Psalms 109:24
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh fails of fatness.
American King James Version (AKJV)
My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh fails of fatness.
American Standard Version (ASV)
My knees are weak through fasting; And my flesh faileth of fatness.
Basic English Translation (BBE)
My knees are feeble for need of food; there is no fat on my bones.
Webster's Revision
My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh faileth of fatness.
World English Bible
My knees are weak through fasting. My body is thin and lacks fat.
English Revised Version (ERV)
My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh faileth of fatness.
Clarke's Psalms 109:24 Bible Commentary
My knees are weak through fasting - That hunger is as soon felt in weakening the knees, as in producing an uneasy sensation in the stomach, is known by all who have ever felt it. Writers in all countries have referred to this effect of hunger. Thus Tryphioderus Il. Excid. ver 155:
Τειρομενου βαρυθειεν ατερπεΐ γουνατα λιμῳ.
"Their knees might fail, by hunger's force subdued;
And sink, unable to sustain their load."
Merrick.
So Plautus, Curcul, act. ii., scen. 3: -
Tenebrae oboriuntur, genua inedia succidunt.
"My eyes grow dim; my knees are weak with hunger."
And Lucretius, lib. 4: ver. 950: -
Brachia, palpebraeque cadunt, poplitesque procumbunt.
"The arms, the eyelids fall; the knees give way."
Both the knees and the sight are particularly affected by hunger.
Barnes's Psalms 109:24 Bible Commentary
My knees are weak through fasting - Hunger; want of food. Strength to stand is connected with firmness in the knee-joints, and hence, weakness and feebleness are denoted by the giving way of the knees. Compare Hebrews 12:12.
And my flesh faileth of fatness - I am lean and weak. There is not the proper supply for my strength. The idea seems to have been that fatness (Hebrew, oil) was necessary to strength.