Tehillim 101:3

3 I will set no devar beliyya’al before mine eyes; I hate the work of them that fall away; it shall not cleave to me.

Tehillim 101:3 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 101:3

I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes,
Either the eyes of the body, which are the inlets of lust and are easily caught with objects that inflame the heart, and should be turned aside from beholding vanity; or the eyes of the mind; so the Targum,

``I will not propose to my heart;''

or, as Kimchi,

``in my thought'',

that is, I will not set up an evil thing in my imagination, to dwell upon in my thoughts, and take delight and pleasure in meditating upon it; or set it before me, to imitate as a pattern, to work by, and copy after: Christ did not so; he set the Lord always before him, ( Psalms 16:8 ) , not anything of Belial F11 or Satan, as the phrase here may be rendered; no, he always bid Satan, or anything of his, be gone, and get behind him, ( Matthew 4:10 ) ( 16:23 ) .

I hate the work of them that turn aside;
from God, and from his law; from the paths of religion, truth, and virtue; and from the Gospel, and a profession of it; such are not fit for the kingdom of God, and in these God and Christ have no pleasure, ( Hebrews 10:38 ) ,

it shall not cleave to me;
neither the wicked thing, or thing of Belial, nor the work of apostasy; that is, he would have no familiarity nor fellowship with it; not come near it, nor connive at it, but hate and abhor it: the Jews said, an evil disease, or a thing of Belial, "cleaveth fast unto him", ( Psalms 41:8 ) , but they were mistaken.


FOOTNOTES:

F11 (leylb rbd) "verbum Belijahal", Montanus; so Cocceius, Gejerus, Ainsworth.

Tehillim 101:3 In-Context

1 01 (Of Dovid. Mizmor) I will sing of chesed and mishpat; unto Thee, Hashem, will I sing.
2 I will study the derech tamim. O when wilt Thou come unto me? I will walk within my bais with tam levav.
3 I will set no devar beliyya’al before mine eyes; I hate the work of them that fall away; it shall not cleave to me.
4 A lev ikkesh (perverse heart) shall be far from me; I will not tolerate rah.
5 The one who slandereth ba’seter (in secret) his neighbor, him will I destroy; him that hath haughty einayim (eyes) and a proud levav will I not endure.
The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.