Psalms 102:6

Verse

Berean Standard Bible

I am like a desert owl, like an owl among the ruins.

American Standard Version (1901)

I am like a pelican of the wilderness; I am become as an owl of the waste places.

Bible in Basic English

I am like a bird living by itself in the waste places; like the night-bird in a waste of sand.

Free Bible Version

I'm like a desert owl, like a little owl among the ruins.

Geneva Bible 1599

I am like a pelicane of the wildernesse: I am like an owle of the deserts.

King James (Authorized) Version

I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert.

One Unity Resource Bible

I am like a pelican of the wilderness. I have become as an owl of the waste places.

Translation for Translators

I am like a lonely and despised vulture in the desert, like an owl by itself in the abandoned ruins of a building/city.

Unlocked Literal Bible

I am like a pelican of the wilderness; I have become like an owl in the ruins.

Noah Webster Bible

I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert.

World English Bible

I am like a pelican of the wilderness. I have become as an owl of the waste places.

Young's Literal Translation

I have been like to a pelican of the wilderness, I have been as an owl of the dry places.

Context

The Prayer of the Afflicted

⁵Through my loud groaning my flesh clings to my bones. ⁶I am like a desert owl, like an owl among the ruins. ⁷I lie awake; I am like a lone bird on a housetop.

Summary

This verse reflects the psalmist's deep distress and anguish, feeling overwhelmed by troubles and suffering. The imagery of being like a desert owl or a lonely bird on a housetop conveys a sense of isolation and desolation. It portrays a vivid picture of the psalmist's emotional and spiritual turmoil, crying out to God in the midst of great affliction. Despite the intense suffering described, the psalmist's plea for God's mercy and attention reveals a glimmer of hope and faith in divine intervention. This verse captures the raw honesty of pouring out one's heart to God in times of profound distress, seeking solace and deliverance.

Commentary

Keil-Delitzsch
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
John Gill
Tyndale

Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary

קאת (construct of קאת or קאת from קאה, vid., Isaiah, at Isa 34:11-12), according to the lxx, is the pelican, and כּוס is the night-raven or the little horned-owl. (Note: The lxx renders it: I am like a pelican of the desert, I am become as a night-raven upon a ruined place (οἰκοπέδῳ). In harmony with the lxx, Saadia (as also the Arabic version edited by Erpenius, the Samaritan Arabic, and Abulwald) renders קאת by Arab. qûq (here and in Lev 11:18; Deu 14:17; Isa 34:17), and כוס by Arab. bûm; the latter (bum) is an onomatopoetic name of the owl, and the former (k[uk[) does not even signify the owl or horned-owl (although the small horned-owl is called um kuéik in Egypt, and in Africa abu kuéik; vid., the dictionaries of Bocthor and Marcel s.v. chouette), but the pelican, the "long-necked water-bird" (Damiri after the lexicon el-‛Obâb of Hasan ben-Mohammed el-Saghani). The Graeco-Veneta also renders קאת with πελεκάν, - the Peshito, however, with Syr. qāqā'. What Ephrem on Deu 14:17 and the Physiologus Syrus (ed. Tychsen, p. 13, cf. pp. 110 f). say of Syr. qāqā', viz., that it is a marsh-bird, is very fond of its young ones, dwells in desolate places, and is incessantly noisy, likewise points to the pelican, although the Syrian lexicographers vary. Cf. also Oedmann, Vermischte Sammlungen, Heft 3, Cap. 6. (Fleischer after a communication from Rodiger.)) דּמה obtains the signification to be like, equal (aequalem esse), from the radical signification to be flat, even, and to spread out flat (as the Dutch have already recognised). They are both unclean creatures, which are fond of the loneliness of the desert and ruined places. To such a wilderness, that of the exile, is the poet unwillingly transported. He passes the nights without sleep (שׁקד, to watch during the time for sleep), and is therefore like a bird sitting lonesome (בּודד, Syriac erroneously נודד) upon the roof whilst all in the house beneath are sleeping. The Athnach in Psa 102:8 separates that which is come to be from the ground of the "becoming" and the "becoming" itself. His grief is that his enemies reproach him as one forsaken of God. מהולל, part. Poal, is one made or become mad, Ecc 2:2 : my mad ones = those who are mad against me. These swear by him, inasmuch as they say when they want to curse: "God do unto thee as unto this man," which is to be explained according to Isa 65:15; Jer 29:22.

Psalms 102:6

The Prayer of the Afflicted

⁵Through my loud groaning my flesh clings to my bones. ⁶I am like a desert owl, like an owl among the ruins. ⁷I lie awake; I am like a lone bird on a housetop.