Psalm 102:4-6 New English Translation
4 My heart is parched[a] and withered like grass,
for I am unable[b] to eat food.[c]
5 Because of the anxiety that makes me groan,
my bones protrude from my skin.[d]
6 I am like an owl[e] in the wilderness;
I am like a screech owl[f] among the ruins.[g]
Footnotes
- Psalm 102:4 tn Heb “struck, attacked.”
- Psalm 102:4 tn Heb “I forget.”
- Psalm 102:4 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.
- Psalm 102:5 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.
- Psalm 102:6 tn The Hebrew term קָאַת (qaʾat) refers to some type of bird (see Lev 11:18; Deut 14:17) that was typically found near ruins (see Zeph 2:14). Modern translations have frequently rendered this as some type of owl (NIV, REB “desert owl”; NRSV “owl”).
- Psalm 102:6 tn The Hebrew term כוֹס (khos) refers to a bird (see Lev 11:17; Deut 14:16), probably a type of owl (cf. NIV, REB “owl”; NRSV “little owl”).
- Psalm 102:6 sn By comparing himself to a screech owl among the ruins, the psalmist may be highlighting his loneliness (see v. 7), though he may also be comparing his cries for help to the owl’s screech.
New English Translation (NET)
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