Psalm 6 Exegetical Issues
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Psalm 6/Exegetical Issues
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The sound of my weeping
Psalm 6
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Exegetical Issues Video
Introduction to Exegetical Issues
Presented here are the top three Exegetical Issues that any interpreter of the psalm—whether they’re reading the text in Hebrew or looking at a number of translations—are likely to encounter. These issues usually involve textual criticism, grammar, lexical semantics, verbal semantics, and/or phrase-level semantics, though they sometimes involve higher-level layers as well.
Exegetical Issues for Psalm 6
- Is there physical sickness in Psalm 6? The UBS Handbook on Psalms describes Psalm 6 as a "a lament by an individual who is sick and near death."[1] While most commentators would agree with this description, some think that the language of sickness is only figurative. Even among those who think the language of sickness is literal, there is not agreement on how sickness fits with the enemies mentioned in vv. 8b–11. Do the enemies cause the sickness, or does the sickness bring the enemies?
- The phrase עַל הַשְּׁמִינִית appears in the titles of Psalms 6 and 12 (cf. 1 Chron 15:21). Although most interpreters agree that sheminith literally means 'eighth' (cf. Lev 25:22) and that it is "probably a musical term" (NIV footnote), there is broad confusion and disagreement about the precise meaning of the word in this context.
- In this verse, there are three imperatives (שׁוּבָה...חַלְּצָה...הוֹשִׁיעֵנִי), by which the psalmist calls on YHWH to rescue him. Interpreters disagree on the precise meaning of the first imperative (שׁוּבָה) in this context. As Anderson notes, "This may be a plea to Yahweh to turn away from his wrath... or an appeal to him to turn to the sufferer... who has been seemingly abandoned by him."[2]