Say' - Clean

The taHvIp vo' joH'a' ghaH Say', enduring reH.
The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever. Ps 19:9a

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nuqjatlh? This isn't the first time our wanderings through the Psalms has made us face what must be perplexing. At least this might be perplexing to humans, but Klingons - would understand this praise of fear. For fear is NOT a bad thing.

The taHvIp vo' joH'a' ghaH Say', enduring reH.
The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever. Ps 19:9a

The Hebrew here is "yira" - the same word we hear in Psalm 23's "I will fear no evil."

I've used taHvIp (afraid-to-go-on) as fear because, well, there isn't a Klingon word FOR fear. The closest is "ghIj", to scare - you do see that word appear in translation as fear, for example:

not qoHpu''e' neH ghIjlu'. // Only fools have no fear.

And that's worth noting, not just for considering the vocabulary, but to recognize that Klingons, like the Bible, recognize that FEAR CAN be positive; you'd be a fool to ignore it.

We're told here that it's CLEAN. Say' in Klingon, or tahowr in Hebrew, from a root meaning to "be bright."

What does that mean - how does "fear" "cleanse"?


Considering Psalm 19:9, Charles Spurgeon notes:

The doctrine of truth is here described by its spiritual effect,... inward piety, or the fear of the Lord; this is clean in itself, and cleanses out the love of sin, sanctifying the heart in which it reigns. Mr. Godly fear is never satisfied till every street, lane, and alley, yea, and every house and every corner ... is clean...

This is to our benefit - and it explains the Pslamist's word "enduring forever", because as Spurgeon continues:

"Filth brings decay, but cleanness is the great foe of corruption. The grace of God in the heart being a pure principle, is also an abiding and incorruptible principle, which may be crushed for a time, but cannot be utterly destroyed."

It's the difference between running shoes you take CARE of, or mildewy sneakers that have been "put away wet": THEY won't last. Ill treated things just don't last. The fear of the LORD cleanses - sets priorities, makes us give things up as we face our own shortcomings in light of God's Word.

Proverbs describes "the fear of the LORD" this way:

The taHvIp vo' joH'a' ghaH Daq muS mIghtaHghach. jIH muS pride, arrogance, the mIghtaHghach way, je the perverse nuj.

The fear of the LORD is to hate evil. I hate pride, arrogance, the evil way, and the perverse mouth. (Proverbs 8:13)

What a terrific "todo list!" - I need to use it, to consider my life, my habits and ways and use it to, with God's help, root out all those things that weigh me down, that keep me from shining bright as God regards me!

The taHvIp vo' joH'a' ghaH Say', enduring reH.
The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever. Ps 19:9a