Psalms 6:2

Have mercy on me, ¹  Lord, for I am frail! Heal me, Lord, for my bones are shaking! ² 

Ge 20:17; Ex 15:26; Nu 12:13; De 32:39; Job 5:18; Job 19:21; Job 33:19-21; Ps 30:2; Ps 32:3; Ps 38:3; Ps 38:7; Ps 41:3; Ps 51:8; Ps 103:13-17; Jer 17:14; Ho 6:1; Mt 4:24

¹ tn Or “show me favor.”

² tn Normally the verb בָּהַל (bahal) refers to an emotional response and means “tremble with fear, be terrified” (see vv. 3, 10). Perhaps here the “bones” are viewed as the seat of the psalmist’s emotions. However, the verb may describe one of the effects of his physical ailment, perhaps a fever. In Ezek 7:27 the verb describes how the hands of the people will shake with fear when they experience the horrors of divine judgment.