Psalms 38:6

38:6 I am dazed ¹  and completely humiliated; ² 

all day long I walk around mourning.

Psalms 43:2

43:2 For you are the God who shelters me. ³ 

Why do you reject me? ⁴ 

Why must I walk around ⁵  mourning ⁶ 

because my enemies oppress me?

Psalms 88:9

88:9 My eyes grow weak because of oppression.

I call out to you, O Lord, all day long;

I spread out my hands in prayer to you. ⁷ 

Job 30:26-31

30:26 But when I hoped for good, trouble came;

when I expected light, then darkness came.

30:27 My heart ⁸  is in turmoil ⁹  unceasingly; ¹⁰ 

the days of my affliction confront me.

30:28 I go about blackened, ¹¹  but not by the sun;

in the assembly I stand up and cry for help.

30:29 I have become a brother to jackals

and a companion of ostriches. ¹² 

30:30 My skin has turned dark on me; ¹³ 

my body ¹⁴  is hot with fever. ¹⁵ 

30:31 My harp is used for ¹⁶  mourning

and my flute for the sound of weeping.

[38:6]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “I am bowed down to excess.”

[43:2]  ³ tn Heb “God of my place of refuge,” that is, “God who is my place of refuge.” See Ps 31:4.

[43:2]  ⁴ tn The question is similar to that of Ps 42:9, but זָנַח (zanakh, “reject”) is a stronger verb than שָׁכַח (shakhakh, “forget”).

[43:2]  ⁵ tn The language is similar to that of Ps 42:9, but the Hitpael form of the verb הָלַךְ (halakh; as opposed to the Qal form in 42:9) expresses more forcefully the continuing nature of the psalmist’s distress.

[43:2]  ⁶ sn Walk around mourning. See Ps 38:6 for a similar statement.

[88:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “I spread out my hands to you.” Spreading out the hands toward God was a prayer gesture (see Exod 9:29, 33; 1 Kgs 8:22, 38; 2 Chr 6:12-13, 29; Ezra 9:15; Job 11:13; Isa 1:15). The words “in prayer” have been supplied in the translation to clarify this.

[30:27]  ⁸ tn Heb “my loins,” “my bowels” (archaic), “my innermost being.” The latter option is reflected in the translation; some translations take the inner turmoil to be literal (NIV: “The churning inside me never stops”).

[30:27]  ⁹ tn Heb “boils.”

[30:27]  ¹⁰ tn The last clause reads “and they [it] are not quiet” or “do not cease.” The clause then serves adverbially for the sentence – “unceasingly.”

[30:28]  ¹¹ tn The construction uses the word קֹדֵר (qoder) followed by the Piel perfect of הָלַךְ (halakh, “I go about”). The adjective “blackened” refers to Job’s skin that has been marred by the disease. Adjectives are often used before verbs to describe some bodily condition (see GKC 374-75 §118.n).

[30:29]  ¹² sn The point of this figure is that Job’s cries of lament are like the howls and screeches of these animals, not that he lives with them. In Job 39:13 the female ostrich is called “the wailer.”

[30:30]  ¹³ tn The MT has “become dark from upon me,” prompting some editions to supply the verb “falls from me” (RSV, NRSV), or “peels” (NIV).

[30:30]  ¹⁴ tn The word “my bones” may be taken as a metonymy of subject, the bony framework indicating the whole body.

[30:30]  ¹⁵ tn The word חֹרֶב (khorev) also means “heat.” The heat in this line is not that of the sun, but obviously a fever.

[30:31]  ¹⁶ tn The verb הָיָה (hayah, “to be”) followed by the preposition ל (lamed) means “to serve the purpose of” (see Gen 1:14ff., 17:7, etc.).