Psalms 109:23

Psalms 109:23 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)I am gone like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust.
• New International Version (NIV)I fade away like an evening shadow; I am shaken off like a locust.
• English Standard Version (ESV)I am gone like a shadow at evening; I am shaken off like a locust.
• New King James Version (NKJV)I am gone like a shadow when it lengthens; I am shaken off like a locust.

Context of Psalms 109:23

21But You, O God, the Lord, show kindness to me, for Your name’s sake; Because Your lovingkindness (faithfulness, compassion) is good, O rescue me; 22For I am suffering and needy, And my heart is wounded within me. I am vanishing like a shadow when it lengthens and fades; I am shaken off like the locust. 24My knees are unsteady from fasting; And my flesh is gaunt and without fatness. 25I also have become a reproach and an object of taunting to others; When they see me, they shake their heads [in derision].

Psalms 109:23 word by word

כְּצֵל־כִּנְטוֹת֥וֹ נֶהֱלָ֑כְתִּי נִ֝נְעַ֗רְתִּי כָּֽאַרְבֶּֽה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• I am goneהָלַךְhâlak · to go: wentH1980
• like the shadowצֵלtsêl · shadowH6738
• when it declinethנָטָהnâţâh · to stretchH5186
• I am tossed up and downנָעַרnâ‛ar · to shakeH5287
• as the locustאַרְבֶּה'arbeh · locustH697

Cross-references for Psalms 109:23

• Psalms 102:11My days are like an evening shadow that lengthens and vanishes [with the sun]; And as for me, I wither away like grass.
• Psalms 144:4Man is like a mere breath; His days are like a shadow that passes away.
• 1 Chronicles 29:15For we are sojourners before You, and tenants, as all our fathers were; our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no hope [of remaining].
• Job 14:2Like a flower he comes forth and withers; He also flees like a shadow and does not remain.
• Ecclesiastes 6:12For who [limited by human wisdom] knows what is good for man during his lifetime, during the few days of his futile life? He spends them like a shadow [staying busy, but achieving nothing of lasting value]. For who can tell a man what will happen after him [to his work, his treasure, his plans] under the sun [after his life is over]?
• Ecclesiastes 8:13But it will not be well for the evil man, nor will he lengthen his days like a shadow, because he does not fear God.
• James 4:14Yet you do not know [the least thing] about what may happen in your life tomorrow. [What is secure in your life?] You are merely a vapor [like a puff of smoke or a wisp of steam from a cooking pot] that is visible for a little while and then vanishes [into thin air].
• Psalms 102:10Because of Your indignation and Your wrath, For You have lifted me up and thrown me away.
• Exodus 10:13So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind on the land all that day and all that night; when it was morning, the east wind had brought the [swarms of] locusts.

Commentaries on Psalms 109:23

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 23I am gone like the shadow - "I have walked like the declining shadow," - I have passed my meridian of health and life; and as the sun is going below the horizon, so am I about to go under the earth. I am tossed up and down as the locust - When swarms of locusts take wing, and infest the countries in the east, if the wind happen to blow briskly, the swarms are agitated and driven upon each other, so as to appear to be heaved to and fro, or tossed up and…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 23I am gone like the shadow when it declineth - See the notes at Psalm 102:11. I am tossed up and down as the locust - Agitated, moved, driven about, as a cloud of locusts is by the wind. The meaning of the whole is, that he was frail and weak, and needed strength from on high.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 21-31Verses 21-31 The psalmist takes God's comforts to himself, but in a very humble manner. He was troubled in mind. His body was wasted, and almost worn away. But it is better to have leanness in the body, while the soul prospers and is in health, than to have leanness in the soul, while the body is feasted. He was ridiculed and reproached by his enemies. But if God bless us, we need not care who curses us; for how can they curse whom God has not cursed…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 23A lengthening shadow suggests a temporary, empty life (Psalms 102:11; 144:4). A single locust can be easily brushed off clothing.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2323. like the shadow--(Compare Psa 102:11). tossed up and down--or, "driven" (Ex 10:19).Read the comment

Topics related to Psalms 109:23

• Afflictions and Adversities
• Prayer

In the dictionaries

• Decline
• God
• Psalms, Book of
• Shade; Shadow; Shadowing

Commentaries on Psalms 109

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• The Treasury of David
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings