Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 107:27
They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
27. and are at their wit’s end ] Lit. all their wisdom is swallowed up, or perhaps as in Psa 55:9, is confounded. Their skill in navigation entirely fails them. Cp. Isa 19:3. A striking parallel to the whole passage is to be found in Ovid, Tristia, l. 2. 19 ff.
Me miserum, quanti montes volvuntur aquarum!
Iam iam tacturos sidera summa putes.
Quantae diducto subsidunt aequore valles!
Iam iam tacturas Tartara nigra putes.
Rector in incerto est, nec quid fugiatve petatve
Invenit. Ambiguis ars stupet ipsa malis.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
They reel to and fro – The word used here – chagag – 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 wits 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.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Stagger like a drunken man; not so much from the giddiness of their heads, which is not usual in persons accustomed to the sea, as through the violent and various motions of the sea and the ship.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
27. are . . . endliterally,”all their wisdom swallows up itself,” destroys itself byvain and contradictory devices, such as despair induces.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
They 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. So Apollinarius paraphrases it,
“they forget navigation, and their wise art does not appear;”
so Ovid, describing a storm, uses the same phrase, “deficit ars”,
“art fails.”
n “omnis sapientia eorum absorpta est”, Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus; so Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(27) Reel to and fro.Or more exactly, spin round and round.
Are at their wits end.An admirable paraphrase of the Hebrew, all their wisdom swalloweth itself up. The poet, from the expressions employed, is possibly writing under the influence of Psa. 22:14; but he has evidently himself been to sea and experienced the dangers and discomforts he so graphically describes. Ovid (Trist. i. 2) has been quoted in illustration:
Me miserum, quanti montes volvuntur aquarum
Jamjam tacturos sidera summa putes.
Quant diducto subsidunt quore valles:
Jamjam tacturas Tartura nigra putes
Rector in incerto est, nec quid fugiatve petatve
Invenit: ambiguis ars stupet ipsa malis.
See on this passage Addison in Spectator, No. 489.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 107:27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Ver. 27. They reel to and fro, &c. ] Natant nautae, et vacillant cerebro et pedibus.
And are at their wit’s end] All their skill and strength faileth them at once; they can do no more for their lives. Heb. All their wisdom is swallowed up; that is, the art of navigation is now to no use with them.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
man. Hebrew ‘ish. App-14.
are at their wit’s end. Hebrew all their wisdom swallows itself.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
stagger: Job 12:25, Isa 19:14, Isa 29:9
are at their wit’s end: Heb. all their wisdom is swallowed up, Job 37:20, Isa 19:3, *marg. Act 27:15-20
Reciprocal: Isa 24:20 – reel Isa 28:7 – are swallowed Jer 49:23 – on the sea Mat 14:30 – Lord Act 27:18 – being
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
107:27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and {n} are at their wits’ end.
(n) When their art and means fail them, they are compelled to confess that only God’s providence preserves them.