They reel back and forth, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Parallel Translations
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They reel back and forth, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
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They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
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They reeled to and fro, and staggered like a drunken man, and all their wisdom was swallowed up —
Cross-references (7)
Passages linked to Psalms 107:27 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Job 12:25 They grope in the dark without light. He makes them stagger like a drunken man.
- Isaiah 19:3 The spirit of Egypt will fail within it. I will destroy its counsel. They will seek the idols, the charmers, those who have familiar spirits, and the wizards.
- Isaiah 19:14 Yahweh has mixed a spirit of perverseness in the middle of her; and they have caused Egypt to go astray in all of its works, like a drunken man staggers in his vomit.
- Isaiah 29:9 Pause and wonder! Blind yourselves and be blind! They are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
- Job 37:20 Will it be told him that I would speak? Or should a man wish that he were swallowed up?
- Isaiah 24:20 The earth will stagger like a drunken man, and will sway back and forth like a hammock. Its disobedience will be heavy on it, and it will fall and not rise again.
- Acts 27:15-20 When the ship was caught and couldn’t face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along. Running under the lee of a small island called Clauda, we were able, with difficulty, to secure the boat. After they had hoisted it up, they used cables to help reinforce the ship. Fearing that they would run aground on the Syrtis sand bars, they lowered the sea anchor, and so were driven along. As we labored exceedingly with the storm, the next day they began to throw things overboard. On the third day, they threw out the ship’s tackle with their own hands. When neither sun nor stars shone on us for many days, and no small storm pressed on us, all hope that we would be saved was now taken away.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (9 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain When their art and means fail them, they are…
When their art and means fail them, they are compelled to confess that only God’s providence doth preserve them.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 107:27 They reel to and fro, and stagger…
Psa 107:27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Ver. 27. They reel to and fro, &c.] Natant nautae, et vacillant cerebro et pedibus.
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And are at their wit’s end] All their skill and strength faileth them at once; they can do no more for their lives. Heb. All their wisdom is swallowed up; that is, the art of navigation is now to no use with them.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Stagger like a drunken man; not so much from…
Stagger like a drunken man; not so much from the giddiness of their heads, which is not usual in persons accustomed to the sea, as through the violent and various motions of the sea and the ship.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Then are they glad because they be quiet,.... The…
Then are they glad because they be quiet,.... The mariners are glad that the waves are quiet, and they free from danger, and at ease and in repose themselves.
So he bringeth them unto their desired haven; the port, city, border or tract of land (q), they are bound to; which they desire to be at, and eagerly look out for, and rejoice when arrived at it. This is all the Lord's work in providence: mariners too often take it to themselves, as if it was owing to their own skill and management that they have brought home the ship safe to the appointed port; but it is owing to the secret guidance and protection of divine Providence, which should be acknowledged. The late Mr. Hussey (r) thinks, that all this is not to be understood of seamen and naval affairs in common, but is a prophecy of what should befall the disciples of Christ, when on shipboard with him; who are the persons that went "down to the sea of Galilee" in a ship;
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whose business in the great waters was fishing; when, by the will of God, there came down a "stormy wind", which "lifted up the waves" of the sea, so that the ship in which they were was filled with them, and in danger of being sunk; when they went up and down, as here described, and reeled as they went along on the deck, to awake their Master their hearts melting, and they at their wit's end through fear, when they saw such wonders, what no common mariner ever did; the Godman and Mediator rising and in a majestic manner rebuked the winds and waves, and caused a calm, and so brought them to the country of the Gadarenes, whither they were bound; see Luk 8:23. But it may be applied, in a more spiritual manner, to the people of God in common who are embarked in the cause of Christ, and in a church state, comparable to a ship, of which Christ is the master, governor, and pilot; and who are sailing through the tempestuous sea of this world, and are tossed with tempests in it; and have business to do here, not only of a civil, but of a spiritual nature and who not only see the wondrous works of creation and providence, but of grace and redemption; the deep things of God, the mysteries of his grace and love: and who sometimes are covered with the billows and waves of affliction, and in the utmost distress; which are all under the direction and at the command of God, to whom they apply for relief; and he commands a calm in their breasts, and causes their afflictions to cease, which produce joy and gladness in them; and at last they are brought safe to heaven, their desired haven, which they are bound unto, are seeking after, and desirous of; and where they are at entire rest, brought hither by the Lord himself.
(q) Vid. Kimchii Sepher Shorash. rad. (r) Warning from the Winds, p. 21-26.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain They reel to and fro - The word used…
They reel to and fro - The word used here - חגג châgag - means to dance as in a circle; then, to reel, or be giddy as drunkards are.
And stagger ... - This word means to move to and fro; to waver; to vacillate; and it is then applied to a man who cannot walk steadily - a drunkard. So the vessel, with the mariners on board, seems to stagger and reel in the storm.
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And are at their wit’s end - Margin, as in Hebrew, “All their wisdom is swallowed up.” That is, They have no skill to guide the vessel. All that has been done by the wisdom of naval architecture in constructing it, and all that has been derived from experience in navigating the ocean, seems now to be useless. They are at the mercy of the winds and waves; they are dependent wholly on God; they can now only cry to him to save them. Often this occurs in a storm at sea, when the most skillful and experienced seaman feels that he can do no more.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 27. and are at their wit’s end] Lit. all…
27. and are at their wit’s end] Lit. all their wisdom is swallowed up, or perhaps as in Psa_55:9, is confounded. Their skill in navigation entirely fails them. Cp. Isa_19:3. A striking parallel to the whole passage is to be found in Ovid, Tristia, l. 2. 19 ff.
Me miserum, quanti montes volvuntur aquarum!
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Iam iam tacturos sidera summa putes.
Quantae diducto subsidunt aequore valles!
Iam iam tacturas Tartara nigra putes.
Rector in incerto est, nec quid fugiatve petatve
Invenit. Ambiguis ars stupet ipsa malis.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (27) Reel to and fro.—Or more exactly, spin round…
(27) Reel to and fro.—Or more exactly, spin round and round.
Are at their wit’s end.—An admirable paraphrase of the Hebrew, “all their wisdom swalloweth itself up.” The poet, from the expressions employed, is possibly writing under the influence of Psa_22:14; but he has evidently himself been to sea and experienced the dangers and discomforts he so graphically describes. Ovid (Trist. i. 2) has been quoted in illustration:
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“Me miserum, quanti montes volvuntur aquarum
Jamjam tacturos sidera summa putes.
Quantæ diducto subsidunt æquore valles:
Jamjam tacturas Tartura nigra putes
Rector in incerto est, nec quid fugiatve petatve
Invenit: ambiguis ars stupet ipsa malis.”
See on this passage Addison in Spectator, No. 489.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain They reel to and fro, and stagger like a…
They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man. The oldest sailor "loses his sea-legs," and staggers about the deck like a landsman, or like one drunk. And are at their wit"s end; literally, as in the margin, and all theirwisdom is swallowed. But the English idiom of the Authorized Version is a very happy, one, and exactly expresses the writer"s meaning. All the seaman"s intelligence is at fault, and can suggest nothing.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 27. They reel to and fro, and stagger…
Ver. 27. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man. The violent motion of the vessel prevents their keeping their legs, and their fears drive them out of all power to use their brains, and therefore they look like intoxicated men.
And are at their wit's end. What more can they do? They have used every expedient known to navigation, but the ship is so strained and beaten about that they know not how to keep her afloat.
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Here too the spiritual mariner's log agrees with that of the sailor on the sea. We have staggered frightfully! We could stand to nothing and hold by nothing. We knew not what to do, and could have done nothing if we had known it. We were as men distracted, and felt as if destruction itself would be better than our horrible state of suspense. As for wit and wisdom, they were clean washed out of us, we felt ourselves to be at a nonplus altogether.
Ver. 27. The awakened sinner staggered and nonplussed.
Psalms 107:28*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.