80:5 You have given them tears as food; 1
you have made them drink tears by the measure. 2
126:5 Those who shed tears as they plant
will shout for joy when they reap the harvest. 3
6:6 I am exhausted as I groan;
all night long I drench my bed in tears; 4
my tears saturate the cushion beneath me. 5
56:8 You keep track of my misery. 6
Put my tears in your leather container! 7
Are they not recorded in your scroll? 8
116:8 Yes, 9 Lord, 10 you rescued my life from death,
and kept my feet from stumbling.
1 tn Heb “you have fed them the food of tears.”
2 tn Heb “[by] the third part [of a measure].” The Hebrew term שָׁלִישׁ (shalish, “third part [of a measure]”) occurs only here and in Isa 40:12.
3 sn O. Borowski says regarding this passage: “The dependence on rain for watering plants, the uncertainty of the quantity and timing of the rains, and the possibility of crop failure due to pests and diseases appear to have kept the farmer in a gloomy mood during sowing” (Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 54). Perhaps the people were experiencing a literal drought, the effects of which cause them to lament their plight as they plant their seed in hopes that the rain would come. However, most take the language as metaphorical. Like a farmer sowing his seed, the covenant community was enduring hardship as they waited for a new outpouring of divine blessing. Yet they are confident that a time of restoration will come and relieve their anxiety, just as the harvest brings relief and joy to the farmer.
5 tn Heb “I cause to swim through all the night my bed.”
6 tn Heb “with my tears my bed I flood/melt.”
7 tn Heb “my wandering you count, you.” The Hebrew term נֹד (nod, “wandering,” derived from the verbal root נוֹד, nod, “to wander”; cf. NASB) here refers to the psalmist’s “changeable circumstances of life” and may be translated “misery.” The verb סָפַר (safar, “count”) probably carries the nuance “assess” here. Cf. NIV “my lament”; NRSV “my tossings.”
8 tn Traditionally “your bottle.” Elsewhere the Hebrew word נֹאד (no’d, “leather container”) refers to a container made from animal skin which is used to hold wine or milk (see Josh 9:4, 13; Judg 4:19; 1 Sam 16:20). If such a container is metaphorically in view here, then the psalmist seems to be asking God to store up his tears as a reminder of his suffering.
9 tn The word “recorded” is supplied in the translation for clarification. The rhetorical question assumes a positive response (see the first line of the verse).
9 tn Or “for.”
10 tn “