We collapse in the dust, lying face down in the dirt.
Parallel translations
- WEB For our soul is bowed down to the dust. Our body clings to the earth.
- KJV For our soul is bowed down to the dust: our belly cleaveth unto the earth.
- BSB For our soul has sunk to the dust; our bodies cling to the earth.
- NKJV For our soul is bowed down to the dust; Our body clings to the ground.
- NASB For our souls have sunk down into the dust; Our bodies cling to the earth.
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
Their soul is bowed to the dust and their body clings to the ground. It matters because it pictures utter humiliation and helplessness before God.
Overview
The imagery of being pressed into the dust conveys total prostration and despair. Inward soul and outward body alike are brought low. From this place of weakness the people can only look upward, casting themselves wholly upon the God who raises the lowly, supremely in the resurrection life given through Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Ps 119:25My soul is laid low in the dust. Revive me according to your word!
- Isa 51:23and I will put it into the hand of those who afflict you, who have said to your soul, ‘Bow down, that we may walk over you;’ and you have laid your back as the ground, like a street to those who walk over.”
- Lam 4:5Those who fed delicately are desolate in the streets: Those who were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills.
- Ps 66:11–12You brought us into prison. You laid a burden on our backs.
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 44:25 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.