107:18 They lost their appetite for all food, 1
and they drew near the gates of death.
31:9 Have mercy on me, for I am in distress!
My eyes grow dim 2 from suffering. 3
I have lost my strength. 4
119:176 I have wandered off like a lost sheep. 5
Come looking for your servant,
for I do not forget your commands.
1 tn Heb “all food their appetite loathed.”
2 tn Or perhaps, “are swollen.”
3 tn Cf. Ps 6:7, which has a similar line.
4 tn Heb “my breath and my stomach [grow weak].” Apparently the verb in the previous line (“grow dim, be weakened”) is to be understood here. The Hebrew term נפשׁ can mean “life,” or, more specifically, “throat, breath.” The psalmist seems to be lamenting that his breathing is impaired because of the physical and emotional suffering he is forced to endure.
5 tn Heb “I stray like a lost sheep.” It is possible that the point of the metaphor is vulnerability: The psalmist, who is threatened by his enemies, feels as vulnerable as a straying, lost sheep. This would not suggest, however, that he has wandered from God’s path (see the second half of the verse, as well as v. 110).