Discovery BoxPsalms 6:6-7
Context6:6 I am exhausted as I groan;
all night long I drench my bed in tears; 1
my tears saturate the cushion beneath me. 2
6:7 My eyes 3 grow dim 4 from suffering;
they grow weak 5 because of all my enemies. 6
Psalms 31:9
Context31:9 Have mercy on me, for I am in distress!
My eyes grow dim 7 from suffering. 8
I have lost my strength. 9
Psalms 32:3
Context32:3 When I refused to confess my sin, 10
my whole body wasted away, 11
while I groaned in pain all day long.
Psalms 69:3
Context69:3 I am exhausted from shouting for help;
my throat is sore; 12
my eyes grow tired of looking for my God. 13
Psalms 102:3-5
Context102:3 For my days go up in smoke, 14
and my bones are charred like a fireplace. 15
102:4 My heart is parched 16 and withered like grass,
for I am unable 17 to eat food. 18
102:5 Because of the anxiety that makes me groan,
my bones protrude from my skin. 19
Psalms 102:9
Context102:9 For I eat ashes as if they were bread, 20
and mix my drink with my tears, 21
Isaiah 52:14
Context52:14 (just as many were horrified by the sight of you) 22
he was so disfigured 23 he no longer looked like a man; 24
Lamentations 1:16
Contextע (Ayin)
1:16 I weep because of these things;
my eyes 25 flow with tears. 26
For there is no one in sight who can comfort me 27
or encourage me. 28
My children 29 are desolated 30
because an enemy has prevailed.
[6:6] 1 tn Heb “I cause to swim through all the night my bed.”
[6:6] 2 tn Heb “with my tears my bed I flood/melt.”
[6:7] 3 tn The Hebrew text has the singular “eye” here.
[6:7] 4 tn Or perhaps, “are swollen.”
[6:7] 5 tn Or perhaps, “grow old.”
[6:7] 6 sn In his weakened condition the psalmist is vulnerable to the taunts and threats of his enemies.
[31:9] 7 tn Or perhaps, “are swollen.”
[31:9] 8 tn Cf. Ps 6:7, which has a similar line.
[31:9] 9 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.
[32:3] 10 tn Heb “when I was silent.”
[32:3] 11 tn Heb “my bones became brittle.” The psalmist pictures himself as aging and growing physically weak. Trying to cover up his sin brought severe physical consequences.
[69:3] 12 tn Or perhaps “raw”; Heb “burned; enflamed.”
[69:3] 13 tn Heb “my eyes fail from waiting for my God.” The psalmist has intently kept his eyes open, looking for God to intervene, but now his eyes are watery and bloodshot, impairing his vision.
[102:3] 14 tn Heb “for my days come to an end in smoke.”
[102:3] 15 tn The Hebrew noun מוֹ־קֵד (mo-qed, “fireplace”) occurs only here, in Isa 33:14 (where it refers to the fire itself), and perhaps in Lev 6:2.
[102:4] 16 tn Heb “struck, attacked.”
[102:4] 18 sn I am unable to eat food. During his time of mourning, the psalmist refrained from eating. In the following verse he describes metaphorically the physical effects of fasting.
[102:5] 19 tn Heb “from the sound of my groaning my bone[s] stick to my flesh.” The preposition at the beginning of the verse is causal; the phrase “sound of my groaning” is metonymic for the anxiety that causes the groaning. The point seems to be this: Anxiety (which causes the psalmist to groan) keeps him from eating (v. 4). This physical deprivation in turn makes him emaciated – he is turned to “skin and bones,” so to speak.
[102:9] 20 sn Mourners would sometimes put ashes on their head or roll in ashes as a sign of mourning (see 2 Sam 13:19; Job 2:8; Isa 58:5).
[52:14] 22 tn Some witnesses read “him,” which is more consistent with the context, where the servant is spoken about, not addressed. However, it is possible that the Lord briefly addresses the servant here. The present translation assumes the latter view and places the phrase in parentheses.
[52:14] 23 tn Heb “such was the disfigurement.” The noun מִשְׁחַת (mishkhat) occurs only here. It may be derived from the verbal root שָׁחַת (shakhat, “be ruined”; see BDB 1007-8 s.v. שָׁחַת). The construct form appears here before a prepositional phrase (cf. GKC 421 §130.a).
[52:14] 24 tn Heb “from a man his appearance.” The preposition מִן (min) here carries the sense “away from,” i.e., “so as not to be.” See BDB 583 s.v.
[1:16] 25 tc The MT and several medieval Hebrew
[1:16] 26 tn Heb “with water.” The noun מַּיִם (mayim, “water”) functions as an adverbial accusative of manner or impersonal instrument. The term מַּיִם (mayim, “water”) is a metonymy of material (= water) for the thing formed (= tears).
[1:16] 27 tn Heb “For a comforter is far from me.”
[1:16] 28 tn The phrase מֵשִׁיב נַפְשִׁי (meshiv nafshi, “one who could cause my soul to return”) is a Hebrew idiom that means “one who could encourage me.” The noun נַפְשִׁי (nafshi) refers to the whole person (e.g., Gen 27:4, 25; 49:6; Lev 26:11, 30; Num 23:10; Judg 5:21; 16:30; Isa 1:14; Lam 3:24). When used with the noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) the Hiphil הָשִׁיב (hashiv) of שׁוּב (shuv, “to turn, return”) means “to encourage, refresh, cheer” a person emotionally (Ruth 4:15; Pss 19:8; 23:3; Prov 25:13; Lam 1:11, 16, 19).
[1:16] 29 tn Heb “my sons.” The term “my sons” (בַנַי, banay) is a figurative description (hypocatastasis) of the former inhabitants of Jerusalem/Judah personified as the Lady Jerusalem’s children. Jerusalem mourns (and views) their devastation like a mother would her children.
[1:16] 30 tn The verb שָׁמֵם (shamem) means “to be desolated.” The verb is used used in reference to land destroyed in battle and left “deserted” (Isa 49:8; Ezek 33:28; 35:12, 15; 36:4). When used in reference to persons, it describes the aftermath of a physical attack, such as rape (2 Sam 13:20) or military overthrow of a city (Isa 54:1; Lam 1:13, 16; 3:11).
