The Meaning of Psalms 102:6 Explained

Psalms 102:6

KJV: I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert.

YLT: I have been like to a pelican of the wilderness, I have been as an owl of the dry places.

Darby: I am become like the pelican of the wilderness, I am as an owl in desolate places;

ASV: I am like a pelican of the wilderness; I am become as an owl of the waste places.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

I am like  a pelican  of the wilderness:  I am like an owl  of the desert. 

What does Psalms 102:6 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalms 102:1-11 - The Cry Of The Afflicted
This is the fifth of the Penitential Psalms. Some hold that it is one of the later psalms, asking for deliverance from captivity; others, emphasizing certain Davidic characteristics, ascribe it to the hand of the royal psalmist. Its actual authorship, however, is of comparatively small consequence; the main thing is to notice what adequate expression it gives to the sorrow of an almost broken heart.
The psalmist bases his cry for a speedy answer on the swiftness with which his days are passing away, like smoke escaping, from a chimney. His bones are calcined; his heart withers like Jonah's gourd; he is worn to a skeleton by his long and passionate lamentations. He finds his likeness in solitude-loving creatures, such as the pelican and the owl. Still another element in his suffering is the mockery of his foes. He cannot get away from it; it haunts him. Ashes, the token of his mourning, are his food, and tears fill his cup. But the bitterest element of all is the consciousness of God's displeasure. It seems as if God's hand is against him, and in the accumulated weight of grief, he deems that the day of his life must expire. However, in the concluding portion of the psalm his hope is renewed. [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 102

1  The prophet in his prayer makes a grievous complaint
12  He takes comfort in the eternity, and mercy of God
18  The mercies of God are to be recorded
23  He sustains his weakness by the unchangeableness of God

What do the individual words in Psalms 102:6 mean?

I am like a pelican of the wilderness I am like an owl of the desert
דָּ֭מִיתִי לִקְאַ֣ת מִדְבָּ֑ר הָ֝יִ֗יתִי כְּכ֣וֹס חֳרָבֽוֹת

דָּ֭מִיתִי  I  am  like 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: דָּמָה  
Sense: to be like, resemble.
לִקְאַ֣ת  a  pelican 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: קָאַת  
Sense: a ceremonially unclean bird.
מִדְבָּ֑ר  of  the  wilderness 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: מִדְבָּר 
Sense: wilderness.
הָ֝יִ֗יתִי  I  am 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
כְּכ֣וֹס  like  an  owl 
Parse: Preposition-k, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: כֹּוס 
Sense: cup.
חֳרָבֽוֹת  of  the  desert 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural
Root: חָרְבָּה  
Sense: a place laid waste, ruin, waste, desolation.