Psalms 107:5
in Psalms 107They were hungry and thirsty; their soul fainted within them.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Hungry and thirsty, Their soul fainted in them.
KJV
Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.
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This verse in Psalms 107
Commentary
11 notes on this verseHungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. The spirits sink when the bodily frame becomes exhausted by long privations. Who can keep his courage up when he is ready to fall to the ground at every step through utter exhaustion? The supply of food is all eaten, the water is spent in the bottles, and there are neither fields nor streams in the desert, the heart therefore sinks in dire despair. Such is the condition of an awakened conscience before it knows the Lord Jesus; it is full of unsatisfied cravings, painful needs, and heavy fears.
This site's exposition
wandered in desert wastelands
on Psalms 107:4-9
The first of four rescues is wanderers in desert wastelands with no road to a city and no food or water. Each one turns on the same cry to the LORD in their trouble, and here He led them out on a straight path to a city. He fills the hungry with good things.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
"They wandered in the wilderness, in a dry place, they found not the way of a city to dwell in" [Psalm 107:4]. We have heard a wretched wandering; what of want? "Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them" [Psalm 107:5]. But wherefore did it faint? For what good? For God is not cruel, but He makes Himself known, in that it is expedient for us, that He be entreated by us fainting, and that aiding us He be loved.
Again, prophetic language attests that the conversion of those in error is the work of God. For "they went astray in the wilderness in a thirsty land," says the Psalmist, and he adds, "So He led them forth by the right way, that they might go to the city where they dwelt:" and, "when the Lord turned again the captivity of Sion." In like manner also the comfort of the afflicted is ascribed to God, Paul thus speaking, "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who comforteth us in all our tribulation." Again, the Psalmist says, speaking in the person of God "Thou calledst upon Me in trouble and I delivered thee." And the setting upright of those who stumble is innumerable times ascribed by Scripture to the power of the Lord: "Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall, but the Lord was my help," and "Though he fall, he shall not be cast away, for the Lord upholdeth him with His hand," and "The Lord helpeth them that are fallen." And to the loving-kindness of God confessedly belongs the recovery of the distressed, if Eunomius means the same thing of which we learn in prophecy, as the Scripture says, "Thou laidest trouble upon our loins; Thou sufferedst men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, and Thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place."
Many other monks coming from Phbow by boat reached the island, and we were three hundred in number. About the eighth hour of the twenty-sixth of the month of Athyr, Theodore called all of us and gathered us near himself, and he told Theodore the …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Hungry and thirsty,.... As travellers in deserts sometimes are; their provisions being spent they bring with them, and none to be had on the road; there being no inns to stop at, nor any sort of food to eat, nor springs of water to drink of.
Those that have constant plenty, and are every day fed to the full, know not what a miserable case it is to be hungry and thirsty, and to have no supply. This was sometimes the case of Israel in the wilderness, and perhaps of other poor travellers; but God's providence finds out ways to satisfy the longing soul and fill the hungry soul with goodness,
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
fainted--was overwhelmed (Ps 61:3; To the chorus is added, as a reason for praise, an example of the extreme distress from which they had been delivered--extreme hunger, the severest privation of a journey in the desert.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
A graphic picture is given of the sufferings of those who from distant lands returned to Jerusalem; or, city of habitation--may mean the land of Palestine.
Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. The spirits sink when the bodily frame becomes exhausted by long privations. Who can keep his courage up when he is ready to fall to the ground at every step through utter exhaustion? The supply of food is all eaten, the water is spent in the bottles, and there are neither fields nor streams in the desert, the heart therefore sinks in dire despair. Such is the condition of an awakened conscience before it knows the Lord Jesus; it is full of unsatisfied cravings, painful needs, and heavy fears. It is utterly spent and without strength, and there is nothing in the whole creation which can minister to its refreshment.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Hungry and thirsty - As they would be, when wandering in such a desert. A more literal and expressive rendering would be, “Hungry - also thirsty.” Their soul fainted in them - The word used here - עטף ‛âṭaph - means properly to cover, to clothe, as with a garment, Psa 73:6; or a field with grain, Psa 65:13; then, to hide oneself, Job 23:9; then, to cover with darkness, Psa 77:3; 102, title; thus it denotes the state of mind when darkness seems to be in the way - a way of calamity, trouble, sorrow; of weakness, faintness, feebleness. Here it would seem from the connection to refer to the exhaustion produced by the want of food and drink.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| רְעֵבִ֥ים | reevim | hungry | H7457 → | 20 times |
| גַּם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| צְמֵאִ֑ים | tzemeim | thirsty | H6771 → | |
| נַ֝פְשָׁ֗ם | nafsham | life their | H5315 → | 754 times |
| בָּהֶ֥ם | bahem | in them | ||
| תִּתְעַטָּֽף׃ | titataf | it was fainting away | H5848 → | 15 times |
רְעֵבִ֥יםhungry
reevimH7457 →20 times
גַּם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
צְמֵאִ֑יםthirsty
tzemeimH6771 →
נַ֝פְשָׁ֗םlife their
nafshamH5315 →754 times
בָּהֶ֥םin them
bahem
תִּתְעַטָּֽף׃it was fainting away
titatafH5848 →15 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
Lamentations 2:19Arise, cry out in the night from the first watch of the night. Pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to Him for the lives…
it leads to
- Psalms 62:8
Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts before Him. God is our refuge. Selah
- Psalms 119:147–148
I rise before dawn and cry for help; in Your word I have put my hope.
- Isaiah 26:9
My soul longs for You in the night; indeed, my spirit seeks You at dawn. For when Your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.
- Psalms 142:2
I pour out my complaint before Him; I reveal my trouble to Him.
- Mark 1:35
Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up and slipped out to a solitary place to pray.
- Psalms 62:8
Through
Isaiah 44:12The blacksmith takes a tool and labors over the coals; he fashions an idol with hammers and forges it with his strong arms. Yet he grows hungry and loses his strength; he fails to…
it leads to
- Isaiah 40:19
To an idol that a craftsman casts and a metalworker overlays with gold and fits with silver chains?
- Isaiah 41:6–7
Each one helps the other and says to his brother, “Be strong!”
- Isaiah 46:6–7
They pour out their bags of gold and weigh out silver on scales; they hire a goldsmith to fashion it into a god, so they can bow down and worship.
- Isaiah 40:19
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, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ammon of Hadrianopolis, LETTER OF BISHOP AMMON 28; Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 107; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 5; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Gregory of Nyssa, AGAINST EUNOMIUS 2:15; 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.