The Meaning of Psalms 6:7 Explained

Psalms 6:7

KJV: Mine eye is consumed because of grief; it waxeth old because of all mine enemies.

YLT: Old from provocation is mine eye, It is old because of all mine adversaries,

Darby: Mine eye wasteth away through grief; it hath grown old because of all mine oppressors.

ASV: Mine eye wasteth away because of grief; It waxeth old because of all mine adversaries.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Mine eye  is consumed  because of grief;  it waxeth old  because of all mine enemies. 

What does Psalms 6:7 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalms 6:1-10 - Deliverance In Trouble
This is the first of the Penitential Psalms, the other six being Psalms 32:1-11; Psalms 38:1-22; Psalms 51:1-19; Psalms 102:1-28; Psalms 130:1-8; Psalms 143:1-12. The earliest verses are a wail, but the psalm ends in a song. It is like a day of rain which clears at evening. Sheminith is a musical term signifying "octave."
The elements of the psalmist's sorrow are given in Psalms 6:1-7. The pressure of God's displeasure, soul-anguish, sickness, soul-depression, an enemy's opposition-all these were ingredients in his cup of bitterness. How touching the plea-I am weak! How expressive the broken sentence, so often on Calvin's lips-How long! And that prayer, O Lord, heal me, includes the mental as well as the physical.
The certainty of deliverance looms in sight in Psalms 6:8-10. The consciousness of having been heard steals over the soul as a glint of light in the hospital ward. The answer may not be at hand, but it is sure, 1 John 5:15. Weeping has a voice: God interprets sighs. The r.v. turns the imprecation of Psalms 6:10 into prediction. When God returns to us, because we return to Him, our enemies turn back. [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 6

1  David's complaint in his sickness
8  He triumphs over his enemies

What do the individual words in Psalms 6:7 mean?

Wastes away because of grief My eye it grows old because of all my enemies
עָֽשְׁשָׁ֣ה מִכַּ֣עַס עֵינִ֑י עָֽ֝תְקָ֗ה בְּכָל־ צוֹרְרָֽי

עָֽשְׁשָׁ֣ה  Wastes  away 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: עָשַׁשׁ  
Sense: (Qal) to waste away, fail.
מִכַּ֣עַס  because  of  grief 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, masculine singular
Root: כַּעַס 
Sense: anger, vexation, provocation, grief.
עֵינִ֑י  My  eye 
Parse: Noun, common singular construct, first person common singular
Root: עֹונָה 
Sense: eye.
עָֽ֝תְקָ֗ה  it  grows  old 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: עָתַק  
Sense: to move, proceed, advance, move on, become old, be removed.
בְּכָל־  because  of  all 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: כֹּל  
Sense: all, the whole.
צוֹרְרָֽי  my  enemies 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine plural construct, first person common singular
Root: צָרַר 
Sense: to bind, be narrow, be in distress, make narrow, cause distress, besiege, be straitened, be bound.