Psalms 38:2

For your arrows pierce ¹  me, and your hand presses me down. ² 

For your arrows have pierced me, and your hand has come down upon me.

For Your arrows have sunk deep into me, And Your hand has pressed down on me.

Your arrows have struck deep, and your blows are crushing me.

Your sharp-pointed arrows of rebuke draw blood; my backside smarts from your caning.

For your arrows have gone into my flesh, and I am crushed under the weight of your hand.

For your arrows have sunk into me, and your hand has come down on me.

For Your arrows pierce me deeply, And Your hand presses me down.

For your arrows pierce ¹  me, and your hand presses me down. ² 

¹ tn The verb Hebrew נָחַת (nakhat) apparently here means “penetrate, pierce” (note the use of the Qal in Prov 17:10). The psalmist pictures the Lord as a warrior who shoots arrows at him (see Ps 7:12-13).

² tn Heb “and your hand [?] upon me.” The meaning of the verb נָחַת (nakhat) is unclear in this context. It is preferable to emend the form to וַתָּנַח (vattanakh) from the verb נוּחַ (nuakh, “rest”). In this case the text would read literally, “and your hand rests upon me” (see Isa 25:10, though the phrase is used in a positive sense there, unlike Ps 38:2).