Psalms 6:1-2

Psalm 6 ¹ 

For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments, according to the sheminith style; ²  a psalm of David.

6:1 Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger!

Do not discipline me in your raging fury! ³ 

6:2 Have mercy on me, ⁴  Lord, for I am frail!

Heal me, Lord, for my bones are shaking! ⁵ 

Psalms 22:14-15

22:14 My strength drains away like water; ⁶ 

all my bones are dislocated;

my heart ⁷  is like wax;

it melts away inside me.

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 38:1-10

Psalm 38 ¹² 

A psalm of David, written to get God’s attention. ¹³ 

38:1 O Lord, do not continue to rebuke me in your anger!

Do not continue to punish me in your raging fury! ¹⁴ 

38:2 For your arrows pierce ¹⁵  me,

and your hand presses me down. ¹⁶ 

38:3 My whole body is sick because of your judgment; ¹⁷ 

I am deprived of health because of my sin. ¹⁸ 

38:4 For my sins overwhelm me; ¹⁹ 

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

38:5 My wounds ²⁰  are infected and starting to smell, ²¹ 

because of my foolish sins. ²² 

38:6 I am dazed ²³  and completely humiliated; ²⁴ 

all day long I walk around mourning.

38:7 For I am overcome with shame ²⁵ 

and my whole body is sick. ²⁶ 

38:8 I am numb with pain and severely battered; ²⁷ 

I groan loudly because of the anxiety I feel. ²⁸ 

38:9 O Lord, you understand my heart’s desire; ²⁹ 

my groaning is not hidden from you.

38:10 My heart beats quickly;

my strength leaves me;

I can hardly see. ³⁰ 

Psalms 44:25

44:25 For we lie in the dirt,

with our bellies pressed to the ground. ³¹ 

Psalms 73:14

73:14 I suffer all day long,

and am punished every morning.”

Psalms 73:26

73:26 My flesh and my heart may grow weak, ³² 

but God always ³³  protects my heart and gives me stability. ³⁴ 

Psalms 88:3-5

88:3 For my life ³⁵  is filled with troubles

and I am ready to enter Sheol. ³⁶ 

88:4 They treat me like ³⁷  those who descend into the grave. ³⁸ 

I am like a helpless man, ³⁹ 

88:5 adrift ⁴⁰  among the dead,

like corpses lying in the grave,

whom you remember no more,

and who are cut off from your power. ⁴¹ 

Psalms 102:3-5

102:3 For my days go up in smoke, ⁴² 

and my bones are charred like a fireplace. ⁴³ 

102:4 My heart is parched ⁴⁴  and withered like grass,

for I am unable ⁴⁵  to eat food. ⁴⁶ 

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

my bones protrude from my skin. ⁴⁷ 

Psalms 107:10

107:10 They sat in utter darkness, ⁴⁸ 

bound in painful iron chains, ⁴⁹ 

Job 33:19-22

33:19 Or a person is chastened ⁵⁰  by pain on his bed,

and with the continual strife of his bones, ⁵¹ 

33:20 so that his life loathes food,

and his soul rejects appetizing fare. ⁵² 

33:21 His flesh wastes away from sight,

and his bones, which were not seen,

are easily visible. ⁵³ 

33:22 He ⁵⁴  draws near to the place of corruption,

and his life to the messengers of death. ⁵⁵ 

[6:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 6. The psalmist begs the Lord to withdraw his anger and spare his life. Having received a positive response to his prayer, the psalmist then confronts his enemies and describes how they retreat.

[6:1]  ² tn The meaning of the Hebrew term שְׁמִינִית (shÿminit, “sheminith”) is uncertain; perhaps it refers to a particular style of music. See 1 Chr 15:21.

[6:1]  ³ sn The implication is that the psalmist has sinned, causing God to discipline him by bringing a life-threatening illness upon him (see vv. 2-7).

[6:2]  ⁴ tn Or “show me favor.”

[6:2]  ⁵ tn Normally the verb בָּהַל (bahal) refers to an emotional response and means “tremble with fear, be terrified” (see vv. 3, 10). Perhaps here the “bones” are viewed as the seat of the psalmist’s emotions. However, the verb may describe one of the effects of his physical ailment, perhaps a fever. In Ezek 7:27 the verb describes how the hands of the people will shake with fear when they experience the horrors of divine judgment.

[22:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “like water I am poured out.”

[22:14]  ⁷ sn The heart is viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s strength and courage.

[22:15]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Cf. NEB “my jaw”; NASB, NRSV “my jaws”; NIV “the roof of my mouth.”

[22:15]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ sn The imperfect verbal form draws attention to the progressive nature of the action. The psalmist is in the process of dying.

[38:1]  ¹² sn Psalm 38. The author asks the Lord to deliver him from his enemies. He confesses his sin and recognizes that the crisis he faces is the result of divine discipline. Yet he begs the Lord not to reject him.

[38:1]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew text reads simply, “to cause to remember.” The same form, the Hiphil infinitive of זָכַר (zakhar, “remember”), also appears in the heading of Ps 70. Some understand this in the sense of “for the memorial offering,” but it may carry the idea of bringing one’s plight to God’s attention (see P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 303).

[38:1]  ¹⁴ tn The words “continue to” are supplied in the translation of both lines. The following verses make it clear that the psalmist is already experiencing divine rebuke/punishment. He asks that it might cease.

[38:2]  ¹⁵ tn The verb Hebrew נָחַת (nakhat) apparently here means “penetrate, pierce” (note the use of the Qal in Prov 17:10). The psalmist pictures the Lord as a warrior who shoots arrows at him (see Ps 7:12-13).

[38:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and your hand [?] upon me.” The meaning of the verb נָחַת (nakhat) is unclear in this context. It is preferable to emend the form to וַתָּנַח (vattanakh) from the verb נוּחַ (nuakh, “rest”). In this case the text would read literally, “and your hand rests upon me” (see Isa 25:10, though the phrase is used in a positive sense there, unlike Ps 38:2).

[38:3]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “there is no health in my bones from before my sin.”

[38:4]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “pass over my head.”

[38:5]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ tn Heb “my wounds stink, they are festering” (cf. NEB).

[38:5]  ²² tn Heb “from before my foolishness.”

[38:6]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ tn Heb “I am bowed down to excess.”

[38:7]  ²⁵ 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]  ²⁶ tn Heb “there is no soundness in my flesh” (see v. 3).

[38:8]  ²⁷ tn Heb “I am numb and crushed to excess.”

[38:8]  ²⁸ tn Heb “I roar because of the moaning of my heart.”

[38:9]  ²⁹ tn Heb “O Lord, before you [is] all my desire.”

[38:10]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and the light of my eyes, even they, there is not with me.” The “light of the eyes” may refer to physical energy (see 1 Sam 14:27, 29), life itself (Ps 13:3), or the ability to see (Prov 29:23).

[44:25]  ³¹ 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.

[73:26]  ³² tn The Hebrew verb כָלָה (khalah, “to fail; to grow weak”) does not refer here to physical death per se, but to the physical weakness that sometimes precedes death (see Job 33:21; Pss 71:9; 143:7; Prov 5:11).

[73:26]  ³³ tn Or “forever.”

[73:26]  ³⁴ tn Heb “is the rocky summit of my heart and my portion.” The psalmist compares the Lord to a rocky summit where one could go for protection and to landed property, which was foundational to economic stability in ancient Israel.

[88:3]  ³⁵ tn Or “my soul.”

[88:3]  ³⁶ tn Heb “and my life approaches Sheol.”

[88:4]  ³⁷ tn Heb “I am considered with.”

[88:4]  ³⁸ tn Heb “the pit.” The noun בּוֹר (bor, “pit,” “cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead.

[88:4]  ³⁹ tn Heb “I am like a man [for whom] there is no help.”

[88:5]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “set free.”

[88:5]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “from your hand.”

[102:3]  ⁴² tn Heb “for my days come to an end in smoke.”

[102:3]  ⁴³ 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]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “struck, attacked.”

[102:4]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “I forget.”

[102:4]  ⁴⁶ 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]  ⁴⁷ 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.

[107:10]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “those who sat in darkness and deep darkness.” Synonyms are joined here to emphasize the degree of “darkness” experienced by the exiles. The Hebrew term צַלְמָוֶת (tsalmavet, “deep darkness”) has traditionally been understood as a compound noun, meaning “shadow of death” (צֵל + מָוֶת [tsel + mavet]; see BDB 853 s.v. צַלְמָוֶת; cf. NASB). Other authorities prefer to vocalize the form צַלְמוּת (tsalmut) and understand it as an abstract noun (from the root צלם) meaning “darkness.” An examination of the word’s usage favors the latter derivation. It is frequently associated with darkness/night and contrasted with light/morning (see Job 3:5; 10:21-22; 12:22; 24:17; 28:3; 34:22; Ps 107:10, 14; Isa 9:1; Jer 13:16; Amos 5:8). In some cases the darkness described is associated with the realm of death (Job 10:21-22; 38:17), but this is a metaphorical application of the word and does not reflect its inherent meaning. In Ps 107:10 the word refers metonymically to a dungeon, which in turn metaphorically depicts the place of Israel’s exile (see vv. 2-3).

[107:10]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “those bound in suffering and iron.” “Suffering and iron” is a hendiadys (like English “good and angry”), where both words contribute to one idea. In this case the first word characterizes the second; the iron (chains) contribute to the prisoners’ pain and suffering.

[33:19]  ⁵⁰ tc The MT has the passive form, and so a subject has to be added: “[a man] is chastened.” The LXX has the active form, indicating “[God] chastens,” but the object “a man” has to be added. It is understandable why the LXX thought this was active, within this sequence of verbs; and that is why it is the inferior reading.

[33:19]  ⁵¹ tc The Kethib “the strife of his bones is continual,” whereas the Qere has “the multitude of his bones are firm.” The former is the better reading in this passage. It indicates that the pain is caused by the ongoing strife.

[33:20]  ⁵² tn Heb “food of desire.” The word “rejects” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[33:21]  ⁵³ 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.

[33:22]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “his soul [נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh, “life”] draws near.”

[33:22]  ⁵⁵ tn The MT uses the Hiphil participle, “to those who cause death.” This seems to be a reference to the belief in demons that brought about death, an idea not mentioned in the Bible itself. Thus many proposals have been made for this expression. Hoffmann and Budde divide the word into לְמוֹ מֵתִּים (lÿmo metim) and simply read “to the dead.” Dhorme adds a couple of letters to get לִמְקוֹם מֵתִּים (limqom metim, “to the place [or abode] of the dead”).