Psalms 102:3-5

102:3 For my days go up in smoke, ¹ 

and my bones are charred like a fireplace. ² 

102:4 My heart is parched ³  and withered like grass,

for I am unable ⁴  to eat food. ⁵ 

102:5 Because of the anxiety that makes me groan,

my bones protrude from my skin. ⁶ 

Job 33:21

33:21 His flesh wastes away from sight,

and his bones, which were not seen,

are easily visible. ⁷ 

Isaiah 52:14

52:14 (just as many were horrified by the sight of you) ⁸ 

he was so disfigured ⁹  he no longer looked like a man; ¹⁰ 

[102:3]  ¹ tn Heb “for my days come to an end in smoke.”

[102:3]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “struck, attacked.”

[102:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “I forget.”

[102:4]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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.

[33:21]  ⁷ tc Heb “are laid bare.” This is the Qere reading; the Kethib means “bare height.” Gordis reverses the word order: “his bones are bare [i.e., crushed] so that they cannot be looked upon.” But the sense of that is not clear.

[52:14]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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.