Psalms 142:3–4
“No one inquires after my soul,” says David, with a snare hidden on his path
Study it word by word3When my spirit grows faint within me, you know my pathway; in the path where I walk they have hidden a snare for me.
4Look to the right and see: there is no one who recognizes me; escape has perished from me; there is no one who inquires after my soul.
In its context
1A maskil of David, when he was in the cave. A prayer. With my voice to YHWH I cry out; with my voice to YHWH I make supplication.
2I pour out before him my complaint; my distress before him I declare.
…
5I have cried out to you, YHWH; I have said, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”
6Attend to my cry, for I am brought very low; deliver me from my pursuers, for they are stronger than I.
Its words in the original
- הִתְעַטֵּףhitatef· grow faint
Grow faint, be weak; also wrap, cover oneself.
- רוּחִruchi· spirit, wind, breath
The basic idea is "air in motion". The same word can be "wind"; "breath", the air that is breathed and keeps life; or "spirit": the mood or inner strength of a person, or the Spirit of God, his presence and power at work.
- יָדַעְתָּyadata· know
Know. Not only having a fact: it is knowing by experience and closely; also recognize, care for, make known. So Hebrew also uses it for the intimate union of a man and his wife ("he knew his wife").
- נְתִיבָתִnetivati· path
Path: a narrow way marked out by people's steps.
- אֹרַחorach· path, way
Way, path; one's usual manner. "The way of women" is menstruation. Also a caravan.
- זוּzu· this; which
This; who, which (poetic form).
- אֲהַלֵּךְahalech· go, walk
Go, walk, come. Figuratively, the way one lives ("walk with God").
- טָמְנוּtamnu· hide, bury
Hide by burying in the ground.
- פַחfach· thin sheet; trap
Thin sheet of metal. The same word, in other passages, means "trap" (a net for catching birds).
- הַבֵּיטhabet· look
Look intently, gaze; regard, pay attention to.
- יָמִיןyamin· right hand, south
Right, right hand. Facing the east, the right is the south. It is also the side of honor and of strength.
- רְאֵהree· see
See. Also look, observe, notice, consider; in some forms, "appear" or "show".
- מַכִּירmakir· recognize
Recognize, know who someone is; take notice of, acknowledge. In other forms, act as a stranger, pretend not to know.
- אָבַדavad· perish, be lost
Perish, be ruined, be lost; wander off. In the causative, destroy.
- מָנוֹסmanos· flight, refuge
Flight; the place to which someone flees for safety, a refuge.
- דּוֹרֵשׁdoresh· seek, inquire
Seek earnestly; inquire; require an account. Turned toward God, consult him or seek him.
- נַפְשִׁnafshi· soul, living being, life
A breathing being, a living being. It is translated "living being" (people and animals), "life" (when living or dying is at stake), "person" (in counts and laws), "soul" (the person at the innermost: desires, joy, anguish) or "myself". In the Old Testament it names the whole living being, not only a part of it.