TheBibleNet: Psalm 38

Psalms:

Bk 1: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41

Bk 2: 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72

Bk 3: 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89

Bk 4: 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106

Bk 5: 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119a 119b 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132
133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150

Additional Psalms: 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 Samuel Chronicles

Essays: Intro - Music - Form & Language

38:1 MIZMOR LE DAVID LEHAZKIR

מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד לְהַזְכִּיר

KJ (King James translation): (A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance.) O LORD, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.

BN: A Psalm for David. A memorial.

22 verses (counting verse 1 as the title), but not an acrostical poem.

Once again KJ has amalgamated the opening verse into the title, as a result of which the verse numbers are rendered one apart.

LEHAZKIR: Is this an early form of YIZKOR? If it is, then it is the Vidu'i part, the confessional, and it is directed inwards, to the living-dead, I; not outwards, to those whose physical deaths are being recalled and honoured. If anything, from the language that follows, this is an exercise in self-flagellation, and I find myself wondering if it was recited bare-chested and with flailing whip, a much-encouraged practice in the early Christian church (click here), though there is no evidence of it being prevalent among the Beney Yisra-El.

See also Psalm 70, which shares the genre.

A full account of Vidu'i can be found in my book "Day of Atonement"; to obtain a copy, click here.

38:2 YHVH AL BE KETSPECHA TOCHIYCHENI U VA CHAMAT'CHA TEYASRENI

יְהוָה אַל בְּקֶצְפְּךָ תוֹכִיחֵנִי וּבַחֲמָתְךָ תְיַסְּרֵנִי

KJ (38:1): O LORD, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.

BN: Do not rebuke me, YHVH, in your anger; nor chasten me in your wrath.

cf the opening of Psalm 6.

KETSPECHA... CHAMAT'CHA: I want to translate this as "Do not rebuke me, YHVH, when you are furious, nor chasten me while having a temper-tantrum", but I need to check the etymology very thoroughly before I find a better way of saying that. The tone is right though. This is not: do not tell me off. This is: don't just rant and rage at me, and threaten to smack me, or even worse; do rational and tempered judgement, and then explain what I need to do to sort this out. The next verses confirm this reading.

38:3 KI CHITSEYCHA NICHATU VI VA TINCHAT ALAI YADECHA

כִּי חִצֶּיךָ נִחֲתוּ בִי וַתִּנְחַת עָלַי יָדֶךָ

KJ (38:2): For thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore.

BN: For your arrows have gone deep into me, and your hand has come down hard on me.

38:4 EYN METOM BI VESARI MIPNEY ZA'MECHA EYN SHALOM BA ATSAMAI MIPNEY CHATA'TI

אֵין מְתֹם בִּבְשָׂרִי מִפְּנֵי זַעְמֶךָ אֵין שָׁלוֹם בַּעֲצָמַי מִפְּנֵי חַטָּאתִי

KJ (38:3): There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin.

BN: There isn't an untender spot left in my flesh because of your indignation; nor is there any health left in my bones because of my sin.

38:5 KI AVONOTAI AVRU ROSHI KE MASA CHAVED YICHBEDU MIMENI

כִּי עֲוֹנֹתַי עָבְרוּ רֹאשִׁי כְּמַשָּׂא כָבֵד יִכְבְּדוּ מִמֶּנִּי

KJ (38:4): For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me.

BN: I am drowning in my own iniquities, dragged down by the weight of this intolerable burden.

38:6 HIV'IYSHU NAMAKU CHABUROTAI MIPNEY IVALTI

הִבְאִישׁוּ נָמַקּוּ חַבּוּרֹתָי מִפְּנֵי אִוַּלְתִּי

KJ (38:5): My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness.

BN: My wounds are oozing and festering because of my foolishness.

38:7 NA'AVEYTI SHACHOTI AD ME'OD KOL HA YOM KODER HILACHTI

נַעֲוֵיתִי שַׁחֹתִי עַד מְאֹד כָּל הַיּוֹם קֹדֵר הִלָּכְתִּי

KJ (38:6): I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.

BN: I am totally bowed down; I spend my entire day in a state of mourning.

38:8 KI CHESALAI MAL'U NIKLEH VE EYN METOM BI VESARAI

כִּי כְסָלַי מָלְאוּ נִקְלֶה וְאֵין מְתֹם בִּבְשָׂרִי

KJ (38:7): For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh.

BN: Because my loins are aflame with burning lust, and my flesh is raw and tender.

38:9 NEPHUGOTI VE NIDKEYTI AD ME'OD SHA'AGTI MI NACHAMAT LIBI

נְפוּגוֹתִי וְנִדְכֵּיתִי עַד מְאֹד שָׁאַגְתִּי מִנַּהֲמַת לִבִּי

KJ (38:8): I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart.

BN: I am all benumbed and crushed; I roar because of the turmoil in my mind.

See my notes on this verse at Psalm 32:3. I will simply add here, because it is relevant to the verses that follow here, that the root of NEPHUGOTI is PUG, which can mean either "cold" or "numb", but either way in the sense of "torpid": that state which is neither creatively fertile nor degeneratively sterile: the "still point of the turning world" insofar as there can be such a thing(cf Genesis 45:26, Habakuk 1:4).

38:10 ADONAI NEGDECHA CHOL TA'AVATI VE ANCHATI MIMCHA LO NISTARAH

אֲדֹנָי נֶגְדְּךָ כָל תַּאֲוָתִי וְאַנְחָתִי מִמְּךָ לֹא נִסְתָּרָה

KJ (38:9): Lord, all my desire is before thee; and my groaning is not hid from thee.

BN: My Lord, all my desires are laid out before you; even my sighing is not hidden from you.

38:11 LIBI SECHARCHAR AZAVANI CHOCHI VE OR EYNAI GAM HEM EYN ITI

לִבִּי סְחַרְחַר עֲזָבַנִי כֹחִי וְאוֹר עֵינַי גַּם הֵם אֵין אִתִּי

KJ (38:10): My heart panteth, my strength faileth me: as for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me.

BN: My heart flutters, my strength fails me; as for the lights in my eyes, even they are all but extinguished.

38:12 OHAVAI VE RE'AI MI NEGED NIG'I YA'AMODU U KEROVAI ME RACHOK AMADU

אֹהֲבַי וְרֵעַי מִנֶּגֶד נִגְעִי יַעֲמֹדוּ וּקְרוֹבַי מֵרָחֹק עָמָדוּ

KJ (38:11): My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore; and my kinsmen stand afar off.

BN: My friends and my companions remain aloof from my condition; and my kinsmen stand far off.

OHAVAI...RE'AI: friends? lovers? companions?

KEROVAI...RACHOK: Note the pun: the ones who are closest to me stay furthest away.

YA'AMODU...AMADU: Note the difference. In English we would play between people who can't stand (because they have back or leg problems) and people who can't stand (because they are intolerant).

NIG'I: LINGO'A = "to touch"; with Mir-Yam they think it's plague but it's probably volcanic dust. This could as well be psychological as physiological, which is why I have gone for "condition".

38:13 VA YENAKSHU MEVAKSHEY NAPHSHI VE DORSHEY RA'ATI DIBRU HAVOT U MIRMOT KOL HA YOM YEHGU

וַיְנַקְשׁוּ מְבַקְשֵׁי נַפְשִׁי וְדֹרְשֵׁי רָעָתִי דִּבְּרוּ הַוּוֹת וּמִרְמוֹת כָּל הַיּוֹם יֶהְגּוּ

KJ (38:12): They also that seek after my life lay snares for me: and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long.

BN: Those who seek after my life lay traps for me; they want to prove my wickedness; they make threats of violence and employ deceptions; they carry on this behaviour all day long.

VA YENAKSHU: The order of the words is difficult to work with here, because it seems to be the wrong way around. "Those who lay traps for me are seeking my life", or "those who seek my life are laying traps for me"?

DORSHEY: The first, DARASH, literally means "tread down", in the sense of making a track through the woods by treading it down repeatedly, which is why, in 2 Chronicles 1:5 and Amos 5:5 it is used for "frequenting". Treading down metaphorically is a way of finding something, from which LIDROSH became the standard verb for "to seek" - a DRASHAH in school or synagogue is a seminar paper or colloquium lecture or sermon, "seeking" by "enquiry" to explain some point of law or text. But LIDROSH then comes to mean "demand" (Deuteronomy 22:2,) or even "require" (Micah 6:8, Deuteronomy 18:19). So which is it here? Given the threat of violence that follows...

RA'ATI: ... and the meaning of this word, coupled with it: literally "they seek my wickedness".

HAVOT: Keep this in mind for the explanation of those two previous pronunciation issues. Note that there is a dagesh in the first Vav, probably indicating a double letter, though this is most unusual for the Vav - so this might actually be HAVU'OT.

MIRMOT: Cf Genesis 27:35, 34:13, Jeremiah 5:27.

38:14 VA ANI CHE CHERESH LO ESHMA U CHE ILEM LO YIPHTACH PIV

וַאֲנִי כְחֵרֵשׁ לֹא אֶשְׁמָע וּכְאִלֵּם לֹא יִפְתַּח פִּיו

KJ (38:13): But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth.

BN: But I am like a deaf man - I will not hear; and like a dumb man, who will not open his mouth.

ESHMA: future tense, though I think this is more about intention than time; the next verse uses the present, which reinforces the intention.

38:15 VE EHI KE ISH ASHER LO SHOME'A VE EYN BE PHIV TOCHACHOT

וָאֱהִי כְּאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר לֹא שֹׁמֵעַ וְאֵין בְּפִיו תּוֹכָחוֹת

KJ (38:14): Thus I was as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs.

BN: So I am become like a man who does not hear, and in whose mouth there are no rebukes.

TOCHACHOT: "Rebukes" isn't quite what this means, but it is as near as I am able to get. You say something nasty to me, I could easily respond in kind. But the Psalmist plays dumb, and simply refuses to respond.

38:16 KI LECHA YHVH HOCHALTI ATAH TA'ANEH ADONAI ELOHAI

כִּי לְךָ יְהוָה הוֹחָלְתִּי אַתָּה תַעֲנֶה אֲדֹנָי אֱלֹהָי

KJ (38:15): For in thee, O LORD, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O Lord my God.

BN: For in you, YHVH, I have placed my hope; you will answer, my Lord, my god.

38:17 KI AMARTI PEN YISMECHU LI BE MOT RAGLI ALAI HIGDILU

כִּי אָמַרְתִּי פֶּן יִשְׂמְחוּ לִי בְּמוֹט רַגְלִי עָלַי הִגְדִּילוּ

KJ (38:16): For I said, Hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me: when my foot slippeth, they magnify themselves against me.

BN: For I said: "Lest they cheer the moment that my foot slips, and come out against me in even larger numbers."

"Hear me" is an addition in the KJ, as are "otherwise" and "themselves".

38:18 KI ANI LE TSEL'A NACHON U MACH'OVI NEGDI TAMID

כִּי אֲנִי לְצֶלַע נָכוֹן וּמַכְאוֹבִי נֶגְדִּי תָמִיד

KJ (38:17): For I am ready to halt, and my sorrow is continually before me.

BN: Because I am firm-footed, though the pain of it is never-ceasing.

I think the translators have looked this up in the dictionary, and failed to see that there are two completely different words. "Limping", "stumbling", even "falling", is one of them, and of course it is what the Psalmist's enemies are hoping for. But a TSEL'A - word-games, always assume word-games! - is also the rib, and how did the deity create woman? By taking one of Adam's ribs and Frankensteining it (Genesis 2:21). The ribs are what make the chest strong and solid, which holds up a person, and this is why the beams that hold up a house are also TSAL'OT - 1 Kings 6:15 et al, but I've chosen this one precisely because it is the Temple itself that is being built with them. And as we know from numerous references (try Ezekiel 41:9), all the side-chapels of the Temple were likewise known as TSAL'OT.

NACHON: Used to mean "correct", because that indicates "firmness". The root is KUN - see the link.

So put the two together, and the Psalmist is "firm-footed", or firm-chested really, but we don't have such an expression in English. And he is firm-chested, his heart being in his chest, and his heart being confident of YHVH.

MACH'OVI: From the root KA'AV, and it pains me to say this (KO'EV LI in modern

Ivrit), but it does not mean "sorrow" (not even "sorry", which would be ANI MITSTA'ER - אני מצטער).

38:19 KI AVONI AGID ED'AG ME CHATA'TI

כִּי עֲוֹנִי אַגִּיד אֶדְאַג מֵחַטָּאתִי

KJ (38:18): For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin.

BN: For I confess my sin; I am deeply concerned about my own iniquity.

38:20 VE OYEVAI CHAYIM ATSEMU VE RABU SON'AI SHAKER

וְאֹיְבַי חַיִּים עָצֵמוּ וְרַבּוּ שֹׂנְאַי שָׁקֶר

KJ (38:19): But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong: and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied.

BN: But my enemies are powerful; and many are they who hate me wrongfully.

CHAYIM ATSEMU: As TSEL'A came from the rib, so the strength here comes from the other bones, completing that word-play.

38:21 U MESHALMEY RA'AH TACHAT TOVAH YISTENUNI TACHAT RADOPHI TOV

וּמְשַׁלְּמֵי רָעָה תַּחַת טוֹבָה יִשְׂטְנוּנִי תַּחַת רָדְופִי טוֹב

KJ (38:20): They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is.

BN: Those too, who repay evil for good, they are my enemies, because I try to do only what is good.

RADOPHI: Why is there no nikud above (or inside) the Vav on this occasion?

38:22 AL TA'AZVENI YHVH ELOHAI AL TIRCHAK MIMENI

אַל תַּעַזְבֵנִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהַי אַל תִּרְחַק מִמֶּנִּי

KJ (38:21): Forsake me not, O LORD: O my God, be not far from me.

BN: Forsake me not, YHVH my God; do not go far from me.

Picking up that earlier pun (verse 12).

38:23 CHUSHAH LE EZRATI ADONAI TESHU'ATI

חוּשָׁה לְעֶזְרָתִי אֲדֹנָי תְּשׁוּעָתִי

KJ (38:22): Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation.

BN: Make haste to help me, my Lord, my salvation. {P}

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