Bible Strands
Psalms 119:96
I have seen a limit to all perfection, but Your commandment is without limit.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist speaks to God while aware that hostile forces are positioned to destroy him, choosing instead to fix his attention on divine instructions.
The words — The Hebrew קֵץ (Ketz) literally means "an end," which the text places in direct contrast to רְחָבָה (re.cha.Vah), meaning "broad," to describe the commandment's boundless scope.
The thread — The contrast between finite human achievement and enduring divine instruction runs through Ecclesiastes 2:11, Matthew 24:35, and Matthew 5:18, where created systems pass away but God's words remain.
Why it lands — The text first observes that all human perfection reaches a boundary, then concludes that obedience to divine instruction requires continuous engagement without the expectation of a final limit.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
I have seen an end of all perfection: but thy commandment is exceeding broad.
Cross-references
- Ecclesiastes 2:11 Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to be gained under the sun.
- Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.
- Matthew 5:18 For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
- 1 Samuel 9:2 And he had a son named Saul, choice and handsome, without equal among the Israelites—a head taller than any of the people.
- 1 Samuel 17:8 And Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and array yourselves for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose one of your men and have him come down against me.
- 1 Samuel 17:49 Then David reached into his bag, took out a stone, and slung it, striking the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.
- 1 Samuel 31:4 Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through with it, or these uncircumcised men will come and run me through and torture me!” But his armor-bearer was terrified and refused to do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.
- 2 Samuel 17:23 When Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out for his house in his hometown. He put his affairs in order and hanged himself. So he died and was buried in his father’s tomb.
- Psalms 39:5 You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah
- Ecclesiastes 1:2 “Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher, “futility of futilities! Everything is futile!”