Psalms 40:2

He lifted me out of the watery pit, ¹  out of the slimy mud. ²  He placed my feet on a rock and gave me secure footing. ³ 

Ps 17:5; Ps 18:16,17; Ps 18:36; Ps 27:5; Ps 37:23; Ps 61:2; Ps 69:2,14,15; Ps 71:20; Ps 86:13; Ps 116:3; Ps 119:133; Ps 142:6,7; Ps 143:3; Isa 24:22; Jer 38:6-12; La 3:53-55; Jon 2:5,6; Zec 9:11; Mt 7:24,25; Mt 13:50; Ac 2:24,27-31

¹ tn Heb “cistern of roaring.” The Hebrew noun בּוֹר (bor, “cistern, pit”) is used metaphorically here of Sheol, the place of death, which is sometimes depicted as a raging sea (see Ps 18:4, 15-16). The noun שָׁאוֹן (sha’on, “roaring”) refers elsewhere to the crashing sound of the sea’s waves (see Ps 65:7).

² tn Heb “from the mud of mud.” The Hebrew phrase translated “slimy mud” employs an appositional genitive. Two synonyms are joined in a construct relationship to emphasize the single idea. For a detailed discussion of the grammatical point with numerous examples, see Y. Avishur, “Pairs of Synonymous Words in the Construct State (and in Appositional Hendiadys) in Biblical Hebrew,” Semitics 2 (1971): 17-81.

³ tn Heb “he established my footsteps.”