ויחי And was recovered. Comp. עד חיותם till they were whole (Jos. 5:8), ואתה מחיה and thou preservest (Neh. 9:6). It might also mean, And he lived.¹

footnotes: ¹ In this case the word מחליו which follows, must be translated: his illness being no more, or after having been ill.

בדמי. Some derive it from דָּם blood, and explain it, In the vigour;²² but the correct explanation is: In the cutting off. Comp. נדמה נדמה shall utterly be cut off (Hos. 10:15).

footnotes: ² דם Blood or ═ לשׁד moisture, sap (Ps. 32:4); דמי freshness, vigour; בדמי ימי in the vigour of my days, that is, in the midst of my days. The י in דמי is not radical according to this explanation. The second opinion is, that י is a radical letter, replacing ה, and that דְּמִי is a noun formed of דמה to cut off, like פְּרִי fruit of פּרה. ² דם Blood or ═ לשׁד moisture, sap (Ps. 32:4); דמי freshness, vigour; בדמי ימי in the vigour of my days, that is, in the midst of my days. The י in דמי is not radical according to this explanation. The second opinion is, that י is a radical letter, replacing ה, and that דְּמִי is a noun formed of דמה to cut off, like פְּרִי fruit of פּרה.

שאל The grave, which is deep in the earth; the opposite of heaven, which is always above; comp. Ps. 139:8:³ it does not mean hell.

footnotes: ³ In the psalm quoted, the poet says that wherever he should choose to go God would see him, whether he ascended to heaven or descended into the earth. There is, according to I. E., no occasion for introducing there the idea of hell; as a contrast to heaven above, the grave in the earth below is mentioned: If I make my bed in the grave, behold thou art there.

פקדתי I am deprived. Comp. ולא נפקד and there lacketh not (Num. 31:49); it is a poetical expression,⁴ as also used in Arabic.⁵ Some say that פקדתי is the same as ממני פקד was taken from me, and compare it with יצאוני are gone forth from me (Jer. 10:20);⁶ according to others it means I was remembered, in the same sense as and the Lord remembered (Gen. 21:1).⁷

footnotes: ⁴ For the common I die. ⁵ فَقَدَ he lost. Pass. he was lost, he died. ⁶ The comparison is not correct, because ני in יצאוני is in the objective case, while תי in פקדתי denotes the subject. ⁷ The three explanations of the phrase פקדתי יתר שנותי, given by I. E., are: 1. I shall be missing (that is, dead) during the remainder of my years, that is, of the years which I should have lived, were I not afflicted with this illness. 2. The remainder of my years was taken from me. 3. But the remainder of my years was granted unto me.

The residue of my years. Comp. the number of thy days I will complete (Ex. 23:26). In my commentary on that verse I have explained it.⁸

footnotes: ⁸ The years or the days of man are those determined by the natural constitution of his body; their number is often diminished by accidents, but remains complete by the protection and blessing of Providence. Comp. also I. E. on Exod. 33:21.

I shall not see the Lord, etc. God is not subject to accidents, that a human eye should be able to perceive Him; He is, however, known by His works. The meaning of this verse is therefore: I shall not see any longer the works of the Almighty; I shall not understand the works of the Lord in this world, in the land of the living. These latter words are thus added as a kind of explanation of the preceding phrase. The pleasure which man has in this world in understanding the works of the Almighty is first mentioned; and then, in the words, I shall behold man no more, his pleasure in seeing his fellow-men.

חדל World. חדל is perhaps the same as חלד life, as כשב is the same as כבש lamb; comp. חלדי my life (Ps. 39:6); it is possible that the word has the same meaning in the phrase מה חדל אני how long I am living⁹ (Ps. 39:5). The life of man in this world is perhaps called ¹⁰חדל because man must at some time cease to be therein.¹¹

footnotes: ⁹ A. V., How frail I am. ¹⁰ From חדל to cease. In this case we need not assume the transposition of letters (חלד ═ חדל), unless we consider חדל to be the original word, and חלד the changed form of it. Usually חלד life is derived from חלד to be firm, to last, a verb found in Arabic. ¹¹ Comp. I. E. on Ps. 49:9.

דורי My dwelling.¹² Comp. מדור from dwelling (Ps. 39:5); the word is frequent in Chaldee;¹³ דור generation (13:20) is perhaps to be derived from the same root;¹⁴ comp. for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner (Ps. 39:13).

footnotes: ¹² A. V., Mine age. ¹³ Comp. דירה dwelling, דיורין occupants of a house (Talm. Bab. Sukka ix.) ¹⁴ דור A generation, that is, the average time a man dwells upon the earth.

נִסַּע Is departed. The radical נ is replaced by Dagesh in the ס.

ונגלה And is removed. Comp. גלות exile (20:4).

ממני═מני From me. Comp. 22:4.

רועי Either my shepherd, the י being the pronominal suffix, or belonging to a shepherd, the י signifying relation, as in פנימי inner (1 Kings 6:26), אכזרי cruel (13:9);¹⁵ for the tent of the shepherd does not remain in one place.

footnotes: ¹⁵ Comp. c. xiii. Note 7.

קפדתי I folded together.¹⁶

footnotes: ¹⁶ A. V., I have cut off.

Like a weaver. Comp. And my days are swifter than the weaver’s shuttle (Job 7:6).

מדלה With pining sickness. Comp. דל lean (1 Sam. 13:4). With this illness, which I am suffering now,

יבצעני He will cut me off, that my life will expire; comp. ויבצעני and cut me off (Job 6:9).

מיום עד לילה תשלימני From day even to night it will make peace with me.¹⁷¹⁷ It is an illness that keeps peace with the patient during the day, and makes war during the night; a fact often observed in cases of illness.תשלימני It will make peace with me Comp. תשלים it will make peace (Deut. 20:12)

footnotes: ¹⁷ A. V., Wilt thou make an end of me? ¹⁷ A. V., Wilt thou make an end of me?

שויתי I made equal; supply נפשי myself;¹⁸ or I compared the illness¹⁹¹⁹ in its fierce attacks on me, with a lion which generally breaks the bones. From day even to night it maketh peace with me, to my great surprise, after the attacks during the night.²⁰

footnotes: ¹⁸ A. V., I reckoned that. ¹⁹ In either case שויתי must be considered as an elliptical phrase; but the ellipsis of נפשי, which turns the transitive verb into a reflective one, is more natural. The sense of the whole sentence is: I made myself a lion, in resisting the fierce attacks of the illness; or, I considered the illness as a lion, that tried to break my bones. ¹⁹ In either case שויתי must be considered as an elliptical phrase; but the ellipsis of נפשי, which turns the transitive verb into a reflective one, is more natural. The sense of the whole sentence is: I made myself a lion, in resisting the fierce attacks of the illness; or, I considered the illness as a lion, that tried to break my bones. ²⁰ This remark is to explain the repetition of this idea in this verse, after its having been expressed in the same words in the preceding one.

כסוס כעגור═כסוס עגור. Comp. כרע כאח לי as though he had been my friend, my brother (Ps. 35:14). In the same way ככבש כאלוף ═ אלוף ככבש like a lamb, like an ox (Jer. 14:19). סיס and עגור are names of birds, a crane, a swallow. So did I chatter. The patient in his heavy illness mutters and speaks what no one is able to understand.

דלו They are lifted up.²¹ Root דלל, comp. דליו they are high (Prov. 26:7).

footnotes: ²¹ A. V., Fail.

עשקה לי *It oppresseth me.*²² The illness oppresseth me.

footnotes: ²² A. V., I am oppressed.—עָֽשְׁקָה is third person feminine past of עשק; I. E. supplies, therefore, the subject דלה illness.

ערבני Undertake for me. Comp.²³ ערוב be surety (Ps. 119:112); according to some הרבני ═ ערבני destroy me; this is nonsense. The word ערבני, lit. pledge thyself for me, is an anthropomorphism; it means, sympathise with me in my troubles.

footnotes: ²³ The Hebrew text has עתה now; but its meaning can hardly be found out; besides, the word טגזרת, the usual introduction of a parallel passage, is missing; and the conjecture that עת׳ is a corruption of מגזרת is well founded.

He hath spoken unto me. He said, I will add to thy days (ver. 5),

והוא עשה And himself will do it.²⁴ The past is here used for the future; comp. נתתי I will give (Gen. 23:13)¹; or And himself hath done this kindness unto me²⁵, and still I shall go softly in the bitterness of my soul, when remembering these troubles, which I had to suffer.

footnotes: ²⁴ A. V., And hath done. ¹ Abraham says to Ephron נתתי כסף השדה; lit.: I gave thee money for the field (Gen. 23:13); and in the same chapter, ver. 15, it is stated Abraham weighed to Ephron, etc. The past נתתי is here used for the future. ²⁵ viz. give me that promise.

אדדה I shall go softly. Hithpaël;²⁶ there is no parallel to it in the Bible, but אדדם I went with them (Ps. 42:5), and in the Mishna מדדה (Shabb. 18:2) in the well known meaning.²⁷

footnotes: ²⁶ It is impossible to suppose that I. E. explained אֶדַּדֶּה to be Niphal, as the Hebrew text reads ומלת אדדה מבנין נפעל; either נפעל is a corruption of התפעל, or I. E. read אֶדָּדֶה instead of אֶדַּדֶּה ²⁷ To lead, or to assist in walking.

עליהם By them.²⁸²⁸ By the words, hinted at in the phrase And he said (ver. 15). עליהם יחיו By them they live. By thy words and acts the living beings exist. ולכל And always²⁹. The word עת time is to be supplied.

footnotes: ²⁸ A. V., By these things men live. ²⁸ A. V., By these things men live. ²⁹ A. V., And in all these things.

ותחלימני So wilt thou recover me. Comp. יחלמו they are strong (Job 39:4); חלום strong (Talm. Bab. Rosh Hashanah 28)

Behold when I hoped for peace,³⁰ etc., when I was in the middle of my years, (Hezekiah was 39 years old, when he was taken ill); for when the choler³¹ is predominant in man, he is ailing in his youth, but healthy in his old age; the reverse takes place, if the phlegm is predominant; but the middle years are generally expected to be peaceful.

footnotes: ³⁰ A. V., Behold for peace. ³¹ The four humours of which the ancients supposed the blood to be composed are: blood רם, choler מרה אדומה, phlegm לחה, melancholy מרה שחורה; the prevalence of the one or the other in man was believed to determine the constitution of his mind, or his temper. As man becomes older, the choleric temper disappears, while the phlegmatic humour increases.

מר לי מר I had great bitterness. The repetition indicates emphasis. Some derive מר from תמורה

the reverse. בלי Some compare it with בלתי I am waxed old (Gen. 18:12), and consider it as a noun like פרי fruit meaning corruption. Others say that בלי means in this verse not, and that the sentence is inverted.³² The first explanation is preferable: And thou hast desired my soul, and brought me up from the pit of corruption.

footnotes: ³² The proper order of the words, according to this opinion, may be supposed to be as follows: ואתה לא חשקת נפשי משחת but thou hast not desired my soul to go down to the grave. The מ in משחת, however, presents some difficulty, and probably for that reason this explanation is rejected by I. E.

For thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. A figure taken from man, that does not see, what is behind his back; for we know, that God, the Creator of all bodies, has no body. This verse proves the assertion of some authorities, that in consequence of a sin committed by him, Hezekiah should have died earlier; and since, as they otherwise stated, he who dies before his fifty-second year suffers the punishment כָּרְת to be cut off,³³: He who dies in the fiftieth year of his life, dies by the punishment of כָּרֵת; he who dies in the fifty-second year enjoys a death like that of the prophet Samuel. he was grieved, that he should be punished with כָּרְת, not being conscious of having committed a sin deserving it; he says therefore: Remember now, how I have walked before Thee, and have done what is good in Thine eyes (ver. 3); he mentions two things, the thought and the practice.³⁴ Tradition says, that he had not yet obeyed the commandment to marry.³⁵.

footnotes: ³³ Comp. I. E. on Gen. 17:14; and Talm. Bab. Moed. Katan. 28a ³⁴ I. E. refers the words how I have walked before Thee to the fulfilment of the duties of the heart, because they are followed by in truth and with a perfect heart. ³⁵ Comp. Talm. Bab. Berachoth 10a

For the grave, etc. The body which is in the grave; the negation לא is to be repeated after מות: death cannot celebrate thee; comp. Prov. 21:14.³⁶

footnotes: ³⁶ In the verse מתן בסתר יכפה אף ושחד בחק חמה עזה A gift in secret pacifieth anger, and a reward in the bosom strong wrath, the verb יכפה pacifieth must be repeated before חמה wrath.

ישברו They hope. Comp. Ps. 145:15. Many are surprised to find here the prophet declaring such things, as if denying the truth of the resurrection of the dead; but the body has no power, no knowledge, when the soul has left it; and why should we be surprised at it? Man has sometimes no understanding when the soul is in the body, much less after his death.

The living, the living. The word חי living is repeated as if to say he who is living, as I do, or he who has recovered from illness. Shall praise thee, shall give thanks in words, in which soul and body appear to unite. According to some the first חי refers to God;³⁷ but there is no necessity for this assumption.

footnotes: ³⁷ The translation of the words חי חי הוא יודך according to this explanation would be: O living God, he who liveth shall praise Thee.

Thy truth. These acts of truth.³⁸

footnotes: ³⁸ To send relief and help to the afflicted and suffering.

The Lord. Supply hath said, or will say, or will command.

And my songs, the songs which I shall compose. We will sing. I, and the singers in the temple, will sing, all our life.

Let them take a lump of figs, etc. This is a miracle, because the figs are injurious to him who suffers from the scab;³⁹ and the reason that the future forms וימרחו ,ישאו are used,⁴⁰ is, that here only the command is reported.⁴¹

footnotes: ³⁹ Comp. Rashi ad locum. ⁴⁰ The words יש אומרים of the Hebrew text give no sense; after וזה שאמר and that he says, the words, which he said, are expected. They are very probably a corruption of במצות ;ישאו ,וימרחו is either identical with, or wrongly copied for בצווי in the imperative. ⁴¹ It is frequently the case that a command is mentioned, and it must be inferred from the context that it was carried out; comp. Zech. 3:4.

דבלת תאנים A lump of figs. Figs, that are opened, pressed together, and form a mass which is cut with a knife.

וימרחו And lay it for a plaster. The word has a similar meaning in Arabic; what it means is well known.⁴²

footnotes: ⁴² مَرَخَ to rub. Comp. c. xxxiv. Note 17.

ויאמר חזקיהו Hezekiah also had said before, What is the sign, as mentioned above (38:7)