Psalms 56:8

Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
tellest	סָפַ֪רְתָּ֫ה sa.Far.Tah	H5608	properly · verb, qal perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
wanderings	נֹדִי֮ no.Di	H5112	exile · noun, common masculine singular absolute + pronominal suffix
put	שִׂ֣ימָה Si.mah	H7760	to put (used in a great variety of applications · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular + paragogic he
tears	דִמְעָתִ֣י dim.'a.Ti	H1832	weeping · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix
bottle	בְנֹאדֶ֑ךָ ve.no.De.kha	H4997	a (skin or leather) bag (for fluids) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
book	בְּסִפְרָתֶֽךָ be.sif.ra.Te.kha	H5612	properly · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

2 Kings 20:5 Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have se…
Malachi 3:16 Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written befor…
Psalms 39:12 Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my…
Revelation 7:17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe aw…
Psalms 126:5-6 They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
Matthew 10:30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Psalms 139:16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when…
Psalms 121:8 The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 56:8–end

Several things David here comforts himself with in the day of his distress and fear. I. That God took particular notice of all his grievances and all his griefs, Psa 56:8. 1. Of all the inconveniences of his state: Thou tellest my wanderings, my flittings, so the old translation. David was now but a young (under thirty) and yet he had had many removes, from his father's house to the court, thence to the camp, and now driven out to sojourn where he could find a place, but not allowed to rest any where; he was hunted like a partridge upon the mountains; continual terrors and toils attended him; but this comforted him, that God kept a particular account of all his motions, and numbered all the…

Read the whole note in the console

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 56:8

God is mindful of his exile and remembers his tears. The custom of bottling the tears of mourners as a memorial, which has existed in some Eastern nations, may explain the figure.

John Gill on Psalms 56:8

Thou tellest my wanderings,.... Not his sins; though these are aberrations or wanderings from the ways of God's commandments; yet these are not told by the Lord: he takes no account of them; the number of them is not kept by him; they are blotted out, cast behind his back, and into the depths of the sea; though sometimes his people think they are told and numbered by him, Job 14:16; but David's moves and flights from place to place are meant, through Saul's pursuit of him, as a partridge on the mountains. Some writers reckon twelve of these moves. The Targum renders it, "thou numberest the days of my wandering;'' that is, the days of his pilgrimage and sojourning in this world: the number…

Read the whole note in the console

John Calvin on Psalms 56:5-8

Psalm 56:5-8 5. Every day my words vex me; all their thoughts are against me for evil. 6. They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they watch my heels, because they seek my soul. [331] 7. After their mischief they think to escape: in thine anger cast down the peoples, O God! 8. Thou hast taken account of my wandering; put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy register? 5 Every day my words vex me The first part of this verse has been variously rendered. Some understand my words to be the nominative in the sentence, and with these I agree in opinion. Others suppose a reference to the enemies of David, and translate, they calumniate my words, or, they cause me grie…

The Church Fathers

"O God, my life I have told out to You" [Psalm 56:8]. For that I live has been Your doing, and for this reason I tell out my life to You. But did not God know that which He had given? What is that which you tell out to Him? Will you teach God? Far be it. Therefore why says he, "I have told out to You"? Is it perchance because it profits You that I have told out my life? And what does it profit God? To the advantage of God it does profit. I have told out to God my life, because that life has been God's doing. In like manner as his life Paul the Apostle did tell out, saying, "I that before was a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious," he shall tell out his life. "But mercy I have obtained." [1 Timothy 1:13] He has told out his life, not for himself, but for Him: because he has told it out in such sort, that in Him men believe, not for his own advantages, but for the advantages of Him...."O God, my life I have told out to You. You have put my tears in Your sight." You have hearkened to me imploring You. "As also in Your promise." Because as You had promised this thing, so You have done. You have said You would hearken to one weeping. I have believed, I have wept, I have been hearkened unto; I have found You merciful in promising, true in repaying.
— Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 56

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Bottle — A vessel made of skins for holding wine (Josh. 9:4. 13; 1 Sam. 16:20; Matt. 9:17; Mark 2:22; Luke 5:37, 38), or milk (Judg. 4:19), or water (Gen. 21:14, 15, 19), or strong drink (Hab. 2:15).…
Gath — A wine-vat, one of the five royal cities of the Philistines (Josh. 13:3) on which the ark brought calamity (1 Sam. 5:8, 9; 6:17). It was famous also as being the birthplace or residence of Goliath (1…
Jonath-elem-rechokim — Dove of the dumbness of the distance; i.e., “the silent dove in distant places”, title of Ps. 56. This was probably the name of some well known tune or melody to which the psalm was to be sung.
Afflicted Saints · Should praise God — Should praise God
Book · OF REMEMBRANCE — OF REMEMBRANCE
Books · Illustrative of: Memorials of God’s providence — Illustrative of: Memorials of God’s providence
Bottles · Illustrative: Of God’s remembrance — Illustrative: Of God’s remembrance
Lachrymatory (Tear Bottle) · A bottle for containing tear drops — A bottle for containing tear drops
Tears · Observed by God — Observed by God

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Psalms 56:8

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 56:8–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 56:8

John Gill on Psalms 56:8

John Calvin on Psalms 56:5-8

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Psalms 56:8

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 56:8–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 56:8

John Gill on Psalms 56:8

John Calvin on Psalms 56:5-8

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Psalms 56:8-11

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Psalms 56:8

Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 56:8