My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You lay me in the dust of death.
Parallel translations
- WEB My strength is dried up like a potsherd. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have brought me into the dust of death.
- KJV My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
- NKJV My strength is dried up like a potsherd, And My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death.
- NASB My strength is dried up like a piece of pottery, And my tongue clings to my jaws; And You lay me in the dust of death.
- NLT My strength has dried up like sunbaked clay. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have laid me in the dust and left me for dead.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
His strength is dried up, his tongue clings to his jaws, and he is brought to the dust of death. He stands at the very threshold of dying.
Overview
Extreme thirst and exhaustion bring the sufferer to 'the dust of death.' The parched tongue recalls Jesus' cry 'I thirst' at the cross (John 19:28). The verse portrays death's approach in agonizing detail, deepening the psalm's prophetic correspondence to the Messiah's death for his people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- John 19:28After this, knowing that everything had now been accomplished, and to fulfill the Scripture, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”
- Ps 69:3I am weary from my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God.
- Ps 69:21They poisoned my food with gall and gave me vinegar to quench my thirst.
- Isa 53:12Therefore I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the spoils with the strong, because He has poured out His life unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors. Yet He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.
- Ps 104:29When You hide Your face, they are terrified; when You take away their breath, they die and return to dust.
- Ps 38:10My heart pounds, my strength fails, and even the light of my eyes has faded.
- Ps 32:3–4When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from my groaning all day long.
- 1 Cor 15:3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
- Job 29:10The voices of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.
- Prov 17:22A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.
- Matt 27:50When Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, He yielded up His spirit.
- Gen 18:27Then Abraham answered, “Now that I have ventured to speak to the Lord—though I am but dust and ashes—
- Ps 30:9“What gain is there in my bloodshed, in my descent to the Pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it proclaim Your faithfulness?
- Job 10:9Please remember that You molded me like clay. Would You now return me to dust?
- Dan 12:2And many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, but others to shame and everlasting contempt.
- Job 34:15all flesh would perish together and mankind would return to the dust.
- Lam 4:4The nursing infant’s tongue clings in thirst to the roof of his mouth. Little children beg for bread, but no one gives them any.
- Gen 3:19By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground—because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”
- Job 7:21Why do You not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For soon I will lie down in the dust; You will seek me, but I will be no more.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 22:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.