Sunday, September 3, 2023

Psalm 38:11

A few months ago, I read Psalm 38 and noticed a small feature in verse 11:  "My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague, and my nearest kin stand far off" [ESV].  In the first clause, the words "friends and companions" are as far from "my plague" as they can be, illustrating the distance of "stand[ing] aloof."

This feature is also present in my German Psalter (where this is verse 12):  "Meine Lieben und Freunde scheuen zurück vor meiner Plage, und meine Nächsten halten sich ferne."

This isn't present in the Hebrew, though.  The word order there is something like "My friends and companions aloof from my plague stand."  אֹֽהֲבַ֨י ׀ וְרֵעַ֗י מִנֶּ֣גֶד נִגְעִ֣י יַעֲמֹ֑דוּ  This word order is also what the Vulgate has:  "cari mei et amici mei quasi contra lepram meam steterunt."