Job 16:16

16:16 my face is reddened ¹  because of weeping, ² 

and on my eyelids there is a deep darkness, ³ 

Psalms 6:7

6:7 My eyes ⁴  grow dim ⁵  from suffering;

they grow weak ⁶  because of all my enemies. ⁷ 

Psalms 31:9-10

31:9 Have mercy on me, for I am in distress!

My eyes grow dim ⁸  from suffering. ⁹ 

I have lost my strength. ¹⁰ 

31:10 For my life nears its end in pain;

my years draw to a close as I groan. ¹¹ 

My strength fails me because of ¹²  my sin,

and my bones become brittle. ¹³ 

Lamentations 5:17

5:17 Because of this, our hearts are sick; ¹⁴ 

because of these things, we can hardly see ¹⁵  through our tears. ¹⁶ 

[16:16]  ¹ tn An intensive form, a Qetaltal form of the root חָמַר (khamar, “red”) is used here. This word has as probable derivatives חֹמֶר (khomer, “[red] clay”) and חֲמוֹר (khamor, “[red] ass”) and the like. Because of the weeping, his whole complexion has been reddened (the LXX reads “my belly”).

[16:16]  ² sn A. B. Davidson (Job, 122) notes that spontaneous and repeated weeping is one of the symptoms of elephantiasis.

[16:16]  ³ sn See Job 3:5. Just as joy brings light and life to the eyes, sorrow and suffering bring darkness. The “eyelids” here would be synecdoche, reflecting the whole facial expression as sad and sullen.

[6:7]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text has the singular “eye” here.

[6:7]  ⁵ tn Or perhaps, “are swollen.”

[6:7]  ⁶ tn Or perhaps, “grow old.”

[6:7]  ⁷ sn In his weakened condition the psalmist is vulnerable to the taunts and threats of his enemies.

[31:9]  ⁸ tn Or perhaps, “are swollen.”

[31:9]  ⁹ tn Cf. Ps 6:7, which has a similar line.

[31:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “my breath and my stomach [grow weak].” Apparently the verb in the previous line (“grow dim, be weakened”) is to be understood here. The Hebrew term נפשׁ can mean “life,” or, more specifically, “throat, breath.” The psalmist seems to be lamenting that his breathing is impaired because of the physical and emotional suffering he is forced to endure.

[31:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and my years in groaning.”

[31:10]  ¹² tn Heb “stumbles in.”

[31:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “grow weak.”

[5:17]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “are faint” or “are sick.” The adjective דַּוָּי (davvay, “faint”) is used in reference to emotional sorrow (e.g., Isa 1:5; Lam 1:22; Jer 8:18). The related adjective דָּוֶה (daveh) means “(physically) sick” and “(emotionally) sad,” while the related verb דָּוָה (davah) means “to be sad.” The cognate Aramaic term means “sorrow,” and the cognate Syriac term refers to “misery.”

[5:17]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “our eyes are dim.” The physical description of losing sight is metaphorical, perhaps for being blinded by tears or more abstractly for being unable to see (= envision) any hope. The collocation “darkened eyes” is too rare to clarify the nuance.

[5:17]  ¹⁶ tn The phrase “through our tears” is added in the translation for the sake of clarification.