Psalm 6/Notes/Lexical.v. 3.401698

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  • The adjective languishing (אֻמְלַל) describes a state of "weakness, sadness, and shame" as a result of being "unable to function as can be expected" (SDBH).[1] The adjective אֻמְלַל occurs only here in the Bible. But, in light of its context and its relation to the relatively common verb אמל ("languish"), its meaning here is clear.[2] According to TWOT, the root אמל "is used to express the state into which the objects of God's punishment and discipline come... Most particularly, it describes the state of Israel and its people after the punishment of God has fallen (Isa 33:9; Jer 14:2), so also, Jerusalem after the fall (Lam 2:8)."
  1. ↑ The Septuagint translates it with a Greek word (ἀσθενής) that means "..without strength, weak..... in body, feeble, sickly" (LSJ).
  2. ↑ See also the adjective אֲמֵלָל, "feeble, weak," in Neh 3:34.