1 Raja-raja 19:4

19:4 while he went a day’s journey into the desert. He went and sat down under a shrub ¹  and asked the Lord to take his life: ²  “I’ve had enough! Now, O Lord, take my life. After all, I’m no better than my ancestors.” ³ 

Mazmur 90:9

90:9 Yes, ⁴  throughout all our days we experience your raging fury; ⁵ 

the years of our lives pass quickly, like a sigh. ⁶ 

Mazmur 102:4

102:4 My heart is parched ⁷  and withered like grass,

for I am unable ⁸  to eat food. ⁹ 

[19:4]  ¹ tn Or “broom tree” (also in v. 5).

[19:4]  ² tn Heb “and asked with respect to his life to die.”

[19:4]  ³ tn Heb “fathers.”

[90:9]  ⁴ tn Or “for.”

[90:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “all our days pass by in your anger.”

[90:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “we finish our years like a sigh.” In Ezek 2:10 the word הֶגֶה (hegeh) elsewhere refers to a grumbling or moaning sound. Here a brief sigh or moan is probably in view. If so, the simile pictures one’s lifetime as transient. Another option is that the simile alludes to the weakness that characteristically overtakes a person at the end of one’s lifetime. In this case the phrase could be translated, “we end our lives with a painful moan.”

[102:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “struck, attacked.”

[102:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “I forget.”

[102:4]  ⁹ sn I am unable to eat food. During his time of mourning, the psalmist refrained from eating. In the following verse he describes metaphorically the physical effects of fasting.