Psalms 88:5

"set apart among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more. They are cut off from your hand."

Key Reflection

In Psalms 88:5, the phrase describes a profound sense of abandonment and separation, suggesting that those who are "set apart among the dead" experience a deep spiritual isolation, akin to the forgotten and neglected. This imagery portrays them as cut off from God's presence and care, much like the deceased who are remembered no more.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

Free among the dead -Luther renders this, “I lie forgotten among the dead.” DeWette renders it, “Pertaining to the dead - (den Todten angehorend) - stricken down, like the slain, I lie in the grave,” and explains it as meaning, “I am as good as dead.” The word rendered “free” -חפשׁיchophshı̂y- means properly, according to Gesenius (Lexicon), (1) prostrate, weak, feeble; (2) free, as opposed to a slave or a captive; (3) free from public taxes or burdens. The word is translated “free” inExodus 21:2,Exodus 21:5,Exodus 21:26-27;Deuteronomy 15:12-13,Deuteronomy 15:18;1 Samuel 17:25;Job 3:19;Job 39:5;Isaiah 58:6;Jeremiah 34:9-11,Jeremiah 34:14; and at liberty inJeremiah 34:16.

Related Verses

More from Psalms 88

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