Psalms 39:2

I was stone silent; ¹  I held back the urge to speak. ²  My frustration grew; ³ 

But when I was silent and still, not even saying anything good, my anguish increased.

I was mute and silent, I refrained even from good, And my sorrow grew worse.

But as I stood there in silence––not even speaking of good things––the turmoil within me grew to the bursting point.

"Mum's the word," I said, and kept quiet. But the longer I kept silence The worse it got--

I made no sound, I said no word, even of good; and I was moved with sorrow.

I was silent and still; I held my peace to no avail; my distress grew worse,

I was mute with silence, I held my peace even from good; And my sorrow was stirred up.

I was stone silent; ¹  I held back the urge to speak. ²  My frustration grew; ³ 

¹ tn Heb “I was mute [with] silence.”

² 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.

³ tn Heb “and my pain was stirred up.” Emotional pain is in view here.