38:6 I am dazed 1 and completely humiliated; 2
all day long I walk around mourning.
42:9 I will pray 3 to God, my high ridge: 4
“Why do you ignore 5 me?
Why must I walk around mourning 6
because my enemies oppress me?”
43:2 For you are the God who shelters me. 7
Why do you reject me? 8
Why must I walk around 9 mourning 10
because my enemies oppress me?
1 tn The verb’s precise shade of meaning in this context is not entirely clear. The verb, which literally means “to bend,” may refer to the psalmist’s posture. In Isa 21:3 it seems to mean “be confused, dazed.”
2 tn Heb “I am bowed down to excess.”
3 tn The cohortative form indicates the psalmist’s resolve.
4 tn This metaphor pictures God as a rocky, relatively inaccessible summit, where one would be able to find protection from enemies. See 1 Sam 23:25, 28; Pss 18:2; 31:3.
5 tn Or “forget.”
6 sn Walk around mourning. See Ps 38:6 for a similar idea.
5 tn Heb “God of my place of refuge,” that is, “God who is my place of refuge.” See Ps 31:4.
6 tn The question is similar to that of Ps 42:9, but זָנַח (zanakh, “reject”) is a stronger verb than שָׁכַח (shakhakh, “forget”).
7 tn The language is similar to that of Ps 42:9, but the Hitpael form of the verb הָלַךְ (halakh; as opposed to the Qal form in 42:9) expresses more forcefully the continuing nature of the psalmist’s distress.
8 sn Walk around mourning. See Ps 38:6 for a similar statement.