Psalms 38:3-7

38:3 My whole body is sick because of your judgment; ¹ 

I am deprived of health because of my sin. ² 

38:4 For my sins overwhelm me; ³ 

like a heavy load, they are too much for me to bear.

38:5 My wounds ⁴  are infected and starting to smell, ⁵ 

because of my foolish sins. ⁶ 

38:6 I am dazed ⁷  and completely humiliated; ⁸ 

all day long I walk around mourning.

38:7 For I am overcome with shame ⁹ 

and my whole body is sick. ¹⁰ 

Job 2:7-8

Job’s Integrity in Suffering

2:7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and he afflicted ¹¹  Job with a malignant ulcer ¹²  from the sole of his feet to the top of his head. ¹³  2:8 Job took a shard of broken pottery to scrape ¹⁴  himself ¹⁵  with while he was sitting ¹⁶  among the ashes. ¹⁷ 

Luke 13:16

13:16 Then ¹⁸  shouldn’t ¹⁹  this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan ²⁰  bound for eighteen long ²¹  years, be released from this imprisonment ²²  on the Sabbath day?”

[38:3]  ¹ tn Heb “there is no soundness in my flesh from before your anger.” “Anger” here refers metonymically to divine judgment, which is the practical effect of God’s anger at the psalmist’s sin.

[38:3]  ² tn Heb “there is no health in my bones from before my sin.”

[38:4]  ³ tn Heb “pass over my head.”

[38:5]  ⁴ sn The reference to wounds may be an extension of the metaphorical language of v. 2. The psalmist pictures himself as one whose flesh is ripped and torn by arrows.

[38:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “my wounds stink, they are festering” (cf. NEB).

[38:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “from before my foolishness.”

[38:6]  ⁷ tn The verb’s precise shade of meaning in this context is not entirely clear. The verb, which literally means “to bend,” may refer to the psalmist’s posture. In Isa 21:3 it seems to mean “be confused, dazed.”

[38:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “I am bowed down to excess.”

[38:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “for my loins are filled with shame.” The “loins” are viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s emotions. The present translation assumes that נִקְלֶה (niqleh) is derived from קָלָה (qalah, “be dishonored”). Some derive it instead from a homonymic root קָלָה (qalah), meaning “to roast.” In this case one might translate “fever” (cf. NEB “my loins burn with fever”).

[38:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “there is no soundness in my flesh” (see v. 3).

[2:7]  ¹¹ tn The verb is נָכָה (nakhah, “struck, smote”); it can be rendered in this context as “afflicted.”

[2:7]  ¹² sn The general consensus is that Job was afflicted with a leprosy known as elephantiasis, named because the rough skin and the swollen limbs are animal-like. The Hebrew word שְׁחִין (shÿkhin, “boil”) can indicate an ulcer as well. Leprosy begins with such, but so do other diseases. Leprosy normally begins in the limbs and spreads, but Job was afflicted everywhere at once. It may be some other disease also characterized by such a malignant ulcer. D. J. A. Clines has a thorough bibliography on all the possible diseases linked to this description (Job [WBC], 48). See also HALOT 1460 s.v. שְׁחִין.

[2:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “crown.”

[2:8]  ¹⁴ tn The verb גָּרַד (garad) is a hapax legomenon (only occurring here). Modern Hebrew has retained a meaning “to scrape,” which is what the cognate Syriac and Arabic indicate. In the Hitpael it would mean “scrape himself.”

[2:8]  ¹⁵ sn The disease required constant attention. The infection and pus had to be scraped away with a piece of broken pottery in order to prevent the spread of the infection. The skin was so disfigured that even his friends did not recognize him (2:12). The book will add that the disease afflicted him inwardly, giving him a foul breath and a loathsome smell (19:17, 20). The sores bred worms; they opened and ran, and closed and tightened (16:8). He was tormented with dreams (7:14). He felt like he was choking (7:14). His bones were racked with burning pain (30:30). And he was not able to rise from his place (19:18). The disease was incurable; but it would last for years, leaving the patient longing for death.

[2:8]  ¹⁶ tn The construction uses the disjunctive vav (ו) with the independent pronoun with the active participle. The construction connects this clause with what has just been said, making this a circumstantial clause.

[2:8]  ¹⁷ sn Among the ashes. It is likely that the “ashes” refers to the place outside the city where the rubbish was collected and burnt, i.e., the ash-heap (cf. CEV). This is the understanding of the LXX, which reads “dung-hill outside the city.”

[13:16]  ¹⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to show the connection with Jesus’ previous statement.

[13:16]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “is it not necessary that.” Jesus argues that no other day is more appropriate to heal a descendant of Abraham than the Sabbath, the exact opposite view of the synagogue leader.

[13:16]  ²⁰ sn Note that this is again a battle between Satan and God; see 11:18-23.

[13:16]  ²¹ tn The word “long” reflects the emphasis added in the Greek text by ἰδού (idou). See BDAG 468 s.v. 1.

[13:16]  ²² tn Or “bondage”; Grk “bond.”