109:22 For I am oppressed and needy,
and my heart beats violently within me. 1
109:23 I am fading away like a shadow at the end of the day; 2
I am shaken off like a locust.
109:24 I am so starved my knees shake; 3
I have turned into skin and bones. 4
1 tc The verb in the Hebrew text (חָלַל, khalal) appears to be a Qal form from the root חלל meaning “pierced; wounded.” However, the Qal of this root is otherwise unattested. The translation assumes an emendation to יָחִיל (yakhil), a Qal imperfect from חוּל (khul, “tremble”) or to חֹלַל (kholal), a polal perfect from חוּל (khul). See Ps 55:4, which reads לִבִּי יָחִיל בְּקִרְבִּי (libbiy yakhil bÿqirbbiy, “my heart trembles [i.e., “beats violently”] within me”).
2 tn Heb “like a shadow when it is extended I go.” He is like a late afternoon shadow made by the descending sun that will soon be swallowed up by complete darkness. See Ps 102:11.
3 tn Heb “my knees stagger from fasting.”
4 tn Heb “and my flesh is lean away from fatness [i.e., “lean so as not to be fat”].”