Confessing Sin While Waiting for the Lord's Near Help

Psa 38:1-8 (Hebrew_Bible_38:2-9) David begins, as in Psa 6:1-10, with the prayer that his punitive affliction may be changed into disciplinary. Bakius correctly paraphrases. Psa 38:2 : Corripe sane per legem, castiga per crucem, millies promerui, negare non possum, sed castiga, quaeso, me ex amore ut pater, non ex furore et fervore ut judex; ne punias justitiae rigore, sed misericordiae dulcore (cf.

on Psa 6:2). The negative is to be repeated in Psa 38:2 , as in Psa 1:5; Psa 9:19; Psa 75:6. In the description, which give the ground of the cry for pity, נחת, is not the Piel , as in Psa 18:35, but the Niphal of the Kal נחת immediately following (root נח). קצף is anger as a breaking forth, fragor (cf. Hos 10:7, lxx φρύγανον), with ĕ instead of ı̆ in the first syllable, vowels which alternate in this word; and חמה, as a glowing or burning.

חצּים (in Homer, κῆλα), God’s wrath-arrows, i. e. , lightnings of wrath, are His judgments of wrath; and יד, as in Psa 32:4; Psa 39:11, God’s punishing hand, which makes itself felt in dispensing punishment, hence תּנחת might be attached as a mood of sequence. In Psa 38:4 wrath is called זעם as a boiling up. Sin is the cause of this experiencing wrath, and the wrath is the cause of the bodily derangement; sin as an exciting cause of the wrath always manifests itself outwardly even on the body as a fatal power.

In Psa 38:5 sin is compared to waters that threaten to drown one, as in Psa 38:5 to a burden that presses one down. ככבּדוּ ממּנּי, they are heavier than I, i. e. , than my power of endurance, too heavy for me. In Psa 38:6 the effects of the operation of the divine hand (as punishing) are wounds, חבּוּרת (properly, suffused variegated marks from a blow or wheals, Isa 1:6; from חבר, Arab.

ḥbr , to be or make striped, variegated), which הבאישׁוּ, send forth an offensive smell, and נמקּוּ, suppurate. Sin, which causes this, is called אוּלת, because, as it is at last manifest, it is always the destruction of itself. With emphasis does מפּני אוּלתּי form the second half of the verse. To take נעויתי out of Psa 38:7 and put it to this, as Meier and Thenius propose, is to destroy this its proper position.

On the three מפּני, vid. , Ewald, §217, l . Thus sick in soul and body, he is obliged to bow and bend himself in the extreme. נעוה is used of a convulsive drawing together of the body, Isa 21:3; שׁחח, of a bowed mien, Psa 35:14; הלּך, of a heavy, lagging gait. With כּי in Psa 38:8 the grounding of the petition begins for the third time. His כּסלים, i. e. , internal muscles of the loins, which are usually the fattest parts, are full of נקלה, that which is burnt, i.

e. , parched. It is therefore as though the burning, starting from the central point of the bodily power, would spread itself over the whole body: the wrath of God works commotion in this latter as well as in the soul. Whilst all the energies of life thus yield, there comes over him a partial, almost total lifelessness. פּוּג is the proper word for the coldness and rigidity of a corpse; the Niphal means to be brought into this condition, just as נדכּא means to be crushed, or to be brought into a condition of crushing, i.

e. , of violent dissolution. The מן of מנּהמת is intended to imply that the loud wail is only the utterance of the pain that is raging in his heart, the outward expression of his ceaseless, deep inward groaning.

Psa 38:1-8 (Hebrew_Bible_38:2-9) David begins, as in Psa 6:1-10, with the prayer that his punitive affliction may be changed into disciplinary. Bakius correctly paraphrases. Psa 38:2 : Corripe sane per legem, castiga per crucem, millies promerui, negare non possum, sed castiga, quaeso, me ex amore ut pater, non ex furore et fervore ut judex; ne punias justitiae rigore, sed misericordiae dulcore (cf.

on Psa 6:2). The negative is to be repeated in Psa 38:2 , as in Psa 1:5; Psa 9:19; Psa 75:6. In the description, which give the ground of the cry for pity, נחת, is not the Piel , as in Psa 18:35, but the Niphal of the Kal נחת immediately following (root נח). קצף is anger as a breaking forth, fragor (cf. Hos 10:7, lxx φρύγανον), with ĕ instead of ı̆ in the first syllable, vowels which alternate in this word; and חמה, as a glowing or burning.

חצּים (in Homer, κῆλα), God’s wrath-arrows, i. e. , lightnings of wrath, are His judgments of wrath; and יד, as in Psa 32:4; Psa 39:11, God’s punishing hand, which makes itself felt in dispensing punishment, hence תּנחת might be attached as a mood of sequence. In Psa 38:4 wrath is called זעם as a boiling up. Sin is the cause of this experiencing wrath, and the wrath is the cause of the bodily derangement; sin as an exciting cause of the wrath always manifests itself outwardly even on the body as a fatal power.

In Psa 38:5 sin is compared to waters that threaten to drown one, as in Psa 38:5 to a burden that presses one down. ככבּדוּ ממּנּי, they are heavier than I, i. e. , than my power of endurance, too heavy for me. In Psa 38:6 the effects of the operation of the divine hand (as punishing) are wounds, חבּוּרת (properly, suffused variegated marks from a blow or wheals, Isa 1:6; from חבר, Arab.

ḥbr , to be or make striped, variegated), which הבאישׁוּ, send forth an offensive smell, and נמקּוּ, suppurate. Sin, which causes this, is called אוּלת, because, as it is at last manifest, it is always the destruction of itself. With emphasis does מפּני אוּלתּי form the second half of the verse. To take נעויתי out of Psa 38:7 and put it to this, as Meier and Thenius propose, is to destroy this its proper position.

On the three מפּני, vid. , Ewald, §217, l . Thus sick in soul and body, he is obliged to bow and bend himself in the extreme. נעוה is used of a convulsive drawing together of the body, Isa 21:3; שׁחח, of a bowed mien, Psa 35:14; הלּך, of a heavy, lagging gait. With כּי in Psa 38:8 the grounding of the petition begins for the third time. His כּסלים, i. e. , internal muscles of the loins, which are usually the fattest parts, are full of נקלה, that which is burnt, i.

e. , parched. It is therefore as though the burning, starting from the central point of the bodily power, would spread itself over the whole body: the wrath of God works commotion in this latter as well as in the soul. Whilst all the energies of life thus yield, there comes over him a partial, almost total lifelessness. פּוּג is the proper word for the coldness and rigidity of a corpse; the Niphal means to be brought into this condition, just as נדכּא means to be crushed, or to be brought into a condition of crushing, i.

e. , of violent dissolution. The מן of מנּהמת is intended to imply that the loud wail is only the utterance of the pain that is raging in his heart, the outward expression of his ceaseless, deep inward groaning.

Psa 38:1-8 (Hebrew_Bible_38:2-9) David begins, as in Psa 6:1-10, with the prayer that his punitive affliction may be changed into disciplinary. Bakius correctly paraphrases. Psa 38:2 : Corripe sane per legem, castiga per crucem, millies promerui, negare non possum, sed castiga, quaeso, me ex amore ut pater, non ex furore et fervore ut judex; ne punias justitiae rigore, sed misericordiae dulcore (cf.

on Psa 6:2). The negative is to be repeated in Psa 38:2 , as in Psa 1:5; Psa 9:19; Psa 75:6. In the description, which give the ground of the cry for pity, נחת, is not the Piel , as in Psa 18:35, but the Niphal of the Kal נחת immediately following (root נח). קצף is anger as a breaking forth, fragor (cf. Hos 10:7, lxx φρύγανον), with ĕ instead of ı̆ in the first syllable, vowels which alternate in this word; and חמה, as a glowing or burning.

חצּים (in Homer, κῆλα), God’s wrath-arrows, i. e. , lightnings of wrath, are His judgments of wrath; and יד, as in Psa 32:4; Psa 39:11, God’s punishing hand, which makes itself felt in dispensing punishment, hence תּנחת might be attached as a mood of sequence. In Psa 38:4 wrath is called זעם as a boiling up. Sin is the cause of this experiencing wrath, and the wrath is the cause of the bodily derangement; sin as an exciting cause of the wrath always manifests itself outwardly even on the body as a fatal power.

In Psa 38:5 sin is compared to waters that threaten to drown one, as in Psa 38:5 to a burden that presses one down. ככבּדוּ ממּנּי, they are heavier than I, i. e. , than my power of endurance, too heavy for me. In Psa 38:6 the effects of the operation of the divine hand (as punishing) are wounds, חבּוּרת (properly, suffused variegated marks from a blow or wheals, Isa 1:6; from חבר, Arab.

ḥbr , to be or make striped, variegated), which הבאישׁוּ, send forth an offensive smell, and נמקּוּ, suppurate. Sin, which causes this, is called אוּלת, because, as it is at last manifest, it is always the destruction of itself. With emphasis does מפּני אוּלתּי form the second half of the verse. To take נעויתי out of Psa 38:7 and put it to this, as Meier and Thenius propose, is to destroy this its proper position.

On the three מפּני, vid. , Ewald, §217, l . Thus sick in soul and body, he is obliged to bow and bend himself in the extreme. נעוה is used of a convulsive drawing together of the body, Isa 21:3; שׁחח, of a bowed mien, Psa 35:14; הלּך, of a heavy, lagging gait. With כּי in Psa 38:8 the grounding of the petition begins for the third time. His כּסלים, i. e. , internal muscles of the loins, which are usually the fattest parts, are full of נקלה, that which is burnt, i.

e. , parched. It is therefore as though the burning, starting from the central point of the bodily power, would spread itself over the whole body: the wrath of God works commotion in this latter as well as in the soul. Whilst all the energies of life thus yield, there comes over him a partial, almost total lifelessness. פּוּג is the proper word for the coldness and rigidity of a corpse; the Niphal means to be brought into this condition, just as נדכּא means to be crushed, or to be brought into a condition of crushing, i.

e. , of violent dissolution. The מן of מנּהמת is intended to imply that the loud wail is only the utterance of the pain that is raging in his heart, the outward expression of his ceaseless, deep inward groaning.

Psa 38:9-14 (Hebrew_Bible_38:10-15) Having thus bewailed his suffering before God, he goes on in a somewhat calmer tone: it is the calm of weariness, but also of the rescue which shows itself from afar. He has complained, but not as if it were necessary for him first of all to make God acquainted with his suffering; the Omniscient One is directly cognisant of (has directly before Him, נגד, like לנגד in Psa 18:25) every wish that his suffering extorts from him, and even his softer sighing does not escape His knowledge.

The sufferer does not say this so much with the view of comforting himself with this thought, as of exciting God’s compassion. Hence he even goes on to draw the piteous picture of his condition: his heart is in a state of violent rotary motion, or only of violent, quickly repeated contraction and expansion ( Psychol . S. 252; tr. p. 297), that is to say, a state of violent palpitation (סחרחר, Pealal according to Ges.

§55, 3). Strength of which the heart is the centre (Psa 40:13) has left him, and the light of his eyes, even of these (by attraction for גּם־הוּא, since the light of the eyes is not contrasted with anything else), is not with him, but has become lost to him by weeping, watching, and fever. Those who love him and are friendly towards him have placed themselves far from his stroke (nega`, the touch of God’s hand of wrath), merely looking on (Oba 1:11), therefore, in a position hostile (2Sa 18:13) rather than friendly.

מנּגד, far away, but within the range of vision, within sight, Gen 21:16; Deu 32:52. The words וּקרובי מרחק עמדוּ, which introduce a pentastich into a Psalm that is tetrastichic throughout, have the appearance of being a gloss or various reading: מנּגד = מרחק, 2Ki 2:7. His enemies, however, endeavour to take advantage of his fall and helplessness, in order to give him his final death-blow.

וינקּשׁוּ (with the ק dageshed) describes what they have planned in consequence of the position he is in. The substance of their words is הוּות, utter destruction (vid. , Psa 5:10); to this end it is מרמות, deceit upon deceit, malice upon malice, that they unceasingly hatch with heart and mouth. In the consciousness of his sin he is obliged to be silent, and, renouncing all self-help, to abandon his cause to God.

Consciousness of guilt and resignation close his lips, so that he is not able, nor does he wish, to refute the false charges of his enemies; he has no תּוכחות, counter-evidence wherewith to vindicate himself. It is not to be rendered: “just as one dumb opens not his mouth;” כ is only a preposition, not a conjunction, and it is just here, in Psa 38:14, Psa 38:15, that the manifest proofs in support of this are found.

Psa 38:9-14 (Hebrew_Bible_38:10-15) Having thus bewailed his suffering before God, he goes on in a somewhat calmer tone: it is the calm of weariness, but also of the rescue which shows itself from afar. He has complained, but not as if it were necessary for him first of all to make God acquainted with his suffering; the Omniscient One is directly cognisant of (has directly before Him, נגד, like לנגד in Psa 18:25) every wish that his suffering extorts from him, and even his softer sighing does not escape His knowledge.

The sufferer does not say this so much with the view of comforting himself with this thought, as of exciting God’s compassion. Hence he even goes on to draw the piteous picture of his condition: his heart is in a state of violent rotary motion, or only of violent, quickly repeated contraction and expansion ( Psychol . S. 252; tr. p. 297), that is to say, a state of violent palpitation (סחרחר, Pealal according to Ges.

§55, 3). Strength of which the heart is the centre (Psa 40:13) has left him, and the light of his eyes, even of these (by attraction for גּם־הוּא, since the light of the eyes is not contrasted with anything else), is not with him, but has become lost to him by weeping, watching, and fever. Those who love him and are friendly towards him have placed themselves far from his stroke (nega`, the touch of God’s hand of wrath), merely looking on (Oba 1:11), therefore, in a position hostile (2Sa 18:13) rather than friendly.

מנּגד, far away, but within the range of vision, within sight, Gen 21:16; Deu 32:52. The words וּקרובי מרחק עמדוּ, which introduce a pentastich into a Psalm that is tetrastichic throughout, have the appearance of being a gloss or various reading: מנּגד = מרחק, 2Ki 2:7. His enemies, however, endeavour to take advantage of his fall and helplessness, in order to give him his final death-blow.

וינקּשׁוּ (with the ק dageshed) describes what they have planned in consequence of the position he is in. The substance of their words is הוּות, utter destruction (vid. , Psa 5:10); to this end it is מרמות, deceit upon deceit, malice upon malice, that they unceasingly hatch with heart and mouth. In the consciousness of his sin he is obliged to be silent, and, renouncing all self-help, to abandon his cause to God.

Consciousness of guilt and resignation close his lips, so that he is not able, nor does he wish, to refute the false charges of his enemies; he has no תּוכחות, counter-evidence wherewith to vindicate himself. It is not to be rendered: “just as one dumb opens not his mouth;” כ is only a preposition, not a conjunction, and it is just here, in Psa 38:14, Psa 38:15, that the manifest proofs in support of this are found.

Psa 38:9-14 (Hebrew_Bible_38:10-15) Having thus bewailed his suffering before God, he goes on in a somewhat calmer tone: it is the calm of weariness, but also of the rescue which shows itself from afar. He has complained, but not as if it were necessary for him first of all to make God acquainted with his suffering; the Omniscient One is directly cognisant of (has directly before Him, נגד, like לנגד in Psa 18:25) every wish that his suffering extorts from him, and even his softer sighing does not escape His knowledge.

The sufferer does not say this so much with the view of comforting himself with this thought, as of exciting God’s compassion. Hence he even goes on to draw the piteous picture of his condition: his heart is in a state of violent rotary motion, or only of violent, quickly repeated contraction and expansion ( Psychol . S. 252; tr. p. 297), that is to say, a state of violent palpitation (סחרחר, Pealal according to Ges.

§55, 3). Strength of which the heart is the centre (Psa 40:13) has left him, and the light of his eyes, even of these (by attraction for גּם־הוּא, since the light of the eyes is not contrasted with anything else), is not with him, but has become lost to him by weeping, watching, and fever. Those who love him and are friendly towards him have placed themselves far from his stroke (nega`, the touch of God’s hand of wrath), merely looking on (Oba 1:11), therefore, in a position hostile (2Sa 18:13) rather than friendly.

מנּגד, far away, but within the range of vision, within sight, Gen 21:16; Deu 32:52. The words וּקרובי מרחק עמדוּ, which introduce a pentastich into a Psalm that is tetrastichic throughout, have the appearance of being a gloss or various reading: מנּגד = מרחק, 2Ki 2:7. His enemies, however, endeavour to take advantage of his fall and helplessness, in order to give him his final death-blow.

וינקּשׁוּ (with the ק dageshed) describes what they have planned in consequence of the position he is in. The substance of their words is הוּות, utter destruction (vid. , Psa 5:10); to this end it is מרמות, deceit upon deceit, malice upon malice, that they unceasingly hatch with heart and mouth. In the consciousness of his sin he is obliged to be silent, and, renouncing all self-help, to abandon his cause to God.

Consciousness of guilt and resignation close his lips, so that he is not able, nor does he wish, to refute the false charges of his enemies; he has no תּוכחות, counter-evidence wherewith to vindicate himself. It is not to be rendered: “just as one dumb opens not his mouth;” כ is only a preposition, not a conjunction, and it is just here, in Psa 38:14, Psa 38:15, that the manifest proofs in support of this are found.

Psa 38:9-14 (Hebrew_Bible_38:10-15) Having thus bewailed his suffering before God, he goes on in a somewhat calmer tone: it is the calm of weariness, but also of the rescue which shows itself from afar. He has complained, but not as if it were necessary for him first of all to make God acquainted with his suffering; the Omniscient One is directly cognisant of (has directly before Him, נגד, like לנגד in Psa 18:25) every wish that his suffering extorts from him, and even his softer sighing does not escape His knowledge.

The sufferer does not say this so much with the view of comforting himself with this thought, as of exciting God’s compassion. Hence he even goes on to draw the piteous picture of his condition: his heart is in a state of violent rotary motion, or only of violent, quickly repeated contraction and expansion ( Psychol . S. 252; tr. p. 297), that is to say, a state of violent palpitation (סחרחר, Pealal according to Ges.

§55, 3). Strength of which the heart is the centre (Psa 40:13) has left him, and the light of his eyes, even of these (by attraction for גּם־הוּא, since the light of the eyes is not contrasted with anything else), is not with him, but has become lost to him by weeping, watching, and fever. Those who love him and are friendly towards him have placed themselves far from his stroke (nega`, the touch of God’s hand of wrath), merely looking on (Oba 1:11), therefore, in a position hostile (2Sa 18:13) rather than friendly.

מנּגד, far away, but within the range of vision, within sight, Gen 21:16; Deu 32:52. The words וּקרובי מרחק עמדוּ, which introduce a pentastich into a Psalm that is tetrastichic throughout, have the appearance of being a gloss or various reading: מנּגד = מרחק, 2Ki 2:7. His enemies, however, endeavour to take advantage of his fall and helplessness, in order to give him his final death-blow.

וינקּשׁוּ (with the ק dageshed) describes what they have planned in consequence of the position he is in. The substance of their words is הוּות, utter destruction (vid. , Psa 5:10); to this end it is מרמות, deceit upon deceit, malice upon malice, that they unceasingly hatch with heart and mouth. In the consciousness of his sin he is obliged to be silent, and, renouncing all self-help, to abandon his cause to God.

Consciousness of guilt and resignation close his lips, so that he is not able, nor does he wish, to refute the false charges of his enemies; he has no תּוכחות, counter-evidence wherewith to vindicate himself. It is not to be rendered: “just as one dumb opens not his mouth;” כ is only a preposition, not a conjunction, and it is just here, in Psa 38:14, Psa 38:15, that the manifest proofs in support of this are found.

Psa 38:9-14 (Hebrew_Bible_38:10-15) Having thus bewailed his suffering before God, he goes on in a somewhat calmer tone: it is the calm of weariness, but also of the rescue which shows itself from afar. He has complained, but not as if it were necessary for him first of all to make God acquainted with his suffering; the Omniscient One is directly cognisant of (has directly before Him, נגד, like לנגד in Psa 18:25) every wish that his suffering extorts from him, and even his softer sighing does not escape His knowledge.

The sufferer does not say this so much with the view of comforting himself with this thought, as of exciting God’s compassion. Hence he even goes on to draw the piteous picture of his condition: his heart is in a state of violent rotary motion, or only of violent, quickly repeated contraction and expansion ( Psychol . S. 252; tr. p. 297), that is to say, a state of violent palpitation (סחרחר, Pealal according to Ges.

§55, 3). Strength of which the heart is the centre (Psa 40:13) has left him, and the light of his eyes, even of these (by attraction for גּם־הוּא, since the light of the eyes is not contrasted with anything else), is not with him, but has become lost to him by weeping, watching, and fever. Those who love him and are friendly towards him have placed themselves far from his stroke (nega`, the touch of God’s hand of wrath), merely looking on (Oba 1:11), therefore, in a position hostile (2Sa 18:13) rather than friendly.

מנּגד, far away, but within the range of vision, within sight, Gen 21:16; Deu 32:52. The words וּקרובי מרחק עמדוּ, which introduce a pentastich into a Psalm that is tetrastichic throughout, have the appearance of being a gloss or various reading: מנּגד = מרחק, 2Ki 2:7. His enemies, however, endeavour to take advantage of his fall and helplessness, in order to give him his final death-blow.

וינקּשׁוּ (with the ק dageshed) describes what they have planned in consequence of the position he is in. The substance of their words is הוּות, utter destruction (vid. , Psa 5:10); to this end it is מרמות, deceit upon deceit, malice upon malice, that they unceasingly hatch with heart and mouth. In the consciousness of his sin he is obliged to be silent, and, renouncing all self-help, to abandon his cause to God.

Consciousness of guilt and resignation close his lips, so that he is not able, nor does he wish, to refute the false charges of his enemies; he has no תּוכחות, counter-evidence wherewith to vindicate himself. It is not to be rendered: “just as one dumb opens not his mouth;” כ is only a preposition, not a conjunction, and it is just here, in Psa 38:14, Psa 38:15, that the manifest proofs in support of this are found.

Psa 38:9-14 (Hebrew_Bible_38:10-15) Having thus bewailed his suffering before God, he goes on in a somewhat calmer tone: it is the calm of weariness, but also of the rescue which shows itself from afar. He has complained, but not as if it were necessary for him first of all to make God acquainted with his suffering; the Omniscient One is directly cognisant of (has directly before Him, נגד, like לנגד in Psa 18:25) every wish that his suffering extorts from him, and even his softer sighing does not escape His knowledge.

The sufferer does not say this so much with the view of comforting himself with this thought, as of exciting God’s compassion. Hence he even goes on to draw the piteous picture of his condition: his heart is in a state of violent rotary motion, or only of violent, quickly repeated contraction and expansion ( Psychol . S. 252; tr. p. 297), that is to say, a state of violent palpitation (סחרחר, Pealal according to Ges.

§55, 3). Strength of which the heart is the centre (Psa 40:13) has left him, and the light of his eyes, even of these (by attraction for גּם־הוּא, since the light of the eyes is not contrasted with anything else), is not with him, but has become lost to him by weeping, watching, and fever. Those who love him and are friendly towards him have placed themselves far from his stroke (nega`, the touch of God’s hand of wrath), merely looking on (Oba 1:11), therefore, in a position hostile (2Sa 18:13) rather than friendly.

מנּגד, far away, but within the range of vision, within sight, Gen 21:16; Deu 32:52. The words וּקרובי מרחק עמדוּ, which introduce a pentastich into a Psalm that is tetrastichic throughout, have the appearance of being a gloss or various reading: מנּגד = מרחק, 2Ki 2:7. His enemies, however, endeavour to take advantage of his fall and helplessness, in order to give him his final death-blow.

וינקּשׁוּ (with the ק dageshed) describes what they have planned in consequence of the position he is in. The substance of their words is הוּות, utter destruction (vid. , Psa 5:10); to this end it is מרמות, deceit upon deceit, malice upon malice, that they unceasingly hatch with heart and mouth. In the consciousness of his sin he is obliged to be silent, and, renouncing all self-help, to abandon his cause to God.

Consciousness of guilt and resignation close his lips, so that he is not able, nor does he wish, to refute the false charges of his enemies; he has no תּוכחות, counter-evidence wherewith to vindicate himself. It is not to be rendered: “just as one dumb opens not his mouth;” כ is only a preposition, not a conjunction, and it is just here, in Psa 38:14, Psa 38:15, that the manifest proofs in support of this are found.

Psa 38:15-22 (Hebrew_Bible_38:16-23) Become utterly useless in himself, he renounces all self-help, for (כּי) he hopes in Jahve, who alone can help him. He waits for His answer, for (כי) he says, etc. - he waits for an answer, for the hearing of this his petition which is directed towards the glory of God, that God would not suffer his foes to triumph over him, nor strengthen them in their mercilessness and injustice.

Psa 38:18 appears also to stand under the government of the פּן; but, since in this case one would look for a Waw relat . and a different order of the words, Psa 38:18 is to be regarded as a subject clause: “who, when my foot totters, i. e. , when my affliction changes to entire downfall, would magnify themselves against me. ” In Psa 38:18, כּי connects what follows with בּמוט רגלי by way of confirmation: he is נכון לצלע, ready for falling (Psa 35:15), he will, if God does not graciously interpose, assuredly fall headlong.

The fourth כּי in Psa 38:19 is attached confirmatorily to Psa 38:18 : his intense pain or sorrow is ever present to him, for he is obliged to confess his guilt, and this feeling of guilt is just the very sting of his pain. And whilst he in the consciousness of well-deserved punishment is sick unto death, his foes are numerous and withal vigorous and full of life.

Instead of חיּים, probably חנּם, as in Psa 35:19; Psa 69:5, is to be read (Houbigant, Hitzig, Köster, Hupfeld, Ewald, and Olshausen). But even the lxx read חיים; and the reading which is so old, although it does not very well suit עצמוּ (instead of which one would look for ועצוּמים), is still not without meaning: he looks upon himself, according to Psa 38:9, more as one dead than living; his foes, however, are חיּים, living, i.

e. , vigorous. The verb frequently ash this pregnant meaning, and the adjective can also have it. Just as the accentuation of the form סבּוּ varies elsewhere out of pause, ורבּוּ here has the tone on the ultima , although it is not perf. consec . Psa 38:21 is an apposition of the subject, which remains the same as in Psa 38:20. Instead of רדופי (Ges. §61, rem.

2) the Kerî is רדפי, rādephî (without any Makkeph following), or רדפי, rādophî ; cf. on this pronunciation, Psa 86:2; Psa 16:1, and with the Chethîb רדופי, the Chethîb צרופה, Psa 26:2, also מיורדי, Psa 30:4. By the “following of that which is good” David means more particularly that which is brought into exercise in relation to his present foes. He closes in Psa 38:22 with sighs for help.

No lighting up of the darkness of wrath takes place. The fides supplex is not changed into fides triumphans . But the closing words, “O Lord, my salvation” (cf. Psa 51:16), show where the repentance of Cain and that of David differ. True repentance has faith within itself, it despairs of itself, but not of God.

Psa 38:15-22 (Hebrew_Bible_38:16-23) Become utterly useless in himself, he renounces all self-help, for (כּי) he hopes in Jahve, who alone can help him. He waits for His answer, for (כי) he says, etc. - he waits for an answer, for the hearing of this his petition which is directed towards the glory of God, that God would not suffer his foes to triumph over him, nor strengthen them in their mercilessness and injustice.

Psa 38:18 appears also to stand under the government of the פּן; but, since in this case one would look for a Waw relat . and a different order of the words, Psa 38:18 is to be regarded as a subject clause: “who, when my foot totters, i. e. , when my affliction changes to entire downfall, would magnify themselves against me. ” In Psa 38:18, כּי connects what follows with בּמוט רגלי by way of confirmation: he is נכון לצלע, ready for falling (Psa 35:15), he will, if God does not graciously interpose, assuredly fall headlong.

The fourth כּי in Psa 38:19 is attached confirmatorily to Psa 38:18 : his intense pain or sorrow is ever present to him, for he is obliged to confess his guilt, and this feeling of guilt is just the very sting of his pain. And whilst he in the consciousness of well-deserved punishment is sick unto death, his foes are numerous and withal vigorous and full of life.

Instead of חיּים, probably חנּם, as in Psa 35:19; Psa 69:5, is to be read (Houbigant, Hitzig, Köster, Hupfeld, Ewald, and Olshausen). But even the lxx read חיים; and the reading which is so old, although it does not very well suit עצמוּ (instead of which one would look for ועצוּמים), is still not without meaning: he looks upon himself, according to Psa 38:9, more as one dead than living; his foes, however, are חיּים, living, i.

e. , vigorous. The verb frequently ash this pregnant meaning, and the adjective can also have it. Just as the accentuation of the form סבּוּ varies elsewhere out of pause, ורבּוּ here has the tone on the ultima , although it is not perf. consec . Psa 38:21 is an apposition of the subject, which remains the same as in Psa 38:20. Instead of רדופי (Ges. §61, rem.

2) the Kerî is רדפי, rādephî (without any Makkeph following), or רדפי, rādophî ; cf. on this pronunciation, Psa 86:2; Psa 16:1, and with the Chethîb רדופי, the Chethîb צרופה, Psa 26:2, also מיורדי, Psa 30:4. By the “following of that which is good” David means more particularly that which is brought into exercise in relation to his present foes. He closes in Psa 38:22 with sighs for help.

No lighting up of the darkness of wrath takes place. The fides supplex is not changed into fides triumphans . But the closing words, “O Lord, my salvation” (cf. Psa 51:16), show where the repentance of Cain and that of David differ. True repentance has faith within itself, it despairs of itself, but not of God.

Psa 38:15-22 (Hebrew_Bible_38:16-23) Become utterly useless in himself, he renounces all self-help, for (כּי) he hopes in Jahve, who alone can help him. He waits for His answer, for (כי) he says, etc. - he waits for an answer, for the hearing of this his petition which is directed towards the glory of God, that God would not suffer his foes to triumph over him, nor strengthen them in their mercilessness and injustice.

Psa 38:18 appears also to stand under the government of the פּן; but, since in this case one would look for a Waw relat . and a different order of the words, Psa 38:18 is to be regarded as a subject clause: “who, when my foot totters, i. e. , when my affliction changes to entire downfall, would magnify themselves against me. ” In Psa 38:18, כּי connects what follows with בּמוט רגלי by way of confirmation: he is נכון לצלע, ready for falling (Psa 35:15), he will, if God does not graciously interpose, assuredly fall headlong.

The fourth כּי in Psa 38:19 is attached confirmatorily to Psa 38:18 : his intense pain or sorrow is ever present to him, for he is obliged to confess his guilt, and this feeling of guilt is just the very sting of his pain. And whilst he in the consciousness of well-deserved punishment is sick unto death, his foes are numerous and withal vigorous and full of life.

Instead of חיּים, probably חנּם, as in Psa 35:19; Psa 69:5, is to be read (Houbigant, Hitzig, Köster, Hupfeld, Ewald, and Olshausen). But even the lxx read חיים; and the reading which is so old, although it does not very well suit עצמוּ (instead of which one would look for ועצוּמים), is still not without meaning: he looks upon himself, according to Psa 38:9, more as one dead than living; his foes, however, are חיּים, living, i.

e. , vigorous. The verb frequently ash this pregnant meaning, and the adjective can also have it. Just as the accentuation of the form סבּוּ varies elsewhere out of pause, ורבּוּ here has the tone on the ultima , although it is not perf. consec . Psa 38:21 is an apposition of the subject, which remains the same as in Psa 38:20. Instead of רדופי (Ges. §61, rem.

2) the Kerî is רדפי, rādephî (without any Makkeph following), or רדפי, rādophî ; cf. on this pronunciation, Psa 86:2; Psa 16:1, and with the Chethîb רדופי, the Chethîb צרופה, Psa 26:2, also מיורדי, Psa 30:4. By the “following of that which is good” David means more particularly that which is brought into exercise in relation to his present foes. He closes in Psa 38:22 with sighs for help.

No lighting up of the darkness of wrath takes place. The fides supplex is not changed into fides triumphans . But the closing words, “O Lord, my salvation” (cf. Psa 51:16), show where the repentance of Cain and that of David differ. True repentance has faith within itself, it despairs of itself, but not of God.

Psa 38:15-22 (Hebrew_Bible_38:16-23) Become utterly useless in himself, he renounces all self-help, for (כּי) he hopes in Jahve, who alone can help him. He waits for His answer, for (כי) he says, etc. - he waits for an answer, for the hearing of this his petition which is directed towards the glory of God, that God would not suffer his foes to triumph over him, nor strengthen them in their mercilessness and injustice.

Psa 38:18 appears also to stand under the government of the פּן; but, since in this case one would look for a Waw relat . and a different order of the words, Psa 38:18 is to be regarded as a subject clause: “who, when my foot totters, i. e. , when my affliction changes to entire downfall, would magnify themselves against me. ” In Psa 38:18, כּי connects what follows with בּמוט רגלי by way of confirmation: he is נכון לצלע, ready for falling (Psa 35:15), he will, if God does not graciously interpose, assuredly fall headlong.

The fourth כּי in Psa 38:19 is attached confirmatorily to Psa 38:18 : his intense pain or sorrow is ever present to him, for he is obliged to confess his guilt, and this feeling of guilt is just the very sting of his pain. And whilst he in the consciousness of well-deserved punishment is sick unto death, his foes are numerous and withal vigorous and full of life.

Instead of חיּים, probably חנּם, as in Psa 35:19; Psa 69:5, is to be read (Houbigant, Hitzig, Köster, Hupfeld, Ewald, and Olshausen). But even the lxx read חיים; and the reading which is so old, although it does not very well suit עצמוּ (instead of which one would look for ועצוּמים), is still not without meaning: he looks upon himself, according to Psa 38:9, more as one dead than living; his foes, however, are חיּים, living, i.

e. , vigorous. The verb frequently ash this pregnant meaning, and the adjective can also have it. Just as the accentuation of the form סבּוּ varies elsewhere out of pause, ורבּוּ here has the tone on the ultima , although it is not perf. consec . Psa 38:21 is an apposition of the subject, which remains the same as in Psa 38:20. Instead of רדופי (Ges. §61, rem.

2) the Kerî is רדפי, rādephî (without any Makkeph following), or רדפי, rādophî ; cf. on this pronunciation, Psa 86:2; Psa 16:1, and with the Chethîb רדופי, the Chethîb צרופה, Psa 26:2, also מיורדי, Psa 30:4. By the “following of that which is good” David means more particularly that which is brought into exercise in relation to his present foes. He closes in Psa 38:22 with sighs for help.

No lighting up of the darkness of wrath takes place. The fides supplex is not changed into fides triumphans . But the closing words, “O Lord, my salvation” (cf. Psa 51:16), show where the repentance of Cain and that of David differ. True repentance has faith within itself, it despairs of itself, but not of God.

Psa 38:15-22 (Hebrew_Bible_38:16-23) Become utterly useless in himself, he renounces all self-help, for (כּי) he hopes in Jahve, who alone can help him. He waits for His answer, for (כי) he says, etc. - he waits for an answer, for the hearing of this his petition which is directed towards the glory of God, that God would not suffer his foes to triumph over him, nor strengthen them in their mercilessness and injustice.

Psa 38:18 appears also to stand under the government of the פּן; but, since in this case one would look for a Waw relat . and a different order of the words, Psa 38:18 is to be regarded as a subject clause: “who, when my foot totters, i. e. , when my affliction changes to entire downfall, would magnify themselves against me. ” In Psa 38:18, כּי connects what follows with בּמוט רגלי by way of confirmation: he is נכון לצלע, ready for falling (Psa 35:15), he will, if God does not graciously interpose, assuredly fall headlong.

The fourth כּי in Psa 38:19 is attached confirmatorily to Psa 38:18 : his intense pain or sorrow is ever present to him, for he is obliged to confess his guilt, and this feeling of guilt is just the very sting of his pain. And whilst he in the consciousness of well-deserved punishment is sick unto death, his foes are numerous and withal vigorous and full of life.

Instead of חיּים, probably חנּם, as in Psa 35:19; Psa 69:5, is to be read (Houbigant, Hitzig, Köster, Hupfeld, Ewald, and Olshausen). But even the lxx read חיים; and the reading which is so old, although it does not very well suit עצמוּ (instead of which one would look for ועצוּמים), is still not without meaning: he looks upon himself, according to Psa 38:9, more as one dead than living; his foes, however, are חיּים, living, i.

e. , vigorous. The verb frequently ash this pregnant meaning, and the adjective can also have it. Just as the accentuation of the form סבּוּ varies elsewhere out of pause, ורבּוּ here has the tone on the ultima , although it is not perf. consec . Psa 38:21 is an apposition of the subject, which remains the same as in Psa 38:20. Instead of רדופי (Ges. §61, rem.

2) the Kerî is רדפי, rādephî (without any Makkeph following), or רדפי, rādophî ; cf. on this pronunciation, Psa 86:2; Psa 16:1, and with the Chethîb רדופי, the Chethîb צרופה, Psa 26:2, also מיורדי, Psa 30:4. By the “following of that which is good” David means more particularly that which is brought into exercise in relation to his present foes. He closes in Psa 38:22 with sighs for help.

No lighting up of the darkness of wrath takes place. The fides supplex is not changed into fides triumphans . But the closing words, “O Lord, my salvation” (cf. Psa 51:16), show where the repentance of Cain and that of David differ. True repentance has faith within itself, it despairs of itself, but not of God.

Psa 38:15-22 (Hebrew_Bible_38:16-23) Become utterly useless in himself, he renounces all self-help, for (כּי) he hopes in Jahve, who alone can help him. He waits for His answer, for (כי) he says, etc. - he waits for an answer, for the hearing of this his petition which is directed towards the glory of God, that God would not suffer his foes to triumph over him, nor strengthen them in their mercilessness and injustice.

Psa 38:18 appears also to stand under the government of the פּן; but, since in this case one would look for a Waw relat . and a different order of the words, Psa 38:18 is to be regarded as a subject clause: “who, when my foot totters, i. e. , when my affliction changes to entire downfall, would magnify themselves against me. ” In Psa 38:18, כּי connects what follows with בּמוט רגלי by way of confirmation: he is נכון לצלע, ready for falling (Psa 35:15), he will, if God does not graciously interpose, assuredly fall headlong.

The fourth כּי in Psa 38:19 is attached confirmatorily to Psa 38:18 : his intense pain or sorrow is ever present to him, for he is obliged to confess his guilt, and this feeling of guilt is just the very sting of his pain. And whilst he in the consciousness of well-deserved punishment is sick unto death, his foes are numerous and withal vigorous and full of life.

Instead of חיּים, probably חנּם, as in Psa 35:19; Psa 69:5, is to be read (Houbigant, Hitzig, Köster, Hupfeld, Ewald, and Olshausen). But even the lxx read חיים; and the reading which is so old, although it does not very well suit עצמוּ (instead of which one would look for ועצוּמים), is still not without meaning: he looks upon himself, according to Psa 38:9, more as one dead than living; his foes, however, are חיּים, living, i.

e. , vigorous. The verb frequently ash this pregnant meaning, and the adjective can also have it. Just as the accentuation of the form סבּוּ varies elsewhere out of pause, ורבּוּ here has the tone on the ultima , although it is not perf. consec . Psa 38:21 is an apposition of the subject, which remains the same as in Psa 38:20. Instead of רדופי (Ges. §61, rem.

2) the Kerî is רדפי, rādephî (without any Makkeph following), or רדפי, rādophî ; cf. on this pronunciation, Psa 86:2; Psa 16:1, and with the Chethîb רדופי, the Chethîb צרופה, Psa 26:2, also מיורדי, Psa 30:4. By the “following of that which is good” David means more particularly that which is brought into exercise in relation to his present foes. He closes in Psa 38:22 with sighs for help.

No lighting up of the darkness of wrath takes place. The fides supplex is not changed into fides triumphans . But the closing words, “O Lord, my salvation” (cf. Psa 51:16), show where the repentance of Cain and that of David differ. True repentance has faith within itself, it despairs of itself, but not of God.

Psa 38:15-22 (Hebrew_Bible_38:16-23) Become utterly useless in himself, he renounces all self-help, for (כּי) he hopes in Jahve, who alone can help him. He waits for His answer, for (כי) he says, etc. - he waits for an answer, for the hearing of this his petition which is directed towards the glory of God, that God would not suffer his foes to triumph over him, nor strengthen them in their mercilessness and injustice.

Psa 38:18 appears also to stand under the government of the פּן; but, since in this case one would look for a Waw relat . and a different order of the words, Psa 38:18 is to be regarded as a subject clause: “who, when my foot totters, i. e. , when my affliction changes to entire downfall, would magnify themselves against me. ” In Psa 38:18, כּי connects what follows with בּמוט רגלי by way of confirmation: he is נכון לצלע, ready for falling (Psa 35:15), he will, if God does not graciously interpose, assuredly fall headlong.

The fourth כּי in Psa 38:19 is attached confirmatorily to Psa 38:18 : his intense pain or sorrow is ever present to him, for he is obliged to confess his guilt, and this feeling of guilt is just the very sting of his pain. And whilst he in the consciousness of well-deserved punishment is sick unto death, his foes are numerous and withal vigorous and full of life.

Instead of חיּים, probably חנּם, as in Psa 35:19; Psa 69:5, is to be read (Houbigant, Hitzig, Köster, Hupfeld, Ewald, and Olshausen). But even the lxx read חיים; and the reading which is so old, although it does not very well suit עצמוּ (instead of which one would look for ועצוּמים), is still not without meaning: he looks upon himself, according to Psa 38:9, more as one dead than living; his foes, however, are חיּים, living, i.

e. , vigorous. The verb frequently ash this pregnant meaning, and the adjective can also have it. Just as the accentuation of the form סבּוּ varies elsewhere out of pause, ורבּוּ here has the tone on the ultima , although it is not perf. consec . Psa 38:21 is an apposition of the subject, which remains the same as in Psa 38:20. Instead of רדופי (Ges. §61, rem.

2) the Kerî is רדפי, rādephî (without any Makkeph following), or רדפי, rādophî ; cf. on this pronunciation, Psa 86:2; Psa 16:1, and with the Chethîb רדופי, the Chethîb צרופה, Psa 26:2, also מיורדי, Psa 30:4. By the “following of that which is good” David means more particularly that which is brought into exercise in relation to his present foes. He closes in Psa 38:22 with sighs for help.

No lighting up of the darkness of wrath takes place. The fides supplex is not changed into fides triumphans . But the closing words, “O Lord, my salvation” (cf. Psa 51:16), show where the repentance of Cain and that of David differ. True repentance has faith within itself, it despairs of itself, but not of God.

Psa 38:15-22 (Hebrew_Bible_38:16-23) Become utterly useless in himself, he renounces all self-help, for (כּי) he hopes in Jahve, who alone can help him. He waits for His answer, for (כי) he says, etc. - he waits for an answer, for the hearing of this his petition which is directed towards the glory of God, that God would not suffer his foes to triumph over him, nor strengthen them in their mercilessness and injustice.

Psa 38:18 appears also to stand under the government of the פּן; but, since in this case one would look for a Waw relat . and a different order of the words, Psa 38:18 is to be regarded as a subject clause: “who, when my foot totters, i. e. , when my affliction changes to entire downfall, would magnify themselves against me. ” In Psa 38:18, כּי connects what follows with בּמוט רגלי by way of confirmation: he is נכון לצלע, ready for falling (Psa 35:15), he will, if God does not graciously interpose, assuredly fall headlong.

The fourth כּי in Psa 38:19 is attached confirmatorily to Psa 38:18 : his intense pain or sorrow is ever present to him, for he is obliged to confess his guilt, and this feeling of guilt is just the very sting of his pain. And whilst he in the consciousness of well-deserved punishment is sick unto death, his foes are numerous and withal vigorous and full of life.

Instead of חיּים, probably חנּם, as in Psa 35:19; Psa 69:5, is to be read (Houbigant, Hitzig, Köster, Hupfeld, Ewald, and Olshausen). But even the lxx read חיים; and the reading which is so old, although it does not very well suit עצמוּ (instead of which one would look for ועצוּמים), is still not without meaning: he looks upon himself, according to Psa 38:9, more as one dead than living; his foes, however, are חיּים, living, i.

e. , vigorous. The verb frequently ash this pregnant meaning, and the adjective can also have it. Just as the accentuation of the form סבּוּ varies elsewhere out of pause, ורבּוּ here has the tone on the ultima , although it is not perf. consec . Psa 38:21 is an apposition of the subject, which remains the same as in Psa 38:20. Instead of רדופי (Ges. §61, rem.

2) the Kerî is רדפי, rādephî (without any Makkeph following), or רדפי, rādophî ; cf. on this pronunciation, Psa 86:2; Psa 16:1, and with the Chethîb רדופי, the Chethîb צרופה, Psa 26:2, also מיורדי, Psa 30:4. By the “following of that which is good” David means more particularly that which is brought into exercise in relation to his present foes. He closes in Psa 38:22 with sighs for help.

No lighting up of the darkness of wrath takes place. The fides supplex is not changed into fides triumphans . But the closing words, “O Lord, my salvation” (cf. Psa 51:16), show where the repentance of Cain and that of David differ. True repentance has faith within itself, it despairs of itself, but not of God.

In Psa 38:14 the poet calls himself a dumb person, who opens not his mouth; this submissive, resigned keeping of silence he affirms of himself in the same words in Psa 39:3 also. This forms a prominent characteristic common to the two Psalms, which fully warranted their being placed together as a pair. There is, however, another Psalm, which is still more closely related to Psa 39:1-13, viz.

, Psa 62:1-12, which, together with Psa 4:1-8, has a similar historical background. The author, in his dignity, is threatened by those who from being false friends have become open enemies, and who revel in the enjoyment of illegitimately acquired power and possessions. From his own experience, in the midst of which he commits his safety and his honour to God, he derives the general warnings, that to trust in riches is deceptive, and that power belongs alone to God the Avenger - two doctrines, in support of which the issue of the affair with Absalom was a forcible example.

Thus it is with Psa 62:1-12, and in like manner Psa 39:1-13 also. Both Psalms bear the name of Jeduthun side by side with the name of David at their head; both describe the nothingness of everything human in the same language; both delight more than other Psalms in the use of the assuring, confident אך; both have סלה twice; both coincide in some points with the Book of Job; the form of both Psalms, however, is so polished, transparent, and classic, that criticism is not authorized in assigning to this pair of Psalms any particular poet other than David.

The reason of the redacteur not placing Psa 62:1-12 immediately after Psa 39:1-13 is to be found in the fact that Psa 62:1-12 is an Elohim-Psalm, which could not stand in the midst of Jahve-Psalms. To the inscribed למנצּח, לידיתוּן is added in this instance. The name is also written thus in Psa 77:1; 1Ch 16:38; Neh 11:17, and always with the Kerî ידוּתוּן, which, after the analogy of זבוּלוּן, is the more easily pronouncible pointing (Psa 62:1).

It is an offshoot of the form ידוּת or ידית; cf. שׁבוּת and שׁבית, חפשׁוּת and חפשׁית. It is the name of one of David’s three choir-masters or precentors - the third in conjunction with Asaph and Heman, 1Ch 16:41. , Psa 25:1. , 2Ch 5:12; 2Ch 35:15, and is, without doubt, the same person as איתן, 1 Chr. 15, a name which is changed into ידותון after the arrangement in Gibeon, 1 Chr.

16. Consequently side by side with למנצח, לידותון will be the name of the מנצח himself, i. e. , the name of the person to whom the song was handed over to be set to music. The fact that in two inscriptions (Psa 62:1; Psa 77:1) we read על instead of the ל of לידיתון, does not militate against this. By ל Jeduthun is denoted as the person to whom the song was handed over for performance; and by על, as the person to whom the performance was assigned.

The rendering: “to the director of the Jeduthunites,” adopted by Hitzig, is possible regarding the ידותון as used as a generic name like אהרן in 1Ch 12:27; 1Ch 27:17; but the customary use of the ל in inscriptions is against it. The Psalm consists of four stanzas without any strophic symmetry. The first three are of only approximately the same compass, and the final smaller stanza has designedly the character of an epilogue.

Psa 39:1-3 (Hebrew_Bible_39:2-4) The poet relates how he has resolved to bear his own affliction silently in the face of the prosperity of the ungodly, but that his smart was so overpowering that he was compelled involuntarily to break his silence by loud complaint. The resolve follows the introductory אמרתּי in cohortatives. He meant to take heed to his ways, i.

e. , his manner of thought and action, in all their extent, lest he should sin with his tongue, viz. , by any murmuring complaint concerning his own misfortune, when he saw the prosperity of the ungodly. He was resolved to keep (i. e. , cause invariably to press) a bridling (cf. on the form, Gen 30:37), or a bridle ( capistrum ), upon his mouth, so long as he should see the ungodly continuing and sinning in the fulness of his strength, instead of his speedy ruin which one ought to expect.

Then he was struck dumb דּוּמיּה, in silence, i. e. , as in Psa 62:2, cf. Lam 3:26, in resigned submission, he was silent מטּוב, turned away from (vid. , Psa 28:1; 1Sa 7:8, and frequently) prosperity, i. e. , from that in which he saw the evil-doer rejoicing; he sought to silence for ever the perplexing contradiction between this prosperity and the righteousness of God.

But this self-imposed silence gave intensity to the repressed pain, and this was thereby נעכּר, stirred up, excited, aroused; the inward heat became, in consequence of restrained complaint, all the more intense (Jer 20:9): “and while I was musing a fire was kindled,” i. e. , the thoughts and emotions rubbing against one another produced a blazing fire, viz. , of irrepressible vexation, and the end of it was: “I spake with my tongue,” unable any longer to keep in my pain.

What now follows is not what was said by the poet when in this condition. On the contrary, he turns away from his purpose, which has been proved to be impracticable, to God Himself with the prayer that He would teach him calm submission.

Psa 39:1-3 (Hebrew_Bible_39:2-4) The poet relates how he has resolved to bear his own affliction silently in the face of the prosperity of the ungodly, but that his smart was so overpowering that he was compelled involuntarily to break his silence by loud complaint. The resolve follows the introductory אמרתּי in cohortatives. He meant to take heed to his ways, i.

e. , his manner of thought and action, in all their extent, lest he should sin with his tongue, viz. , by any murmuring complaint concerning his own misfortune, when he saw the prosperity of the ungodly. He was resolved to keep (i. e. , cause invariably to press) a bridling (cf. on the form, Gen 30:37), or a bridle ( capistrum ), upon his mouth, so long as he should see the ungodly continuing and sinning in the fulness of his strength, instead of his speedy ruin which one ought to expect.

Then he was struck dumb דּוּמיּה, in silence, i. e. , as in Psa 62:2, cf. Lam 3:26, in resigned submission, he was silent מטּוב, turned away from (vid. , Psa 28:1; 1Sa 7:8, and frequently) prosperity, i. e. , from that in which he saw the evil-doer rejoicing; he sought to silence for ever the perplexing contradiction between this prosperity and the righteousness of God.

But this self-imposed silence gave intensity to the repressed pain, and this was thereby נעכּר, stirred up, excited, aroused; the inward heat became, in consequence of restrained complaint, all the more intense (Jer 20:9): “and while I was musing a fire was kindled,” i. e. , the thoughts and emotions rubbing against one another produced a blazing fire, viz. , of irrepressible vexation, and the end of it was: “I spake with my tongue,” unable any longer to keep in my pain.

What now follows is not what was said by the poet when in this condition. On the contrary, he turns away from his purpose, which has been proved to be impracticable, to God Himself with the prayer that He would teach him calm submission.

Psa 39:4-6 (Hebrew_Bible_39:5-7) He prays God to set the transitoriness of earthly life clearly before his eyes (cf. Psa 90:12); for if life is only a few spans long, then even his suffering and the prosperity of the ungodly will last only a short time. Oh that God would then grant him to know his end (Job 6:11), i. e. , the end of his life, which is at the same time the end of his affliction, and the measure of his days, how it is with this (מה, interrog.

extenuantis , as in Psa 8:5), in order that he may become fully conscious of his own frailty! Hupfeld corrects the text to אני מה־חלד, after the analogy of Psa 89:48, because חדל cannot signify “frail. ” But חדל signifies that which leaves off and ceases, and consequently in this connection, finite and transitory or frail. מה, quam , in connection with an adjective, as in Psa 8:2; Psa 31:20; Psa 36:8; Psa 66:3; Psa 133:1.

By הן (the customary form of introducing the propositio minor , Lev 10:18; Lev 25:20) the preceding petition is supported. God has, indeed, made the days, i. e. , the lifetime, of a man טפחות, handbreadths, i. e. , He has allotted to it only the short extension of a few handbreadths (cf. ימים, a few days, e. g. , Isa 65:20), of which nine make a yard (cf. πήχυιος χρόνος in Mimnermus, and 1Sa 20:3); the duration of human life (on חלד vid.

, Psa 17:14) is as a vanishing nothing before God the eternal One. The particle אך is originally affirmative, and starting from that sense becomes restrictive; just as רק is originally restrictive and then affirmative. Sometimes also, as is commonly the case with אכן, the affirmative signification passes over into the adversative (cf. verum, verum enim vero ).

In our passage, agreeably to the restrictive sense, it is to be explained thus: nothing but mere nothingness (cf. Psa 45:14; Jam 1:2) is every man נצּב, standing firmly, i. e. , though he stand never so firmly, though he be never so stedfast (Zec 11:16). Here the music rises to tones of bitter lament, and the song continues in Psa 39:7 with the same theme. צלם, belonging to the same root as צל, signifies a shadow-outline, an image; the בּ is, as in Psa 35:2, Beth essentiae : he walks about consisting only of an unsubstantial shadow.

Only הבל, breath-like, or after the manner of breath (Psa 144:4), from empty, vain motives and with vain results, do they make a disturbance (pausal fut. energicum , as in Psa 36:8); and he who restlessly and noisily exerts himself knows not who will suddenly snatch together, i. e. , take altogether greedily to himself, the many things that he heaps up (צבר, as in Job 27:16); cf.

Isa 33:4, and on - ām = αὐτά, Lev 15:10 (in connection with which אלה הדברים, cf. Isa 42:16, is in the mind of the speaker).