Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 109:24
My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh faileth of fatness.
24. faileth of fatness ] Hath grown lean and lost fatness may be the meaning. But more probably, is shrunken for want of oil. In his distress he had no appetite for food (Psa 102:4), and like a mourner (2Sa 14:2) abstained from the use of oil.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
My knees are weak through fasting – Hunger; want of food. Strength to stand is connected with firmness in the knee-joints, and hence, weakness and feebleness are denoted by the giving way of the knees. Compare Heb 12:12.
And my flesh faileth of fatness – I am lean and weak. There is not the proper supply for my strength. The idea seems to have been that fatness (Hebrew, oil) was necessary to strength.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 24. My knees are weak through fasting] That hunger is as soon felt in weakening the knees, as in producing an uneasy sensation in the stomach, is known by all who have ever felt it. Writers in all countries have referred to this effect of hunger. Thus Tryphioderus Il. Excid. ver 155: –
.
“Their knees might fail, by hunger’s force subdued;
And sink, unable to sustain their load.”
MERRICK.
SO PLAUTUS, Curcul, act. ii., scen. 3: –
Tenebrae oboriuntur, genua inedia succidunt.
“My eyes grow dim; my knees are weak with hunger.”
And LUCRETIUS, lib. iv. ver. 950: –
Brachia, palpebraeque cadunt, poplitesque procumbunt.
“The arms, the eyelids fall; the knees give way.” Both the knees and the sight are particularly affected by hunger.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Through fasting; either with voluntary fasts, to which the frequency and long continuance of my calamities obliged me; or with forced fasts, sometimes through want of necessary provisions, but most commonly from that loathing of meat, which was occasioned by his excessive sorrows and terrors. See Poole “Psa 58:8“.
Of fatness; or, for want of fatness. See the like Hebrew phrases Gen 18:26; Jer 48:45; Lam 4:9.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
24, 25. Taunts and reproachesaggravate his afflicted and feeble state (Psa 22:6;Psa 22:7).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
My knees are weak through fasting,….. Either voluntary or forced, through want of food or refreshment; this was verified in Christ, when he kneeled and prayed, and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling to the ground; see Ps 69:10.
And my flesh faileth of fatness; or “for want of oil” k; the radical moisture of his flesh being dried up like a potsherd, Ps 22:15.
k ‘ , Sept. “propter oleum”, V. L. “propter defectum olei”, Eth. Arab.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
24 My knees are become feeble. Though David had the necessaries of life, yet he emaciated himself by voluntary abstinence, to which, as well as to prayer, he gave himself, and therefore we may regard this verse as expressive of his sorrow and sadness. We may also understand it as expressive of his having no relish for meat or drink, knowing, as we do, that persons who are in sorrow and sadness have no appetite for food; even life itself is burdensome to them. Should any one prefer restricting the interpretation to David’s being in want of the necessaries of life, when he hid himself in the dens of wild beasts, to escape the fury of his enemies, and was then subjected to hunger and thirst, he may do so. It appears to me, however, that by this language he intends to point out the extreme anguish which he felt, because, with death staring him in the face, he loathed all food; and this is in accordance with the next clause, in which he says, my flesh faileth of fatness; because “a sorrowful spirit drieth up the bones,” (Pro 17:22) By the term, fatness, some understand delicacies; meaning that he was deprived of all that food which is pleasing to the palate. The more natural way is to consider it as denoting his becoming emaciated by reason of grief and fasting, inasmuch as the natural moisture was wasted. Another proof of his sad situation arises from this, that, according to what he states in Psa 22:7, he was held in scorn by all. It is, indeed, a sad and bitter thing which God’s children endure, when they are made to feel that the curse which he denounces against the transgressors of his law is directed against themselves; for the law says to the despisers of it,
“
Thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and laughing-stock,” (Deu 28:37)
With this species of temptation David was assailed; and he declares that he was not only regarded as a condemned person, but also cruelly derided; God at the same time coming in for a share of it; for it is usual with the ungodly to conduct themselves with insolence and pride towards us when they see us oppressed under afflictions, and, at the same time, to rail at our faith and piety, because God renders us no help in our miseries.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(24) Faileth of fatness.Literally, has failed me from fat, i.e., has dwindled away.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
24. Fasting “The word is never used of that want of eating which proceeds from want of appetite, but always of the exercise of penitence, as practised by men when overwhelmed, or when threatened, with severe suffering.” Hengstenberg.
Psa 109:24 My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh faileth of fatness.
Ver. 24. My knees are weak through fasting ] Either for lack of meat or stomach to it; genua labant, my knees buckle under me, the strong men bow themselves, Ecc 12:3 .
My flesh faileth of fatness knees: Psa 22:14, Psa 35:13, Psa 35:14, Psa 69:10, Mat 4:2, 2Co 11:27, Heb 12:12
my flesh: Psa 32:3, Psa 32:4, Psa 38:5-8, Psa 102:4, Psa 102:5, Job 19:20
Reciprocal: Mat 6:16 – when
Psa 109:24-25. My knees are weak through fasting Either through forced fasting for want of food, when he was persecuted, or for want of appetite when he was sick, or through voluntary fasting, which the frequency and long continuance of his sufferings induced him to use. I became also a reproach unto them Instead of that pity, which either religion or humanity should have taught them to exercise toward a person in extreme misery, they loaded me with reproaches and scorns. They shaked their heads By way of contempt and derision. In all this David was a type of Christ, who, in his humiliation, was thus wounded, thus weakened, thus reproached, and at whom they thus shook their heads, saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. He was also a type of the church, which is often afflicted, tossed with tempests, and not comforted.
109:24 My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh {n} faileth of fatness.
(n) For hunger that came from sorrow, he was lean and his natural moisture failed him.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes