Psalms 88:8-18

88:8 You cause those who know me to keep their distance;

you make me an appalling sight to them.

I am trapped and cannot get free. ¹ 

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. ² 

88:10 Do you accomplish amazing things for the dead?

Do the departed spirits ³  rise up and give you thanks? (Selah)

88:11 Is your loyal love proclaimed in the grave,

or your faithfulness in the place of the dead? ⁴ 

88:12 Are your amazing deeds experienced ⁵  in the dark region, ⁶ 

or your deliverance in the land of oblivion? ⁷ 

88:13 As for me, I cry out to you, O Lord;

in the morning my prayer confronts you.

88:14 O Lord, why do you reject me,

and pay no attention to me? ⁸ 

88:15 I am oppressed and have been on the verge of death since my youth. ⁹ 

I have been subjected to your horrors and am numb with pain. ¹⁰ 

88:16 Your anger overwhelms me; ¹¹ 

your terrors destroy me.

88:17 They surround me like water all day long;

they join forces and encircle me. ¹² 

88:18 You cause my friends and neighbors to keep their distance; ¹³ 

those who know me leave me alone in the darkness. ¹⁴ 

[88:8]  ¹ tn Heb “[I am] confined and I cannot go out.”

[88:9]  ² 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.

[88:10]  ³ tn Heb “Rephaim,” a term that refers to those who occupy the land of the dead (see Isa 14:9; 26:14, 19).

[88:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “in Abaddon,” a name for Sheol. The noun is derived from a verbal root meaning “to perish,” “to die.”

[88:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “known.”

[88:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “darkness,” here a title for Sheol.

[88:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “forgetfulness.” The noun, which occurs only here in the OT, is derived from a verbal root meaning “to forget.”

[88:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “[why] do you hide your face from me?”

[88:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “and am dying from youth.”

[88:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I carry your horrors [?].” The meaning of the Hebrew form אָפוּנָה (’afunah), which occurs only here in the OT, is unclear. It may be an adverb meaning “very much” (BDB 67 s.v.), though some prefer to emend the text to אָפוּגָה (’afugah, “I am numb”) from the verb פוּג (pug; see Pss 38:8; 77:2).

[88:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “passes over me.”

[88:17]  ¹² tn Heb “they encircle me together.”

[88:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “you cause to be far from me friend and neighbor.”

[88:18]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “those known by me, darkness.”