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Selected Verse: Psalms 35:14 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Ps 35:14	Strong Concordance	I behaved [01980] myself as though he had been my friend [07453] or brother [0251]: I bowed down [07817] heavily [06937], as one that mourneth [057] for his mother [0517].
	King James	I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother.

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
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.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

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.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
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; Th1 4:12; Th2 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; Kg1 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.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]

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; Th1 4:12; Th2 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; Kg1 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.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
Mourneth for his mother - כאבל אם caabel em, as a mourning mother. How expressive is this word!

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¹⁵ Thus saith [0559] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069]; In the day [03117] when he went down [03381] to the grave [07585] I caused a mourning [056]: I covered [03680] the deep [08415] for him, and I restrained [04513] the floods [05104] thereof, and the great [07227] waters [04325] were stayed [03607]: and I caused Lebanon [03844] to mourn [06937] for him, and all the trees [06086] of the field [07704] fainted [05969] for him.

² For thou art the God [0430] of my strength [04581]: why dost thou cast me off [02186]? why go [01980] I mourning [06937] because of the oppression [03906] of the enemy [0341]?

⁹ I will say [0559] unto God [0410] my rock [05553], Why hast thou forgotten [07911] me? why go [03212] I mourning [06937] because of the oppression [03906] of the enemy [0341]?

⁶ I am troubled [05753]; I am bowed down [07817] greatly [03966]; I go [01980] mourning [06937] all the day [03117] long.

²⁸ I went [01980] mourning [06937] without the sun [02535]: I stood up [06965], and I cried [07768] in the congregation [06951].

¹¹ To set up [07760] on high [04791] those that be low [08217]; that those which mourn [06937] may be exalted [07682] to safety [03468].

¹⁵ The sun [08121] and the moon [03394] shall be darkened [06937], and the stars [03556] shall withdraw [0622] their shining [05051].

⁷ And when I shall put thee out [03518], I will cover [03680] the heaven [08064], and make [06937] the stars [03556] thereof dark [06937]; I will cover [03680] the sun [08121] with a cloud [06051], and the moon [03394] shall not give [0215] her light [0216].
⁸ All the bright [03974] lights [0216] of heaven [08064] will I make dark [06937] over thee, and set [05414] darkness [02822] upon thy land [0776], saith [05002] the Lord [0136] GOD [03069].

⁶ Therefore night [03915] shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision [02377]; and it shall be dark [02821] [02821] unto you, that ye shall not divine [07080]; and the sun [08121] shall go down [0935] over the prophets [05030], and the day [03117] shall be dark [06937] over them.

¹⁰ The earth [0776] shall quake [07264] before [06440] them; the heavens [08064] shall tremble [07493]: the sun [08121] and the moon [03394] shall be dark [06937], and the stars [03556] shall withdraw [0622] their shining [05051]:

¹⁶ Which are blackish [06937] by reason of the ice [07140], and wherein the snow [07950] is hid [05956]:

² Judah [03063] mourneth [056], and the gates [08179] thereof languish [0535]; they are black [06937] unto the ground [0776]; and the cry [06682] of Jerusalem [03389] is gone up [05927].

⁴⁵ And it came to pass in the mean while [03541], that the heaven [08064] was black [06937] with clouds [05645] and wind [07307], and there was a great [01419] rain [01653]. And Ahab [0256] rode [07392], and went [03212] to Jezreel [03157].

²¹ For the hurt [07667] of the daughter [01323] of my people [05971] am I hurt [07665]; I am black [06937]; astonishment [08047] hath taken hold [02388] on me.

²⁸ For this shall the earth [0776] mourn [056], and the heavens [08064] above [04605] be black [06937]: because I have spoken [01696] it, I have purposed [02161] it, and will not repent [05162], neither will I turn back [07725] from it.

²⁸ I went [01980] mourning [06937] without the sun [02535]: I stood up [06965], and I cried [07768] in the congregation [06951].

⁹ I will say [0559] unto God [0410] my rock [05553], Why hast thou forgotten [07911] me? why go [03212] I mourning [06937] because of the oppression [03906] of the enemy [0341]?

⁶ I am troubled [05753]; I am bowed down [07817] greatly [03966]; I go [01980] mourning [06937] all the day [03117] long.

² Judah [03063] mourneth [056], and the gates [08179] thereof languish [0535]; they are black [06937] unto the ground [0776]; and the cry [06682] of Jerusalem [03389] is gone up [05927].

¹¹ To set up [07760] on high [04791] those that be low [08217]; that those which mourn [06937] may be exalted [07682] to safety [03468].

¹⁶ Which are blackish [06937] by reason of the ice [07140], and wherein the snow [07950] is hid [05956]:

¹¹ For [1063] we hear [191] that there are some [5100] which walk [4043] among [1722] you [5213] disorderly [814], working [2038] not at all [3367], but [235] are busybodies [4020].

¹² That [2443] ye may walk [4043] honestly [2156] toward [4314] them that are without [1854], and [2532] that ye may have [2192] lack [5532] of nothing [3367].

¹⁴ But [235] when [3753] I saw [1492] that [3754] they walked [3716] not [3756] uprightly [3716] according to [4314] the truth [225] of the gospel [2098], I said [2036] unto Peter [4074] before [1715] them all [3956], If [1487] thou [4771], being [5225] a Jew [2453], livest [2198] after the manner of Gentiles [1483], and [2532] not [3756] as do the Jews [2452], why [5101] compellest thou [315] the Gentiles [1484] to live as do the Jews [2450]?

¹⁸ (For [1063] many [4183] walk [4043], of whom [3739] I have told [3004] you [5213] often [4178], and [1161] now [3568] tell [3004] you even [2532] weeping [2799], that they are the enemies [2190] of the cross [4716] of Christ [5547]: