Psalms 107:27
in Psalms 107They reeled and staggered like drunkards, and all their skill was useless.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, And are at their wits’ end.
KJV
They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
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This verse in Psalms 107
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThey reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man,.... Through the agitation of the water, and motion of the ship, not being able to stand upon deck. And are at their wit's end; or, "all their wisdom is swallowed up" (n); their wisdom in naval affairs, their art of navigation, their skill in managing ships, all nonplussed and baffled; they know not what method to take to save the vessel and themselves; their knowledge fails them, they are quite confounded and almost distracted.
This site's exposition
They reeled and staggered like drunkards
on Psalms 107:27-32
Their skill was useless, and they reeled and staggered like drunkards. The storm He calmed to a whisper, the waves were hushed, and He brought them to the harbor they wanted. Verse 32 moves the thanks into the people's assembly and the council of the elders.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"They go up even to the heavens," in daring; "They go down even into the deeps" [Psalm 107:26], in fearing. "Their soul wasted in miseries." "They were disturbed, and moved like a drunken man" [Psalm 107:27]. They who sit at the helm, and they who faithfully love the ship, feel what I say. Certainly, when they speak, when they read, when they interpret, they appear wise. Woe for the storm! "and all their wisdom," he says, "was swallowed up." Sometimes all human counsels fail; whichever way one turns himself, the waves roar, the storm rages, the arms are powerless: where the prow may strike, to what wave the side may be exposed, whither the stricken ship may be allowed to drift, from what rocks she must be kept back lest she be lost, is impossible for her pilots to see. And what is left but that which follows?
A commentator
Desert FathersThe Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks · Written before 500.
proposed
[Syncletica] also said, 'We have no security in this world. The Apostle said, "Let him that thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall" (1 Cor. 10:12). We are sailing on uncharted seas, as the psalmist David said, "Our life is like a sea." Yet …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
These are put for all similar perils, in which those that cry unto God have ever found him a very present help. He specifies the varieties and vicissitudes of events concerning nations and families, in all which God's hand is to be eyed by his own people, with joyful acknowledgments of his goodness,
How seasonable it is at such a time to pray. Those that go to sea must expect such perils as are here described, and the best preparation they can make for them is to make sure a liberty of access to God by prayer, for then they will cry unto the Lord,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man. The violent motion of the vessel prevents their keeping their legs, and their fears drive them out of all power to use their brains, and therefore they look like intoxicated men. And are at their wit's end. What more can they do? They have used every expedient known to navigation, but the ship is so strained and beaten about that they know not how to keep her afloat. Here too the spiritual mariner's log agrees with that of the sailor on the sea. We have staggered frightfully!
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Here are set forth the perils of seafaring, futility of man's, and efficiency of God's, help. go . . . sea--alluding to the elevation of the land at the coast.
They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man. The violent motion of the vessel prevents their keeping their legs, and their fears drive them out of all power to use their brains, and therefore they look like intoxicated men. And are at their wit's end. What more can they do? They have used every expedient known to navigation, but the ship is so strained and beaten about that they know not how to keep her afloat. Here too the spiritual mariner's log agrees with that of the sailor on the sea. We have staggered frightfully! We could stand to nothing and hold by nothing. We knew not what to do, and could have done nothing if we had known it. We were as men distracted, and felt as if destruction itself would be better than our horrible state of suspense. As for wit and wisdom, they were clean washed out of us, we felt ourselves to be at a nonplus altogether.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
They reel to and fro - The word used here - חגג châgag - means to dance as in a circle; then, to reel, or be giddy as drunkards are. And stagger ... - This word means to move to and fro; to waver; to vacillate; and it is then applied to a man who cannot walk steadily - a drunkard. So the vessel, with the mariners on board, seems to stagger and reel in the storm. And are at their wit’s end - Margin, as in Hebrew, “All their wisdom is swallowed up.” That is, They have no skill to guide the vessel. All that has been done by the wisdom of naval architecture in constructing it, and all that has been derived from experience in navigating the ocean, seems now to be useless. They are at the mercy of the winds and waves; they are dependent wholly on God; they can now only cry to him to save them. Often this occurs in a storm at sea, when the most skillful and experienced seaman feels that he can do no more.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יָח֣וֹגּוּ | yachogu | they staggered | H2287 → | |
| וְ֭יָנוּעוּ | veyanuu | and they may trembled | H5128 → | 40 times |
| כַּשִּׁכּ֑וֹר | kashikor | like <the> drunkard | H7910 → | |
| וְכָל־ | vekhol | and all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| חָ֝כְמָתָ֗ם | chakhematam | skill their | H2451 → | 153 times |
| תִּתְבַּלָּֽע׃ | titbala' | it was confused | H1104 → | 49 times |
יָח֣וֹגּוּthey staggered
yachoguH2287 →
וְ֭יָנוּעוּand they may trembled
veyanuuH5128 →40 times
כַּשִּׁכּ֑וֹרlike <the> drunkard
kashikorH7910 →
וְכָל־and all
vekholH3605 →5413 times
חָ֝כְמָתָ֗םskill their
chakhematamH2451 →153 times
תִּתְבַּלָּֽע׃it was confused
titbala'H1104 →49 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 24:20The earth staggers like a drunkard and sways like a shack. Earth’s rebellion weighs it down, and it falls, never to rise again.
it leads to
- Isaiah 19:14
The LORD has poured into her a spirit of confusion. Egypt has been led astray in all she does, as a drunkard staggers through his own vomit.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 29:9
Stop and be astonished; blind yourselves and be sightless; be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not from strong drink.
- Isaiah 19:14
Through
Isaiah 19:3Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be emptied out from among them, and I will frustrate their plans, so that they will resort to idols and spirits of the dead, to mediums and…
it leads to
- Isaiah 8:19
When men tell you to consult the spirits of the dead and the spiritists who whisper and mutter, shouldn’t a people consult their God instead? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?
- Daniel 2:2
So the king gave orders to summon the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers to explain his dreams. When they came and stood before the king,
- Isaiah 8:19
Through
Job 12:25They grope in the darkness without light; He makes them stagger like drunkards.
it leads to
- Job 5:14
They encounter darkness by day and grope at noon as in the night.
- Job 5:14
Through
Isaiah 29:9Stop and be astonished; blind yourselves and be sightless; be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not from strong drink.
it leads to
- Isaiah 51:21–22
Therefore now hear this, you afflicted one, drunken, but not with wine.
- Isaiah 33:13–14
You who are far off, hear what I have done; you who are near, acknowledge My might.”
- Isaiah 49:26
I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh; they will be drunk on their own blood, as with wine. Then all mankind will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your…
- Isaiah 51:21–22
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Psalms
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 107; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 5; Desert Fathers, The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.