Psalms 39–13
Psalm 39:1-13
Psa.39.1 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- למנצח: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לידותון: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מזמור: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לדוד: PREP+NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Psalm 62:1 (verbal): Shares the same psalm-superscription formula addressed to the choir director and attributed to David (Hebrew headings that function as musical/dedication instructions).
- Psalm 77:1 (verbal): Another psalm whose superscription in the Hebrew manuscript tradition likewise names Jeduthun (Yeduthun) as the designated musician/choral director, reflecting the same liturgical assignment as Ps 39:1.
- 1 Chronicles 16:41 (allusion): Lists Jeduthun among the principal temple musicians appointed for worship under David—background context for the 'to Jeduthun' superscription in Psalm headings.
- 1 Chronicles 25:1–3 (structural): Describes the organization of temple singers and specifically mentions Jeduthun (and his descendants) as chief musicians, illuminating the institutional role behind the psalmic direction 'to Jeduthun.'
Alternative generated candidates
- For the leader; for Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
- To the choirmaster; for Jeduthun. A psalm of David.
Psa.39.2 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- אמרתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,com,sg
- אשמרה: VERB,qal,imprf,1,c,sg
- דרכי: NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,1,_,sg
- מחטוא: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בלשוני: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs+1s
- אשמרה: VERB,qal,imprf,1,c,sg
- לפי: PREP
- מחסום: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בעד: PREP
- רשע: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לנגדי: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+SUF,1,com,sg
Parallels
- Ps.141:3 (verbal): Uses the same guarding‑of‑the‑mouth imagery—"Set a guard over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips"—paralleling the vow to keep the tongue with a muzzle to avoid sin.
- Ps.34:13 (verbal): Directly echoes the command to restrain speech—"keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit"—matching the Psalmist’s intention to guard his tongue.
- Prov.21:23 (verbal): Proverb links keeping mouth and tongue with avoiding trouble—"Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble"—a concise proverbial parallel to guarding speech to prevent sin.
- James 1:26 (thematic): Stresses that uncontrolled speech invalidates true religion—"if anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue... his religion is worthless"—echoing the Psalmist’s motive to restrain the tongue as moral/religious self‑control.
- James 3:2-10 (thematic): Quite developed teaching on the danger of the tongue (small member, great harm) and the need to tame it, which parallels the Psalmist’s fearful restraint and use of a 'muzzle' to prevent sinning with speech.
Alternative generated candidates
- I said, "I will guard my ways so that I do not sin with my tongue; I will set a muzzle on my mouth while the wicked are before me."
- I said, I will guard my ways that I may not sin with my tongue; I will put a muzzle on my mouth while the wicked one is before me.
Psa.39.3 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- נאלמתי: VERB,nifal,perf,1,c,sg
- דומיה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- החשיתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,?,sg
- מטוב: PREP+ADJ,m,sg,abs
- וכאבי: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs,ps:1
- נעכר: VERB,nifal,perf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Isaiah 42:14 (verbal): Uses the same idea and language of prolonged silence and restraint (‘I have kept silent/ I have been quiet’), paralleling the psalmist’s muteness and withheld speech in suffering.
- Ecclesiastes 3:7 (structural): Affirms the thematic pattern of ‘a time to be silent’ versus ‘a time to speak,’ echoing the psalmist’s deliberate silence.
- Proverbs 17:28 (thematic): Links silence with prudence or restraint—‘even a fool, when he holds his peace…’—relating to the psalmist’s chosen silence amid distress.
- Lamentations 3:28 (thematic): Portrays quiet, solitary endurance in affliction (‘let him sit alone and keep silence’), resonating with the psalmist’s silent sorrow and inner turmoil.
Alternative generated candidates
- I was mute and silent; I held my peace from good, yet my pain was stirred.
- I was mute and silent; I held my peace from good, and my pain was stirred.
Psa.39.4 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- חם: ADJ,m,sg
- לבי: NOUN,m,sg,abs,1cs
- בקרבי: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,poss1s
- בהגיגי: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+1cs
- תבער: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- אש: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- דברתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,c,sg
- בלשוני: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs+1cs
Parallels
- Jer. 20:9 (verbal): Jeremiah says there is 'a burning fire shut up in my bones' and that he cannot hold it in—verbal and emotive parallel to 'while I mused the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue.'
- Job 32:18-19 (verbal): Elihu describes inner pressure—'my belly is as wine which hath no vent; it is ready to burst'—a similar image of inward burning that forces speech.
- Amos 3:8 (thematic): 'The LORD God hath spoken; who can but prophesy?'—the idea that divine truth produces an irresistible compulsion to speak parallels the psalmist's burning within that leads to speech.
- Acts 4:20 (thematic): The apostles declare 'we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard'—a New Testament instance of the same inward necessity to proclaim what one has experienced, like the psalmist's burning words.
Alternative generated candidates
- My heart grew hot within me; as I mused, a fire kindled—then I spoke with my tongue.
- My heart grew hot within me; while I mused, a fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue.
Psa.39.5 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- הודיעני: VERB,hiph,impv,2,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- קצי: NOUN,m,sg,suff
- ומדת: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ימי: NOUN,m,pl,cs
- מה: PRON,int
- היא: PRON,dem,3,f,sg
- אדעה: VERB,qal,imperfect,1,com,sg
- מה: PRON,int
- חדל: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אני: PRON,1,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 90:12 (thematic): Both are petitions asking God to teach or reveal the measure/numbering of human days so that the speaker may gain wisdom or perspective about life’s brevity.
- Job 14:5 (allusion): Job affirms that the length of a person’s life is determined by God (He has set the number of his months), which parallels the plea to know one’s end and the measure of days.
- James 4:14 (thematic): James describes life as a mist or vapor that appears briefly and vanishes, echoing the psalmist’s concern with the shortness and transience of human life.
- Psalm 102:11 (verbal): This verse portrays days as a declining shadow and life withering like grass—an image of temporal brevity that parallels the psalmist’s request to know the measure and end of his days.
Alternative generated candidates
- O LORD, make me know my end and the measure of my days; what is it?—that I may know how fleeting I am.
- O LORD, make me know my end and the measure of my days—what it is—so that I may know how fleeting I am.
Psa.39.6 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- הנה: PART
- טפחות: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- נתתה: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- ימי: NOUN,m,pl,cs
- וחלדי: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs,1cs
- כאין: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- נגדך: PREP+PRON,2,ms
- אך: PART
- כל: DET
- הבל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כל: DET
- אדם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- נצב: VERB,qal,ptc,3,m,sg
- סלה: MISC
Parallels
- Psalm 39:5 (verbal): Immediate parallel in same psalm—both verses stress the brevity and vanity of human life (‘my days a handbreadth’; ‘all—man is vanity’).
- Psalm 90:3-6 (thematic): Moses’ prayer reflects the same theme of human transience and God’s sovereignty over life and death (men like a fleeting breath/shadow).
- Job 14:1-2 (thematic): Job describes human life as few and frail—born of woman, few of days, like a flower that withers—echoing the psalm’s emphasis on mortality and emptiness.
- Isaiah 40:6-8 (allusion): The prophetic image ‘all flesh is grass’ and the contrast between fleeting human life and God’s enduring word parallels the psalm’s assertion that human existence is vanishing and insubstantial.
- James 4:14 (verbal): New Testament echo of the same conviction: human life is a vapor appearing briefly and then vanishing, resonating with the psalm’s language of transience and vanity.
Alternative generated candidates
- Behold, you have made my days a handbreadth; my lifetime is but as nothing before you; surely every man is a mere breath. Selah.
- Behold, you have made my days a mere handbreadth, and my lifetime is as nothing before you; surely every man is but a breath. Selah.
Psa.39.7 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- אך: PART
- בצלם: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יתהלך: VERB,hitp,imprf,3,m,sg
- איש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אך: PART
- הבל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יהמיון: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יצבר: VERB,qal,imprf,3,m,sg
- ולא: CONJ
- ידע: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- מי: PRON,interr,sg
- אספם: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg,3mp(obj)
Parallels
- Ecclesiastes 1:2 (verbal): Uses the same key word הבל (vanity/meaninglessness) and the theme that human life and pursuits are ultimately futile.
- Ecclesiastes 5:15 (verbal): Closely parallels the idea that a man leaves behind his wealth and does not know who will gather it (echoes 'יצבר ולא ידע מי אספם').
- Isaiah 40:6-8 (thematic): Employs imagery of human transience (all flesh is grass; the grass withers) similar to the psalm's shadow/vanity motif.
- James 4:14 (allusion): New Testament echo of life's fleeting nature—'you are a mist that appears for a little time'—reflecting the psalm's emphasis on brevity and futility.
- Luke 12:20 (thematic): Parallels the unpredictability of earthly possessions when God demands an account: 'Then whose will those things be which you have provided?'—resonant with 'you will not know who will gather them.'
Alternative generated candidates
- Man walks about in a shadow; they heap up wealth and do not know who will gather it.
- Surely each man walks about like a shadow; they make an uproar, they heap up wealth and do not know who will gather it.
Psa.39.8 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ועתה: CONJ
- מה: PRON,int
- קויתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,_,sg
- אדני: NOUN,m,sg,abs,1,sg
- תוחלתי: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- לך: PRON,2,m,sg
- היא: PRON,dem,3,f,sg
Parallels
- Ps.71:5 (verbal): “For you are my hope, O Lord” — almost the same personal declaration of hope in the LORD, closely matching the wording and trust of Ps 39:8.
- Ps.130:5 (verbal): “I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope” — pairs waiting and hoping in God, echoing the dual sense of attendre/hope in Ps 39:8.
- Isa.8:17 (allusion): “I will wait for the LORD…and I will hope in him” (Heb. uses קוה) — a prophetic use of the same verb and the posture of waiting/hope toward YHWH.
- Ps.33:20 (thematic): “Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and shield” — a communal statement of waiting and reliance on the LORD that parallels the theme of hope in Ps 39:8.
Alternative generated candidates
- And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in you.
- And now, O LORD, what do I wait for? My hope is in you.
Psa.39.9 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- מכל: PREP
- פשעי: NOUN,m,sg,suff,1,sg
- הצילני: VERB,hif,impv,2,m,sg
- חרפת: NOUN,f,sg,const
- נבל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אל: NEG
- תשימני: VERB,qal,impf,2,NA,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 19:13 (19:12 Heb.) (verbal): Petition for cleansing from hidden/errors (‘Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from hidden faults’) parallels the plea to be delivered from transgressions.
- Psalm 25:18 (thematic): A direct plea for God’s attention to suffering and forgiveness (‘Consider my affliction… and forgive all my sins’) matches the request for deliverance from sin.
- Psalm 51:14 (verbal): Uses the same verb of rescue (‘Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God’) — a penitential cry for deliverance from sin’s consequences.
- Job 7:21 (thematic): Job’s plea ‘Why do you not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity?’ echoes the request here for pardon/delivery from sin.
- Psalm 119:22 (verbal): ‘Remove from me reproach and contempt’ closely parallels the petition ‘do not make me the reproach of a fool’ — concern to be spared shame/reproach.
Alternative generated candidates
- Deliver me from all my transgressions; do not make me the taunt of the insolent.
- Deliver me from all my transgressions; make me not the reproach of the fool.
Psa.39.10 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- נאלמתי: VERB,niphal,perf,1,common,sg
- לא: PART_NEG
- אפתח: VERB,qal,imf,1,sg
- פי: NOUN,m,sg,construct
- כי: CONJ
- אתה: PRON,2,m,sg
- עשית: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
Parallels
- Isa.53:7 (verbal): The Suffering Servant 'opened not his mouth' parallels the psalmist's refusal to speak—both depict silent submission in the face of affliction.
- Lam.3:28 (structural): 'Let him sit alone and keep silent, because he has laid it on him' echoes the motif of enforced silence because the LORD has brought the suffering.
- Job 40:4 (thematic): Job's gesture of laying a hand upon his mouth ('I lay my hand upon my mouth') and inability to answer parallels the psalmist's muteness as a response to God's action.
- Matt.27:12-14 (allusion): Jesus' silence before his accusers—'he gave him no answer'—reflects the biblical theme of righteous silence in suffering found in Psalm 39.
Alternative generated candidates
- I held my tongue; I would not open my mouth, for you have done it.
- I was silent; I opened not my mouth, for it was you who did it.
Psa.39.11 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- הסר: VERB,hiph,impv,2,m,sg
- מעלי: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- נגעך: NOUN,m,sg,suff,2,m,sg
- מתגרת: VERB,hitp,ptcp,3,f,sg
- ידך: NOUN,f,sg,abs,poss:2,f,sg
- אני: PRON,1,sg
- כליתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,sg
Parallels
- Psalm 38:2 (verbal): Both verses describe suffering as the effect of God's hand/strike—'thy arrows have stuck fast in me' / 'remove thy stroke from me'—and use the imagery of God’s hand pressing or striking the speaker.
- Psalm 6:1 (thematic): A direct plea for God not to rebuke or chasten in anger; parallels the request that God cease his punitive action in Ps 39:11.
- Psalm 102:10 (thematic): Speaks of being consumed and wasting away under distress ('my days are consumed like smoke'), echoing Ps 39:11's 'I am consumed' language and theme of frailty under affliction.
- Hebrews 12:6,11 (allusion): New Testament reflection on divine chastening—'whom the Lord loves he chastens' and that chastening is for good—connects thematically with the psalmist’s experience of suffering as God's discipline and his plea for relief.
Alternative generated candidates
- Remove your stroke from me; by the terror of your hand I am consumed.
- Remove your stroke from me; by the terror of your hand I am undone.
Psa.39.12 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- בתוכחות: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,abs
- על: PREP
- עון: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יסרת: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- איש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ותמס: CONJ+VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- כעש: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- חמודו: NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- אך: PART
- הבל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כל: DET
- אדם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- סלה: MISC
Parallels
- Ecclesiastes 1:2 (verbal): Uses the same key term הֶבֶל (hebel, 'vanity'/'breath') to express human transience and futility—echoes 'surely every man is vanity.'
- Isaiah 51:8 (verbal): Employs the image of the moth consuming as a metaphor for destruction/decay ('the moth shall eat them up like a garment'), paralleling 'you make him melt away as a moth.'
- Job 14:1-2 (thematic): Reflects the theme of human brevity and frailty—life is short, ephemeral, and soon cut off—resonant with 'surely every man is vanity.'
- Psalm 39:5 (structural): Internal parallel within the same psalm that repeats the motif of human transience and the vanishing of human glory, reinforcing the verse's theme.
Alternative generated candidates
- You rebuke men for their iniquity and consume their desire like a moth; surely every man is but a vapor. Selah.
- By your rebukes for sin you discipline a man; you make him melt away like a moth—surely every man is but a breath. Selah.
Psa.39.13 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- שמעה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- תפלתי: NOUN,f,sg,abs,poss1s
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- ושועתי: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,1,sg
- האזינה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- אל: NEG
- דמעתי: VERB,qal,perf,1,c,sg
- אל: NEG
- תחרש: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- כי: CONJ
- גר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אנכי: PRON,1,sg
- עמך: NOUN,m,sg,suff-2m
- תושב: VERB,qal,impf,2,f,sg
- ככל: PREP
- אבותי: NOUN,m,pl,abs+1cs
Parallels
- Psalm 102:1 (verbal): Opens with the same petition, “Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry come unto thee,” a closely parallel verbal framing of an individual lament.
- Genesis 23:4 (verbal): Abraham’s phrase “I am a stranger and a sojourner with you” echoes the psalm’s self‑description as a stranger/sojourner, tying the lament to patriarchal language of pilgrimage.
- Lamentations 3:55 (verbal): A plea for God not to hide his ear—“I called upon thy name... hide not thine ear at my breathing”—parallels the psalmist’s appeal that God not be silent to his tears.
- Psalm 6:6–9 (thematic): Another individual lament that emphasizes tears and urgent petition—“I water my couch with my tears... The LORD hath heard my supplication”—sharing the themes of weeping, crying out, and seeking God’s attentive response.
Alternative generated candidates
- Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry; do not be silent to my tears, for I am a sojourner with you, a resident like all my fathers.
- Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry; do not be silent to my tears, for I am a sojourner with you, a resident as all my fathers were.
For the leader; for Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
I said, "I will guard my ways so that I do not sin with my tongue; I will put a muzzle on my mouth while the wicked are before me."
I was mute; I kept silent—I held my peace about good, yet my anguish grew.
My heart grew hot within me; while I mused, a fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue.
O LORD, make me know my end and the measure of my days—what it is; let me know how fleeting I am.
Behold, You have made my days a span, and my allotted years are as nothing before You; surely every man at best is but vanity. Selah.
Indeed each walks about like a shadow; they toil in vain, they heap up wealth and do not know who will gather it. And now, what do I wait for? My hope is in You, O LORD.
Deliver me from all my transgressions; do not make me the taunt of the fool.
I was silent; I would not open my mouth, for it was You who had done it.
Remove Your stroke from me; by the terror of Your hand I am undone.
By your rebukes for sin you discipline a man; you waste away his cherished hope like a moth—surely every man is but vanity. Selah.
Hear my prayer, O LORD, and attend to my cry; give ear to my tears—do not be silent; for I am a sojourner with You, a resident like all my fathers.