Psalms 35:14

Psa 35:14 I behaved myself as though [he had been] my friend [or] brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth [for his] mother.

Ver. 14. I behaved myself as though he had been, &c.] My brother a thousand times. This was much to do to an enemy; but possibly all this might be before they fell out.

I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth, &c.] The mother is usually most dearly beloved, and not without cause, as having been ante partum onerosa, in partu dolorosa, post partum laboriosa (Kimchi). Or, as a suckling crieth in the loss of his nurse.

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.

Psa_35:14

I bowed down heavily as one that mourneth for his mother.

The duty of surviving children to the memory of pious and departed mothers

I. some general observations on the text.

1. It displays a beautiful combination of apparently opposite virtues in the same character. Undaunted courage and yet loving tenderness.

2. A gradation in the claims of relative attachment. The mother has stronger claims than any friend, though he be one who sticketh closer than a brother.

3. The loss of an excellent and pious mother is a most afflictive calamity, especially at some periods of her childrens life--as infancy and youth.

II. the regard which a bereaved family should show to the memory of a good mother.

1. Retrace with gratitude her loving care.

2. Recall to remembrance the efforts she made to promote your best welfare.

3. Imitate her.

4. Cultivate all those principles, and that character, which were in her, and which shall prepare you to meet her in heaven. (John Clayton, A. M.)

The death of a mother

I. what is there in the death of a mother that excites peculiar sorrow?

1. The want of the expressions of a mothers affection makes the heart bow down heavily for her loss.

2. The loss of a mothers care, and of its ministrations, excites this regret.

3. The loss of a mothers sympathy and its soothing expressions excites this sorrow.

4. The heart mourns for the loss of the counsels of a mothers wisdom.

5. The affectionate heart mourns for the loss of the lessons of a mothers piety.

II. where consolation is to be sought and obtained under such a calamity.

1. There is consolation in the thought that it comes to you by the appointment of God.

2. There is consolation in the thought that all the benefits which you derived from so dear a relative, are to be found in God. In Him every blessing which the creature can yield us is to be found in richer abundance, and in a nobler form.

3. Consolation will be obtained by you in the fulfilment of their wishes and purposes.

4. Consolation will be found in the imitation of their virtues.

5. There is comfort in the belief that a departed mother is happy, and in the hope of a reunion. (H. Belfrage.)

On the death of a mother

The death of a true mother is a great event in the life of any one. It can occur but once in a lifetime. When it takes place in childhood, it is a sore calamity. A father can never supply a mothers place; seldom can any one else but very imperfectly.

I. A mothers death reminds us most strongly of the peculiar blessings conferred by God through the maternal relation. A mothers influence is the first felt: it acts at the very fountain-head of life, it is gentle, tender, winning. Her smile greets the first dawn of intelligence: her voice is the first guide and encouragement to infant speech; her hand invites and sustains the first infant steps. From the pious mothers lips her children first learn the name of Jesus, and the words of prayer; from her example and instruction they receive the elements of virtue.

II. the death of a mother occasions bitter recollections of filial disobedience and neglect.

III. the death of a mother breaks up the home of our early days, and makes us feel that we are only sojourners here.

IV. the death of a mother, especially of an aged mother, is adapted to make us sensible of our nearness to another world. Conclusion.

1. I appeal to fathers. Remember what you owe your mothers, and teach your children, especially your sons, the deepest reverence for their mothers.

2. I appeal to mothers. Cherish a deep and constant sense of your own importance to your children, especially to your sons.

3. I appeal to those who have mothers living, especially to sons in early life. I entreat you, each of you, as you value your well-being for time and eternity, study well the will of God concerning your duty to your mothers, and strive to fulfil it. (J. M. Johnson.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Psa 35:14. I behaved myself — Hebrew, התהלכתי, hithhalacti, I caused myself to walk, namely, to visit and comfort him; or, I conducted myself toward him, as though he had been my friend, &c. — As if I had been in danger of losing a friend or brother. I bowed down heavily — Went hanging down my head as mourners used to do, Isa 58:5; as one that mourneth for his mother — I could not have looked more dejected if I had bewailed the death of the dearest mother.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

14. (Psa 35:14) As (if it had been) a friend, a brother to me, I went on (or went about); as a mourner for a mother, squalid I bowed down. He not only mourned in their calamity, but with the deepest grief, as for a friend, a brother, or a parent, which terms are so arranged as to produce a beautiful and striking climax.—The verb in thI will thank thee in the great assembly, ine first clause corresponds very nearly to the familiar English phrase went on, in the sense of lived or habitually acted. See above, on Psa 1:1.—The Hebrew word means squalid, dirty, in allusion to the ancient oriental practice of neglecting the appearance, and even covering the dress and person with dust and ashes, as a token of extreme grief. The bowing down is also to be taken as a part of the same usage.

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

behaved--literally, "went on"--denoting his habit.

heavily--or, "squalidly," his sorrowing occasioning neglect of his person. Altogether, his grief was that of one for a dearly loved relative.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 14. Mourneth for his mother.] כאבל אם caabel em, as a mourning mother. How expressive is this word!

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

(14) I bowed down heavily.—Better, I went squalid, and bowed down, alluding to the neglected beard and person, and to the dust and ashes of Oriental mourning.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

14. Better with R.V.

I behaved myself as though it had been my friend or my brother:

I bowed down mourning, as one that bewaileth his mother.

Had they been his nearest and dearest, he could not have displayed deeper grief. The verse would be improved by a slight transposition (which is supported by Psa_38:6), thus; I bowed down (descriptive of the mourner’s gait with the head bowed down by the load of sorrow) … I went mourning (like Lat. squalidus, of all the outward signs of grief, dark clothes, tear-stained unwashed face, untrimmed hair and beard—see 2Sa_19:24).

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.

I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother,.... Meaning either Saul or Doeg the Edomite, or some such evil man; somewhat like this he says of Ahithophel, Psa 41:9; and Arama thinks he is meant here; as Christ of Judas, whom he called friend, when he came to betray him; and who not only ate with him at table of his bread, but was steward of his family, and carried the bag, Mat 26:50;

I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother; or as a mother that mourneth for her son, as Jarchi interprets it, whose affections are very strong; and thus Christ wept over Jerusalem, and had a tender concern for and sympathy with the Jews, his implacable enemies, and wept over them, and prayed for them, Luk 19:41.

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

I behaved myself - Margin, as in Hebrew: “I walked.” The word “walk,” in the Scriptures, is often used to denote a course of conduct; the way in which a man lives and acts: Phi 3:18; Gal 2:14; 1Th 4:12; 2Th 3:11. It is not improperly rendered here, “I behaved myself.”

As though he had been my friend or brother - Margin, as in Hebrew: “as a friend, as a brother to me.” This shows that these persons were not his near “relations,” but that they were his intheate friends, or were supposed to be so. He felt and acted toward them as though they had been his nearest relations.

I bowed down heavily - Prof. Alexander renders this, “Squalid I bowed down.” The word rendered “I bowed down” refers to the condition of one who is oppressed with grief, or who sinks under it. All have felt this effect of grief, when the head is bowed; when the frame is bent; when one under the pressure throws himself on a couch or on the ground. The word rendered heavily - קדר qodēr - is derived from a word - קדר qâdar - which means to be turbid or foul, as a torrent: Job 6:16; and then, to mourn, or to go about in filthy garments or sackcloth as mourners: Job 5:11; Jer 14:2; Psa 38:6; Psa 42:9; and then, to be of a dirty, dusky color, as the skin is that is scorched by the sun: Job 30:28. It is rendered “black” in Jer 4:28; Jer 8:21; 1Ki 18:45; Jer 14:2; “blackish,” Job 6:16; “dark,” Joe 2:10; Mic 3:6; Eze 32:7-8; “darkened,” Joe 3:15; “mourn and mourning.” Job 5:11; Job 30:28; Psa 38:6; Psa 42:9; Psa 43:2; Eze 31:15; and “heavily” only in this place. The “idea” here is that of one appearing in the usual aspect and habiliments of mourning. He had a sad countenance; he had put on the garments that were indicative of grief; and thus he “walked about.”

As one that mourneth for his mother - The psalmist here evidently designs to illustrate the depth of his own sorrow by a reference to the deepest kind of grief which we ever experience. The sorrow for a mother is special, and there is no grief which a man feels more deeply or keenly than this. We have but one mother to lose, and thousands of most tender recollections come into the memory when she dies. While she lived we had always one friend to whom we could tell everything - to whom we could communicate all our joys, and of whose sympathy we were certain in all our sorrows, however trivial in their own nature they might be. Whoever might be indifferent to us, whoever might turn away from us in our troubles, whoever might feel that our affairs were not worth regarding, we were sure that she would not be the one; we were always certain that she would feel an interest in whatever concerned us. Even those things which we felt could be scarcely worth a father’s attention we could freely communicate to her, for we were sure there was nothing that pertained to us that was too insignificant for her to regard, and we went and freely told all to her. And then, how much has a mother done for us! All the ideas that we have of tenderness, affection, self-denial, patience, and gentleness, are closely connected with the recollection of a mother, for we have, in our early years, seen more of these tilings in her than in perhaps all other persons together. Though, therefore, we weep when a father dies, and though, in the formation of our character, we may have been more indebted to him than to her, yet our grief for him when he dies is different from that which we feel when a mother dies. We, indeed, reverence and honor and love him, but we are conscious of quite a different feeling from that which we have when a mother is removed by death.

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

I behaved myself, Heb. I walked; either to him, to visit and comfort him; or about the streets, whither my occasions led me. Though walking is oft put for a man’s carriage or conversation.

I bowed down; went hanging down my head, as mourners used to do, Isa 58:5.

Mother; he mentions the mother rather than the father, either because her tender affection, and care, and kindness to him had more won upon his heart, and made him more sensible of the loss; or because, through the depravation of man’s nature, children are many times less sensible of their father’s loss or death, because it is compensated with some advantage to themselves; which doth not usually happen upon the mother’s death. Some render it, as a mourning mother, for the loss of her son. But this doth not seem to suit so well with the order of the Hebrew words.

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

Ver. 14. I behaved myself as though he has been my friend or brother: I waited upon him assiduously, comforted him affectionately, and sympathised with him deeply. This may refer to those days when David played on the harp, and chased away the evil spirit from Saul. I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother. He bowed his head as mourners do. The strongest natural grief was such as he felt when they were in trouble. The mother usually wins the deepest love, and her loss is most keenly felt: such was David's grief. How few professors in these days have such bowels of compassion; and yet under the gospel there should be far more tender love than under the law. Had we more hearty love to manhood, and care for its innumerable ills, we might be far more useful; certainly we should be infinitely more Christ like. "He prayeth best that lovest best."

Ver. 14. For his mother. On account of the plurality of wives in an Eastern household, the sons are usually far more attached to their mother than their father. Their father they share with a numerous band of half brothers, who are envious of them, or of whom they are jealous, but their mother is all their own, with her they are brought up in childhood; she takes their part in youth, in the numerous battles of the harem; and on their part when they are grown up, they love her intensely, and hence their mourning at her decease is of the bitterest kind. C. H. S.

Ver. 14. His mother. Mahomet was once asked what relation had the strongest claim upon our affection and respect; when he instantly replied, "The mother, the mother, the mother."

Ver. 14. (last clause). Bewaileth his mother: mourneth at her funeral. In this case the affections are most strong. Therefore the priests were permitted to mourn for such. Le 21:1-3. Henry Ainsworth.

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

14. Friend… brother… mother—The gradations and climax are complete.

I bowed down—The natural bodily expression of real sorrow. See Pro_12:25.

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

I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother. In every such case I sympathized with the sufferer to such an extent, that my conduct was like that of an intimate friend or a brother. I bowed down heavily, as one that mournsth for his mother. Nay, I went further; I took on all those outward signs of grief which are usual when a man has lost his mother. I "bowed down heavily," as though I could scarcely stand. The Orientals are extreme and exaggerated in their manifestations both of joy and grief (see Herod., 8:99).

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

I walked about as though it were a friend or as though it were my own brother As though it were my brother or my friend; I walked about depressed because of their distress.

as the mourning of a mother As a son who mourns for his mother or as a mother who mourns for her son.

with gloom Heb. קדר, an expression of blackness.

I was bowed An expression of humility.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.