Psalms 39:2

39:2 I was stone silent;

I held back the urge to speak.

My frustration grew;


tn Heb “I was mute [with] silence.”

tn Heb “I was quiet from good.” He kept quiet, resisting the urge to find emotional release and satisfaction by voicing his lament.

sn I held back the urge to speak. For a helpful discussion of the relationship (and tension) between silence and complaint in ancient Israelite lamentation, see E. S. Gerstenberger, Psalms, Part I (FOTL), 166-67.

tn Heb “and my pain was stirred up.” Emotional pain is in view here.