The number 119 is best known for being associated with Psalm 119, the longest psalm and the longest chapter in the Bible, which celebrates God's law and word.
Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the entire Bible with its 176 verses, and is structured as an acrostic poem based on the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. This thoughtful structure gives the psalm a deep symbolic connection to wholeness, completeness, and the expression of divine order through language. Throughout the psalm, God's Torah, commandments, statutes, and testimonies are praised using nearly synonymous expressions that are repeated and varied. In Jewish tradition, this reflects a profound reverence for the Torah, and the psalm is used as an expression of devotion to God's word. The number 119 also appears explicitly in Genesis 11:25, where Nahor lived 119 years after Terah's birth, but this is not attributed independent symbolic meaning. The primary significance of the number remains inseparably linked to Psalm 119 and its extensive praise of God's law. Psalm 119 is structured with eight verses for each of the 22 Hebrew letters (22 × 8 = 176 verses). Each verse in a section begins with the corresponding letter, making the psalm the most complex acrostic poem in the Bible. In rabbinic tradition, Psalm 119 has been linked to the study of Torah, and some traditions attribute it to David as a young shepherd. The eight verses for each letter have been connected to eight different terms for God's word used throughout the psalm: Torah, testimony, commandments, statutes, laws, words, promises, and judgments. In Christian and Jewish liturgical practice, Psalm 119 has held a central place. In the Divine Office tradition (Liturgia Horarum), the psalm was divided and prayed over several hours of prayer, and in Jewish practice, parts of the psalm are recited on special occasions.*