109:23 I am fading away like a shadow at the end of the day; 1
I am shaken off like a locust.
143:7 Answer me quickly, Lord!
My strength is fading. 2
Do not reject me, 3
or I will join 4 those descending into the grave. 5
1 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.
2 tn Heb “my spirit is failing.”
3 tn Heb “do not hide your face from me.” The idiom “hide the face” (1) can mean “ignore” (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or (2) can carry the stronger idea of “reject” (see Pss 30:7; 88:14).
4 tn Heb “I will be equal with.”
5 tn Heb “the pit.” The Hebrew noun בּוֹר (bor, “pit; cistern”) is sometimes used of the grave and/or the realm of the dead. See Ps 28:1.