Text -- Psalms 143:6 (NET)

143:6 I spread my hands out to you in prayer; my soul thirsts for you in a parched land.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Psa 143:6

¹ tn The words “in prayer” are supplied in the translation to clarify that the psalmist is referring to a posture of prayer.

² tn Heb “faint” or “weary.” See Ps 63:1.

³ tc Heb “my soul like a faint land for you.” A verb (perhaps “thirsts”) is implied (see Ps 63:1). The translation assumes an emendation of the preposition -כְּ (kÿ, “like”) to -בְּ (bÿ, “in,” see Ps 63:1; cf. NEB “athirst for thee in a thirsty land”). If the MT is retained, one might translate, “my soul thirsts for you, as a parched land does for water/rain” (cf. NIV, NRSV).