God’s Word Translation
Psalms 38:5
5My wounds smell rotten. They fester because of my stupidity.
Psalms 38:5 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness.
- New International Version (NIV)My wounds fester and are loathsome because of my sinful folly.
- English Standard Version (ESV)My wounds stink and fester because of my foolishness,
- New King James Version (NKJV)My wounds are foul and festering Because of my foolishness.
Context of Psalms 38:5
3No healthy spot is left on my body because of your rage. There is no peace in my bones because of my sin. 4My guilt has overwhelmed me. Like a heavy load, it is more than I can bear. My wounds smell rotten. They fester because of my stupidity. 6I am bent over and bowed down very low. All day I walk around in mourning. 7My insides are filled with burning pain, and no healthy spot is left on my body.
Read all of Psalms 38Psalms 38:5 word by word
הִבְאִ֣ישׁוּ נָ֭מַקּוּ חַבּוּרֹתָ֑י מִ֝פְּנֵ֗י אִוַּלְתִּֽי׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Psalms 38:5
- Psalms 32:3When I kept silent ⌞about my sins⌟, my bones began to weaken because of my groaning all day long.
- Isaiah 1:5“Why do you still want to be beaten? Why do you continue to rebel? Your whole head is infected. Your whole heart is failing.
- Jeremiah 8:22Isn’t there medicine in Gilead? Aren’t there doctors there? Then why hasn’t the health of my dear people been restored?
Commentaries on Psalms 38:5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5My wounds stink and are corrupt - Taking this in connection with the rest of the Psalm, I do not see that we can understand the word in any figurative or metaphorical way. I believe they refer to some disease with which he was at this time afflicted; but whether the leprosy, the small pox, or some other disorder that had attacked the whole system, and showed its virulence on different parts of the outer surface, cannot be absolutely determined. Because of…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5My wounds stink - The word rendered “wounds” here means properly the swelling or wales produced by stripes. See the notes at Isaiah 1:6; notes at Isaiah 53:5. The meaning here is, that he was under chastisement for his sin; that the stripes or blows on account of it had not only left a mark and produced a swelling, but that the skin itself had been broken, and that the flesh had become corrupt, and the sore offensive. Many expositors regard this as a mere…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5-8The severity of God’s punishment brings anguish that affects every part of the psalmist’s being.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 5-85-8. The loathsomeness, corruption, and wasting torture of severe physical disease set forth his mental anguish [Psa 38:6]. It is possible some bodily disease was connected. The loins are the seat of strength. His exhaustion left him only the power to groan [Psa 38:9].Read the comment
Topics related to Psalms 38:5
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Psalms 38
- 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
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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