I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love.
I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love. "Vain thoughts" (as the antithesis to "thy law" shows) are all thoughts opposed to God's law, whether subtle speculations, which are incompatible with the simplicity of revealed truth, or carnal and worldly lusts forbidden by the written Word. (Gesenius takes the Hebrew х cee`ªpiym (H5588)], 'men of divided minds' (James 1:8) - Greek, 'a double-souled man.' It may be translated 'divided thoughts,' as in 1 Kings 18:21, margin. The English version is supported by the Hebrew (Job 4:13; Job 20:2). The literal meaning is branches; so thoughts, the offshoots of the mind.