiento.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		J’ai vu la fin de toute perfection; ton commandement est fort étendu.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Von aller Vollkommenheit habe ich ein Ende gesehen; sehr ausgedehnt ist dein Gebot.