Psalms 109:25

Psa 109:25 I became also a reproach unto them: [when] they looked upon me they shaked their heads.

Ver. 25. I became also a reproach] In respect to my leanness.

They shaked their heads] This is threatened as a curse, Deu 28:15-68, but may befall the best, as it did our Saviour, Psa 22:7 Mat 27:39

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

24. (Psa 109:25) My knees totter from fasting, and my flesh fails from fatness. The last phrase is obscure, but seems to mean from being fat, so that it is not fat; the privative usage of the preposition being very common. The sense thus put upon the verb is justified by the analogy of Isa 58:11, where an equivalent expression is applied to failing waters. Some interpreters, however, insist upon retaining the strict sense both of verb and noun, and understand the clause to mean, my flesh lies or deceives the eye, by no longer appearing as it once did, or by seeming to exist when it is gone, from oil, i.e. from want of oil, because no longer taken care of and anointed. But no construction could well be more forced and far-fetched. It may also be objected that the external use of oil was to anoint the head on festive occasions, not to fatten the person or preserve the flesh.

25. (Psa 109:25) And I have been a reproach to them, they see me, they shake their head. A reproach, an object of contempt, as in Psa 22:6; Psa 31:11. As to the meaning of the gesture mentioned in the last clause, see above, on Psa 22:7.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 25. When they looked upon me they soaked their heads.] Thus was David treated by Shimei, 2Sa 16:5-6, and our blessed Lord by the Jews, Mt 27:39.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

25. And I—I am become a reproach unto them:

When they see me, they shake their head,

a gesture of contempt and abhorrence, as though I were the object of the wrath of God. Cp. Psa_22:7; Psa_69:10-12; Lam_2:15; Job_16:4.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Help me, O Lord my God,.... Jehovah the Father is here addressed, who is the God of Christ, as Christ is man; who formed him, supported him, and glorified him; and whom Christ loved, believed in, obeyed and prayed unto; nor did he pray to a God that could not hear, but to one that was able to save him from death: as a divine Person he needed no help, being the mighty God, the most Mighty, the Almighty: but as man he did, being encompassed about with infirmities; and as Mediator help was promised him, he expected it, and he had it, Psa 89:21.

O save me according to thy mercy; or "kindness"; as before in Psa 109:21 from sufferings, and out of them; from death and the grave, as he was; or his people by him, who are saved not by works of righteousness, but according to the mercy of God, Tit 3:5.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

I became also a reproach unto them - They reproached or reviled me as a bad man. Compare the notes at Psa 22:6. The plural here - “unto them” - shows that there were more than one to whom the psalm had reference, though one of them was so prominent that a considerable part of the psalm might properly be spoken of him alone.

When they looked upon me, they shaked their heads - In contempt. See Psa 22:7. Compare Mat 27:39.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Instead of that pity which either religion or humanity should have taught them to a man in extreme misery, they loaded me with reproaches and scorns.

Shaked their heads; a gesture of contempt and derision; of which see Job 16:4; Psa 22:7.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ver. 25. I became also a reproach unto them. They made him the theme of ridicule, the butt of their ribald jests: his emaciation by fasting made him a tempting subject for their caricatures and lampoons.

When they looked upon me they shaked their heads. Words were not a sufficient expression of their scorn, they resorted to gestures which were meant both to show their derision and to irritate his mind. Though these things break no bones, yet they do worse, for they break and bruise far tenderer parts of us. Many a man who could have answered a malicious speech, and so have relieved his mind, has felt keenly a sneer, a putting out of the tongue, or some other sign of contempt. Those, too, who are exhausted by such fasting and wasting, as the last verse describes (Ps 109:31) are generally in a state of morbid sensibility, and therefore feel more acutely the unkindness of others. What they would smile at during happier seasons becomes intolerable when they are in a highly nervous condition.

Psalms 109:26*

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

25. Shaked their heads—Wagged their heads as a token of scorn and insult. See Psa_22:7; Psa_44:14; Lam_2:15; 2Ki_19:21

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I became (rather, am become) also a reproach unto them; i.e. to my enemies. I am an object of their reproach and scorn. When they looked upon me they shaked their heads. In derision. (comp. Psa_22:7 Psa_44:14 Mat_27:39)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.