Psalms 38:7
in Psalms 38For my loins are full of burning pain, and no soundness remains in my body.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For my loins are filled with burning; And there is no soundness in my flesh.
KJV
For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh.
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This verse in Psalms 38
Commentary
15 notes on this verseFor my loins are filled with a loathsome disease,.... The word here used has the signification of burning (k); and the Targum renders it, "my loins are filled with burning"; a burning fever was upon him, or there was an inflammation in those parts; a hot burning ulcer, which might be nauseous; and so was true in both senses.
This site's exposition
foul and festering
on Psalms 38:5-8
The wounds are foul and festering, and the cause given is his own sinful folly. Gill notes the word behind the pain in the loins carries the sense of burning. He is bent, brought low, and mourning all day long.
This site's exposition
my loins are full of burning pain
Spurgeon noted that the second line repeats verse 3. Albert Barnes places the loins at the muscles near the kidneys and reads the phrase as an inflammation there. John Wesley read a burning fever and kept to the literal sense, which he would leave only under necessity.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
"For my soul is filled with illusions, and there is no soundness in my flesh" [Psalm 38:7]. Where there is the whole man, there there is soul and flesh both. The "soul is filled with illusions;" the flesh hath "no soundness." What does there remain that can give joy? Is it not meet that one should "go mourning"? "All the day long have I gone mourning." Let mourning be our portion, until our soul be divested of its illusions; and our body be clothed with soundness. For true soundness is no other than immortality. How great however are the soul's illusions, were I even to attempt to express, when would the time suffice me? For whose soul is not subject to them? There is a brief particular that I will remind you of, to show how our soul is filled with illusions. The presence of those illusions sometimes scarcely permits us to pray. We know not how to think of material objects without images, and such as we do not wish, rush in upon the mind; and we wish to go from this one to that, and to quit that for another. And sometimes you wish to return to that which you were thinking of before, and to quit that which you are now thinking of; and a fresh one presents itself to you; you wish to call up again what you had forgotten; and it does not occur to you; and another comes instead which you would not have wished for. Where meanwhile was the one that you had forgotten? For why did it afterwards occur to you, when it had ceased to be sought after; whereas, while it was being sought for, innumerable others, which were not desired, presented themselves instead of it? I have stated a fact briefly; I have thrown out a kind of hint or suggestion to you, brethren, taking up which, you may yourselves suggest the rest to yourselves, and discover what it is to mourn over the "illusions" of our "soul." He hath received therefore the punishment of illusion; he hath forfeited Truth. […]
A commentator
Philoxenus of Mabbug13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 7 -- Second Discourse on the Fear of God · Written before 523.
proposed
Whosoever feareth sleepeth not, and if he sleepeth, he seeth in his dream the cause of his fear; he eateth not, and he drinketh not, and if the force of natural craving compel him, fear is mingled with his meat and drink. Everything which attacketh …
So, he means, my handling of desire not fittingly but wastefully proved the cause of these troubles.… From that desire [as he says in the next verse] I garnered the fruit, which was my stooping to earth, he is saying, and constant bewailing on account …
The Medieval Church1 voice
"For my loins are filled with illusions." Here is set forth the cause of the sorrow. According to the Gloss, it is explained that by "loins" is understood the soul. And he says "loins" because there is where delight resides. "And there is no soundness …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Disease - The disease might be some burning fever, breaking forth outwardly in carbuncles, or boils. It is true, this and the other expressions may be taken figuratively, but we should not forsake the literal sense of the words without necessity.
7 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Disease - The disease might be some burning fever, breaking forth outwardly in carbuncles, or boils. It is true, this and the other expressions may be taken figuratively, but we should not forsake the literal sense of the words without necessity.
The Nineteenth Century6 voices
For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease —a hot, dry, parching disorder, probably accompanied by loathsome ulcers. Spiritually, the fire burns within when the evil of the heart is laid bare. Note the emphatic words, the evil is loathsome, it is in the loins, its seat is deep and vital—the man is filled with it. Those who have passed through the time of conviction understand all this. And there is no soundness in my flesh.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The loathsomeness, corruption, and wasting torture of severe physical disease set forth his mental anguish [Ps 38:6]. It is possible some bodily disease was connected. The loins are the seat of strength.
For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease —a hot, dry, parching disorder, probably accompanied by loathsome ulcers. Spiritually, the fire burns within when the evil of the heart is laid bare. Note the emphatic words, the evil is loathsome, it is in the loins, its seat is deep and vital—the man is filled with it. Those who have passed through the time of conviction understand all this. And there is no soundness in my flesh. This he had said before, and thus the Holy Spirit brings humiliating truth again and again to our memories, tears away every ground of glorying, and makes us know that in us, that is, in our flesh, there dwelleth no good thing.
For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease —a hot, dry, parching disorder, probably accompanied by loathsome ulcers. Spiritually, the fire burns within when the evil of the heart is laid bare. Note the emphatic words, the evil is loathsome, it is in the loins, its seat is deep and vital—the man is filled with it. Those who have passed through the time of conviction understand all this. And there is no soundness in my flesh.
For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease - Or rather, a burning; נקלה nikleh, from קלה kalah, to fry, scorch, etc., hence נקלה nikleh, a burning, or strongly feverish disease. There is no soundness in my flesh - All without and all within bears evidence that the whole of my solids and fluids are corrupt.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
For my bones are filled with a loathsome disease - This would seem to indicate the seat of the disease, though not its nature. The word used here, according to Gesenius (Lexicon), properly denotes the internal muscles of the loins near the kidneys, to which the fat adheres. The word rendered “loathsome” - the word “disease” being supplied by our translators - is derived from קלה qâlâh, a word which means to roast, to parch, as fruit, grain, etc.; and then, in the form used here, it means scorched, burned; hence, a burning or inflammation; and the whole phrase would be synonymous with “an inflammation of the kidneys.” The word used here does not imply that there was any eruption, or ulcer, though it would seem from Psa 38:5 that this was the fact, and that the inflammation had produced this effect. And there is no soundness in my flesh - See Psa 38:3. His disease was so deep-seated and so pervading, that there did not seem to be “any” soundness in his flesh. His whole body seemed to be diseased.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| כְ֭סָלַי | khesalai | loins my | H3689 → | 13 times |
| מָלְא֣וּ | malu | they are full | H4390 → | 249 times |
| נִקְלֶ֑ה | nikleh | burning [pain] | H7033 → | |
| וְאֵ֥ין | veein | and there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| מְ֝תֹ֗ם | metom | [is] soundness | H4974 → | |
| בִּבְשָׂרִֽי׃ | bivsari | in flesh my | H1320 → | 270 times |
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
כְ֭סָלַיloins my
khesalaiH3689 →13 times
מָלְא֣וּthey are full
maluH4390 →249 times
נִקְלֶ֑הburning [pain]
niklehH7033 →
וְאֵ֥יןand there not
veeinH369 →789 times
מְ֝תֹ֗ם[is] soundness
metomH4974 →
בִּבְשָׂרִֽי׃in flesh my
bivsariH1320 →270 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
Acts 12:23Immediately, because Herod did not give glory to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.
it leads to
- Acts 10:25–26
As Peter was about to enter, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet to worship him.
- Psalms 115:1
Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to Your name be the glory, because of Your loving devotion, because of Your faithfulness.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:4
He will oppose and exalt himself above every so-called god or object of worship. So he will seat himself in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
- Acts 14:14–15
But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul found out about this, they tore their clothes and rushed into the crowd, shouting,
- Daniel 4:30–37
the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built by the might of my power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?”
- Acts 10:25–26
Through
Psalms 102:3For my days vanish like smoke, and my bones burn like glowing embers.
it leads to
- James 4:14
You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
- James 4:14
Through
Job 7:5My flesh is clothed with worms and encrusted with dirt; my skin is cracked and festering.
it leads to
- Isaiah 14:11
Your pomp has been brought down to Sheol, along with the music of your harps. Maggots are your bed and worms your blanket.
- Job 17:14
and say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’
- Isaiah 14:11
About Psalms
This page draws on 14 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 38; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 2; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Philoxenus of Mabbug, 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 7 -- Second Discourse on the Fear of God; Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 38:3-4 and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.