Psalm 88 Emotional

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Among the Dead

Psalm 88

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Emotional Analysis

  What is Emotional Analysis?

This layer explores the emotional dimension of the biblical text and seeks to uncover the clues within the text itself that are part of the communicative intent of its author. The goal of this analysis is to chart the basic emotional tone and/or progression of the psalm.

For a detailed explanation of our method, see the Emotional Analysis Creator Guidelines.

Emotional Analysis Chart

  Legend

If an emendation or revocalization is preferred, that emendation or revocalization will be marked in the Hebrew text of all the visuals.

Emendations/Revocalizations legend
*Emended text*	Emended text, text in which the consonants differ from the consonants of the Masoretic text, is indicated by blue asterisks on either side of the emendation.
*Revocalized text*	Revocalized text, text in which only the vowels differ from the vowels of the Masoretic text, is indicated by purple asterisks on either side of the revocalization.

Verse	Text (Hebrew)	Text (CBC) The Close-but-clear translation (CBC) exists to provide a window into the Hebrew text according to how we understand its syntax and word-to-phrase-level semantics. It is not intended to be used as a stand-alone translation or base text, but as a supplement to Layer-by-Layer materials to help users make full use of these resources.	The Psalmist Feels	Emotional Analysis Notes
1a	שִׁ֥יר מִזְמ֗וֹר לִבְנֵ֫י קֹ֥רַח	A song. A psalm. By the sons of Korah.
1b	לַמְנַצֵּ֣חַ עַל־מָחֲלַ֣ת לְעַנּ֑וֹת	For the director. About illness, for self-affliction.
1c	מַ֝שְׂכִּ֗יל לְהֵימָ֥ן הָאֶזְרָחִֽי׃	A maskil. By Heman the Ezrahite.
2a	יְ֭הוָה אֱלֹהֵ֣י יְשׁוּעָתִ֑י	YHWH, God of my salvation,	• The psalmist is desperate, having prayed day and night to no avail. • The psalmist is still hopeful that salvation may come through praying.
2b	יוֹם־צָעַ֖קְתִּי בַלַּ֣יְלָה נֶגְדֶּֽךָ׃	I have been crying out day and night before you.
3a	תָּב֣וֹא לְ֭פָנֶיךָ תְּפִלָּתִ֑י	May my prayer find favor with you!	• The psalmist is desperate, urging YHWH to help. • The psalmist is still hopeful that YHWH will listen to him.
3b	הַטֵּֽה־אָ֝זְנְךָ֗ לְרִנָּתִֽי׃	Incline your ear to my cry!
4a	כִּֽי־שָֽׂבְעָ֣ה בְרָע֣וֹת נַפְשִׁ֑י	For I am weary of troubles,	• The psalmist is desperate because he is succumbing to his troubles. • The psalmist is gloomy because he feels he is about to die soon.
4b	וְחַיַּ֗י לִשְׁא֥וֹל הִגִּֽיעוּ׃	And my life has reached Sheol.
5a	נֶ֭חְשַׁבְתִּי עִם־י֣וֹרְדֵי ב֑וֹר	I am counted with those who go down to the Pit.	• The psalmist is humiliated, because society marks him as impotent. • The psalmist is frustrated due to his incapability to act as a man and contribute to society.	• The Pit is another term for the netherworld (Ezek 26:20, Prov 1:12, Ps 30:4, Isa 38:18). • The word גבר denotes "a man in his machismo... The grave is a place for people who have become totally incapable of doing anything" (Goldingay 2007).
5b	הָ֝יִ֗יתִי כְּגֶ֣בֶר אֵֽין־אֱיָֽל׃	I have become just like a man who has no strength.
6a	בַּמֵּתִ֗ים חָ֫פְשִׁ֥י	[I am] an outcast among the dead,	• The psalmist is humiliated, because he belongs to a low social class and is like the slain. • The psalmist is hopeless, because he is cut off from YHWH's care.	• The "outcasts" (חָפְשִׁי) were a low social class, despised and excommunicated, that existed in the netherworld as well, cf. Exegetical Issue. • The "slain" (חללים) were another despised class in the Netherworld, cf. Exegetical Issue.
6b	כְּמ֤וֹ חֲלָלִ֨ים ׀ שֹׁ֥כְבֵי קֶ֗בֶר	just like the slain ones who are lying in the tomb,
6c	אֲשֶׁ֤ר לֹ֣א זְכַרְתָּ֣ם ע֑וֹד	whom you do not remember anymore,
6d	וְ֝הֵ֗מָּה מִיָּדְךָ֥ נִגְזָֽרוּ׃	and [who] have been cut off from your care.
7a	שַׁ֭תַּנִי בְּב֣וֹר תַּחְתִּיּ֑וֹת	You have put me in the lowest pit,	• The psalmist is angry with YHWH, making direct ("You") accusations to him. He is angry because God is not doing his part of the covenant. • The psalmist is distressed due to his severe suffering. • The psalmist is frightened because he is suffering pangs of death.	• The Sheol is as dark as a tomb is (Job 10:21-22). • The Sheol lies deep under the Earth, like the deepest pit (Ezek 31:14, Ps 86:13). • "Deep waters are a common image for death and Sheol" (Goldingay 2007); cf. Lam 3:54-55, Ps 18:5-6 69:2-3, Jonah 2:4,6)
7b	בְּ֝מַחֲשַׁכִּ֗ים בִּמְצֹלֽוֹת׃	in dark places, in watery depths.
8a	עָ֭לַי סָמְכָ֣ה חֲמָתֶ֑ךָ	Your outbursts of wrath have been lying heavily on me,	• The psalmist is angry with YHWH, because the latter does all that is in his power to afflict him, not keeping his part of the covenant. • The psalmist is distressed due to his severe suffering. • The psalmist is perplexed because he does not know the reason for YHWH afflicting him.	• The idiom סמך ידו על is most prevalent in the Laws of sacrifice, particularly in Leviticus, said of the priest who puts his hands on the sacrifice as the final gesture before sacrificing it (Ex 29:15, Lev 3:2, 8, 13; 8:18, 22). It is also said of the שעיר לעזאזל (scapegoat). who bore the sins of all the people (Lev 16:21). • כָּל-מִשְׁבָּרֶיךָ וְגַלֶּיךָ עָלַי עָבָרוּ (Jonah 2:4). • "there are several psalms in the Psalter which share the motif of a judgment by water." (Tate 1990:400)
8b	וְכָל־מִ֝שְׁבָּרֶ֗יךָ עִנִּ֥יתָ סֶּֽלָה׃	and you have been afflicting me with all your waves. Selah.
9a	הִרְחַ֥קְתָּ מְיֻדָּעַ֗י מִ֫מֶּ֥נִּי	you have caused my acquaintances to shun me.	• The psalmist is angry with YHWH, because the latter made him excommunicated. • The psalmist is humiliated, because he is repulsive to his friends. • The psalmist is depressed because he is lonely and has no company.
9b	שַׁתַּ֣נִי תוֹעֵב֣וֹת לָ֑מוֹ	You have made me repulsive to them. • Job laments the estrangement of his relatives and friends in a similar way (19:13-19)
9c	כָּ֝לֻ֗א	[You have made me] shut in,
9d	וְלֹ֣א אֵצֵֽא׃	so that I cannot get out.
10a	עֵינִ֥י דָאֲבָ֗ה מִנִּ֫י עֹ֥נִי	My eyes have languished from misery.	• The psalmist is languid due to his misery. • The psalmist is helpless, showing his empty hands to YHWH. • The psalmist is desperate, having called to YHWH every day to no avail. • The psalmist is longing for YHWH's salvation. • The psalmist is still hopeful that salvation may come through praying.
10b	קְרָאתִ֣יךָ יְהוָ֣ה בְּכָל־י֑וֹם	I have been calling to you, YHWH, every day. • The collocation כָּלוּ עֵינַיִם, standing in parallel to נפש דאבה in Lev 26:16 & Deut 28:32, refers to longing for something (Ps 69:4, 119:82, 123). • "Openness of hands demonstrates that the hands are empty and that the suppliant knows this and opens the self in helplessness." (Goldingay 2007)
10c	שִׁטַּ֖חְתִּי אֵלֶ֣יךָ כַפָּֽי׃	I have been spreading out my hands to you.
11a	הֲלַמֵּתִ֥ים תַּעֲשֶׂה־פֶּ֑לֶא	Do you perform wonders for the dead?	• The psalmist is determined to plead with God.
11b	אִם־רְ֝פָאִ֗ים יָק֤וּמוּ ׀ יוֹד֬וּךָ סֶּֽלָה׃	Do the departed spirits rise up to praise you? Selah. • "Yhwh’s policies do not include interfering in Sheol" (Goldingay 2007)
12a	הַיְסֻפַּ֣ר בַּקֶּ֣בֶר חַסְדֶּ֑ךָ	Is your faithful love recounted in the tomb?	• The psalmist is determined to plead with God.
12b	אֱ֝מֽוּנָתְךָ֗ בָּאֲבַדּֽוֹן׃	[Is] your faithfulness [recounted] in the place of destruction?
13a	הֲיִוָּדַ֣ע בַּחֹ֣שֶׁךְ פִּלְאֶ֑ךָ	Can your wonders be known in the dark region?	• The psalmist is determined to plead with God.
13b	וְ֝צִדְקָתְךָ֗ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ נְשִׁיָּֽה׃	And [can] your righteousness [be known] in the land of oblivion? • "There are no wondrous acts of truthfulness and commitment and faithfulness in the realm of the dead and, therefore, no wonders to acknowledge and confess in the way they can be confessed in this world so as to bring honor to Yhwh." (Goldingay 2007), cf. also Ps 118:17. • Sheol is the "land of oblivion", the inhabitants of which are forgotten by YHWH (cf. v. 6b, Ps 31:13, Eccl 9:5).
14a	וַאֲנִ֤י ׀ אֵלֶ֣יךָ יְהוָ֣ה שִׁוַּ֑עְתִּי	But I have been crying out to you for help, YHWH,	• The psalmist is desperate, having cried out to YHWH to no avail. • The psalmist resigns himself to YHWH by accepting whatever comes.
14b	וּ֝בַבֹּ֗קֶר תְּֽפִלָּתִ֥י תְקַדְּמֶֽךָּ׃	and my prayer will keep welcoming you in the morning. • Daybreak is supposed to be the time when God appears to deliver (e.g., 90:14; 143:8) (Goldingay 2007); cf. also Ps 46:6, 2 Sam 23:3-4, Zeph 3:5.
15a	לָמָ֣ה יְ֭הוָה תִּזְנַ֣ח נַפְשִׁ֑י	Why, YHWH, do you keep rejecting me?	• The psalmist is disappointed with YHWH, for keeping rejecting him, in spite of his efforts, by asking "why."
15b	תַּסְתִּ֖יר פָּנֶ֣יךָ מִמֶּֽנִּי׃	[Why] do you keep hiding your face from me? • The collocation הִסְתִּיר פָּנִים ("hide one's face") is used, when said of YHWH, in two possible senses: (1) ignore, be indifferent towards people's troubles (Ps. 10:11, 13:2, 42:25) ׂׂ(2) more often, "withdraw his favors" due to his anger towards sinners (Deut 31:17-18, 32:20, Isa 54:8, Jer 33:5, Ezek 39:23-24, Mic 3:4).
16a	עָ֘נִ֤י אֲנִ֣י וְגֹוֵ֣עַ מִנֹּ֑עַר	I [have been] afflicted and close to death from [my] youth,	• The psalmist is terrified of YHWH's assaults. • The psalmist is helpless because he's been suffering YHWH's terrifying assaults since youth and cannot do anything.
16b	נָשָׂ֖אתִי אֵמֶ֣יךָ	I’ve been suffering your terrifying assaults, • “Terrors” suggests a special dread that falls on people in anticipation of YHWH acting to bring calamity (e.g., Exod. 15:16; 23:27). (Goldingay: 2007); cf. also Deut 32:25, Job 9:34,13:21.
16c	*אֶפּוֹרָה*׃	and keep being torn apart.
17a	עָ֭לַי עָבְר֣וּ חֲרוֹנֶ֑יךָ	Your outbursts of wrath have been sweeping over me;	• The psalmist is terrified of YHWH's assaults.
17b	בִּ֝עוּתֶ֗יךָ *צִמְּתוּנִי*׃	Your terrifying assaults have been destroying me. • The “terrors” of Yahweh act as his agents of destruction (cf. plague and pestilence in Hab 3:5, and “the spirit” in 1Kgs 22:21-22). They are the demon-like beings and powers which afflict the speaker (Tate 1990, 404).
18a	סַבּ֣וּנִי כַ֭מַּיִם כָּל־הַיּ֑וֹם	They have been surrounding me like water constantly;	• The psalmist is terrified of YHWH's constant assaults.
18b	הִקִּ֖יפוּ עָלַ֣י יָֽחַד׃	They have been closing in on me together. וְנָהָר יְסֹבְבֵנִי ... אֲפָפוּנִי מַיִם עַד-נֶפֶשׁ תְּהוֹם יְסֹבְבֵנִי Jonah 2:4,6
19a	הִרְחַ֣קְתָּ מִ֭מֶּנִּי אֹהֵ֣ב וָרֵ֑עַ	You have caused all my friends and companions to shun me;	• The psalmist is depressed because he is lonely and all his friends have left him.
19b	מְֽיֻדָּעַ֥י *מֵחֹשֶׁךְ*׃	You have caused my acquaintances to shun my distress. • Job laments the estrangement of his relatives and friends in a similar way (19:13-19)

Summary Visual

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