Psalms 102:5

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

my bones protrude from my skin. ¹ 

Psalms 119:25

ד (Dalet)

119:25 I collapse in the dirt. ² 

Revive me with your word! ³ 

Psalms 119:31

119:31 I hold fast ⁴  to your rules.

O Lord, do not let me be ashamed!

Psalms 44:25

44:25 For we lie in the dirt,

with our bellies pressed to the ground. ⁵ 

Psalms 63:8

63:8 My soul ⁶  pursues you; ⁷ 

your right hand upholds me.

Psalms 22:15

22:15 The roof of my mouth ⁸  is as dry as a piece of pottery;

my tongue sticks to my gums. ⁹ 

You ¹⁰  set me in the dust of death. ¹¹ 

Psalms 101:3

101:3 I will not even consider doing what is dishonest. ¹² 

I hate doing evil; ¹³ 

I will have no part of it. ¹⁴ 

Psalms 137:6

137:6 May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,

if I do not remember you,

and do not give Jerusalem priority

over whatever gives me the most joy. ¹⁵ 

[102:5]  ¹ 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.

[119:25]  ² tn Heb “my soul clings to the dirt.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being; soul”) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).

[119:25]  ³ tn Heb “according to your word.” Many medieval Hebrew mss read the plural “your words.”

[119:31]  ³ tn Or “cling to.”

[44:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “for our being/life sinks down to the dirt, our belly clings to the earth.” The suffixed form of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being, life”) is often equivalent to a pronoun in poetic texts.

[63:8]  ⁵ tn Or “I.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).

[63:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “clings after.” The expression means “to pursue with determination” (see Judg 20:45; 1 Sam 14:22; 1 Chr 10:2; Jer 42:16).

[22:15]  ⁶ tc Heb “my strength” (כֹּחִי, kokhiy), but many prefer to emend the text to חִכִּי (khikiy, “my palate”; cf. NEB, NRSV “my mouth”) assuming that an error of transposition has occurred in the traditional Hebrew text.

[22:15]  ⁷ tn Cf. NEB “my jaw”; NASB, NRSV “my jaws”; NIV “the roof of my mouth.”

[22:15]  ⁸ sn Here the psalmist addresses God and suggests that God is ultimately responsible for what is happening because of his failure to intervene (see vv. 1-2, 11).

[22:15]  ⁹ sn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to the progressive nature of the action. The psalmist is in the process of dying.

[101:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “I will not set before my eyes a thing of worthlessness.”

[101:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “the doing of swerving [deeds] I hate.” The Hebrew term סֵטִים (setim) is probably an alternate spelling of שֵׂטִים (setim), which appears in many medieval Hebrew mss. The form appears to be derived from a verbal root שׂוּט (sut, “to fall away; to swerve”; see Ps 40:4).

[101:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “it [i.e., the doing of evil deeds] does not cling to me.”

[137:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “if I do not lift up Jerusalem over the top of my joy.”