The psalmist’s intense weeping has affected his eyesight; his eyes “waste away” and “grow weak.” (Revised Standard Version My eye … it is not a natural way in English of speaking about one’s eyes.) It is rather strange that my foes in line b is parallel with grief in line a. Some scholars therefore emend the Hebrew for my foes in line b to the noun meaning “my distress,” which has a similar sound. New English Bible (without footnote) has “woes” instead of foes; Zürcher Bibel has “distress.” It is better, however, to stay with the Hebrew text as it is, since there is no textual evidence to support the change.

In some languages it may not be apparent that grief is the cause of My eye wastes away. Good News Translation has placed the reason, “from the weeping,” in the third line, thus giving a clearer rendering. This can also be translated “Because my enemies have made me cry very much, my eyes hurt and have grown weak.”

His enemies no doubt taunt him (as in 3.2) with the accusation that God has abandoned him, and this makes him weep.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on the Book of Psalms. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1991. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .